Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Gitsplitta wrote:Looking good Yggsie!

Hey hey, thanks

inmygravenimage wrote:I love your grubby Tau. It's really good to see a different take on their aesthetic. Great, great work.

Yeah, the original idea wasn't to do something necessarily different from the "usual" Tau, but... I'm glad it looks that way !!

Here's the squad complete :






"Deputy Shas'ui", scanning the area


Dedicated Marksman - the only one with a Pulse Rifle in the squad, providing long-range fire support to his comrades


Additional shots

And, lastly, what the army looks like as of today !


So that's 5 drones, 8 FW, 1 Kroot, and 1 Cadre Fireblade... Not so slow !!!

Now, on with the Pathfinders squad !

Wow, awesome Tau! I wish I could do weathering that well on my Tau! Awesome blog, too!

Can't wait to see what you do with the Battlesuits! I'm really interested by your use of rust - really unorthodox but it looks great!

Still trying to understand why I haven't subscribed yet

Lucarikx

I think grubby tau is the way to go. Really sets yours apart for the legions of squeaky clean tau boys.

Lucarikx wrote:Wow, awesome Tau! I wish I could do weathering that well on my Tau! Awesome blog, too!

Can't wait to see what you do with the Battlesuits! I'm really interested by your use of rust - really unorthodox but it looks great!

Still trying to understand why I haven't subscribed yet

Lucarikx

Thanks for tagging along, Lucarikx !

As for your first point, please do yourself a treat :
1. take a spare model with armour that you will never use ; yeah, those 15+ AoBR Tac Squads, still on sprues, that you bought in bulk for your nevercoming Marines army, will do perfectly !
2. undercoat it white ;
3. (optional) : paint the recesses with a Sepia Wash ;
4: with some blister foam & a VERY SMALL quantity of dark brown paint (like Dryad Bark or Scorched Brown), stipple lightly all of your model with that...
5. pose with your awesome-looking model, then start writing a painting tutorial about a simple weathering technique

As for the battle suits, there should be :
- 1x Riptide ;
- 1x Railgun Broadside (yeah, I know the HYMP variants are way more effective on the battlefield... but the railgun looks too badass to ignore )
- 3x Stealth Suits.

All suits will be painted in the same scheme as the FW armour.
Of special note will be the Stealth suits... I'm thinking about trying a "partly-cloaked" effect on them, as in those incredible models :

Gitsplitta wrote:I think grubby tau is the way to go. Really sets yours apart for the legions of squeaky clean tau boys.

Lol, I kinda love that word, "grubby"...

In addition to the thanks for the kind words, maybe I should call their Sept... G'Rubi ?

Final treat for tonight : Finished my second Icarus Lascannon ! (On the left of the picture)...



OSL looks much better than the first one (on the right)... Do you agree ?
Or which one of the two do you prefer ? (Knowing that one of them will make it to my Armies on Parade board !)

Ok, so I guess the Icarus lascannons weren't really inspiring...

As for the rest, here's yesterday's work on the Pathfinders : armour weathering is done !



Left to do :
- Highlight the brown underarmour suit ;
- Paint the power sources / lenses in blue ;
- Bases !

And that's it !! I'm not expecting to finish today, but... who knows ?!?

Sorry for not commenting Yggs. I really did like the las cannons. Actually just picked up one of those myself so your take was very interesting and will probably inform how I treat mine.

Will be nice to see that group done. I really think you've hit on a nice approach that will look fantastic on the table.

Yggs! those Tau are absolutely amazing! seriously if I had of tried to get that look to them I wouldn't have sold mine! yours are so different and original and the heavy weathering is done perfectly, not to mention the electric blue on the drones! is this your own force? because I want to see more more more!

Gitsplitta wrote:Sorry for not commenting Yggs. I really did like the las cannons. Actually just picked up one of those myself so your take was very interesting and will probably inform how I treat mine.

Will be nice to see that group done. I really think you've hit on a nice approach that will look fantastic on the table.

Lol, no worries Gits

Those models are kinda fun to build & paint, TBH !! And that was REALLY quick to paint !
Black undercoat, two grey (dark & light) drybrushes, orange-rust drybrush / stippling, turquoise airbrushing, white airbrushing... And voilà !!!

They really are pretty neat ! But I guess you can spend a LOT more of time on them, as they have a lot of small details, buttons, lenses, antennas, cables, etc...

I'm pretty sure you'll do them a greater justice than I did !

