27 replies to this topic

[wilks_]

Hey all,

 

I wanted to make a post to track the progress of my first attempt at painting a complete army.  

 

Normally im a super slow painter, letting life get in the way and stopping and starting painting models over the course of years and finishing very little.

 

Recently i was in games workshop Amsterdam and i got talking to a guy who was happy to help and give me some airbrushing tips, turns out this was Augustus from here, and he kindly invited me over the next week for a hobby day with some of his friends and him to show me some airbrushing and painting tips!  Thanks again bud!

 

 

Armed with this new knowledge and new found great bunch of lads to play 40k and paint with, i set myself the goal of painting a tau army in as short a period of time as possible!

 

Here is the tester model for the colour scheme i have chosen, i first tried with white but wasnt happy so i switched to a sky blue.  Im happy with the results so far, any comments or criticisms welcome! 

I set the goal of finishing the first unit of fire warriors to see if im happy with the theme, i am thinking of one of the following base ideas:
A beach theme base, water effect and sand.

Lava themed bases for the complementary orange to the sky blue

 

I will aim to post progress regularly, and also i have a better photo setup on the way to help with better photos!

 

Cheers!

wilks 

 

 

 

 

Edited by wilks_, 06 May 2018 - 08:40 AM.

[lionofjudah]

I’m liking the sky blue!! Airbrushes are pretty clutch in getting a bunch of stuff base and beginning detail painted for sure!
I’m stoked you get to have a sensei like Augustus sharing the pearls with you man!!
Let’s see some moar!!

Edited by lionofjudah, 22 April 2018 - 04:17 AM.

[Burias-Drak'shal]

Like the look of the testor. Look fwd to seeing what you do next

[wilks_]

Lazy sunday afternoon meant more progress on the first squad, settled now on the colour scheme and getting more used to the techniques shared by Augustus... with one exception.. DECALS! Argh, what a nightmare... i managed most of them but with a 50% casualty rate, the etherals will be displeased!

 

Apoligies for the photo quality, my light box will be arriving Tuesday so things should be better from there!  
 
Happy with the face of the squad leader, now i want to try a few bases to check i like the finished product.

 

@lionofjudah - Thanks!  he is a great dude and i'm indeed lucky to have him nearby, lots of tips and tricks to learn still

@burias-Drak'shal - Cheers bud, will try to keep a steady pace of posting for all those interested in the project.

 

Edited by wilks_, 22 April 2018 - 08:30 PM.

[wilks_]

Got a better camera setup.

I went for a mars looking base to complement the sky blue, will continue to try to improve the basing as i expand the army, as im not 100% happy with the outcome.

 

 

Next up is finishing the squad of 4, then some xv8 crisis bodyguard unit.

[hushrong]

Looking good! Colors look awesome and I am interested to see this on a crisis suit!

 

Also envious that you got Augustus as a teacher!

[wilks_]

Looking good! Colors look awesome and I am interested to see this on a crisis suit!

 

Also envious that you got Augustus as a teacher!

 

Thanks bud   i managed to get base coat + first stage of highlight of a crisis suit, so heres how its looking so far... its a lot more fun to paint than the firewarriors so far

 

[hushrong]

That looks nice! Will you be doing the head a different color?

[wilks_]

That looks nice! Will you be doing the head a different color?

 

Yes Im thinking about Green, or red.  Cant decide   will try the options tomorrow .

[deathspectersgt7]

Good Looking Tau!!! 

[robofish7591]

That battlesuit is looking great!  Suits are easily my favorite part of any Tau army.

[wilks_]

@deathspectersgt7 : thanks
@robofish7591 : thanks!  They are fast becoming mine too, cant wait to get to the riptides later !

Here is the latest, ill call it finished as I have lots more to paint >_<  I went with ochre for the helmet which i think turned out well, i struggled with painting the crest in the middle.. my airbrushing is better than my brushwork i think.. any suggestions or tips welcome!!

I will finish the base and the rest of the bodyguard squad and post how they look.  Any comments or criticisms are very welcome, i am also eager to learn!

[wilks_]

So i thought id take the opportunity to take part in my first ETL   So here it goes !

 

I, wilks_ , rise to the challenge of E TENEBRAE LUX on the side of the  = TAU = and vow to complete

 

2 x XV104 Riptides armed with Heavy burst cannon, advanced targeting system and a velocity tracker each accompanied by 2 shielded missile drones  

656pts.

 

1 x XV109 Y'Vahra battlesuit with advanced targeting system and target lock, accompanied by 2 x M52 Shield drones

437pts

 

 

 ✝   2 x XV8 Crisis bodyguards , ** 1st:  2 x fusion blaster **  ** 2nd: shield generator flamer

143pts

 

 

 of total value = 1235pts on or before August 1st, 2018. Success will bring me eternal glory and failure will doom me to wear the Badge of the Oathbreaker until the year-end

✝  - please note that in the total unit of 3, i had already completed 1 battlesuit, so i did not include it in the point list / vow but it will be in the before picture below.

