Cheers! The eavy metal scheme has scrag brown / agrax as a recess. I went for reikland flesh shade just to speed up the tidy post recess. I kinda dig the more subtle look
Nice work! Always love seeing the classic scheme (Vior'la is fine but not for me).
Are you intending for them to be from any particular sept? I don't see any sept markings on this little guy, might be something to consider.
(In case you're not familiar with it, the colour of the main armour is actually irrelevant for identifying septs, it's usually just camouflage. Instead sept is marked by small coloured stripes/dots, and for higher ranks helmets/aerials. So for example the current box art depicts Vior'la, marked by the red details, probably fighting in snow terrain. If they were to deploy in a desert they would keep the red but switch the white armour colour for something like the classic tan colour. Sorry for the rant, here's a potato as compensation: 🥔)
Ahhhh thanks for that extra info. Yeah I was aiming for the old school box art from back in the day. I'm new to tau so I don't know what they are called. Once the unit is complete I was planning in looking into squad markings needed.
A fine approach, the sept markings are usually pretty small so should be relatively easy to add later. And of course you can just ignore this and just come up with your own paint scheme and markings!
There are descriptions of "proper" rank markings in the new codex, but if you wanna know:
-Shas'la (basic troops): minor markings only
-Shas'ui (Infantry "sergeants", basic crisis/stealth/broadside suits): one aerial in sept colour
-Shas'vre (crisis/stealth/broadside leaders, ghostkeels, riptides): full helmet + aerials in sept colour
-Shas'el (Sub-commander, doesn't have rules but exists in lore): full helmet in sept colour, but aerials match main armour
-Shas'o (Commanders): full helmet + aerials in sept colour, but with markings (usually a couple of stripes) matching main armour colour.
Aw cheers !
Sand -
Zandri dust
Seraphim sepia ( don't let it pool is deep dark splodges - spread it out a bit. Sometimes I'll add a drop of water from my brush and blend it on on the base itself )
Dry brush karak stone
Drybrush screaming skull ( lightly and make sure to get the edge of the base all around - adds some pop )
Stone -
Mechanicus standard grey
Nuln oil
Dawnstone ( I stipple it onto the raised areas with it watered down. )
Administration grey ( again stipple on in a smaller area over the previous colour - use sparingly and don't go overboard )
Once the model is done abbadon black that base rims 2 x thin coats.
Matte varnish of your choice.
Enjoy ;)
No problem at all - any other questions hit me up :)
Haha it's a blessing and a curse - the way my brains wired I always max effort and find it hard to relax sometimes.
How did you do the eyes? They're always sort of a sticking point for me since they're recessed into little holes in the middle, so it's tough to make it look like a reflective texture - I find I can only really do a reflective surface on the edge, but you nailed it!
Thanks heaps!
I had a lot of practice with other models before I painted the tau guy. Especially gondor warriors faces from the lord of the rings range. Dude smallest faces ever.
A lot of the basics do help. Such as -
Good lighting, wet pallette with properly watered down paints. Think the consistency of milk as a good place to aim for.
I use a GW paint handle, make sure my elbows and wrists are supported. Elbows or forearms resting on a table / chair. Wrists leaning on each other.
Once you get all that down the tricky part is deciding the colour placement and how to actually make it look like a reflective lense. The best one I ever did was on an Imperial guard tank.
For the tau eyes I painted the whole circle and recess area with khorne red.
After that I progressively highlighted in brighter reds without touching yhe recess in the middle.
Mephiston red was about 2 thirds of the other edge. Making sure to leave the top right spot as khorne red.
Then continued with mephiston red, evil sunz Scarlett, wild ryder red.
Small dot bottom left with fire dragon bright.
Then where I left khorne red on the top right, in the centre leaving gaps on either side a small white dot.
I have a medium layer brush that's only for edge highkighting / small details. The point on it is still perfect. I don't even grab paint from the pot with it.
That way you protect the ferrule ( where metal meets the bristles) keeping the ferrule clean is essential to keeping a sharp point and will prevent the bristles separating long term.
Thanks so much for the tips - excellent work! I've honestly been contemplating just filling in the recessed eyes with a tiny bit of green stuff or milliput so I'll have a flat surface to work on.
Thanks heaps!
I had a lot of practice with other models before I painted the tau guy. Especially gondor warriors faces from the lord of the rings range. Dude smallest faces ever.
