Tau Riptide - Finished!

*Squeek*

It has been a very slow process (work, motivation etc!) but I finally got my Riptide to a point where I am happy to use it on the table. This was my first attempt at weathering a vehicle, or in fact, to use weathering at all, and overall I am quite happy with how it turned out.

I have decided to call it "Found it!" (or "Drone Recovery")
I imagine a Tau cadre caught up in a long, long campaign. Knowing that re-supply may not be coming, they have to recover as much damaged equipment as they can, even down to Gun Drones.
The Cadre commanders therefore orders recovery teams sent into the field. Knowing that his resources are low, these recovery teams are ordered to proceed with caution. They are backed up by heavy units (like the Riptide) but only to provide covering fire for retreat in cases where they are discovered.

Here are some photos, with more comment below:

Looking back, what was interesting to me about this model?

1. Having a "scene"/ "story".
• The Riptide base is large and this gives lots of options for doing interesting things. In this case, the "Drone Recovery" scene. I liked that I could use the Firewarrior with scanner model almost as though he is using it to find the drone.
2. Trying weathering for the first time. 
• Thanks to this great tutorial on YouTube I discovered the process is actually not difficult! (It was still a bit nerve-wracking though)
3. Really heavy use of washes to indicate age, not just shadows.
• The downed drone was really heavily washed so that it looks as though it might have been out there a long time. I think it works out well.
4. Mixing textures (?).
• Although difficult to see in the picture, I added Dwarf Bronze highlights on the stones so they look as though there are seams of some precious metal. I have never done that before, usually just going with "stone".
5. Greenstuff.
• I haven't used Greenstuff much before, but here I used it to blend in the gap between the base of the stones with the model base, because there was a big gap. Hopefully that gap isn't noticeable now.
6. Used missile pods.
• I chopped these off and drilled them out a bit so they look used.

As I often find, in the cold light of day (I took these photos last night) there are lots of things still to do though:
a.) The missile pod tubes aren't bored out to the same size. I don't have a proper drill. They should all be the same diameter.
b.) The Snakebite Leather on the base edge could use another layer (it feels very thin now).
c.)...and other things I am sure I will notice!

I'll add the Riptide to my Tau Army page.

All C&C welcome!

Cheers,
*Squeek*

Dirty Tau... (or "Tau Riptide WIP Update #4)

*Squeek*

...by which I think I meant to say "my first Tau painted with washes and a bit of weathering!"

"We found it!"

"Which way now?"
"Scanning, scanning..."

I thought I would put these up as they are part of my (slow) work on my Tau Riptide model. One of the things that is different about these increasingly large models is the massive bases that the Riptide (and other new releases) come with. This is both a challenge, and a pleasure;

A challenge: because I think you need to do something with them. The usual "dipped in sand and drybrushed" approach leaves them looking very sparse. Not that there is anything wrong with that method - I have used it for literally hundreds of Skaven and Tau! - but there is a real danger the base feels...empty.

A pleasure: all that space! :-) A good opportunity to try something different. Important to say that "Different" doesn't have to mean "Difficult"! A good rummage around the bits box will probably do the trick.

Anyway, I wanted to make a little scene where something was "going on", rather than just focus on the Riptide. The idea that I settled on was a small recon party cautiously advancing back over ground lost previously, as indicated by a downed drone. Titles that came to mind were "We found it!", or "Drone recovery" etc. These 3 models are going to be part of that scene.

When I painted my Tau, I didn't use washes of any kind (hey, I was a beginner!) so they all have a "Fresh from the factory" vibe. Since then, I have daubed Skaven in all kinds of washes, and I wanted to try that out with these guys before having a go at weathering the Riptide (haven't done that yet.)

How do you think the Tau (and the drone) turned out?

Cheers,

*Squeek*

Tau Riptide WIP Update #3

*Squeek*

Slooooowly, slowly coming along! 

Yesterday evening I decided to move on to the weapons and other attachments for the riptide, including the main Ion weapon, missile drones, and missile pods.

Most of the work was getting basecoats on the Ion accelerator, but I also managed to get a few colours on the drones, and some layers of Ceramite White on everything (as well as on Longshot).

I used some Blu-Tac to hold the arms and weapons in place for the photos. I still can't decide exactly what position I want them in! I guess once I have the base finished and done then gluing the arms will be the last thing I do so that I can see how it all works with the Firewarriors that I am planning to add to the base.

Cheers,

*Squeek*

Tau Riptide WIP Update #2

*Squeek*

The Riptide is slowly coming along! 

With work and various other things this week I haven't really had time to work on it in the evenings, and this weekend is looking pretty unlikely too... 
...however I did manage to get the main basecoats down on the body.

Here are some shots, with one of my Firewarriors to give you a sense of scale:

One thing I am fairly relieved about is that I decided to take a colour and application scheme similar to my Fire Warriors/ Hammerhead tanks, rather than my Crisis Suits (you can see both on my Tau page here). Having said that, white being the majority colour could be a bit of a problem!

Right now it is really "fresh", and it will need some weathering to avoid the "from the factory" look. My Tau army was the first that I painted, and I didn't use washes etc. at the time, nor was I bold enough to try weathering, so this will be my first attempt! Thanks to a good lead from a G+ wargamer though, I think this excellent video will help!

Before I get to that stage though, I still have to work on all the weapons and wargear and the base etc. Still lots to do!

Cheers,

*Squeek*

Tau Riptide WIP #1

*Squeek*

As some people may know, as well as being into WFB and Skaven, I also have an interest in WH40K. In fact, I got back into 40K before WFB, with my army of choice being Tau (mainly for the design aethetic).

A couple of weeks ago, I made a dive into GW Tokyo HQ to take a look at the new Tau models, and walked out with the new Codex, a Riptide, Cadre Fireblade and Longstrike.

Although the pace is slow (work, life etc.) I finally got around to starting on these. Some photos and initial impressions below.

In this first set, it quickly became obvious when positioning the model that the huge base is a great chance to do something interesting. In fact, it needs something interesting, because it will just look too bare with flock, grass etc. So, after playing around, I decided to add a couple of Firewarriors in cover, as well as a crashed Drone. The theme is "Defence", or "Taking Cover". This comes from the Riptide entry in the Codex, which I think refers to the constant training that takes place with Riptide units so Tau troops are comfortable with their presence. As you can see here they are in close proximity (possible danger of being stepped-on!)

Lower torso.

Marking the position of the units so I can come back later!

After that, I got out the Skull White undercoat and had a go the other night, so here is where I am at the moment. I have included a Space Marine for scale:

I must say that I have grown to like this model. I have to also say that I think it looks a bit better than the new Eldar walker (which I think kind of looks even gawkier than the Riptide.

Why have I grown to like it?

1. Lots of bits in the box - weapons etc. (Nice missile pods by the way!)
2. Good detail on the model.
3. Scale is actually pretty good.
4. Design fits in nicely with the Tau aesthetic.
5. Easy to convert so you can move limbs etc. (manual encourages you to by showing you which bits to cut-off to allow that easily)

More updates in the future on this, the Fireblade Cadre, and Longstrike!

Cheers,

*Squeek*