 

 

 

[Triszin]

Hey wilks! You just need to post this in the tau etl thread!
http://www.bolterand...-2#entry5074630
And it'll count towards the tau!

[wilks_]

Hey wilks! You just need to post this in the tau etl thread!
http://www.bolterand...-2#entry5074630
And it'll count towards the tau!

 

thanks bud!!  doing that now!

[hushrong]

That crisis suit is superb. I love the difference in color along the edges of the model. You did that superbly.

 

Best of luck with your vow!

[Burias-Drak'shal]

Good luck with the vow

[wilks_]

Sorry for the long absence, crazy 2 weeks!  Some progress has been made

I have finished the squad of crisis bodyguards, part of the ETL vow.  For the last 2 i tried to do some battle damage... my first attempt and jeez that was a learning process.  I tried with sponging on black and it came out way too big, and also i think in the future i will just use a darker tone of the blue instead.  The bases are meant to be mars esque red, with debris.  

 

Next up with be the first riptide!

@hushrong : thanks a lot dude, feedback like yours really helps motivate me and its much appreciated!  Hope you like what i did with these!
@burias-Drak'shal : Cheers bud   hope you like the progress!

 

 

[Verux]

Really like the color scheme you have. The bases on the troops is great as well.

[wilks_]

Really like the color scheme you have. The bases on the troops is great as well.

thanks 

I managed to start the riptide today, this was my first attempt at magnetising a mini .. i added magnets to the guns and all sub systems so they are all fully swapable! Had a lot of fun building it to be honest, i think i will do this on all the bigger models going forward.

 

[Sagentus]

Awesome work here. Your paint scheme is a better version of what i tried to do (except i dont have an airbrush). Defo intreaged to see how you painted these, any chance of a tutorial/step by step?

[hushrong]

Yeah, your recent crisis suits are fantastic! The poses are great and your painting is spot on!

 

New big mech looks exciting. I do love how they have a ton of weapon options and magnetizing seems to be the right thing to do. looking forward to seeing it get some blue paint!

[wilks_]

Awesome work here. Your paint scheme is a better version of what i tried to do (except i dont have an airbrush). Defo intreaged to see how you painted these, any chance of a tutorial/step by step?

 

Thanks bud, much appreciated. Sure, i will at some point take some pictures of the process for you too, but here is the step by step:

 

1.  Prime citadel black

2.  Airbrush all armour in Warcolour purple 5 (this allows for a more vibrant blue)

3.  Airbrush over all the purple with Warcolour Blue 2

4.  Start airbrush highlighting the armour at the edges with Warcolour Blue 1, i work with Zenith light - holding airbrush straight above and then 45degrees. 

5.  Final airbrush highlight of warcolour Blue 1 + model colour white

6.  (optional)  if touch up is required for shading i airbrush the Shade of a 1:1 mix of blue 2 + purple 5 

7.  Using a normal brush i fill in all black areas with Abandon black.

8.  Then i use base coat of Liquidex crimson on red areas

9.  Highlight the black with dawnstone (im lazy with this step, but on the big models i will edge highlight the black)

10.  (important)  Airbrush Gloss varnish all over miniature

11.  Put on transfers

12.  "Blackline" Shade gloss agrax in all the lines, the gloss varnish makes this easy.

13.  Edge highlight 1:1 blue 1 model color white 

14.  For the Red areas i progressively highlight - scarlet red, troll orange, suns yellow, edge highlight 1;1  sun yellow model colour white as above

15.  Glaze red areas with fuegan orange 

16.  Matt varnish finish.

 

Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for your interest!

 

 

Yeah, your recent crisis suits are fantastic! The poses are great and your painting is spot on!

 

New big mech looks exciting. I do love how they have a ton of weapon options and magnetizing seems to be the right thing to do. looking forward to seeing it get some blue paint!

 

Thanks dude, appreciate all your feedback!  I am in the process of painting the riptide tonight, lots of fun!  I have the blue armour done up to step 5 in my process above, im really happy with it so far!  It uses a lot of paint though lol, i also bent the airbrush needle   wasnt paying attention and stabbed the needle into the cleaning pot!  oops...luckily i had a spare

Edited by wilks_, 15 May 2018 - 08:52 PM.

[wilks_]

Hi all,

 

Sorry for the delay in update, life got in the way for a while. 

Boy did i  struggle with this big fella... I found my recipe for the smaller battlesuits looked a bit rough on the larger riptide.  i tried to smooth it out and also wanted to add a bit of mud a grime to it.  I am overall not the happiest with him, but have learnt a lot doing it and hope the second riptide will be smoother!  Comments , criticisms and suggestions all welcome!!

 

Edited by wilks_, 07 June 2018 - 05:40 PM.

[Sagentus]

I thonk he looks great! The panels look nice and smooth as i always envisage taus to be and the contrast from light to dark is amazing. Maybe the bits on tue shoulders could have been a bit pailer, but thats just nit picking