Tau: Aun'Va

This unit gave me gyp!

The Aun'Va model hasn't changed much over the years, except that it was originally moulded from metal, rather than the FineCast stuff that's around these days.

This is one of the metal models.

I took the same approach that I have with the rest of this army: No Metallic colours and every model should feature some airbrushing. I also wanted it to blend with the rest of the army and as such I decided to vary from the traditional colour scheme for Aun'Va and use the same pale blue recipe I'd cooked the rest of my army in.

Traditionalists: don't moan at me. I won't be listening.

The gyp? Simple - I found that handling these models was enough to rub paint off as I was working with them. It got very frustrating very quickly.

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Tau: Drones (2 of 3)

Here is the second of my three units of Tau Drones.

Being a bunch of reconditioned models bought for cheap off eBay, these guys needed a bit of work.

If you are keen-eyed, you will spot another home-made Markerlight drone and also a drone with a home-made antenna.

I know many people would find these sorts of hack-jobs aesthetically unsatisfying or just too fussy to actually do, but I've found a few things over my time:

1. Most people don't notice the hacks unless you point them out,
2. Doing the hacks is actually quite fun (unless you have hundreds to do),
3. It saves me a boatload of cash.

Point 1) occasionally makes me wonder if the amount of work we do on our models from one day to the next is even worth it if nobody's looking closely enough to notice them.

Of course it is!

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Tau: Battlesuits (1 of 2)

Something else that was sorely missing from my Tau army was Battlesuits. Aside from my XV-104 Riptide I had none (I counted them. Twice). Like most of my armies - I'd done a huge collecting job, consigned them to boxes and then run out of steam/time/interest/money and by the time I needed to paint them something else had my attention.

But with a game on the horizon, something needed to be done. So I did it!

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Tau: Drones (1 of 3)

No Tau army would be complete without some drones tagging along and my army has been drone-free for far too long!

With a game on the horizon (woohoo!) I needed to do something about that and to that end have painted up a bunch of drones to adorn my vehicles and mix things up a bit with some nasty Manta-strikes!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'm a cheapskate, skinflint, miserly penny-pincher. For that reason you'll find that the majority of my models are reconditioned bits of other people's cast-off junk. You may even notice that - front-and-center in the photo below - is a home-made markerlight drone.

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Tau: O'Shova

Missed me?

It's been the best part of a month since my last post went up. I think that's the longest I've ever gone without a post.

"So what's going on? Where have you been?" I hear you cry. Well, its just been busy. Work, life and all that stuff. That's not to say I've been idle on the modelling front - oh no! This has been a very exciting time for me, in fact.

"Why?" you ask.

Because for the first time in a few years I'm actually going to get to play an actual game! I'm off to Warhammer World this coming weekend and have been prepping forces; I'm supplying both of the armies for the game.

One is ready (my Astra Militarum) and the other wasn't quite there - my Tau.

Now I did a LOT of of work on the Tau a couple of years back - I got most of the foot done, all of the vehicles and a Riptide. I never got around to painting any battlesuits, drones or HQ models. Obviously, I hadn't got a gaming force without them so it was time to pull my finger out and get back to it.

This O'Shova model is an old one - from way back when the Tau were first released. As such it's built from metal parts (shield, sword etc.) added to a standard battlesuit of that era. And they were pretty rough - almost no posability at all. I drilled a new hole in the model's groin in order to accept a flying stand (the models back then came with a small hole in the bottom of the "backpack" which meant that they appeared to be hovering in a very "square" way.

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Dropzone Commander: UCM (Raven Gunships - Part 4)

I'll start by apologising for the crappy photos. I'm no photographer, but I can normally take a snap I'm happy with. Not so this time.

Anyway - more Hawk Wargames resin models and again - I found these frustrating to work with. They just don't want to fit together very well.

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Dropzone Commander: UCM (Troops and Bears - Part 5)

The final set of troops and APCs for the UCM force I'm building.

Anyone who follows my blog will know that our family has had some upheaval due to illness recently and so what I'm sharing here are photos of models I actually finished a few weeks ago but never had time to photograph.

This set of Dropzone models is the final batch that I managed to complete before it all went wrong. I'll carry on and complete this army, but probably not until 2018. Stay tuned.

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Dropzone Commander: UCM (Troops and Bears - Part 3)

Here you will find the second of two sets of three posts regarding my Dropzone Commander UCM Troops and Bear APCs.

Each post shows two units (one Bear and two Troop stands being one unit. I think. Still ploughing through the rules).

The Hawk Wargames plastics are definitely easier to work with than their resin counterparts. These are 10mm scale models - it's a nice scale to work in. I'm enjoying it.

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Dropzone Commander: UCM (Kodiak - Part 2)

Here is the Kodiak Command Vehicle for my Dropzone Commander UCM force.

It's a bit odd: The main part of the model is basically identical to the Bear APC models, but with a "tow-bar" added. The Bear models are plastic, this is resin.

I can see no real reason they made this in resin - there's no additional detail on it and the foibles of resin casting have left this as a slightly deformed model that doesn't quite fit together properly.

Go figure.

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Dropzone Commander: UCM (Troops and Bears - Part 1)

I did it again. I started another project. I swore blind to myself that I wouldn't. I did though. I'm a liar.

