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So as my post in the introduction thread has covers I am very new.

My first day in my local store I watched an employee assemble and paint a miniature which was a conversion. I questioned why convert it and there response was "its your hobby and your miniatures. You can do what you want."

I settled on Tau and to make sure I was going to enjoy it I bought a set of pathfinders. It was a difficult choice but I caved to the sleek design and the concept of tactical firepower and units combining to have a good result. However I liked the cloaks of the space marine scouts :(.

Due to this my very first assembled models are two pathfinders with cloaks! Yup a conversion of sorts. Nothing major but everyone starts somewhere.

Alongside this I have settled on a jungle based theme and with some help from the staff in store I have assembled and painted a drone as a sort of test bed. So below is a link to them.

Any and all criticism is welcome along with any tips you might have for a new tau commander. I know we have a possible nw codex and some new units coming so I am taking my time with assembling and painting these guys.

My first question would be what colour do I use as markings! Details such as eyes are not done.

http://imgur.com/a/wYP5T

I intend to update this with my progress so I can keep the feedback coming and document my journey .

The result is realy, realy nice. Im planning a cloacked conversion army soon. So tell me, is there any chalenge to add the cloack to the mini ?

The drone, or whatever it is (sorry don't know much about tau) is really nicely done. My only suggestion is to use a primer.

 DalinCriid wrote:
The result is realy, realy nice. Im planning a cloacked conversion army soon. So tell me, is there any chalenge to add the cloack to the mini ?

The drone, or whatever it is (sorry don't know much about tau) is really nicely done. My only suggestion is to use a primer.

I used some cheap snips and liquid green stuff to get the cloaks in place along with making them fit a bit better. I snipped the edges to make them seem worn. They are not yet painted.

As for primer do you mean undercoat? I did that with black.

Thanks for the compliment on the cloaks

Welcome to the forum!

Spencley wrote:
"its your hobby and your miniatures. You can do what you want."

Just wanted to highlight that. It's solid advice.

As for your paintjob. It's awesome! Wasn't expecting that from a 'first miniatures ever' thread.
It would definately suit a jungle themed base really well!

Primer and undercoat are two different things. Primer is what you put on the model first. White/grey/black are the common colours of choice. It dries on the plastic better than regular paint, meaning it wont chip off as easily. And it helps regular paint stick to the model when painting.
Undercoat refers to any layer of paint that isn't the top layer. Synonymous with basecoat.

This is a great idea. Your colourscheme looks great, and I think the cloaks work well.

Primer or a spray gives a slight textured finish that your paint will stick much much easier to. It means you can get a much smoother finish with paints than having to get it to adhere to the bare material. You shouldn't be able to see or feel the texture without zooming in, but that's how it functions.

My advice would be to thin your paints a little, with smooth surfaces like on the Tau models, a couple of thinned coats of paint will give a good finish rather than one where you can see any brushstrokes.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress.

Looking very promising! Keep it up

Yep - this is a great first foray into painting and modelling. Really, though, painting and modelling. Few start out with a conversion, and yours are artful - not too complex, but very smooth and striking... the best kind, IMO. Some think a kitbash requires sticking a Tactical Marine's torso on a Grot's legs... then covering it all in glue and rolling it in spare parts. You, instead, looked around, came up with an idea, and found parts to make it happen. This really makes me want to see what you do next!

I agree with Buttery, though, that you should learn about paint thinning. You already appear to have some aptitude for color choice and brush control - with a bit of research and practice, you could turn impressive work for a beginner into impressive work for anyone. Read, watch, listen, and PAINT (oh, and ask questions if/when research and practice fail you ), and you'll be leaving people at the store gobsmacked in no time!

 Zambro wrote:
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 Buttery Commissar wrote:
:snip

 oadie wrote:
snip:

Firstly that's for the comments regarding the conversion of the cloaks. Really makes me want to continue doing it

Is Primer something my local games workshop will store or is alit a trip to the craft store. In the event I get it, I primer the model first and then undercoat and paint it as normal? Or does the primer act as the base coat going forward.

I will definitely try thinning the paints down, I seemed to add a drop of water but it always went to thin so I added a bit of paint. 1 part water 2 part paint?

Currently the pathfinders are all I have so I will be taking my time on them. I'm afraid to paint them incase I mess them up :( hence the drone practice!

A primer is a thing that you spray on, then paint. It'll probably be black, white or grey. I recommend getting one.

 Matthew wrote:
A primer is a thing that you spray on, then paint. It'll probably be black, white or grey. I recommend getting one.

Okay, awesome! If it helps het a better finish I am investing it looks a bit rough atm up close.


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 Matthew wrote:
A primer is a thing that you spray on, then paint. It'll probably be black, white or grey. I recommend getting one.

Okay, awesome! If it helps het a better finish I am investing it looks a bit rough atm up close.

Spencley wrote:

Is Primer something my local games workshop will store or is alit a trip to the craft store. In the event I get it, I primer the model first and then undercoat and paint it as normal? Or does the primer act as the base coat going forward.