As for the Tau, I'm eager to finish those infantrymen, to see how the scheme will show on the exo-suits & vehicles... The missus promised me a Devilfish for next week's shopping sortie, so... I can't wait !

Thanks for the kind words...

nerdfest09 wrote:Yggs! those Tau are absolutely amazing! seriously if I had of tried to get that look to them I wouldn't have sold mine! yours are so different and original and the heavy weathering is done perfectly, not to mention the electric blue on the drones! is this your own force? because I want to see more more more!

Hey, thanks Damo !
The latest Tau releases really ignited the spark again : I had bought a few boxes years ago, but those last Broadside, Riptide & Pathfinder kits convinced me to take the plunge !

So I'm now building a small, probably 1500-ish points army.... I hope I won't run out of steam before that project ends !

Thanks for the support, it will probably help me get to the end of this !

Yggs, do you plan on doing the devilfish next or will you take on some of those suits? A huge dirty Riptide is going to look awesome with your color scheme. I can't wait to see that.

The canons look awesome Yggdrasil. Personally, I agree - the OSL on the second one is more striking , though I loved the brass on the first one. Luckily, they both are so good you are spoiled for choice.

IceAngel wrote:Yggs, do you plan on doing the devilfish next or will you take on some of those suits? A huge dirty Riptide is going to look awesome with your color scheme. I can't wait to see that.

I think I'll start with the XV-88 Broadside... It's such an awesome model !!!

Currently undercoated are :
- 1x Broadside ;
- 3x Stealth Suits ;
- 10-11 Kroots ;
- a few drones ;
- the HYMP objective marker (that could count as an Aegis Quad Gun, the more I think about it...)

I still have to build the Riptide... And I think I should practice the scheme some more before taking the chance of ruining it !!

San76 wrote:The canons look awesome Yggdrasil. Personally, I agree - the OSL on the second one is more striking , though I loved the brass on the first one. Luckily, they both are so good you are spoiled for choice.

Thanks San ! I'm slowly (but purposefully) improving the airbrush-OSL technique.... Still a looooooooooong way to go, but... With encouragement from artists such as you, I'm pushed to greater heights !!

So thanks

Dude! I LOVE your weathering! You get the contrast just right! That's impressive!

 dsteingass wrote:
Dude! I LOVE your weathering! You get the contrast just right! That's impressive!

Hey, thank you mate !!! Actually, white + anything dark just always makes for a sharp contrast lol....

Or so I've heard (never been good at arts when I was a kid )

Nothing much today (other than the fact I've burst a tire on my car ), so I'd like to show you what has been inspired by Q0rbin's awesome Abyssal Silhouettes : a list of the various honour markings & badges that I'll use for my Tau army !



I'm still thinking about feats that can be performed on the battlefield... What did I miss, and how should I try & represent them ?

Please help me & design other markings ! That would help me work on my poor freehand skills

1. Warlord Slayer
2. Protector
3. Flier Destroyer
4. Dog Fighter
5. Hunt Master
6. Fish Head
7. Line Breaker
8. Headhunter
9. Master Twerker

Sorry I haven't drawn any of these out but it may at least give you some more to add to your list.

Hey Yggs, good to see you active again. I'm probably missing the boat, but it's still true.

The weathering on the Drones and the Tau armor is excellent. The Imperial structures are incredible, and I really like the color scheme.

Always enjoy seeing your work.

IceAngel wrote:1. Warlord Slayer
2. Protector
3. Flier Destroyer
4. Dog Fighter
5. Hunt Master
6. Fish Head
7. Line Breaker
8. Headhunter
9. Master Twerker

Sorry I haven't drawn any of these out but it may at least give you some more to add to your list.

Hey, thanks for the ideas !! Though I'm quite at a loss for symbols, so a few drawings would've helped even more...

1. Great idea ! I think "Hero Slayer" would be enough, considering there's little hope that any of my Tau will ever kill a character... let alone a warlord lol !!

2. I've thought about that one (like holding an objective, etc...) or maybe you meant "the one that passed a critical LOOK OUT, SIR! roll" ?

3. Nice one too... Especially since I aim at equipping most of my battle suits with "Skyfire" upgrades

4. Buying a flyer isn't part of the army plan... yet. So I think this one would see little to no use ! Unless, again, you meant this one was an award for the Kroot Hounds ?!?

