Transmission from Shas'o Nal'da Orpheus to Inquisitor Kyrea of the Ordo Hereticus, prior to the destruction of the bridge of said Inquisitor's vessel. wrote:

"Why do I fight, you ask? Why do I continue to resist, despite the innumerable odds stacked against us? Why do I mobilize against the multitude of threats in this galaxy? Why did I give up the life of luxury and safety on Terris' hidden corner of the Gulf, to take up arms against you?

I do it for my family. I do it for my people. I do it for the innocents you would mindlessly butcher, giving their cries of pain, their pleading for life not a single thought. I do it for the slim chance that this galaxy could be a good place once more. I do it for I have seen the good and the evil in this existance. I do it for those whom died in vain and those whom have yet to be born. I do it for the Greater Good, Inquisitor."

Over the past couple of years, the Tau sept of Nal'da has layed low on all recorded fronts, many of their outposts seemingly abandoned with all traces of the former inhabitants gone. This occurance has sparked much discussion within the Ordo Xenos and many Eastern Fringe commanders, all of which whom were expecting heavy resistance in the reclamation of many previously Tau-held worlds. Many believed that they had been wiped out by Tyranids, or disbanded and dissolved into the greater empire; regardless of the possible causes, many thought they were gone.

They were wrong.


The recent rumors of a new Tau codex appearring early next year-coupled with my recent improvements in model-making-sparked interest in my favorite blue aliens once more. Braver now and able to use casted parts that I originally thought I'd never be able to salvage, I took the tragedies that befell my beloved Farsight conversion and the brake fluid incident with my R'alai and XV9-04 to start anew...




I'm really liking how it's coming along, but I need help: which of the following torso rotations should I go with!?

1:

2:

3:

Ooh, now this I can get in to! I like the conversion! I don't remember, what happened to your old Farsight model? Oh and good job on the fluff! It was very engaging.

As for torso rotation, I like the first option. I think it looks natural and dynamic.

Ahhhh, that was the original rotation! I moved the hips a little further back on the torso too to make it seem a bit more naturally positioned.

As for the original...my sisters took the tray/box of my Tau out of the car and set it on the handrail of our porch. By the time I came home, gravity had had it's way, and my original Farsight conversion's entire left arm and shoulder was never found.

Ouch!

Fantastic conversion of Farsight. Liking the 3rd pose so far, but they all look top notch. Keep up the good work.

cheers

Yeah, everyone (including myself!) seems to be torn between 1 and 3; I'll talk to my sis (She's an artist and is pretty good with anatomy/natural postions and such, so she could help) and see what she has to say. Also, I got this comment on Papanurgle, and thought I'd share it and my response:



That's actually a good thing! His homeworld was supposed to be an "Ark" of sorts (Humanoids infused with DNA of Terra's lost and disappearring species), and they were under the watch of a small contingent of Ultramarines before the Heresy. They were cut off thanks to a Warp Storm though, and while disconnected from the Imperium they were also spared the ravages of the Heresy; from this history, it'd make sense that there'd be a Roman/Greek influence in their styling.

Well, the Purple Power's done it's magic, so I decided to put down some liquid GS and start painting! Something about my other schemes just didn't really speak to me, though. I looked around my desk and paint drawer, and came across my unopened jar of Hormagaunt Purple. It was then that I started to remember my earlier works, my old scheme (which some of you may remember!):






Oh how I miss those days, before the car wreck that busted up my left collarbone, when the LGS was still around, 5th Edition hadn't come yet (or was still new), and 40k was still new, none of the drama and stupid crap they pull now...

I decided that I want to try and re-capture some of that feeling! Still a major WIP, but here's some shots of where Orpheus' suit stands at now:






EDIT: If this scheme doesn't go over well, then I may try red or go back to orange.

So I did all my boring crap for the day and then had a seat at my desk and had a look at the then fully-dry legs of Orpheus' battlesuit, and I felt...underwhelmed. It was a neat idea, but it just didn't really jump out at me. After chatting with multiple online friends and going through my foundation paints, I remembered a green and dark grey scheme I had seen elsewhere on Advanced Tau Tactica in the past, and I remember that I really did like it. That-combined with the fact that much of Orpheus' homeworld is quiet temperate, heavy in Conifer forests and Urban sprawls, both of which this scheme would be good for-pushed me to give my previously untouched Knarloc Green a try. All I can say is WOW! I added a couple of drops of flow improver straight to the jar, and it covers beautifully with only one or two coats! This ease of painting plus the more "calm"/neutral tone of the color (which I tend to associate with Tau) sealed the deal in my mind. Seeing as I like Orange and that Nal'da was founded by the Sa'cea Sept, they retained the orange markings, which I think came out very nicely. There's no meaning or writing, I just did what I thought looked cool! XD I need to find something to add to my Badab Black to help it flow better and pool less, though...it tends to try a little more quickly than I'd like. I wanted to use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol, but seeing as the rubbing alcohol is inaccessible right now I used a cotton swab that had only a TINY bit of Purple Power, swabbing and rubbing over the uppermost surfaces instead of re-painting them and thus picking up a "lumpy" texture from the wash. A VERY thin/sharp Goblin Green highlight on select areas and the start of the red and blue glow, and we arrive here:

I just wanted to step in and say that I absolutely love what you have done with the power weapon at the top of this page. It looks amazingly nice. Can't wait to see the completed model.

