Hey guys,


I always thought about opening up a Battlesuit, but never really saw an entire picture.
But about 2 weeks ago, during Math , I came up with a sketch.
When I got home, I continued drawing my idea until I was happy with it, and started cutting up my XV-8.

As you all can see, I sawed off the front of the torso, and moved it a bit to create space, and then put the torso of my trusty Shas'ui inside. However, there was not enough room, so Imade him lean out of the suit, aiming his scruffy pistol at the space marine as some sort of humiliation.

Also I messed with the weaponry of the XV-8, considering it a little standard, and used a Plasma rifle, the ammo pouch of the burst cannon and the chassis of a flamethrower.



I'm terribly sorry I didn't make any pictures during the process, but it's (sort of) finished, and I wanted to know your opinion.

I know btw I'm a horrible painter , but my focus is convertion.

can you post a picture of the right arm? As it's hard to see what you have done there

Yeah, sorry.
I realised I forgot it when I posted my topic...
here you go:



I based it on a AFP tutorial from Shas'vre Shavaun. I thought it was very well worth trying, but when I made my own I found it a little empty. So, I shredded a bit of devestator squad, and stuffed it on .
here I have the link to his tutorial.
viewtopic.php?p=143065#p143065

I hope this satisfies your curiosity

this looks absolutely fantastic (modeling-wise). very well done Sir!

i'm planning a similar diorama myself, but with a bit different (its only sketches atm) i'm planning to do a busted battlesuit being restored / rescued by technical drones. will post when i've done it so all can see.

Love the model, it's absolutely fantastic. Must have been tricky to build.

Your painting will catch up with your modelling someday, don't worry

Keep up the good work!

I wanted to do that exact same thing! Really cool looking model, keep up the conversions!
When painting remember to just go slow and steady. Lots of layers of thin paint (I usually add a little water to my paints so they have the consistency of cream) will give you a much smoother finish.

first, I want to thank you all for the kind responses
I know I have some fun and/or interesting ideas, but tend to think it's al lot cooler inside my head

Anyways, I've been messing around with my shield drones when I suddenly realised a potentially useful, if not ironic idea for those thingies.

It is far from done, for I ran out of white paint and the head is still untouched, so I have to hop by at the GW again... but you get the idea.


I really like the idea of drones flying around the battlefield, bumping into heads and stuff. Maybe they're the early things without snazzy tech that prevents them from hitting things, or maybe they do it on purpose

Also I have been working on another diarama with an exploding shield drone.




Does anyone have hints and tips for painting an explosion? I tried, but there is a lot of room for improvement
And finally the two together...


I'm looking forward to advice about both drones, and will be uploading my next battlesuit soon

If I were to complain about the painting, I would be pointing out a mote your eye and ignoring the beam in my own, and this is, in terms of inspiration, really very nice. I do like dioramas.

I just joined ATT a few days ago and have been browsing the art and projects.. and I got to say, I really love your diorama! At first I thought the paint looked a little thick (not that I could do any better), however, I ended up enjoying the texture that resulted from the thickness of the paint in places. It really brought a kind of grungy feel that one might see in the situation that is displayed in the diorama. In addition, I think you did a rather good job with the Tau reaching out of the battlesuit; the posture and expression of that character really brings a darker (maybe?) look and feel to the Tau.. I think the contrast to normally seeing the battlesuits with the cold robotic look and then seeing the actual Tau reach out of his suit is what really captured me on this piece.

I also thought your use of the fluff for smoke worked pretty well!

How are you modeling that explosion? If you're using greenstuff and you are looking for something like a slow burn rather than a bubbling bursting explosion, try taking those spires of explosion and pulling on them slightly (all over) with tweezers.

Thanks a lot for all of your comments! it really keeps me working on my other projects



First of all, Welcome to ATT
I am going for a bit of an unorthodox Tau army, more of a grim, morbide bunch of forced fighters.
so I'm glad you noticed the feeling I was trying to capture



Thanks! I*'ve been looking all around the internet for a better way of making explosions. (guess i'm not that great at searching )

I'm just finishing of my next battlesuit (the paintwork is too horrible to show)
but when it's done i'll immediatly upload it right here