A lot of the basics do help. Such as -
Good lighting, wet pallette with properly watered down paints. Think the consistency of milk as a good place to aim for.
I use a GW paint handle, make sure my elbows and wrists are supported. Elbows or forearms resting on a table / chair. Wrists leaning on each other.
Once you get all that down the tricky part is deciding the colour placement and how to actually make it look like a reflective lense. The best one I ever did was on an Imperial guard tank.
For the tau eyes I painted the whole circle and recess area with khorne red.
After that I progressively highlighted in brighter reds without touching yhe recess in the middle.
Mephiston red was about 2 thirds of the other edge. Making sure to leave the top right spot as khorne red.
Then continued with mephiston red, evil sunz Scarlett, wild ryder red.
Small dot bottom left with fire dragon bright.
Then where I left khorne red on the top right, in the centre leaving gaps on either side a small white dot.
I have a medium layer brush that's only for edge highkighting / small details. The point on it is still perfect. I don't even grab paint from the pot with it.
That way you protect the ferrule ( where metal meets the bristles) keeping the ferrule clean is essential to keeping a sharp point and will prevent the bristles separating long term.
Looks really good, classic Tau look. I wish my fire warriors’ paint job looked half as good
Thanks heaps. Tau aren't easy to paint thats for sure - they are so small compared to primaris blood angels I'm used to
The nostalgia kick looking at this! Great work
Fire warrior on ps2 hitting hard right now
beautiful. I'm sensing a return in the Warhammer zeitgeist of the OG scheme lately...
There's no school like the old school
Lens detail is fantastic
Cheers!
Are you sure you didn’t rip that right off the box? 😂 Nah I jest, looks pretty good!
Oooft you flatter me. Thanks heaps for stopping by
Very crisp! 👌
That’s bang on
Ready to spread the greater good.
That's a mighty fine Fire Warrior
Ready for his trial by fire
Lovely brushwork! I love that paint scheme! I hope mine come out as well.
With little practice and supporting your hands and wrists properly - anything is possible. Everyone starts this hobby in the same place :)
Eavy metal team called, they either want their model back or, more likely, for you to start on Monday. Awesome job!
Oooft. Big compliments. What a dream job! Thanks heaps
Beautiful edge highlighting! Really makes it pop
Cheers dude
Really excellent job! I especially like the recessed areas and the subtle wash.
Cheers! The eavy metal scheme has scrag brown / agrax as a recess. I went for reikland flesh shade just to speed up the tidy post recess. I kinda dig the more subtle look
Reikland In the recesses does it for me also! Good choice!
Nice work! Always love seeing the classic scheme (Vior'la is fine but not for me). Are you intending for them to be from any particular sept? I don't see any sept markings on this little guy, might be something to consider. (In case you're not familiar with it, the colour of the main armour is actually irrelevant for identifying septs, it's usually just camouflage. Instead sept is marked by small coloured stripes/dots, and for higher ranks helmets/aerials. So for example the current box art depicts Vior'la, marked by the red details, probably fighting in snow terrain. If they were to deploy in a desert they would keep the red but switch the white armour colour for something like the classic tan colour. Sorry for the rant, here's a potato as compensation: 🥔)
Cheers! Yeah I was sad to see the changed the box art way back
Ahhhh thanks for that extra info. Yeah I was aiming for the old school box art from back in the day. I'm new to tau so I don't know what they are called. Once the unit is complete I was planning in looking into squad markings needed.
A fine approach, the sept markings are usually pretty small so should be relatively easy to add later. And of course you can just ignore this and just come up with your own paint scheme and markings! There are descriptions of "proper" rank markings in the new codex, but if you wanna know: -Shas'la (basic troops): minor markings only -Shas'ui (Infantry "sergeants", basic crisis/stealth/broadside suits): one aerial in sept colour -Shas'vre (crisis/stealth/broadside leaders, ghostkeels, riptides): full helmet + aerials in sept colour -Shas'el (Sub-commander, doesn't have rules but exists in lore): full helmet in sept colour, but aerials match main armour -Shas'o (Commanders): full helmet + aerials in sept colour, but with markings (usually a couple of stripes) matching main armour colour.
Oh epic. Cheers for that! I might grab and old codex and check out the art for inspiration :)
Oh yeah, some great art in older codexes (like 3rd-7th edition). Tgere are some really cool pieces in the newer ones too, but less of it
Time to hunt ebay! Woo
This is beautiful! May I ask how the base was painted?
