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Llamahead wrote:I've got this image of Wraith's decloaking but I think the colour choice is wrong for aircraft sky tones would work but the spectral green to my way of thinking doesn't make sense and Tau to me are the most practical of 40k races. Something similar shifting out of cloak or chamoleonic camo would look cool however. However I'm a fan of relatively realistic camouflage on most things.

Well, I'm thinking that they could be T'olku which are jade, but I could equally see it as Ksi'm'yen (stealth and subterfuge, greys) playing on superstition.

Don Qui Hotep wrote:I dig it! I like the idea of dorsal and ventral having different colors, a lot of aerial predators do the same. Do they usually have a lighter belly? I know in the ocean it helps blend in with the light above, but I'm not sure it matters in the sky, cuz they tend to stay in the sun. Anyway, I dig purple as an accent color - you never see bad purple paint jobs.

I'll be honest I was thinking in terms of fish lol

Theophony wrote:I like the spectral green, you just have to imagine an alien planet an the different flora colors from a strange atmosphere. Plus imagine that the Tau don’t see colors the way we do either .

Indeed !

So here are the test pics
The top view

Yellow still needs a bit of highlighting but it's more about blocking at this stage
Belly

I almost like this colour scheme more

Shot from the rear

I think I need to tone the base down also

I've not done engine glow, as with the other stuff. But then again I've not done weapon glow either and weapons glow seems so very Tau

Oh looking very nice Graven!

 inmygravenimage wrote:

Theophony wrote:

Viterbi wrote:Happy belated birthday, nice haul you got there! AI planes are looking great, how complex are the rules? It may be a good entry to try and get my eldest son involved in gaming (although he will turn only 6 in October, so maybe still too early ).

The rules are probably slightlytoo complex. It's a modified reskin of Wings of Glory, which is easier. We started with Settlers, King of Tokyo, Talisman, and Hey that's my Fish! at that age. Dreadball is pretty easy to get into also.

Thanks, well there's enough board games around at home to get him hooked on other stuff first But he already likes the minis, may give WarCry a try over Christmas, rules are simple enough to learn and see, if he has fun with it. Dreadball always looks fun in your pics, may have a closer look at it.

If your toning down the base, might I suggest painting it similar to the top of the Tau ships? That way their camouflage is blending in with the “ground”.

Very nice - Sadly I agree that the bottom is slightly nicer than the top - Just have them fly upside down

 inmygravenimage wrote:

Don Qui Hotep wrote:I dig it! I like the idea of dorsal and ventral having different colors, a lot of aerial predators do the same. Do they usually have a lighter belly? I know in the ocean it helps blend in with the light above, but I'm not sure it matters in the sky, cuz they tend to stay in the sun. Anyway, I dig purple as an accent color - you never see bad purple paint jobs.

I'll be honest I was thinking in terms of fish lol

There you go! Figures I've got to make things more complicated than they need to be.

I am super impressed with the updates! I love that belly scheme. I think it works really well at scale. I'm thinking about Theophony's suggestion and it makes a bit of sense - the blues from below to look like the sky, and the camo from above to help break up the silhouette?

GiraffeX wrote:Oh looking very nice Graven!

Cheers chum!

Viterbi wrote:
Thanks, well there's enough board games around at home to get him hooked on other stuff first But he already likes the minis, may give WarCry a try over Christmas, rules are simple enough to learn and see, if he has fun with it. Dreadball always looks fun in your pics, may have a closer look at it.

Dreadball is EXCELLENT and extremely easy to learn.

Theophony wrote:If your toning down the base, might I suggest painting it similar to the top of the Tau ships? That way their camouflage is blending in with the “ground”.

Hmm. Mebbe.

Slinky wrote:Very nice - Sadly I agree that the bottom is slightly nicer than the top - Just have them fly upside down

Lol so true. Excellent plan

Don Qui Hotep wrote:
There you go! Figures I've got to make things more complicated than they need to be.