5. I'm not sure I see what would be needed to get that award...

6. Same here... Though the name definitely is funny

7. Line Breaker's nice !!! Indeed, I should've thought of this !!

8. Head hunter : again, what would be required to do this ?

9. Erh... what's that, "twerker" ?!? (I'm still missing on a few English idioms, sorry... )

Still, thanks for those ides... I knew I had missed some ! Now I just have to figure out how to represent them, in a drawing that I can paint right with a brush... A daunting task for me !!!

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:Hey Yggs, good to see you active again. I'm probably missing the boat, but it's still true.

The weathering on the Drones and the Tau armor is excellent. The Imperial structures are incredible, and I really like the color scheme.

Always enjoy seeing your work.

Hey Skalk, thanks for stepping by... Good to hear from you mate

What are you working on atm ?

Yggs, I absolutely love your Tau scheme! I am a sucker for brown and light blue together... so perfect. And you've made them look like they're real fighters and not anime models on display

8. Head Hunter is usually an award for killing a special character or HQ. Similar to Hero Slayer or Warlord slayer, I think its a better name though.

6. Fish Head is an award you reward a Tau for doing some terribly dumb. Perhaps given to a Fire Warrior that failed a dangerous terrain check and killed himself. Or perhaps given to a Tau that failed a leadership check and ran off the board.

5. Hunt Master would be given to a Kroot that actually did what you wanted him to do. For example, at the beginning of a game you say to yourself, "I want this squad of Kroot to get to that objective and hold it." or perhaps, "I want this Kroot squad to kill something over there," In the unlikely chance you succeed you can award the Shaper or whomever survives with the Hunt Master award.

9. Master Twerker? Well that was a terrible attempt at a joke. If you are unfamiliar with twerking, you tube it. But DO NOT watch anything involving Miley Cyrus.

Sorry but I haven't had a chance to get my awards down on paper yet, but if I feel the urge I will do so.

RiTides wrote:Yggs, I absolutely love your Tau scheme! I am a sucker for brown and light blue together... so perfect. And you've made them look like they're real fighters and not anime models on display

Lol !!

Of course my Tau are real, dirty fighters !!! They'll go to great lengths "for the greater Good" !!!

Thanks for the kind words

IceAngel wrote:8. Head Hunter is usually an award for killing a special character or HQ. Similar to Hero Slayer or Warlord slayer, I think its a better name though.

6. Fish Head is an award you reward a Tau for doing some terribly dumb. Perhaps given to a Fire Warrior that failed a dangerous terrain check and killed himself. Or perhaps given to a Tau that failed a leadership check and ran off the board.

5. Hunt Master would be given to a Kroot that actually did what you wanted him to do. For example, at the beginning of a game you say to yourself, "I want this squad of Kroot to get to that objective and hold it." or perhaps, "I want this Kroot squad to kill something over there," In the unlikely chance you succeed you can award the Shaper or whomever survives with the Hunt Master award.

9. Master Twerker? Well that was a terrible attempt at a joke. If you are unfamiliar with twerking, you tube it. But DO NOT watch anything involving Miley Cyrus.

Sorry but I haven't had a chance to get my awards down on paper yet, but if I feel the urge I will do so.

8. Head Hunter, okay ! Maybe it'll be a generic award...

6. Fish Head looks funny... And I guess it will happen !! But... maybe it'll cast them further from the "grubby veterans" status everyone's been talking about lol ?

5. I do love Hunt Master very much !!! And my Kroots will be snipers (upgrade to have their rifles get the "Sniper" rule), so that would be even more surprising if theyd actually did something !!!

9. Just youtubed it... Stumbled on a "tutorial" by "Tweety".... I wish I hadn't looked.



***********************

Okay guyz, in 5 minutes I'm off to the Armies on Parade comp ! Wish me luck !!!

I'll let you know how the Night Stalkers fared...

Cheers !!

Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great.

 IceAngel wrote:
Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great.

Thanks Ice !

Sorry mates, no time for pics today (I'm off for a 900km drive today, and while my bags are packed, I still haven't prepared my "Hobby box" that I'll bring along ) !!

Just know that there were FOUR contenders (only) ;
- One kid had an Avelorn & Everqueen HE "army" (he ranked 3rd) ;
- His dad had an O&G "army" : in fact more a diorama, with a Squig race (very funny, and the title was "Need for Squigs") (ranked 4th) ;
- My buddy came with his icy board & Slaaneshi Marines (he ranked 1st !!! )
- And I ranked second with my Night Stalkers ( ) !

Other funny things were the manager also presenting the store's army on display boards - of course, you couldn't vote for them. Hopefully, for the missus would have voted for the Tomb Kings army !!

