Me and a friend of mine have come up with a pretty good rough sketch of the planet my Tau sept, currently unnamed, is going to hail from. The brief over-view of the world is pretty scientifically based, so I feel pretty good about it. Anyway, here goes...

The planet is a small dense rock planet with a very rocky, desert feel. The planet will appear mostly purple from space due to an cobalt and iron rich soil. The planet orbits fairly close to a dying blue star, so it's a very cool planet, despite being mostly deserts. The little vegetation there is on the planet is going to be mostly dark colors. Trees will have dark, almost black bark, and grasses and other vegetation will range between dark blues, purples and reds to maximize the amount of heat and light that are absorbed from the sun.
Since the planet is so much like a cool desert here on Earth, I imagined the vegetation to be similar. Sparse scrub grasses and low gnarled trees dotting a rocky and barren waste land... If I had any skills with a photo editing program, I'd mock something up, but alas, I'm not.

So, on to the sept...

The sept colors are going to be dark purple and dark blue for their armor (Necron Abyss for the cloth components, and Lich Purple for the armor). The catch is, I want to add a touch of detail to the uniform by adding a cloak for cold weather ops... Something like a cape, but with a furry collar around the top... But, I have no idea how to do that on the models. I'm mostly looking for comments and suggestions on the sept's background, and on the modeling bits too. I'm new to the game and fairly new to the site as well, so please be gentle...

Sir Duck 13 (I haven't picked a suitable Tau moniker yet...)

((Edited for spelling errors.))

your best option may actually be to prime some fluffed cottonballs made small enough for your coats. This will look fluffy and be somewhat hard (though I would have to try it to be sure of this statement) Another idea is greenstuff. A third is to find some imperials that you like. Guardsmen are about the size of a tau so guardsmen parts are possible adaptations. A black or purple wash over your armor may actually look good to darken it and detail the cloth.

Thanks for the heads up on the guardsmen. I'm gonna go check them out and I'll have to test the cotton ball idea. I'm thinking I might try it with the ends of some Q-tips so I'll be a touch closer to the size I'm after. Also, I have been using a dark purple wash over the blue components of the armor on my firewarriors to try to bring out more tone and shadows in them. I like the purple kinda the way it is, especialy since the contrast with my bright yellow sept marking really makes them pop out. I'll try to post pics soon.

Sir Duck 13

I think the Vostroyan Guard models have a lot of fur lining on their uniforms, so those models might be able to help you.

Wow... I can just imagine how cool some cloaked FCW would look

If I were to do this, I'd make a simple, thin cloak of green stuff for each warrior that would go over the shoulders, perhaps joining in front of the chest. The back-pack would be under the cloak, so actually I would save the packs for other modelling projects and just put some cut up sprue under the cloaks so it looks like they have packs. The big shoulder pad would be on top of the cloak though, as if it was actually integrated into the cloak.

Also hoods. Even though most of the FCW would have the hood back so they can see, I would still have it there for effect.

Man, now I really want to do this for my fire warriors!


This is also a reasonable option. Vostryans come from an "inhospitable climate", although I'm not sure what that means, but they have fur caps and heavy coats that could work. Valhallens have heavy coats ment for ice worlds or other cold places like barren ash worlds. Also, the Tallarns have lots of cloth on them, due to the desert world from which they hail. Note that all of the linked model lines are all metal models, which are hard to convert. You'd need to snip off the heads, feet, and weapons, and perhaps shave off a finger as well. Also, when you look at the price to purchase that many models, plus the fire warrior bits, then green-stuff and cotton balls begins to look a lot more attractive

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I'm gonna start poking around and see what I can find as far as models to convert, and I'm going to pick up a tube of GS sometime today as well as cotton balls to give that a try. For now though, I'm gonna try to post some links to what I've got so far so you fine folks can see more of what I'm talking about. Again, these are my first attempts, so they're not perfect and I've noticed a few errors on them that I can pretty easily fixed. Feel free to C&C on them anyway, I'd hate to miss something easily remedied and I'd love some suggestions on how to fix anything major.

Here's my first try at the Ethereal's honor guard Firewarrior. I don't like how the white on his cloth bits turned out, so I'm gonna try a few other ideas. Thinking of laying down a base coat of a very pale grey, or an off white and then drybrushing in the brighter white to bring out the details more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3229627432/

And here's the more basic Firewarriors, equiped with Carbines since I was imagining them being deployed in very rocky terrain, almost making them urban warfare specalists.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3229625642/

Feel free to make some comments and suggestions, always welcome.

Sir Duck 13

I like the color theme your going for with the purples and blues, but I'm not so sure about the yellow. If these guys are trying to be camoflaged then the yellow is the wrong way to go. However, if your going for a noticable "SWAT" look, then the yellow is excellent.

I gotta say though, the moment I saw the second picture I started hearing the classic Power Rangers theme song in my head.

Thanks for all the help so far. Still having issues with the cloak. Found a place to buy GS today, but still having issues working with it and figuring out what I want the model to look like when I'm done with it. So far, no luck. Any tips for working with the stuff that I could benifit from?

Also, I'm sorry to hear it made you think of Power Rangers... I hated that show. Anyway, I'm kinda frustrated and giving up for the night, just thought I'd check in and see if I could get any other tips or advice for working with GS.