Very nice converting work on this armour. I like the way you've mixed the XV8 and XV9 parts, creating your own design.
And the green scheme looks promising.

Hang in there O-H!

The Knarloc Green looks great on your model. I really like the way it is coming along, the grey/green scheme works well. I've saved your photo in my reference folder and made a note of the knarloc green for future endeavors.

Will you be re-touching the large flat areas at all? I think they would benefit from a light (thin) coat of green again to make them more solid and opaque looking. The wash might act like a pre-shaded coat and give you a really nice top coat. Maybe testing this somewhere other than your wonderful model is advisable.

Looking forward to seeing the rest,

modelglue

Just got the Vectored Retro-Thrusters, a new blade (I'm thinking a former Daemon Weapon that was consecrated by his marine buddies, or just a sword based on one ), touch-ups and basing to go! My current VRTs are, though, in rough shape, so I'm going to need to either make new ones or find an alternative (XV25 jump packs maybe?). Anyways, pretty pictures! I'll try to have better-quality ones up later!




Thinking about adding more orange markings, maybe to the thighs. Thoughts?

Im loving the progress on this Suit. The pose looks great, and the painting is coming on great.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks for all the comments guys!

I started fiddling with ways to try and fix the VRTs I have, only to end up with butchered bits and no decent VRTs to show for it. After rummaging through my Tau bits again, though, I cam across that cool sensor bit from the XV25 Stealthsuit-and then a second one, both of which had already had the antennae removed for Marker Drone conversions! I looked 'em over and began thinking, and then it hit me: anti-gravity pods!





They serve another function, though: they have technology borrowed from their allies, a (non-Chaos) renegade Space Marine chapter known as the Shadow Dragons, built in. More specifically, those pods were built under the supervision of their Librarians...


The Claw of Terris, a (now former) Daemon Weapon that was weilded by a lesser Daemon Prince in an assault on the world of Kardas-which is on the edge of the Nal'da Sept's southern border. They did not anticipate the Tau to have the psychic-sensitive marines on their side, so the Daemon Prince foolishly left himself 'exposed' in a sense, allowing the Shadow Dragons' Librarians to track his course. The invasion was a massive failure for the rather unorganized warband, the Tau of Nal'da-and the Shadow Dragons-lying in wait for them, encircling their fleet in orbit and destroying nearly every ground asset. In the fight, though, Orpheus' battlesuit took a meltabomb to the shield arm; the shield itself (and the fact that the suit is based on the rugged XV9 chassis) kept the suit from being outright destroyed-though the entirety of the left arm, shield, left VRT, the shoulder-mounted plasma rifle, and a few of the sensors on the head were lost. Armed with his gifted spear, he impaled the Chosen that planted the charge and tossed him to the Kroot, eventually entering battle with the Daemon Prince Zur'dal himself. He inflicted wounds on the beastial being, but a hard blow from Zur'dal's daemon weapon shattered even the shielded and runed adamantium haft of the spear, the Frost Blade that ended it cracked beyond repair. Careful Maneuvering-and personal intervention from the Chapter Master of the Shadow Dragons, Bahamut-finally won the day, though, the Daemon Prince banished and the remainder of his squabbling warband fleeing. As Orpheus' battlesuit was being repaired and overhauled, the Librarians of the Shadow Dragons put their skills-and their newest members-to the test, Consecrating the blade that Bahamut managed to wrestle from Zur'dal's grasp. It was gifted to Orpheus for his bravery in the fight-and to replace his beloved spear, which had become an icon to Nal'da and even to the Shadow Dragons. Technology gleaned from the Librarian's Psychic Hoods was implemented in the new hilt and casing at the base of the blade, working in conjunction with the new pods on Orpheus' XV9 to filter out any remaining Warp energy that could allow what may remain of the formerly-bound daemon to influence the commander. When not at war, the blade is kept in confinement, and is directly handled only by drones and the most trusted and powerful of the Shadow Dragon's librarians.

Wow, the modifications you've made to the suit look phenomenal. Great work on the replacement shoulder thingies... I may have to copy that!

Go for it! quick question, though: should the "nose" of each be green or gray? I'm thinking that it might put too much gray if I go that way... *rubs chin*

I think it would look good if just the very front of the pod was grey, Orpheus. That way there's still more green than grey, but the pods aren't entirely monotone.


On a side-note, it would also be really cool if you marked the shield arm to recognize that it had been destroyed previously, although now you have it more or less fully painted...

I ended up going with green, but thanks for the input! As for your suggestion, his suit was completely overhauled after that incident-which included replacing the entire shield arm with this new model. As oyu can see, it also got re-painted, so...

Anyways, it's 1 A.M. and I put all the creativity I had into the model; I'll think of more to say when I take some photos of it outside. For now, enjoy the best I could do tonight:

Seeing fantastic paint jobs like these really demotivated me when I'm trying to paint up my first XV9 with my limited skills and Unrealistic expectations ;-)

Great job though!

Excellent work! I have to say, my favorite part is probably the sword. It definitely looks like an artifact that was enhanced with tau technology. Sort of a... "We don't know how to use this, but we'll be damned if we don't have the tech to figure it out."

He looks awesome Orpheus!