Hello, I have been lurking with intent for awhile now, so here goes my first post.
I recently got my models out of the loft and decided I wanted to get back into the hobby/life style after a few years out. When I saw my models I remembered how unhappy I had always been about my paint scheme, I had changed it a few times but stuck with the same basic colours.

This time I thought I go the extra mile and do a
proper job! Also go for a completely different scheme, but what should it be?
StripFirstly I needed to strip the old paint off, I achieved this by putting the models in an old ice cream tub with some Dettol Antiseptic Liquid (the brown smelly stuff) and left it for over a week, a full week isn’t necessary, a day will probably do the job.
Once the Dettol was well soaked in I went to the bathroom sink (put the plug in!) and using an old tooth brush, bushed away the old paint. This took a few cycles to get the majority of the paint off. Soak, Brush, Rinse and Repeat.
I strongly recommend using gloves or maybe an alternative stripping agent as my hands went all wrinkly and once dry I had really flaky skin for a few days, not pretty!
Now with the majority of the paint removed and the models well rinsed with soap and water. I got some of the remaining paint out of the small groves with the tooth brush, a cocktail stick and scalpel.
RebuildAs I was cleaning the models I found some of the parts came away where the glue had been degraded, I believe this is because I soaked them for so long. So I begun with cleaning up any flash lines I missed when I originally assembled the models (in the early 2000s) and re-glued any parts back in position.
When it came to my crisis suits I decided that it would be an ideal opportunity to magnetise the weapons and create some dramatic poses. I also purchased the Shas’o R’mry model form forgeworld to give my O’Shovah a more interesting look.

With the firewarriors I gave them Katanas and used some liquid greenstuff and regular greenstuff to tidy up the joins.

I’ve also begun to test some basing materials. I purchased a small bag of Potting Grit form a local garden centre. A few grades of sand and some mixed rocks I found on Ebay at a reasonable price.
PaintI haven’t properly started this stage yet but have kind of decided on a new scheme. I also attempted a couple of test runs using techniques new to me. At first I was looking at grey/urban feel but as Farsight has always been the centre point of my army I couldn’t abandon the colour red.
I read a very brief description of Arkunasha “arid oxide-dessert” in the Codex. It initially made me think of Ayers Rock in Australia. I searched Google Images for red desert, red oxide and Ayers Rock amongst other things.
Jordtron’s Weathered Farsight Enclave has inspired me further, simply superb!
To be continued . . . .This is it so far, I have some Vallejo paints ordered as I am slowly converting to them and the white primer is ready and waiting. In the future I hope to venture into the world of airbrushing for painting tanks and other things outside of the hobby.
If you read all this I hope it didn’t bore you too much! Thanks for reading and watch this space for updates!
Things I found usefulhttp://www.acrylicosvallejo.com – Vallejo Paints
http://www.advancedtautactica.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10515 – Jordtron’s Weathered Farsight Enclave
http://www.youtube.com/user/WGConsortium - Great airbrushing guides
http://www.youtube.com/user/GirlPainting - Some very good painting techniques
http://s1109.photobucket.com/albums/h427/Pinder87/Warhammer%2040K%20-%20Tau/