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Starting epic...
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9609		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  AndrewG [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 12:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
I'm starting an epic-scale Tau army, and want it to look as good as possible. I collect and play a small 40k tau force, but I wanted to know what extra bits I'd need:

-Do you need to undercoat/paint differently with Resin models?
-Are their any paints recommended over the standard GW ones?
-What type of glue should I use?

-Should I leave the bases bare, or try and model stuff onto them?
-Should I base vehicles (bearing in mind they're all skimmers or aircraft)?

-Should I have skimmers landed, or on flying stands?
-Do skimmers/flyers come with rods to hold them in mid-air?
-What should I use for holding skimmers/flyers in mid air?
-Should I try to make interchangeable bases, so I can have Orcas that are on flying stands that can then be taken off and put on a separate base to show that they are landed?

-Is their anything elses I should be wary of?

I know that this might be a lot of questions, but with the high prices (especially for fire-warriors ?:() I?d like to get everything right first time rather than through trial and error?
Author:  Warmaster Nice [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
Resin models and infantry in particular needs a bit more care than regular models IMO.

First of all you need to make sure you clean the models of mould grease. Do not use any kind of brush on the infantry: They're too fragile. Soapy water should do the trick but I've also heard people getting very good results using vinegar.

I would highly recomend using spray for the undercoat of the models: The spray is't water based which will make it stick better in case you didn't get all the mould grease off.
However due to the very delicate details on the FW infantry you need to be a bit carefull when you spray: Short bursts at a good long distance will make sure you don't drench the models in paint.

Generally speaking the regular Citadel paints should do just fine.

I'm not a big fan of using vernish but it might be a good idea as paint tends to chip off more easily from resin models in my experience.


As for the basing: I usually just sand mine ond maybe add a few patches of flock. You can definitely model ass sorts of stuff on there (It might be a good idea to save some of that expensive infantry) but I'd make sure it doesn't detract attention from the models themselves so paint it in a suitably neutral color.

Lots of people base their vehicles but personally I'm not a big fan of it (Mainly because of the work involved but also an unbased vehicle will look good on any piece of terrain)
Skimers are usually staying in cover hovering just above the ground. Cybershadow did however suggest an interesting solution for displaying "popped up" skimmers by gluing two flying stands together like a "H" put on the side. That creates a small platform to place the model on and loks great IMO.



Cheers! :)
Author:  Lextar [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
hehe, I have a collection of Tau I not really touched.

The problem with Firwarriors is that they have these long rifles, which means very fragile parts that snap off.

Warmaster already provided all the suggestions really and they're good things to consider. I 've had the grease problem and the paint chipping. Two main reason I havent touched these since the first few stands.

As for stands for vehicles, it depends if you are using them for gaming or just displaying (I don't actually use mine to play games).

If its for games, I suggest the transparent stands, else if its just for display, having a base is nice.

The Tau skimmers from FW don't come with stands if i remember correctly (unless you get the Aeronautica range).

Warmaster - like a "H" put on its side? You mean an "I"?
Author:  Warmaster Nice [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
Hehe, That'd depend on the font :D :p :;):
Author:  AndrewG [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
So, I'll need:

-Varnish
-Spray pain (I've be using a brush before now, but I'll start using spray)
-Bases for the skimmers
-Terrain, to try and thin the numbers of FW per base!

Any suggestions on what type of glue to use with Resin though? Is superglue okk, or should I use something completely different?
Author:  colonel_sponsz [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
I've found superglue is fine with resin and does a pretty good job of re-attaching bits that break!

Orde
Author:  orkybob [ Wed Jun 06, 2007 7:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
Personally I like to base my vehicles as I think it looks better. I used standard GW round bases ?and then hacked some flying stand 'sticks' to the right size and superglued them. I then put some terrain onto the base.

Have a look at some hammerheads:
Hamerheads

and some light skimmers:
Light skimmers

As for painting, I used black spray as undercoat and standard GW paints. (Although my painting skills don't do the figures justice!!)
Author:  Legion 4 [ Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:34 am ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
After washing my resin (vinager then a little soak in dish washing soap and water.  All my F/W Epic resin (Tau & Kroot, IG AFVs and aircraft) are SIB.  I plan on base coating those with thinned enamel paint and a soft brush. Especially the Infantry.  I've said this before ... I don't like the fragile nature of the F/W Epic(now AI!) models ...they are not gaming friendly ...
Author:  illuvitar [ Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:12 am ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
you can also add some gun drones to each base of fire warriors to stretch them and reduce total cost. did this with mine and i think they look good, except for the lousy paint job. :) as far as stands for skimmers you can just use a small round base (or penny) and a bit of sprue.
Author:  AndrewG [ Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:33 am ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
Reduce there total cost? Aren't gun drones are more expensive? (12/25=?0.48 each for Firewarriors, 5/10=?0.50 each per gun drone). Though I can see it if you've run out of firewarriors

Army wise I plan to get:

2 squads of firewarriors (built from three sets of firewarrior sprues plus half a gundrone sprue).
2 pathfinder upgrades (using two sprues of pathfinders)
4 Orcas (using two as Scorpion fish, though I prefer the name 'Narwhal')
4 stingrays + 1 skyray (The remaining 2 of each tank will go towards building the Scorpionfish)
1 Hero class starship (built from 2 emissary cruisers, mimicking the design by baronpiero in the 'mini pics' thread in the Tau section)
1 Mobile hunter cadre using two hammerhead sprues
2 Markerlight units using plasma turrets
2 human auxillary units built from the Imperial guard sprue.


Fire warrior cadre: 300pts
+Pathfinder upgrade
Fire warrior cadre: 300pts
+Pathfinder upgrade
Armoured mobile hunter cadre: 375pts
+Ion cannon variants

Scorpionfish suppport group: 550pts ['break their spirit' unit]
+Supreme commander upgrade
Stingray support group: 325pts
+Skyray
Markerlight sentry support company: 50pts
Markerlight sentry support company: 50pts

Gue'vesa auxiliary company: 175pts
Gue'vesa auxiliary company: 175pts

Hero orbital support: 200pts
-Hero Gravitic Tracer salvo
Orca dropship: 100pts
Orca dropship: 100pts

First, I'll get the infantry company and pain it up to decide on a colour scheme (current favourites are: volcanic terrain and city fight)
Author:  TrademasterAdam [ Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:04 am ]
Post subject:  Starting epic...
I'd recommend that you buy a handful of cheap crappy marines or orks (you can find them cheap no problem) and paint them Tau.  Painting Epic is incredibly different than painting 40k.

Also, I second the above about mold grease.  I ignored it and painted some terrain, I

TrademasterAdam
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