I am super impressed with the updates! I love that belly scheme. I think it works really well at scale. I'm thinking about Theophony's suggestion and it makes a bit of sense - the blues from below to look like the sky, and the camo from above to help break up the silhouette?

Well I'm thinking of it flying over water, I suppose.

So make of them what you will:

Ksi'm'yen stealth mode! Fairly happy with my ethereal bioluminescence.

I know very little about Tau but I liked the Ksi'm'yen fluff so this pleases me.

Tiny Valkyrie and Vendetta are also built, very lovely, great kits. Again, Imperial stuff feels generally less fiddly than xenos. However, I've not got to the Lightnings yet...

Fun day with the kids today. Out of nowhere, they asked to play D&D?! So that was interesting, a bit of scrabbling around the internet and, actually, rather good. Who knows what weirdness tomorrow will bring?

Hey ho
Graven

Awesome paint theme. How does the game play? ( Sorry if you already addressed this - Still catching up on folks blogs )

Nice work , I do like the undercarriage as well, but still like the alien top.

Great work on those Tau. I'm still trying to catch up on the last couple of years worth of content here... stop being so prolific! (or maybe I should stop getting too busy with work? Who knows...)

I wish shipping prices were not stupid. I just found the perfect print to make for your death guard.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4057326

Great Unclean one riding a scooter (Blight hauler)

This is why everyone needs a 3d printer

I saw that blight hauler the other day and had a chuckle. It's great

Solar_lion wrote:Awesome paint theme. How does the game play? ( Sorry if you already addressed this - Still catching up on folks blogs )

It's a cracking game. Convinced the young spawn to try it and we had a proper belter of a time; details below.

Theophony wrote:Nice work , I do like the undercarriage as well, but still like the alien top.

Phew!

endtransmission wrote:Great work on those Tau. I'm still trying to catch up on the last couple of years worth of content here... stop being so prolific! (or maybe I should stop getting too busy with work? Who knows...)

Good to see you back squire!

Theophony wrote:I wish shipping prices were not stupid. I just found the perfect print to make for your death guard.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4057326

Great Unclean one riding a scooter (Blight hauler)

This is why everyone needs a 3d printer

You're a bloody trouble maker lol. That is genius, for sure.

endtransmission wrote:I saw that blight hauler the other day and had a chuckle. It's great

not going to lie. A printer would be lovely but a terrifying distraction
Bits and pieces done. Finally did the evil zombie AI, Gemini:

Do love some zombie murderbots. Had a great game of Dreadball over TableTopSimulator, got thumped but it was excellent. Learned a lot; having now played against two of the game's top players in the last month (and lost) I feel much more confident about the game; for all that I love it, there's always stuff to learn. The best compliment from my opponent last night was that he was terrified of me going into the match

Aeronautica continues apace. Got the Punishork mounted on a base:

Nice to know it works! And had a game Vs Tau with the kids:

We played using the Low Altitude rules from Taros. Really adds to the tension as you have to be MUCH more careful (Aeronautica is actually pretty forgiving with maneuvers) as collisions are much more of a risk.

The tau are a funny mix. They're maneuverable enough for dogfighting but Barracudas are super fragile. They are inevitably best at long ranges, although at any range, when they hit, they hit hard.

I do love how dynamic the models feel.

It came down to a face off between these two, one structure each left. Terrible destroyer rolls meant Tau won the day, much to the kids' delight! Using the card decks made a big difference, the game flows much more smoothly and the kids found it a lot easier. Good stuff!

It never ceases to surprise me when I get "stuck" in a couple of colours.

SJS judge Gerhardt

Fun figs

And my Orion female themed Kalyshi

Horrid old soft 1st gen mantic plastics, but glad they're done.

Which means... More than 500 painted this year in 6 months! Not too bad lol
Graven

The Khalasyi(Spelling ), look good in the Judge Color scheme

500 thats just insane, but so are the times.

But printers are sooo much fun! Just think of all the objectives etc. you could print for Aeronautica </troublemaker>

 endtransmission wrote:
But printers are sooo much fun! Just think of all the objectives etc. you could print for Aeronautica </troublemaker>

And the files for all the planes. You could have a full air battle with dozens of planes .