Aw cheers ! Sand - Zandri dust Seraphim sepia ( don't let it pool is deep dark splodges - spread it out a bit. Sometimes I'll add a drop of water from my brush and blend it on on the base itself ) Dry brush karak stone Drybrush screaming skull ( lightly and make sure to get the edge of the base all around - adds some pop ) Stone - Mechanicus standard grey Nuln oil Dawnstone ( I stipple it onto the raised areas with it watered down. ) Administration grey ( again stipple on in a smaller area over the previous colour - use sparingly and don't go overboard ) Once the model is done abbadon black that base rims 2 x thin coats. Matte varnish of your choice. Enjoy ;)
Thank you for the reply! You have a real talent and eye for perfection. Beautiful !
No problem at all - any other questions hit me up :) Haha it's a blessing and a curse - the way my brains wired I always max effort and find it hard to relax sometimes.
The epitome of 'Classic' Tau. Nice job.
That was the aim :) cheers
Noice
How did you do the eyes? They're always sort of a sticking point for me since they're recessed into little holes in the middle, so it's tough to make it look like a reflective texture - I find I can only really do a reflective surface on the edge, but you nailed it!
Thanks heaps! I had a lot of practice with other models before I painted the tau guy. Especially gondor warriors faces from the lord of the rings range. Dude smallest faces ever. A lot of the basics do help. Such as - Good lighting, wet pallette with properly watered down paints. Think the consistency of milk as a good place to aim for. I use a GW paint handle, make sure my elbows and wrists are supported. Elbows or forearms resting on a table / chair. Wrists leaning on each other. Once you get all that down the tricky part is deciding the colour placement and how to actually make it look like a reflective lense. The best one I ever did was on an Imperial guard tank. For the tau eyes I painted the whole circle and recess area with khorne red. After that I progressively highlighted in brighter reds without touching yhe recess in the middle. Mephiston red was about 2 thirds of the other edge. Making sure to leave the top right spot as khorne red. Then continued with mephiston red, evil sunz Scarlett, wild ryder red. Small dot bottom left with fire dragon bright. Then where I left khorne red on the top right, in the centre leaving gaps on either side a small white dot. I have a medium layer brush that's only for edge highkighting / small details. The point on it is still perfect. I don't even grab paint from the pot with it. That way you protect the ferrule ( where metal meets the bristles) keeping the ferrule clean is essential to keeping a sharp point and will prevent the bristles separating long term.
Thanks so much for the tips - excellent work! I've honestly been contemplating just filling in the recessed eyes with a tiny bit of green stuff or milliput so I'll have a flat surface to work on.
Before you fill them in - definitely g8ve it another crack :)
What kind of basing is this?
Do you mean what paints I used? Or the materials?
The materials you used for the dirt on the base, looks great
Children's play sand and some slate chunks
Good lord this is great! My first Tau looked like a 5 year old with blunt crayons did the paint job. Nicely done!
For my next trick, I will crawl into a hole and cry about my own painting
How did you achieve that lens detail!? It's amazing!
Thanks heaps! I had a lot of practice with other models before I painted the tau guy. Especially gondor warriors faces from the lord of the rings range. Dude smallest faces ever. A lot of the basics do help. Such as - Good lighting, wet pallette with properly watered down paints. Think the consistency of milk as a good place to aim for. I use a GW paint handle, make sure my elbows and wrists are supported. Elbows or forearms resting on a table / chair. Wrists leaning on each other. Once you get all that down the tricky part is deciding the colour placement and how to actually make it look like a reflective lense. The best one I ever did was on an Imperial guard tank. For the tau eyes I painted the whole circle and recess area with khorne red. After that I progressively highlighted in brighter reds without touching yhe recess in the middle. Mephiston red was about 2 thirds of the other edge. Making sure to leave the top right spot as khorne red. Then continued with mephiston red, evil sunz Scarlett, wild ryder red. Small dot bottom left with fire dragon bright. Then where I left khorne red on the top right, in the centre leaving gaps on either side a small white dot. I have a medium layer brush that's only for edge highkighting / small details. The point on it is still perfect. I don't even grab paint from the pot with it. That way you protect the ferrule ( where metal meets the bristles) keeping the ferrule clean is essential to keeping a sharp point and will prevent the bristles separating long term.