Tau Army - Commander Starter

[Dazzio]

  Hello Everyone,

 

  So I mention in Wills great thread about buying a Tau army.  I only have a few things to make/play with right now.  But as I start playing I am sure it will grow.  Right now all I have is :

 

  2 x Hammerheads (Skyray's with the parts).

  1 x Devilfish.

  1 x Piranha.

  2 x Firewarrior Teams.

  2 x XV-8 Crisis Teams.

  1 x Ethereal.

  1 x Pathfinder Team.

  1 x Tau Commander

  Countless drones.

 

  I have kinda started on a Crisis Team and the Hammerhead/Skyray's (they where second hand).  I've started painting the Devilfish/Hammerheads... I'm going to go with a sorta Gundam/Russian scheme. I know what I am doing    I am really impressed with the orange dayglow tho.  Even my GF commented on how bright it was.

 

 

So I have decided to work on the Tau Commander first and then go from there... this will most likely be a slow build but I will try to update when I can.

 

 

 

 

I have been looking for ages for the "Coldstar" variant of the Crisis suit... never realised that it was the commanders one.  I might buy three more of these at a later date and make the "Enforcer" version.  See how I get on first.

 

 

The sprues are not much to write home about really.  Not sure on the thrusters, I will have a look at them and see what I can come up with

 

 

Other bits...

 

 

 This is my first time painting a base that I can remember.  I think I have dry brushed it a little too heavily... it will do tho.

 

More to come sometime this year

 

As always, recommendations/tips are most welcome.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

 

[Dazzio]

 

  A little more work has been done... taken me 4 days to get this far... :/

 

 

  Kind Regards,

 

  Dazz

[plasmahal]

Nice work Dazz.

 

I have some Tau army stuff plus the new Tau codex.

 

I cannot decide what colours to use though.....  

[celt]

I dont know who the Tau Army are but it looks awesome.

[oileanach]

2 hours ago, celt said:

I dont know who the Tau Army are but it looks awesome.

"Stranger, I bid you greetings in the name of the Tau.

If you are reading this then you will have encountered one of our messengers drones and are therefore a spacefaring race. Soon you will see more evidence of us, this is no cause for alarm.

When you encounter one of our ships or outposts then welcome it. We have much to offer a faithful friend. We are five castes, one people. The earth caste build and manufacture, the air caste pilot and navigate, the water caste liase and arbitrate, the fire caste guard our holdings and defeat our enemies. All are bound to the dream of bringing a new way to the universe.

I hope you will choose to share the culture, technology and protection of the Tau empire.

The one constant in the universe is change, the wise adapt.

Believe in our destiny." - Transcript from alien probe discovered in the Koath System 696.M41

 

The Tau are a small, pale skinned xenos race, possesed of astonishing technology and allied to a bewildering number of equally despicable xenos degenerates. Suffer not the xenos to live, brother celt. Do not be seduced by their lies of a 'greater good'.

 

"Trust in the Emperor at the hour of battle.
Trust to him to intercede, and protect his warriors true as they deal death on alien soil.
Turn their seas to red with the blood of their slain.
Crush their hopes, their dreams
And turn their songs into cries of lamentation." - atributed to the Black Templars Adeptus Astartes, M41 

 

 

[celt]

Now I know who the Tau are.Complicated social structure they have.

 

[Hunter Rose]

Nice love the bright orange

 

@oileanach - thanks for posting that, was pretty cool, dont know much about the tau but always liked their design

[Dazzio]

11 hours ago, celt said:

I dont know who the Tau Army are but it looks awesome.

 

  I just think of them as "little blue aliens who use cool suits!"... simples to me. I don't know much about the Warhammer lore (ie anything) so I have no idea who's who and what-not.

 

  Thank you for the kind wors celt and plasmahal, not 100% sure if I like those colours or not.  Thinking of getting the splinter camo bigger or more splintery.   I know the feeling plasmahal, I've had these guys a while (in the first Devilfish near on two years) I just can not decide what colours I liked.  I might try one in the Berlin Bergaide colours.  I dunno... I've got to add two more Broadsides to this also, the old school one.

 

  Kind Regards,

 

  Dazz

[Will Vale]

That's an impressive collection, I like the splinter camo too.

 

I tend to think of the Tau as "Hello, we're the Covenant from that video game Halo."

 

They both came out in 2001, so maybe Bungie and GW were riffing on the same zeitgeisty thing?

 

Will

 

[celt]

Little blue aliens.......SmurfsSorry could not resist that one.

[Dazzio]

 

  Thanks Will, I am still not 100% sold on the splinter camo yet.  I am going to paint up the Piranha and see if I can modify that a little bit. I've still got to tidy up the Hammerhead/Devilfish.

 

  Lol celt, thats pretty close I think.  If Smurfs could carry guns and worked alongside cannibals!

 

  Doing some more work on this lot before the gf comes home.

 

 

 

I need to reprime the crisis suit team tho, it's gone all... well crap.

 

I have started work on the Commander... Promise! 