Theophony wrote:The Khalasyi(Spelling ), look good in the Judge Color scheme

500 that's just insane, but so are the times.

Yeah, it's unlikely to be repeated or indeed much increased as reality returns.

endtransmission wrote:But printers are sooo much fun! Just think of all the objectives etc. you could print for Aeronautica </troublemaker>

Where is a shaking fist orkmoticon when you need one?

Theophony wrote:
And the files for all the planes. You could have a full air battle with dozens of planes .

shocked. Shocked and appalled.

Foolishly, agreed to build and paint some more thugs for my mate Cavzilla, as his missus has had a baby this week. So that's a bit of a July project (the figs, not the baby). At his request, I've gsd a beard onto Gordon, hockey mask and stick on one goon, ski goggles on another and hockey jersey on the boss. I am a mug.

In addition, general list of stuff to do (inspies by Viterbi's enthusiastic organisation) in the second half of the year:

Part painted:
Dumbledore
Dredd vs Death
Dreadball Dredd
AI Valkyrie
AI Vendetta
AI Lightnings (3)

Primed:
Krampus
Citi-Def (9)
Juves (3)
Dreadball coaches (3), fans (2) Void Sirens (4), Nameless (2)
Harley Quinn (2)
Joker (2) and goons (5)
Supers Unlimited (9)

Unbuilt/unprimed:
Dreadball hobgoblin team (9), mutant team (9), asterian team (9),
Strontium Dog: Search and Destroy (2)
DC: Btas Green Arrow, Promo Lex

WIP conversions
DC: Copperhead Arkham>Rebirth, Catman>Mr Miracle

I do like a list I also have more AI on the way because, frankly, why not.

Long day sorting out mother-in-law stuff yesterday, but got a couple of good games of TFTCG with the boy, and then today started a new Holiday League with the boys. More DREADBALL!

Lastly, on a whim, painted up a Zombicide fatty

Brains, and so forth,
Graven

There is no ork shakeyfist icon because they know it's true

I'm not sure I dare write up a list of things that ar epartially painted, or in the queue... I'd probably have a breakdown even considering it, especially with the new Guard project! You're a brave brave man...

Thanks for sharing the action shots of AI. Your Tau look really fresh on the tabletop - that paint job really suits them. Plus, put one of them next to the Punishork and you get a serious sense of the different aesthetics between the two armies. Not always the easiest thing to pull off at scale!

Glad to hear you're getting a lot of game time in as well.

Excellent stuff. The Tau scheme looks good on them.

endtransmission wrote:There is no ork shakeyfist icon because they know it's true

I'm not sure I dare write up a list of things that are partially painted, or in the queue... I'd probably have a breakdown even considering it, especially with the new Guard project! You're a brave brave man...

Lol out does occasionally engender panic but by and large I think it's healthy.

Don Qui Hotep wrote:Thanks for sharing the action shots of AI. Your Tau look really fresh on the tabletop - that paint job really suits them. Plus, put one of them next to the Punishork and you get a serious sense of the different aesthetics between the two armies. Not always the easiest thing to pull off at scale!

Glad to hear you're getting a lot of game time in as well.

I think it helps that the aesthetic is very distinctive. Compliment taken however

Llamahead wrote:Excellent stuff. The Tau scheme looks good on them.

Thanks buddy glad you approve given your initial doubts.

Funny old day yesterday. Sorting out some work stuff for my dad, getting a new window fitted, putting up a blind, blah. BUT got a game of Hellboy with the boys (random scenario: undead, winter, Russia, cats, witches and Baba Yaga - glorious).

Oh and a spot of paint:

Starting Electrix from Supers Unlimited, who is not Livewire, honest.

Also throwing around some ideas for Nora Fries


And petites progress on the imperial navy


Finally got Dumbledore done... Maybe.


It's been a Dredd-ful day...

