GrahamGilchrist's Tau Farsight Cadre and scratchbuilt Orca Log

[GrahamGilchrist]

Contents: [*updated*]

Test Models:
Crisis suit (see this post)
Fire Warrior
Drones
Stealth Suit

Scratchbuilt Orca:
Construction Starts
Finished before undercoat
Sprayed undercoat
Basecoat
W-I-P painting

WIP models:
Broadsides
Stealth Team
All crisis suits
Crisis suits 1
Crisis suits 2
Crisis suits 3
Crisis suits 4
Crisis suits 5
Crisis suits 6
Crisis suit Commander undercoat (counts as Farsight)
Crisis Commanders base coat
Remora Drones

Army Shot

Finished Models:
Fire warriors
Broadside 1
Broadside 2
Stealth Teams

Introduction

I thought I would show off and ask for feedback on some of the test models I have just completed for my new Tau army. This is not a project log, although I may make one later on. There are going to be desert based and have a strongly contrasting black and orange colour scheme I came up with whilst playing Dawn of War.

The army is going to be using the Farsight rules and will be suit-heavy, although hopefully not cheesily so, as I am restricing myself on other unit choices (only crisis, stealths, fire warriors and drones).

I have done tests for:
crisis suit
drones
fire warrior
stealth suit


*****Edit Update******
If you can't see the images here then you can go to my Picasa album.

Crisis suit
---------------

This is the painted test crisis suit for my Tau army. I'm not sure about the black highlighting yet. There are a lot of black highlighting techniques and It's difficult to paint a black which looks properly shiny. The weapons are also all magnetized, since I don't yet know how I will arm them.

[GrahamGilchrist]

Gun Drones
-----------------

Two gun drones in alternate schemes. I couldn't quite decide which to go with yet but I am leaning towards the one on the right.

[Ross]

S### you've done some great detailing work on the underneath of the drones, job well done. The colouring on the firewarrior is equally well done.
Good work, all the colours look good.

[GrahamGilchrist]

Fire Warrior
--------------------

The second fire warrior test for my Tau army. This one has proper basing and I changed the eye gems to green which I think has a better contrast with the rest of the model.

[GrahamGilchrist]

Stealth Suit
-----------------

Here is the first model in my stealth team unit. There will eventually be 5 Stealth team members and 5 gun drones in this unit so it ought to kick out a lot of firepower. I initially didn't have the electric line, but the model didn't quite look right. Having added it at the edge of the camo area I think it adds a lot to the model and makes it look like he is actually in transformation. I took some inspiration from the stealth suits in this army

[xibo]

Death to 56K? But butbut I have 28.8k

Your pics-links are invalid...

[schoolcormorant]

i can see them :confused:

this stuff is Awesome! the stealthsuit is genius, and the battlesuit is cool

SC

[Perfect Organism]

Generally pretty good looking models. The highlights on the black look fine to me.

I'm not sure about the stealth effect on the stealth suits... the texture makes them look like they are just covered in dirt rather than using active camouflage (which is what I assume you are going for). Maybe try using the same colours but apply them in a mottled camoflage pattern? Or go the other way and make the whole suit really blend into the base, possibly adding a few random lumps and things to the helmet and shoulders to really break the outline up.

The 'orange' sections look too red for my taste on my screen, but I have no idea if that's the paint, the photography or my monitor...

[Endemion]

All very well painted, will have to keep an eye on this. Personally prefer the left hand drone, but there's not a lot in it. And the electric effect on the stealth suit is superb

[Bob Hunk]

Sweeeeet, the Stealth Suit is are especially cool.

[Sling]

Wow! The scheme is really stunning. I love the combination of black and orange. And the stealthsuit is especially great. Like in the diorama in the Medusa V featuring WD

[Tiller5]

Wow, that stealthsuit is simply fantastic! ALMOST enough to tempt me back into doing Tau, but not quite! I think the gun drones look interesting in the two different schemes, I dont think you should stick to the same pattern, maybe have the same colours but in alternate arrangements perhaps...?

[Scanno]

Love the stealthsuit. The scheme is great; strikes me as very anime for some reason.

[GrahamGilchrist]

Thanks for the comments guys. Glad the colours look good to others as well

@Perfect Organism: It is a redder orange. I found that the brighter orange worked better on the crisis armour, but for the infantry undersuits, it needed to be a darker muted tone.

So what do you guys think for the others in the stealth team. Should I do one fully camo, one non-camo and the others in between? I was thinking about doing one with the camo coming from the top down and one with flickering patches, although these may look naff in practice.

[Perfect Organism]

So what do you guys think for the others in the stealth team. Should I do one fully camo, one non-camo and the others in between? I was thinking about doing one with the camo coming from the top down and one with flickering patches, although these may look naff in practice.

I'd be tempted to do them as all in different stages of activating their camouflage, so if you put them in a row it forms a little sequence... the first one just running into position with no camouflage, the next one standing with camouflage begining to creep up his body, then one who was almost completely camouflaged and end with one crouched down, almost indistinguishable from the base (depending on how many gys are in the unit, these stages will need to be adjusted, but I hope the concept is clear).

[GrahamGilchrist]

Nice idea. There will be 5 in the unit, so it would be perfect for a sequence. I do have some made in running poses that could function in such a capacity...

[THX_1138]

Wow! You've done a great job with these figures! Great scheme you've chosen, I especially like the stealth suit. A whole team painted that way will look superb.

I did notice one thing though. On the drones, isn't the white grill area supposed to be the exhaust port (ie the back of the model)?

[jasevx]

To make a Tau that good makes you realise there is hope for them! Its a shame it takes brilliant painters like yourself to bring them alive, is there any serious conversions in the waiting?

[GrahamGilchrist]

@THX 1138: Doh, someone spotted

You're not the only person to have pointed this out, but I just thought it looked cooler that way

[Kasrkin 666]

Sexy as hell! Love the detail under the drones. Also love the phasing of the stealth suit.

-666