Greetings.

As outlined in my intro thread I am new to 40k, and my chosen army is Tau. After assembling my Tau Battleforce Box I became dis-satisfied with with my commander (the only Crisis Battlesuit I have). The boxy nature of the model is a letdown for me compared to the other design aspects of the army. Despite the fact that it is my only Crisis Battlesuit I decided to rip it apart (somewhat difficult in parts) and try and rebuild it into a more pleasing form.

Once this conversion is complete I will write out a back story for it. Until then, journey with me as I mangle my Crisis Suit in the name of aesthetics! (And if oyu have any advice along the way, please share it).

I started my conversion fairly innocuously; by beefing up the head according to Adam's Tau Battlesuit Conversion guide
http://warhammer-tau-army.blogspot.com.au/2009/01/tau-battlesuit-conversions.html

However I soon decided turned my attention to the legs and found them wanting. The thigh is fine, but the lower leg is kinda small and lacking in detail.
Using a flamer I extended the leg and added some detail. The knee pad is a combination of a Fire Warrior shoulder pad and a Stealth Suit knee pad.

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Next up was the Torso. To give it more of a mech feel I cut the torso up and reset the front of the body upside down, then placed the thrusters horizontally instead of vertically (I guess they are no longer thrusters, perhaps they are simply exhaust vents?).

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Top View
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I then placed the modified head on top
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To seat the legs I took the original ball mount from the torso for the original legs and trimmed it down.
Then I cut it in half and mated it to the missile pod
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Now I have two holes to plug. The bottom of the Mech, and the back.
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The back is plugged up with putty and covered in various off-cuts/bitz
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The underside is treated the same, with the addition of the shield being mounted as an underside access port
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The final build:
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To Be Continued....!

This model truly has a Sumo Wrestler look going for it. I really like how it changes the suits look. The legs with the flamer bits are awesome.

Sumo indeed! nice one.

I have removed the legs and decided to sculpt out some of the bulk of the torso with my rotary tool. I am also considering new shin pads. I think the Fire Warrior shoulder pads as some kind of coverall is getting a bit tired.

I might actually end up sitting the legs a little lower, thinning him out some more.