Ooh, yeah. I'm impressed with the blue-washed boltgun effect. It makes a funky model look really good and insect-like. If you were really good with washes, it might be fun to try doing several of them over the boltgun base—going for an iridescent kind of look. The basic stingwing warrior could be simply blue, but the strain leader could enjoy more variegated colouring—something like this.

A friend of mine painted his entire 40000pt Imperial Guard Division using the same method as you. Here's one tank which the Tau players took great exception to. Guess why? (Apologies for the slightly naughty word too.)



Back on topic: your Vespid have a nice sheen to their chitinous areas, ST.

E.

Theambit:
Yeah, I was just feeling inspired to work on these guys. I may put them away for a bit even before I finish them, but I just had an idea and I had to try it! Glad you're liking the progress!

Didi:
Oooh, now that is a really cool idea! I wish I wouldn't have colored my Strain Leader blue already....maybe I can experiment with adding additional washes...

Eiglepulper:
That army of his must be very...glittery! Love the tank! (Please tell me that tank took a railgun slug through its exhaust! ) Glad you like the buggies!

Long time no see! Sorry to keep this log so dormant. I tried starting a Space Marine army and I think it really drained my love for the hobby, so I sort of fell out of things and got busy with real life. But now I'm back and I'm trying to update my old army!

Let’s first discuss my biggest issue with the Tau models: the lack of poses on our Crisis Suits. After seeing the new XV8 Commander and how such potential was wasted by making it a restrictive finecast model, I decided to make it my personal crusade to see every one of my suits get a rotating waist, or so help me God…

So I’ve begun doing exactly that. Here is Shas’Ui Yan’Tak. She is the hardened veteran of my cadre, who often mentors the newer XV8 pilots after their promotion. Here she is in her old pose.






Yes, I know the pose is a little weird. Anyway, she looks good, but that blocky waist kills me. And now here she is with an hourglass figure.





I cut the torso apart and added a shield generator to give her the rounded waist. Of course, I will need to repaint as well as fix up some broken areas with green stuff, but it’s a start! Now, the conversion was really simple, so I’m trying to see what everyone thinks of the new look. Do you guys think it needs anything else?

Oh and for those who are new to my army, here is an old size comparison shot of my suits to the original XV8's to get an idea of the difference in size.

They Look great Wolfs!

I'm loving the burst cannon. The open variations never did it for me but I like what you've done with it here. I think the suit looks proportionate, and even though you have some very active poses going on they seem to look balanced. 5 gold stars for the scenic bases.

Additionally, I like the way you highlighted the black mechanical aspects of the suit. Ties in nicely with the other glowing areas and balances well with the red you used.

Good stuff! Now back to work for me, I'm feeling the modeling/painting urges this wintry weekend.

modelglue

*Whistles* Check out that hourglass figure

Yan'Tak looks great. the new pose is awesome. Very believable and dynamic. Plus the first front on picture looks like shes busting some sweet dance moves

modelglue:

Thanks! The burst cannon is actually from the FW Heavy Gun Drone. I never much cared for the model rules wise and thought I'd put it's weapons to good use. And thank you for the compliment on the base. I found that as I was building the army, I really enjoyed making the bases the most. Not sure why, but painting them was really fun! (Maybe because it was so easy. )

shadow kat:

Glad you approve! I am enamored with the idea of a rotating waist now, as it makes the model look soooooo much more realistic. Imagine trying to do any kind of movement without twisting your waist. It's crazy! And yes, Yan'Tak won the 3rd annual Fire Caste Dance Off, held on Sa'cea Prime last year. She is really proud of it, much to the chagrin of her younger sister (who will be receiving a makeover next).

I realized that I didn't give enough closeup photo's of the waist, so here ya go:




Such a simple change to make!

Now, that takes me to the next change: My Broadsides.



I love these models, but I really like the look of the new Broadsides. So what does this mean for these suits? Well I think with the removal of the railguns, a change to weapon load out and I will have two customized XV8's, that might find service as bodyguards. We'll see...

Put 2 more missile racks on the shoulders instead of the railguns and use them as Missilesides. It would be a shame to waste those missile pods, they look so beastly on those guys.

I like your broadsides, and I am actually a bit lazy (rather short on time). Do you have a guide perhaps on how you did these broadsides? They are very dynamic, which I am looking for in the suits.

Hey Wolf16.

I'm enjoying your work a always, and the highly dynamic poses that you've done with you suits are excellent. It's a real pain finding the right pose/position for a crisis at times, but you've given yours a good sense of balance and poise.

Nicely done buddy.

Tau'va

happy_spike:

That's a great idea! I'm gonna try and find something I can use as bigger missile pods.

Vash:

The suits kits themselves were made by ATT member Warhound. As for the models pose, you can follow the progress from my first project log here.

Brokensword:

Thanks! It can be harder than you'd imagine to get the right pose (as my original version shows), but the effort is worth it. I hate static suits, so hopefully I can change the few of those issues that I see in army.

Since your work is one of my most favourite, it is great to see updates.