My Tau Color Scheme

[HeavyBolter]

I've started a log of my Tau Repainting project. Check it out here . I wanted to get your opinions and possible suggestions on the Firewarriors.
I know the tennis ball in the Carbine Rifle needs some detail or maybe even a different color. I'll be basing him tonight as well.This was the first test trooper. I'm going for TTQ with a gritty WWII Army feel to the color palette....

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[IdofEntity]

I love how the green has turned out. If you're looking for a good WWII look to it then I would suggest adding a bit of brown into the mix. Either in the cloth portion, or in 'tennis-ball' of the rifle.

Right now I get an early vietnam kind of feel to them. (When black/charcoal seemed to be more prevalent)

The Optics on the helmet are, as always, a pleasure to see.

 

[locutus]

i'm not a fan of the green. It is much to flat and i can see any highlighting on it.
The eyes are very nice and yes i do agree that the "tennis ball" needs a diffrent colour. (perhaps gold or coper??)

Good luck!!

 

[HeavyBolter]

Thanks for the tips.
I don't want to overdo the highlights, but they are there, just very thin and subtle. I used Camo green/black blend to only highlight certain edges and am relying more on shading for the look and feel. I'm not going for the cartoony GW overdone edge highlighted Tau(not that there's anything wrong with that) but more what Idof described, a real military green, gritty Vietnam USMC look. I do agree the tennis ball is bothering me, but I hate the idea of a soldier trouncing through a jungle with a big gold ball jutting out of his rifle =) . Might just take it back to OD green. I was actually more concerned with the armor lining when I learned a great trick from APJ's Blood Ravens video. I used an insanely thin 4/0 brush to paint all the lines in using a super thin mix of black and brown ink diluted with rubbing alcohol. It worked really well but i had to resist licking my brush.

Also, this is going to be my TTQ standard so if the mood strikes me I'll go back and sharpen any edges I might want to add. But for now, This is just to get 3 squads done fast.

 

[morgan200no599]

very good compared to my efforts, but i agree needs some brown. i put in a picture of a soldiers uniform so you can mimic them

 

[IdofEntity]

A good justification for going minimal on the highlighting is that most Camo on hard surfaces is in a matte finish. Military vehicles are painted to have a matte finish for the very reason that you don't want them to stand out. Reflection is antithesis to camo, and so on plated surfaces like a Fire Warrior's body armor there should be minimal light reflection, even on edges.

I think that while they're not flashy compared to a lot of Tau models, they are more accurate if disguising the force is your intent.

 

[HeavyBolter]

Guess what I realized last night, I glazed/washed him with the wrong color =( . I used a soft black wash on him and I was suppose to use my Armor wash which is Brown/black. Explains why he doesn't exactly match the more brownish tone of the Crisis suit I did.
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Now I feel just silly. I finished the rest of the squad last night with the right wash and they look much better. Will do the detailing tonight. The brown parts are more pronounced on the squad and the power-ball on the rifle looks better with just a lighter shade of the base green.
I started using Windsor Newton Galeria Matte Varnish and boy does that stuff flatten the crap out of anything it touches..it's awesome. Finally found a brush on varnish that equals Dullcote in performance.