A friend pointed out to me that Dropzone Commander 2nd edition was due for release soon and that a webstore I like was clearing its shelves of 1st Edition stuff at half price.

So I bought two starter sets and a handful of extra bits.

I determined that this was going to be a project where I broke out (and used!) my long-ignored airbrush. I've never really got fully to grips with it. It's a slippery beast and seems designed to frustrate by clogging, spitting and looking at me funny behind my back.

Anyway, we wrestled, scrapped and tussled for a bit and in the end I produced a set of models that I'm happy with. All have had their base colours & camouflage airbrushed on and details added with a regular brush.

I'm about half-way through painting the UCM forces from the boxed set - all  the Bear APCs and the Troops are complete, as are the extra bits & bobs I picked up. I've just got the tanks and carriers to go. And the Scourge.

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Tau: Tanks (part 15 - Devilfish 5 Finished!)

And the last Devilfish is complete!

Phew.

I'm taking a short W40K break to work on some models for other games (yes - there really are other games!) and will be back in a bit. You'll see these tanks again in the not too distant future when I've finished their interchangeable Hammerhead/Skyray parts.

But for now, Anglo-Saxons beckon for Saga!

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Tau: Tanks (part 14 - Devilfish 4 Finished!)

And another Devilfish comes gliding silently out of the night into the battlefield...

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Tau: Tanks (part 13 - Devilfish 3 Finished!)

And another Devilfish rolls off the Tau production line.

Three down, two (and a boatload of drones which might wait until next year) to go.

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Tau: Tanks (part 12 - Devilfish 2 Finished!)

Trying to keep things rolling on - here's another finished Devilfish.

Sorry that the next few posts are going to look a bit similar - one DF is very much like another at the end of the day, and I have five of them!

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Tau: Tanks (part 11 - Devilfish 1 Finished!)

Finally!

I've got one to a standard where I'm happy to call it done!

Now I'll be the first to admit there's a lot more that could be done to this tank. Nevertheless I only ever aim for what I consider a good tabletop standard and I think I've got to that point.

To be brutally honest, whilst I'm still gung-ho for this hobby I'm finding it very difficult to get to actually *do it* in a way that's enjoyable at the moment. It's all a little "snatch & grab" a few minutes here and there which is a bit mojo-depressing.

As such it's a bit of a morale boost to be able to claim something is actually complete (eve if I could have taken it further).

Anyway - here it is:

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Tau: Tanks (part 10 - Devilfish 5/Hammerhead 2 Airbrushing complete)

That's it - the airbrush is now packed away and possibly won't be seen again this side of Christmas.

All that is left now is brush-work and decals.

Devilfish chassis 5 kitted out as a railgun totin' hammerhead

Angle 2

Angle 3

Hammerhead bits removed and Skyray turret added

Different Angle

Angle 3

The colours in these photo's don't do the models full justice - the "black" bits haven't come out quite as dark as they really are. I'll try and do better when I take my final pics when the tanks are fully finished.

So what is in the pipeline to keep me busy with the airbrushed packed away?

Not much (in no particular order):

• Saga Saxons,
• Baneblade to Gorgon conversion,
• A small gaming surface for playing Saga/Frostgrave,
• Saga Normans,
• Frostgrave Pirate Warband,
• Another unit of Fire Warriors,
• Frostgrave Arab Warband,

And when that's all done and the airbrush can come back out, it's either going to be some Heresy-era Word Bearers, or some Vampire Counts. Or both!

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Tau: Tanks (part 9 - Devilfish 4/Hammerhead 1 Airbrushing complete)

Still plugging away at my Tau tanks. I'm on now to the tanks that have extra widgety bits on top. I've built these so that I can remove the turrets and drop in a Devilfish hatch and also swap out the sensor array on the under-turret for a cannon.

I've shown this tank here as an Ion-equipped Hammerhead, but as I can swap the Ion-cannon for a Railgun, swap the whole thing for a Skyray launcher or field it as a Devilfish.

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Tau: Tanks (part 8 - Devilfish 3 Airbrushing complete)

I'm still managing to make progress on these tanks; not as fast as I'd like but I'll be damned if real life is going to kill my hobby-time!

So, I've managed to complete the airbrushing on my third tank. The three I've done so far are all dedicated Devilfish. The two that still need airbrush work (and all five of them need details added by brush) are built so as I can swap bits out so they can be fielded as Devilfish, Hammerheads or Skyrays.

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Tau: Tanks (part 7 - Devilfish 2 Airbrushing complete)

I'm making frustratingly slow progress on this part of my Tau project as "real life" keeps throwing me curveballs. Still at least progress is being made.

Another set of airbrushing finished. Well, almost. As I look at the photos here I've just noticed I've completely omitted painting the top hatch on this model! What (as Bugs Bunny might say) a maroon!

Three (and a hatch) to go...

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Tau: Tanks (part 6 - Devilfish 1 Airbrushing complete)

I've made some more progress this week and have managed to complete all the airbrushing work on my first Devilfish.

I've still got work to do - I need to get my brushes out next and paint in details like the Tank Commander, lamps, viewports and some edge-highlighting on the dark-grey bits. Then it's decals. varnish, finished!

Apart from the other four tanks...

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