Tau XV8 Battle Suits

Just a quick one - I've built and started to paint the Battle suits.

I wanted some nice dynamic poses for these suits, so some minor repositioning of the legs was needed. The suits have been armed for anti-personnel duties; Burst Cannons and Plasma Rifles along with Multi-Trackers.

 

I've undercoated the Suits and made a start on the painting. They'll be panted using the same scheme and techniques as the Riptide - should have them complete by the end of the week!

The GunGrave

Apocalypse Terrain: Hall of Heroes Complete

I've completed the paint job for the Hall of Heroes. I didn't go to mad, just wanted to give it a splash of colour to break up the grey. After that I gave the whole building a heavy wash of diluted black oil paint.

A scale shot with some Vostroyan volunteers.

Again, I only added colour to the scroll's on the side of the building. I was going to do the skulls as well, but quickly realised how many of them there were!!

The upper deck:

Each section of the upper deck is large enough to easily accommodate a 10 man squad:

With this pleasant distraction out of the way, I'll be moving onto the Tau Battle Suits. Tonight im also going to visit a potential new gaming club in Cheltenham which will hopefully get the gaming side of the hobby going for me again!

The GunGrave

Tau Fire Warrior Squad 2 Complete; Hall of Heroes Update

The second squad of Fire Warriors is now complete. I'm not sure how many I want yet, but I usually have a core of about 4 infantry squads in my armies, so that's what I'll aim for.

I painted these guys a little differently. I used the same techniques I used on the Riptide for the Warriors here. The first attempt at the scheme was effective, but quite labour intensive. This new method is a little quicker and creates much more consistency across the squad.

Here's a few comparison shots so you can see for yourselves. I've added some weathering to the armour this time. Nuln Oil was selectively applied to the fatigues before a black oil paint wash was applied to the whole model. First scheme is on the left, new scheme on the right.

 

The definition on the second scheme is definitely more subtle, but the consistency is much better! I'll be rolling this scheme out across the army.

 

I've done a bit of work for the Crisis Battle Suit Team that's awaiting assembly. The bases are built and painted. I'll be building the Battle Suits later today.

 

I've been leaving the Drones until last, so I've got quite a few waiting to be painted!

The Army is growing quickly!

 

I've also been doing a little bit of painting on the Hall of Heroes. I've applied Army Painters Uniform Grey over the undercoat, the added shading by applying Fortress Grey with an airbrush.

 

I added some plasticard tiles to the base to break up the plainness a bit.

 

I wont be going to mad on the paintjob - just some colour on the fans, scrolls, skulls, and the Aquila at the entrance. Should look pretty good!

 

The GunGrave





Apocalypse Terrain: Hall of Heroes Build Complete

The latest of my terrain projects actually saw completion quite quickly. Now that its all put together, I'm not sure if it exclusively qualifies as Apoc' Terrain! The base board measures just under 2ft x 2ft, so could comfortably be used in a regular game of 40K.

 

The insides of the walls were braced with some pine strip to keep the shape. It also acts as a support for the second deck which was cut from 3mm MDF.

There will be a Space Marine Statue from the Honoured Imperium set in each of these 4 spaces around the building (if anyone has any going cheap i'm interested! Get in touch)

The top deck is a smaller version of the base deck, again topped with MDF.

A Shrine of the Aquila entrance way finishes the building off nicely! Now i'm just waiting for some spray paint to arrive from Army Painter (should be today) and i'll get cracking on the paint job.

I've also spent some much needed time on my pride and joy - Praetorian! This poor guy has spent the last 5 months in pieces since he got damaged in my move here. I made some minor adjustments to my display cabinet so I could get him in fully assembled. I have to say, he looks more glorious than ever!

 

Finally, on the table is some more Fire Warriors. I've also got a Battle Suit team in the box waiting to go. The Expansion is well and truly underway.

 

The GunGrave

Tau XV104 Riptide Battle Suit Complete

 

So my first Riptide is done. I'm very happy with the colour scheme, and will be quickly rolling this out across the rest of the force as it grows. The whole model has been washed with a black oil paint wash, which is much less 'aggressive' than using the GW washes. You get a much more subtle effect. I'll also be using this technique on the next batch of Fire Warriors as well.

 

The sharp eyed among you will have noticed the lack of secondary weapons and support systems. Being a new Tau player I'm not really sure what to choose yet so I've left them off for now. The Shielded Missile Drones are built but not painted yet - they've joined the Drone painting assembly line!

 

Ion Accelerator

I airbrushed a lighter blue onto the sphere at the top of the iconography - I wanted these to look as though they were some form of power source built into the aesthetic design of the suit.

Pilot detail:

The base was painted to fit in with the Urban-Snow theme of  the army.

I didn't go to mad on the colours here, as I thought it would clash to much with the white of the Riptide. A small amount of rust and scorch marks were added using weathering powders.

Now the Riptide is complete I'll be focusing my attention on The Hall of Heroes! More on that next post.

The GunGrave

Riptide WIP



 

I've been taking my time on the Riptide. Having not painted Tau properly before, I've been finding it hard to get the colour scheme right,, However, I think I'm there!

 

I've added some weathering to all that white to break it up a bit.

 

 

One of  the most notable additions is the camo scheme. This took a bit of time, and I tried a lot of variations! This is what I settled on, and i'm very happy with it.

 

Camo detailing on the Shield and jet pack:

Ion Cannon - i'll be adding some blue into the recesses of the barrel end and get some OSL going as well!

With the Riptide approaching completion, I've been planning my next Apocalypse Terrain project: The Hall of Heroes. I've got the base mapped out, and now i'm just waiting for some parts to arrive in the post. Building will start in a few days!

 

Finally I've had to grab another display cabinet! With the Tau added to my collection, I've been running out of storage space!

 

More on the Riptide and the Hall of Heroes in the next few days.

The GunGrave

Tau Fire Warrior Squad Complete

 

 

 

So my first ever Tau squad is complete. So...the colour scheme - I think i'm happy with it, but now the squad is complete I think i'm gonna add that battle damage after all. The off white looks good, but there are some inconsistencies in the shades across the models, which would be next to impossible to avoid. I'm hoping the battle damage will mask these inconsistencies a bit, and achieve a more uniformed look across the squad. The Drones aren't quite complete yet, but soon will be.

 



 

So with the squad complete, i'm free to move onto the Riptide! Only as far as the undercoat at the mo', but today I'll be doing some work on it.

 



 

In other news, I've also started work on another Apocalypse Terrain project: Hall of Hero's! More on that soon!

The GunGrave