Tau Color Schemes

Painting a full army is one of the joys of the hobby. It takes time, effort, dedication, planning and execution. While talent and ability may influence the end result, effort and persistence are much more important. Many of the greatest painters have yet to complete full armies, while moderately skilled painters accomplish some really stunning armies.

Planning is important. It generally starts with an army list and color scheme. For me, finding the right color scheme took ages. As I started collecting and assembling my force, I paged through copies of White Dwarf, army books and the internet until I found a color scheme I wanted.

We're lucky these days in that there are now 3 main companies that produce some really awesome acrylic paints; Privateer Press, Vallejo and Games Workshop. I use all three in painting and prefer some over others for different things.

Here I have done a few test models that may help you choose a color scheme. These include a list of colors so that you can copy or adopt any of the colors I've used here. The only mixing I've done on these models is with highlighting and shading.

Rai'Dallah Sept

Armor Plate Color
VMC German Uniform Green, highlighted by adding GW Skull White
Soft Armor Color/Lower Forearm Guards
 GW Chaos Black, highlighted by adding GW Bleached Bone to Chaos Black
Shin Boot Wraps/Gloves/Carbine Ball/Hair
Deneb Stone, highlighted by adding GW Skull White
Skin
GW Shadow Grey
Pulse Carbine "Metal" Parts
Adeptus Battlegrey, shaded with GW Black Ink and highlighted with Fortress Grey

This color scheme is an overall cool theme. I really like how the Shadow Grey Skin and German Uniform Green go together. Deneb Stone is used as a spot color and black adds contrast. You could swap out the Deneb Stone for a warm color that could work, but might end up looking gaudy. I decide to stick with cool colors for this model.

For a battlesuit, German Uniform Green would still be the main color and I might even use Shadow Grey as an alternate color on the armor plates. For Hammerheads and Devilfish, I would likely make a camo pattern with German Uniform Green and Shadow Grey, with Black on certain armor plates to break up the camo and add contrast to the model. Deneb Stone would be used for Sept Markings on all vehicles and Battlesuits. Deneb Stone could also work for helmets to signify leaders like Shas'Ui Fire Warriors, Shas'Vre Crisis Suits. I might give a Commander a Black Helmet with Deneb Stone stripes to set him apart.

Farsight Enclave

Armor Plate Color
GW Red Gore, shaded by adding a little GW Chaos Black and GW Hawk Turquoise. Highlighted by adding Dwarf Flesh.
Soft Armor
PV3 Khaki, shaded by washing it with GW Orgyn Flesh Wash, highlighted by adding GW Skull White
Straps
GW Scorched Brown
Pulse Carbine Ball and Lenses
GW Hawk Turquoise

Pulse Carbine "Metal" Parts
Adeptus Battlegrey, shaded with GW Black Ink and highlighted with Fortress Grey

Farsight Enclave Armies are typically red and I decided to go with a Dark Red for this one. This color scheme is different than others in that most Tau Schemes have a darker Soft Armor and a lighter Armor Plates theme. This one flips that and give you lighter colored Soft Armor and darker Armor Plates. In retrospect, I may have added some yellow somewhere on the model, but this is fine for a quick paint job.

On Battlesuits, you would use the Khaki color as your alternate armor plate color, and use grey for the mechanical parts of the model.

 Dai'La Sept

Armor Plate Color

GW Chaos Black, Highlighted by adding GW Shadow Grey.

Soft Armor

Vallejo Model Color: Khaki 

Straps

GW Scorched Brown

Pulse Carbine Ball and Lenses

Blood Red, Highlighted by adding Blazing Orange

I painted this model years ago when I was still determining the colors for my Cadre. I didn't like it at the time because it's too dark, that you can't see details. I still don't prefer it, but I thought I would add here for your benefit. In retrospect the model might have been improved by yellow sept markings instead of white.

Old Shatter Hands' Cadre Prototype

Armor Plate Color

GW Kommando Khaki, Highlighted by adding GW Skull White.
Soft Armor
GW Dark Angels Green
Straps
GW Scorched Brown
Optics, Lower Arm Armor and Grenades
GW Codex Grey.
Pulse Rifle Ball
Gold

This model was one of the pre-cursors to the scheme I finally settled on for my Fire Warriors in my army. Looking back at it after all these years, I still see why I liked it so much. MOst of the model is  bright, so you can see all the details. The Khaki and Green go well together, yet are different shades so there is contrast. That's something that is important to remember on models, contrast generally looks good, makes models pop and attracts the viewer.  Contrary to popular belief, contrast is not achieved by choosing complimentary colors, like blue and yellow. Contrast is achieved by light and dark.

Note:  This post is a work in progress that will continue to grow in its scope as I get more color schemes developed and models painted. It will be added as a link to the side bar of this blog in some way in the near future.