GW sells primer in a spray can. They do black/white primer - Just ask someone instore. Army Painter also sells a wider variety of primers. They have a very good colour range with their primers (beyond the black/grey/white). I'd recommend Uniform Grey from Army Painter. Your paint scheme has a bunch of colours, so a colour primer is a bit of a waste. No point priming green if your going to paint light brown and black over it. I'd go with a grey primer (grey primer is my default). Before I converted to airbrushing, I used Uniform Grey with great results.

Primer is a very specific thing. It goes directly over plastic. Basecoats/undercoats are any layers that aren't top coats. Therefore, primer will form a basecoat. But a basecoat is not always primer. Terminology aside, always start with a primer and layer up from there.

Paint consistency is a difficult one to explain. I tend to dip the tip of my brush into water, then mix it into the paint I have on my pallet. It hards to describe the right consistency, but it should spread easily, and not run.

Dont be afraid to paint. Get stuck in and post your results!

I'd like to be a pedant and say that the GW sprays are not actually primers. They're just spray paint. You can prime with them, but they're not any better than others, and in many cases more money.

You can prime with car and auto shop primers that are acrylic based. They cost a lot less and yield identical results.
Later on when you have some more painting under your belt you will find a primer that suits you for surface texture and fill, but honestly it's not something all people examine.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I'd like to be a pedant and say that the GW sprays are not actually primers. They're just spray paint.

I know the colour ones are spray paint. But I was fairly certain that their black and white was primer?

Check it, both colours are listed as base coating sprays.
Nowhere on the cans do they claim to be a sealing primer, nor on the site.
It says "can act as a primer" in the blurb which is a very neat sidestep to avoid admitting it's not.

For plastics it doesn't matter so much, but this is why a lot of metal GW minis get chipped more than necessary.

Il hit the local car garage and see what they have then. I suppose I can always strip the paint off if I mess things up. Gonna be assembling the rest of my pathfinders tonight if I get the chance.

Il post what I get done

Halfords primer is very good, especially the grey which would lend itself to easy painting with the colours you're using.

Cool, looks very Star Wars-desert planety, I like.

Oh, wow. I used their black and white for a long time as primers...

 Zambro wrote:
Oh, wow. I used their black and white for a long time as primers...

A very good example of exclusionary detailing.
Honestly, there's nothing wrong with doing so, it's just for metal, especially old metals that may degrade, it's not the best option around because it's neither a true seal nor a gripping primer. But it's accessible, fast, and easy to remove.

Going back to one of the earlier questions: What color to do the details

I’d go with something bright. Like a nice red, or an emerald green. Or use the green for lenses, and the red for markings. This might sound wrong, considering you are going for camo, and you would be correct in saying so.

But real camo is boring. I paint camouflage like Hollywood makes movies based on real-life events. Sure, the basics are there, but overall it’s more flashy with added explosions! You paint your pathfinders in real, effective camo, you are going to deploy them into a woods somewhere and forget to shoot them. If you are lucky, you will notice the empty space in your case at the end of the game and remember to pack them.

You want to see the detail on your minis. Real camo works by breaking up your lines and silhouette. Everything just becomes an unrecognizable mush of color. And while this is great IRL, it’s not the best on a tabletop wargame.

YMMV, your mins, and you can do what you like. And for a first shot, you are doing quite well.

Spencley wrote:

 DalinCriid wrote:
The result is realy, realy nice. Im planning a cloacked conversion army soon. So tell me, is there any chalenge to add the cloack to the mini ?

Hey just realized I did not answer your question regarding the cloaks.

I used woodelf cloaks from fantasy after browsing through the store I decided they looked a bit more sweeping. You get 16 in a box as well so plenty to play around with.

The biggest challenge was lining them up right. I snipped the ball off the under side to make it flat and I did have to snip the bottoms/bend them to have them fit on the bases l. (pathfinders are short!)

Before gluing I sliced the pattern off the quiver with a modeling knife and snipped the arrows out of the top.

Then I simply add plastic glue to any parts that touched and once set put a bit of liquid green stuff around the back of the neck.

I was dreading it as i had never glued a model yet alone use green stuff but it was really easy to apply and I only added small amounts to fill gaps around the back of the neck and cloak.

Finally I snipped a bidding knife at the hilt and glued it on the quiver and the other pathfinders will simply have plain knifes unless I can think of something else to apply .

It was all pretty much done on the fly and snipped as I went.


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I have added 2 more of my cloaked pathfinders to the squad. I was hoping to do more but got side tracks as it was 40k gaming night and I watched a few games.

Whilst the cloaks are on they are not finished and need to be tidied up with green stuff.

Photos can be found below along with a group shot of what I have so far .

Things to note, I glues the wrong Han onto the rail rifle :( going to solve this by making some camo netting and lining parts of the guns and maybe even little hoods on some of them!

http://imgur.com/a/ADcG3