Had some fun, prize for the 2nd was an artbook from John Blanche ! Pretty cool ! (First got a Falcon skimmer, 3rd a WHFB T-shirt) !

And I did buy a few kits, of course :
- Tac kit ;
- Sternguard kit ;
- After much inner debate, decided I liked the new Centurions, so got myself a box ;
- and a VC Wraith, in the secret hope that one day, I'll finally get to painting it !

Cheers, and thanks again for the support !

I hope you snapped a couple shots of the squig race. Congrats on second! Next year add some ice to your board then you'll win! Ice makes everything better.

Congrats mate! An art book is a pretty cool prize.

Drive safe...

Congrats on the 2nd place finish.

I love the stealth suit idea. Not sure I could pull it off. Very gritty Tau are fantastic.

Congratulations, sounds to me like you got the best prize!

Very well done Yggsie, congrats!

 Yggdrasil wrote:
[What are you working on atm ?

Mostly organization of what I've already built and small bitz for my Necromunda table (because I certainly need more of that stuff).

Other than that, just an idea I've been kicking around. It'll be done in about 6 weeks if all goes well.

Ah you won some John Blanche artwork! Congrats! I'd take that over the falcon skimmer actually

IceAngel wrote:I hope you snapped a couple shots of the squig race. Congrats on second! Next year add some ice to your board then you'll win! Ice makes everything better.

Well I did took some pics... But my camera is out ATM, so you'll have to wait some more...

As for ice, I'm still not convinced... Maybe I'll try for a competition piece !!

San76 wrote:Congrats mate! An art book is a pretty cool prize.

Drive safe...

Thanks !! The drive was pretty long & tedious... Not to mention the way back that I did yesterday
And I didn't have much time to work on my projects, sadly.... See below !

Solar_lion wrote:Congrats on the 2nd place finish.

I love the stealth suit idea. Not sure I could pull it off. Very gritty Tau are fantastic.

Thanks (for the comp & for the Tau).... I'll try the Stealth idea !!

inmygravenimage wrote:Congratulations, sounds to me like you got the best prize!

Lol sadly the book's the French version.... But hey, there aren't many words in it anyway so...

Gitsplitta wrote:Very well done Yggsie, congrats!

Thx !!

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:

 Yggdrasil wrote:
[What are you working on atm ?

Mostly organization of what I've already built and small bitz for my Necromunda table (because I certainly need more of that stuff).

Other than that, just an idea I've been kicking around. It'll be done in about 6 weeks if all goes well.

So that's about 3 weeks ago... Are you halfway done ?!?

Meade wrote:Ah you won some John Blanche artwork! Congrats! I'd take that over the falcon skimmer actually

Lol I've never owned a Falcon, so... the hoarder in me just got sad... Though the artwork book is fantastic indeed, so I'm pretty glad !!

Armies on Parade PICS :


IceAngel : You can spot the Squigs race in the far end (sorry mate)


Winner !


And mine, second.

UPDATE !!!!

So, as you know, I was on a 3-week training course, but real life got in the way, so... My effort was on IceAngel's Marine Swap !!!

I've finally decided my next (side) project will be the Star Phantoms' 9th Company, as I was inspired by their description in the FW Badad War books !!

So I mostly tinkered with the new Tactical & Sternguard kits, and... OMG they're awesome !!

Here's what I went for with my first Devastator Squad (still unfinished, only 7 Marines built) :




This one is about to throw a grenade around a wall corner... It's not really perfect, but I still like it


First combat squad, led by a Veteran with combi-melta !

My idea with the army is to have 10-strong Dev Squads, that will be split up on the FOC :
- One Combat Squad with One Heavy Weapon (can be fielded as a Tac Squad ie. Troops) ;
- The other Combat Squad with the remaining Three Heavy Weapons (Can be fielded as a Dev Squad, ie. HS - or Elite thanks to the FW special character Capt. ANDROCLES, Captain of the Star Phantoms' 9th Company .

What do you think of that ? Not the most efficient way of fielding Devastators, but still...

Here's IceAngel veteran WIP, a Sternguard :



And with the painted shoulder pad (damn it was tedious !!), with comparison to the actual Star Phantoms chapter badge :

//
Far from perfect, but I'm quite happy with it !!

Thanks for passing by !!
Yggs.

Great stuff Yggs. The guy tossing the grenade around the wall is probably my favorite from that squad. Excellent job with the Star Phantom's badge too. Did you draw those skulls or are those decals?