Sir Duck 13

I do something similar to all of my Shas'ui and my entire Honour Guard for my Ethereal. What I did was cut up a shammy(leather car drying sheet thingy) into little cloaks, and then put the backpack on with some glue to keep them on. I then used a very very light dry brush of tan and brown and voila. Now my Shas'ui stand out even more, and I must say, its neat when people ask, "dang, is that real leather?"

Tried another few attempts at the Cloak thing... No dice so far. Thinking about trying the "off the shoulder" on one side and seeing how that works. I tried to do it with no backpack the first time and liked the way it looked, I just decided I should have painted the FW first and ended up junking it for the night. I'm kinda taking a break, as I've found that working on one sort of unit for too long gets dull fast. Putting together my first 'Fish. So far I like it. Painting the interior and detailing it up a bit so it looks good on the table top. Pics to follow.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that this topic may be in the wrong place, since it's become a sort of working blog for my army. I'm not sure how to move it, or if it even really needs to be moved?

Sir Duck 13

Instead of yellow, I'd suggest a half-and-half codex gray/chaos black. Also, you've done an excellent job aplying the paint to the armor; very smooth! If only mine would cooperate with me for once...

I haven't decided about the yellow yet, but thanks for the compliment on the painting I've done so far. Yellow is definatly the sept collor, but as I've recently discoverd through deeper reading, only the unit's Shas'ui is s'possed to have the Sept colored pannels on his armor to denote rank. So... I've not decided what to do about that bit yet. I personaly like the bright contrast to the other dark colors astheticly, but realize it's crap for camoflauge. So, I'm not sure what to do. I don't plan to field 3 carbine FW squads, and I've already marked my Shas'ui out by putting the bonding knife on them. I'll probably just leave it and work out fluff for why they have the mark on every unit later. Anyway, I'm gonna break out the modeling stuff and get working on that Devilfish I was up later with last night.

Got some new pics to share. Started on the Devilfish last night and came up with the interior painted and the back section partialy assembled. Also put up the one gun drone I've got finnished so far, as well as a group photo of the FWs I've got finnished. I think I'm gonna work on more this week. I'd like to have my first full fireteam set up and painted by the end of next week, with acompanying Devilfish. I've been thinking of some ways to put some differences between my fireteams to tell them apart on the battlefield. Without further ado, the WiP pics.

The Devilfish.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3237074042/ (The side panel with a rifle in the gunrack.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3237074020/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3237073968/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3236230109/

A Kroot Auxilary that I'll probably never feild.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3236230473/

Group shot with gundrone.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11243549@N06/3236230059/

As always, Comments and Critisism are welcomed.

Sir Duck 13

Just an update... I've given up on the cloak till I get a little more expiriance doing work with GS. For now anyway. I'm working on the rest of my arms so I can at least get a feildable force ready for game play. My current projects in the crosshairs are my Fish, A squad of 6 Pathfinders (3 railrifle, 3 marker light) , 2 Firewarrior Squads (1 carbine, 1 rifle), And a pirahnna that's going to be a slight conversion I'm stealing the idea for from another of our brothers here on the site. Its' going to be a fast attack variant with the troop capacity to haul my Pathfinders into battle. I have some pics of some random conversions that I got the idea on here from the Shei'She idea. Same thing pretty much, but mine won't be nearly as pretty. I've still got a lot of learning to do with the GS. I'll have pics of what I've got so far soon.

Oh, also picked a name for myself and for my sept. Just have to get off my lazy bottom and go find the notebook I had all my notes writen down in... I'll post that when I post the new pics too I guess.

SirDuck13

I like the group shot with the drone. I had one thought for the cloaks, you might try a stiff under layer molded/cut into the shape you want (cardstock?), then GS the details on.

Hmm, I like the cardstock idea. I'm going to have to work on that one. Still haven't found any place localy to buy the stuff yet though.

Well modeling clay that is supposed to harden when it dries is also supposed to work. Might give it a try (might be cheaper)

First, let me say that what you have going there is really good. I love to see forethought going into army building, especially an ambitious plan like yours. I like the colors that you've chosen, and that you've stuck with muted but powerful purples and reds. The bright yellow-orange accents are just what I would have done, too.

I really don't think that the cardstock thing will work- or at least, it won't look like real cloth or anything. Greenstuff is definitely the way to go for cloaks and capes because it flows naturally and works with the contours of your mini. Here are some tips for doing GS cloaks:

Start with a wet, flat surface. This will give one side a smooth workable texture and keep the cloaks from sticking to the surface.

You're new to greenstuffing, so capes are your best bet. Cloaks require a lot of negotiation to look right everywhere.

To make the cloaks themselves, plod a piece of greenstuff between two... you know what? Picture.



The rolling thing can be a pen or anything round and rolly. The first tool is an x-acto knife. The second is any blunt hard poking thing, I use dental tools.

The main thing is not to use ANY sharp tools to shape the cloak because it will leave little holes.

For the fur lining, there's a great tutorial HERE. (oh wait they kinda get into cloaks too)

Good luck, and keep posting pics!

Well the idea wasn't to use plain old stock, but to use it as a frame and then coat/texture with greenstuff (sorry if I misinterpreted your post)

Thanks a ton for the pic and the idea of how to clean up what I'm doing! I'm also glad you like the colors and tones I've gone with. I've got all the stuff to do that, except the rolling pin. I'll have to get on that one and thanks for the link to the other turtorial. I'll have more pics up later tonight I think. It'll be sorted out soon enough I think. Thanks again for the tip on the capes, I'm gonna go mess with that idea later tonight when I'm done goofing off on here and I get tired of being a bum.

SirDuck13