Dredd vs Death

I also got Dreadball Dredd and a suspicious scientist done

I am really happy with how the reconstruction of Dredd's shoulder eagle went (horribly miscast) and I love the scientist, he's just a generic useful fig for all sorts of games.

I'm definitely embracing the virtual gaming. Dreadball online on TTS has wroked well, but there's a tourney coming up over Vassal also, which I'm up for. Plus, I've been asked participate in the Dune RPG playtest so I'll be keen to see how RPGing works over Discord. Good times to be a nerd!

Next week will be very quiet, we're spending a few days at my parents so no painting will occur. Not sure what games will be going with us but probably Aeronautica, Hey that's my fish! and a bunch of card games: fluxx, gloom and sabacc are most popular with the kids just now. My mum likes Carcassonne and my dad will always play chess so I'm hoping for some proper quality catch up time. Plus my dad has some VERY good whisky that needs attention...
Anyway, happy treason day etc,
Graven

cool stuff as usual, and liking the idea of the preserved Nora Fries, the one villains' motivation for his actions, he is so devoted and in love he will commit what ever he needs to so she may live with him and not be in a display. A Batman series tragedy.

shasolenzabi wrote:cool stuff as usual, and liking the idea of the preserved Nora Fries, the one villains' motivation for his actions, he is so devoted and in love he will commit what ever he needs to so she may live with him and not be in a display. A Batman series tragedy.

Indeed, made even more awful by recent events:

Dumbledore looks ace, very vibrant colors on the fire and his robes!
And was very close on snagging the 2.0 starter of Dreadball, was on Amazon.de for 35€, but after looking at what I already have bought this month and will buy because of the impending release of 9th edition I decided not to clutter my backlog even more

Viterbi wrote:Dumbledore looks ace, very vibrant colors on the fire and his robes!
And was very close on snagging the 2.0 starter of Dreadball, was on Amazon.de for 35€, but after looking at what I already have bought this month and will buy because of the impending release of 9th edition I decided not to clutter my backlog even more

Many thanks indeed. buy Dreadball you fool!


So it turns out painting aeroplanes is surprisingly addictive.

Valkyrie and Vendetta


Lightnings (Strike with the blue stripe)


And collectively:


Gathering up stuff to go away. 5 days with no painting? Shocking! That's going to dent the average but hopefully lots of playing of games - a fair trade
Graven


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh!
Work on Nora Fries:

Knew I forgot something

A tiny little DC update:

Did another bat signal:



And a bit of work on Mr Miracle, a project several years in the making. I have no Affection for, or interest in, Catman as a character or the version of the fig KM did. However, the pose has always made me think of classic superheroes.

That's a Vision head in place of the old, very battered, Catman head. Jewellery chain will go around the fists where I've trimmed back the knuckle dusters. I really love the idea that Mr Miracle, the man who can escape from anything, as a rescue project.

Away now, but hoping to get some games in:
Graven

Mr. Miracle-- there's a name you don't hear every day. I look forward to the garish Kirby colors.

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh!
Work on Nora Fries:

Knew I forgot something

That is really awesome. I love stuff like this. Sinister laboratories.

New head on Mr. Miracle turned out well .

Nice set up for Nora.

Theophony wrote:New head on Mr. Miracle turned out well .
Nice set up for Nora.

Cheers squire!

Fifty wrote:

 inmygravenimage wrote:
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh!
Work on Nora Fries:

Knew I forgot something

That is really awesome. I love stuff like this. Sinister laboratories.

I'm hoping that it'll be relatively easy. Lol. Why? WHY?!

JoshInJapan wrote:Mr. Miracle-- there's a name you don't hear every day. I look forward to the garish Kirby colors.

I'm really taken with Tom King's reimagining of him. Whilst he can be hit and miss, when he's on form as a writer, he's excellent.

Got a bit excited, got Electrix done:

She's the not-Livewire from Supers Unlimited

I chose to leave some of the flash on to add electrical zappery.

Scale shot with the lovely goombas that Camkierhi did for me.

And on we go!
Graven