More Completed Suits

Here’s my last crisis and stealth suits all painted up. Actually, not really my last as I still have 2 more in the sprues and not too sure what to do with them, as I already have more than 2000pts painted up. So until I get some funky ideas, I’ll leave them untouched.

Here are additional 3 more stealth suits to the 3 previous ones which I’ve done months ago. The color scheme seems to work for me without highlights as the urban camo already makes them look ‘busy’.

Some may argue that the fusion blaster aka melta weapon should be illuminated in blue rather then the green which I used for the stealth suits here as the green looks too ‘plasma’. However, I think for the sake of variety of colors to the model, I’d keep to green as otherwise it looks too monochrome.

The crisis suit work as my second Shas’El commander, with a converted Positional Relay from a Target-Lock (I just add minimal parts on it). As usual, all the weapons are detachable.

I’m gonna stay away from suits for a while and soon hopefully to complete all the Tau in my collection. Next up will be an ethereal with perhaps some honor guards (hopefully some conversions) along with a devilfish and another piranha.

CC are welcomed, thanks for viewing

Tau Commander

Completed just before I did my test on the space marine, this Tau Commander is fully converted from bitz and parts from leftovers of all the wargear of a battlesuit. I finished paiting this just after I've painted up my 3rd Firewarrior squads (which btw is one of the hardest units ones to paint, if you wanna get them right!)

Here, the chopped up and reassembled flamers and burst cannon resembles a Cyclonic Ion Blaster and a shield was stuck on a plasma rifle to give it a more 'armored' look. The top bit represent the Command and Control node but that is not relevant in the new edition anymore so I'd probably proxy it as a Positional Relay or perhaps just a shield generator. The head has a bit of modification from a Target Lock unit. Overall, its pretty much a 'no-frill' conversion, not too much to stand out but enough to make a difference.... currently working on my second commander now and will post up as soon as he is ready!

http://sidestreaker.multiply.com/photos/album/89/Tau_Commander

Tutorial: Speed Paint Battlesuit

Here's an easy way to paint the Tau Crisis suits in a rather quick and effective manner as based on the T'au Sept color scheme.

At this time, I'm preparing a 3000pts apocalypse army. Meaning I would need to have a sizable army painted up and in decent painting quality that is above avarage tabletop quality. Bear in mind that at the end of this tutorial, the objective is to prepare a decent looking battlesuit in the shortest time and still subject to further refinements.

Firstly, the colors which are used are as follows:Tausept Ochre; Vomit brown, bestial brown and scorched brown(for base), bleached bone and devlan mud. These colors are the base colors which I will show how to be applied on the suits. Here I will demonstate how to color the model without chaos black primer.

Before the model should be painted, I believe it is good practice to do the base first properly before painting the model. This is important, as to make sure the finishing touch-up on the base does not affect the model in the final stages. I would not dwell too much into the base and will move straight on to the main coloring.

Firstly, apply an even coat of tausept ochre to the model after assembly. Leave out the arms, as it would make it easier to go through to the hidden corners. Add a bit of water to have it spread easier. It should be thick enough to have an even coverage in one layer. should the coating is too thin or the plastic color still shows, apply another layer after the first one dries.





Next, apply a thin layer of the Citadel wash, Devlan Mud, onto the recess and armor lines. The first layer may not be sufficient, again, wait till it dries before applying the next wash. Now, you will have a model with a good foundation paint and washes that brings out the contrast line on the overall looks.

Now, after the last layer dried up, apply chaos black to the relevant parts, as shown below. Make sure the lines are crisp and clear to reduce overlapping and rectifying works later.

The following step is the most important. Apply vomit brown to the model and majority of the surface. Avoid the armor lines as best as you can and always prepare cotton buds should the color accidently fills into the recess. It is best to keep the color thin to allow easy rectification. At least 2 layer of this is required to have an even layer throughout. Once done, mix 50/50 vomit brown with bleached bone and apply this as highlight to the edge of the armor line and recess to bring out the darker color washes. go back and touch up the black areas if needed. You're almost done.

While all the above is going on, it is advisable that the arms are done in the same time, with the same technique. Assemble them and complete the model. Add bone white for lines and markers on the model and apply decals where desired.



The rest of the weapons should be done in the same manner to achieve a similar effect and fast coloring solution.




I'm keeping my weapons interchangable for most of my battlesuits, so I went all out to paint all the weapon choice.


Overall, this technique allows quick and quality speed coloring and easy rectification at any point of the process. Good luck!