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[Will Vale]

Are those some kind of extra-big drones on the left there? Because they look very cool!

 

W

[Dazzio]

 

  They are Pathfinder Drones.  They are the recon version with a massive burst cannon that folds up.  It can go in the hatch of a Devilfish and it looks pretty cool.  I will try to get a picture of it later.  I am tempted to by the Remora Drones from Forge World too, they are pretty cool.

 

  This is on hold now as I have managed to bugger up my airbrush.  I will need to give it a complete stripdown and clean, but it wasn't a happy bunny last night.  Even at 40psi it didn't wanna know.

 

  Kind Regards,

 

  Dazz

[celt]

Still following the Tau,

[Dazzio]

 

  Just for Will.

 

 

You get the idea of how big they are from the size of the other drone.  Left one has the gun "out" and the other is "in"... I am sure it probably has a proper name.

You can see that my airbrush is in pieces in the background.

 

 

And inside the Devilfish, looks pretty cool I think.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[Dazzio]

 

   Just to prove that I am actually working on the Commander/Coldstar suit.

 

 

Now I really like those thrusters, however I don't like them pointing right down.  There isn't much room for them to move when the arms will be in neither.  I'm thinking to moving the pivot point from behind the big buldge before the wing to more closer to the top left of the thruster.  Thinking of angling the little wing too.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[celt]

I am a follower of Tau,good stuff.

[Dazzio]

 

  Thank you celt

 

  The more I look at those thrusters, the more I wanna change... bugger it...

 

  Kind Regards,

 

  Dazz

[Dazzio]

 

  So I've been painting the other bits I got, but as I am only on the 3rd camo colour I decided not to show a picture of that.  However, I have been working on the Coldstar/Commander.  I had enough of the thrusters and decided to cut them up, not too much yet.

 

 

You can just make out the attachment point in the centre of the main thruster to the right of the... well screw looking thing.

 

 

 Hopefully you can see better what I have done here. I have moved the location point up to the top corner of the thrusters.  I am going for more of a Gundam look, specifically the EX-S.  In light of that, part of me is thinking of moving the "wings/stabilizers" to be angled like the EX-S ones are.  I have decided on how I wanna display the Coldstar now. 

 

 

This is only a rough mock up, but I am informed that the Tau and Imperium of Mankind do not get on.  Correct me if I am wrong?  I have to modify the Space Marine so he looks likes he's dead but that shouldn't take too much work (famous last words).  I'm thinking Ultramarines for the Space Marine as it's quick and simple... any advancements?

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[Dazzio]

 

 Done a little more work on these guys.  Mostly on the other Devilfish/Hammerhead and Pirahana.  I've got so much tidying up to do on these oh well...

 

 

 

Still not 100% sure if the colours work or not.  The Orange is brighter in the plastic.  I will try to get a daytime picture soon.

 

Most of my other time has been spent trying to get the stamped on Space Marine looking "alright".  This wont be a show piece by any stretch of the imagination so I am not going too much on it. 

 

 

Had to stick him in the crater as with this backpack he will just not lay down that convincingly.  I had to cut both arms at the wrist and at the sholder join so the arms would lay down.   Put the rocks there to make the pose more believeable.  The Tau Commander will be standing on the Space Marine with his right leg now not his right.  Thoughts?

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[celt]

Still enthralled with the Tau.

[Dazzio]

 

  Thank you celt, I am planning on doing some work on these this weekend.  My friends are moaning at me that I am spending too much time modelling.  They want me to just build the things and play against them, I've got to have some standards as a modeller surely??!

 

  Thinking of doing the commander in White and have his camo in reverse.  Need to sort out the paint runs.

 

  Kind Regards,

 

  Dazz

[celt]

Surely you cant spend too much time modelling, can you.

[Dazzio]

 

  I wouldn't of thought so celt?!  Clearly we are wrong, well according to my friends

 

  So my plan for doing some modelling over the weekend where dashed completely.  I went back to my parents to cut the trees down (they are huge), however due to the rain we had that never happened.  As I was stuck at my parents (my gf drove) I decided to go up in the loft to tidy some of my stash up and remind myself what I have up there   While I was up in the loft, I had a heavy box fall on top of me and smacked me in the side of the head.  I've been feeling dizzy/disoriented with headaches and blurred vision all weekend since.  My gf is saying I've probably got a concussion of some kind, I think it's just knocked some sense into me.  Because of the knock I have been sitting/laying down most of the weekend.  Here is what I have managed.

 

 

 

 

With the thrusters like they are, the suit looks very Gundamy to me.  I have tried to make it look like he has just landed on the poor Space Marine.  Not sure if it works.  I have also made it look like this...

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that I have put the lower legs on back to front.  Oh well...  I am not sure if I like the thrusters or not.  Wondering if I should angle them at 45* or something.  Not sure yet.  I also need to think of a name for him.  Hopefully I can get some more done on this soon when I can see straight.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Dazz

[celt]

I have friends like that as well,the knock on the head did not seem to slow you down much,impressive work.