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So I find myself picking up Tau again for what must be the 3rd, maybe 4th time, and am lookingto create a color scheme a bit more creative than my past endeavors.

First, a 'Ceremonial' scheme



Second, a practical scheme




I like the first because it's very striking, the sort you can see from a good distance. I like the second because it's more in fitting with the feel of Tau, and I've never really done a lot of work with browns. The second is also a bit easier to paint, which is always nice. I'm also thinking of doing a scheme much like the first, but with a violet or dark purple instead of red...gotta whip up a test model for that.

So then, two specific questions:

1, Which do you lot like more?

2, For your preferred scheme, what sort of basing would you say works best with it: Desert/Sand, Earthy/Foresty, or Urban?

Edit: 3, Forgot to mention, any suggestions for a decent Sept color for the Ceremonial? It's surprisingly easy to screw up the White/Black/Red combo with an additional color thrown in.

Thanks much for looking and advice, in advance.

Edit: Fixed image sizes. Yippee

I like the first and I prefer a base that contrasts to one that blends in. So with the first you could do any style base as the color scheme isn't like any natural ground. Only the base modeled to look like Tau buildings would blend in. Now the second scheme will work for pathfinders or Stealth suits in the same army as Firewarriors from the first scheme.

I like the first, white look. Tau are the bright light of optimism in the 40k universe. They should be crisp, clean, and sharp looking.

As practical and nice at the second one is, leave the gritty, mud-soaked look for the grimdark armies.

That said, they booth look nice, and you would be fine with either one.

For the greater good!!!

I like the first one, but its more what you like....

For desert;
I use rocks, sand and some putty underneath to make it less "flat".

For earthy, I paint the base med brown, mix glue with a taupe paint, and first put some brownish earthygravel on it, then a bit of med green static grass on top of that (it sticks to where I did not put enough of the gravel...either on purpose or accidently).

For urban, I made my own bases, but put some ...stuff on it...bricks, etc. Base it black, work your way up in ligher greys with dryburshing to bring out details.

A lot on urban depends on if you want a more rubbly ruined city, or a just an urban area with a small amount of debris.

For premade bases;
Secret weapon has a great selection of desert and urban
There are a lot of other vendors as well....

Pak out..

The 2nd scheme will be much much easier to paint. That said i kinda like the first.

I like the first, just seems to be much more 'Tau' to me.

I would choose Lothern/Ice blue for your Sept markings, because it looks ace on the lenses and will tie everything together nicely.

I vote #1. I really like it.

Definately the first one.

Brighter, more exciting and definatley more Tau-y.
I'd hate to do that much white and red though .. I hate white and red (painting them that is, not the overall look)

1. I'm putting my vote in for the ceremonial scheme. It just looks fantastic.

2. I'd base the ceremonial scheme on some kinda of urban Tau base. Or myabe a Tau space ship style base.
Something like this. http://dragonforge.com/Painting%20service/for%20sale/base_sets/sci-fi/omega_prime.htm

3. A light blue might not look out of place. Maybe a light grey?

Nah you should have a stealth colours for your army (black,white,silver)

First off, I'd like to thank you lot for the input. It is much appreciated.

Now the bad news. As much as the Ceremonial scheme clearly swept this mini vote, I'm going with the Practical scheme. I didn't so much choose it, as circumstances chose for me. I found out after a few more runs that I can't really reproduce the results I got on the test model, between difficulties with red paints and certain issues with the models themselves.

However, I was beginning to lean towards Practical anyway, for a few reasons. The biggest is time: even getting models close to the same standard as the test for Ceremonial took well over twice the time as the Practical. Aside from that, it relies on Astronimocon Gray (which I have only in limited supply), whereas the new Celestra Gray has poorer coverage, and makes the process take even longer.

I think I'll use a similar paintjob for the Shas'O when I get around to him though, using the inverted color scheme and Astronomicon Gray instead of dark gray...should look pretty cool, in theory.

The trick now is making a good base for the Practical scheme while still making the model 'pop.' I'll try and get a test base or two up before the day is out for community judgment.

Thanks again for past and future input. And sorry for getting hopes up for a shiny white-ish army without realizing I wouldn't really be able to make it work!

 Nevelon wrote:
I like the first, white look. Tau are the bright light of optimism in the 40k universe. They should be crisp, clean, and sharp looking.

As practical and nice at the second one is, leave the gritty, mud-soaked look for the grimdark armies.

That said, they booth look nice, and you would be fine with either one.

Ill agree completely. Both look good, but the 1st just screams Tau to me.

I prefer the first one.
But, as you seem to enjoy the 2nd more, wich is also a nice one, go for that one.

So here's the best base I've been able to come up with for the Practical:



I tried a few more 'sandy' schemes, but having a base lighter than the model makes for a weird look. So, I went super dark, with a few rocks and the smallest patches of dark grass. I've got a few more lined up with beaten up bitz like blades and armor stuck in the earth, which I intend to paint as rusted up relics. I dunno where I'm gonna go with the Cadre's fluff, but so far I like the idea of a Sept that has had generation after generation of warfare, to the point that anything from an Ultramarine pauldron to an Ork choppa to an Eldar witchblade can be found stuck in the muck somewhere.

If I could I'd like to make it look a bit more swampy, but I've got no experience with or supply of water effects...

 firepower wrote:



.

How did you make the sept marks so clean?

 lambsandlions wrote:

How did you make the sept marks so clean?

With a tiny brush and a steady hand...sorry, no real trick to it like a straight-edge device or anything.

Though it helps to have the armor a much darker color than the Sept markings, because it makes the line a lot easier to clean up if you mess up the edges or angles.

My opinion? I like the first one (white, clean version).

But, keep in mind: It's your project. Do what you like more. And, try to keep it yours. You'll hate yourself if you've gotta strip them all down again later because you got bored of the paint scheme you're stuck with, just because you based it off of one you've seen.

The base needs another lighter highlight, IMO.

Alright, got some finalized guys all whipped up and ready for judgment.



And to show the kind of debris that will be decorating a lot of bases:



The two metal things were my first attempt at painting rusted metal. I'm fairly pleased with the result.

Obviously the Tau didn't put that pike there, it's just meant to be something left over from one of the many wars on his Sept world. There will be varying other types like Eldar bits, Orky bits, and the like. And of course some random unidentifiable scrap metal like on the other guy's base.

And now that I look at it, I may have to be a touch more generous with the flock. It's barely visible on the bases of these 2.