The commander looks really cool Patchoro- I especially like the modified jump-jet pack, and the under-slung CIB is nicely blended in as well- an excellent use of bits!

I'll echo Bluedestiny's comment that the legs could be slightly modified to lend more balance to the modification overall- I've found even 'shin-guards' for XV8s seems to bulk them up considerably. I've also taken to 'neck-guards' for the area around the head- either out of plasticard or bits- really gives a solid feel for commander/squad leader suits. Just a few ideas- but even as-is it's a great commander model.

-PGR

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will look into options for bulking up the commander suit.
The shins are indeed a bit flimsy on this dude. Not sure yet how I'm going to approach that one. I will have to go through the old bits box first!

The neck area is still open for debate. I don't want to make the model to stuffed, because I quite like the old fashioned -clunky?- Tau look.
The head section isn't locked either, the metal head isn't really what I hoped it would be. I'll probably end up modding a plastic head to get a more unique look and feel.

I started painting anyway, so here's an early picture.



Since this is the commander I changed the colour scheme. The hawkeye Turquoise I used is the homeworld colour of my cadre, which I have earlier used for the symbols on the other units.
My take is that this bloke is a real oldschool warrior and hence his suit will be a bit more weathered than the others.
It will take some time to find that sweet spot where it becomes a nice somewhat realistic weathered suit and not a messy paintjob, but I'll get there!

Patchero, you continue to amaze! For one thing.. I literally saw this unpainted like two days ago. So fast! I was a little unsure at first, but now with paint, this is a fantastic looking conversion!

Hey guys,

I've had a hard time deciding on the crisis commander's head, but I am now fairly content with what I came up with.
I used one of the 2 default commander heads, and added the front of a target lock with some help of greenstuff.
Paintwise it's probably at 50% of where I want it to be, but I wanted to give you guys an impression where it's going.
Weathering and highlighting are somewhat at odds with one another. Without highlighting the weathering looks more realistic, but the overall effect is a bit more messy.
I am getting trying to mix them in such a way that the weathering remains convincing and the vibrancy of the model -thanks to the highlighting- is preserved.





Tomorrow I have a day off and I intend to get some Tau stuff done! I'll keep you guys posted.

Pfff... the commander is almost finished, but painting all that weathering got to me. It must remain fun huh?
I had to do some ordinary painting, just to keep in touch with regular painting-skills.

I am trying to get a better handle on clothing but it still can be somewhat dodgy. I think I should take the plunge and try my hand at blending.
Guys like Tael and Joek keep me motivated to get better. Their work is just awe inspiring.

For this post: The base has to be done, and some little things need to get fixed, but that's why I like my spot at project logs. When i have some stuff really really finished (will it ever?) I will put some of it up at gallery. Well anyway, here is my ethereal.

That really is coming along nicely. Certainly admire your technique for weathering and general application. You clothing is pretty good, I only recently started developing a personal method which provides consistent results. Perhaps check out this GW tutorial I thought was quite smart for this topic.

GW Robes Tutorial
GW Washes for Robes Tutorial
Brief cloth painting description I like

Hope they provide some inspiration

- Tael.

Very nice, I love the way his bone structure on his face along with the impressive paint job makes him look. Very much different from the Ethereals the 'Eavy Metal Team cooked up.

Thanks for the feedback guys. It keeps me motivated to keep moving forward.
The commander is finished. I cleaned him up a bit, because the initial weathering was a bit too much. The overall effect was a bit messy.
The final result is a bit more restrained and I am fairly happy how it turned out.



Next up: 2 bodyguards. My Forgeworld order came in!! Yeeee!

Ya, that's a marked improvement. The work is less chaotic. Just flicking between this image and one earlier in the topic you can see the differences. Whilst I liked the first, this subtle revision is certainly a good choice.

- Tael.

Thanks Tael! Glad I am not the only one who notices some improvement. Otherwise I might feel like I am second guessing myself.

This post is also about small revisions. My squad lacked antennae, and I kept on postponing that little chore.
Well, I finally got around doing them thingies! 4 months in the making: pfff about time huh?
The bases were also unfinished, mostly because i had hardly any experience doing those. I put a little more effort in upgrading them and imho they look a lot better now. (see page 1 for the initial version)
No more WIP hell for these guys below.

Very nice to see that your boys can now communicate properly! High Command has been trying to contact them for months! Gotta say, I love those Firewarriors. They are very well painted and filled with character.

I also must say that I love the commander you built, as well as the Ethereal! I have an Ethereal of my own that I need to paint and this gives me some great inspiration to do so.

Real life has caught up with me. All work and hardly any play. Well, hardly any painting anyway...
I just bought me a new camera (Nikon D3100) and to prove I am still alive and infrequently lurking this great forum, I wanted to share a picture I took from some enemy forces I painted quite a while ago. The simple base on these models might give away that these are earlier paintjobs.
I only started to take basing seriously when I got some great Tau feedback on my Tau models (see earlier posts).
The marine on the right has been modded with a terminator arm and some greenstuff for a handle. The helmet is a regular helmet modified with greenstuff to achieve a templar look.

I wish my good bases looked as good as your "simple" ones! XD

Love your work, Patchoro, the colour scheme of your cadre is brilliant and the quality is unfathomable. Great job.

Just a question, I've been messing around with battle damaging my models and I want to show a similar wear and tear aspect to my own cadre but what colours have you used to create the scrapes and paint chips on the armour of your figures?

Most damage is a simple black or grey (darker equals a deeper dent) and white highlight paintjob.
The white is used to highlight (mostly) the bottom side of a damaged surface to create a sense of depth. Usually I first paint the black damaged surface and later add the white line below. When a dent is deeper, I fill it in with a touch of metallic paint. All in all it creates a kind off restrained damaged surface without getting too messy. It leans towards cartoony damage but I think it works quite well with the angular surfaces of the Tau units.
Painting damage on angled surfaces seems to get me the best results.
In hindsight I think I took it a little to far with the commanding Tau unit...

More realistic damage tends to make a model look more cluttered. Bigger models may benefit more from this realistic approach.

Finding the right mix is tricky. I used a different approach on my older space marines: see below.
As you can see I hardly used any highlights damaging my old Immortal Angels dreadnought Pyrrus.

Great work! Your Ethereal is inspiring! I am beyond impressed and going to redo mine now.

These are some great looking models, nice color choicess and really soild highlighting work on the armor panels. Can't wait to see more

Hi guys,

after a long period without any activity on the 40K front I finally was bitten by the bug once more.
I got back to the Piranha I started last year. The base paintjob was done, but all the highlighting, damage, detailing and pilots still had to be done.
Since I want to finish it up this week, I thought I'd commit myself with posting my WIP (I consider all my stuff WIP..sigh) Piranha.



Things to do: frontgun / guns on the drones / some details on the underside of the vehicle (I'll show you later)
Unfortunately i seem to have lost the front thingy so I'll have to make up something for that...

Wow Patchoro,

I really like that Piranha, especially the camo.

Good job and it is nice to see something from you again.