Back to Tau! Commission Update

I have a couple commissions which I am working on simultaneously these days. First is a Warmachine Colossal, Hyperion. I haven't really started on him because he came with a missing piece and Privateer Press is sending that out as I write this. So in the meantime, I started work on a Tau commission. I didn't assemble these, just the painting. This keeps the cost down as I charge for assembly...which is my least favorite part of modelling.

These models are going to loaded with Paulson Games missile launchers. They really make the standard crisis suit model something special. These guys will have them on their shoulders as well as on their forearms. As you can see here:

Last night I put the first lick of paint on with an airbrush. First I primed them black and then did some pre-shading with some white primer. Then I airbrushed on Vallejo Air: Scarlet leaving some of the white to show through on the edges for instant highlighting. I had to be especially careful here as I was spraying about 2 cms from the model. Still Vallejo Air paints are amazing in that, when mixed with satin varnish, they are very difficult to 'spider.' 

Once that was done, I broke out some GW Red Gore* and mixed in a tiny about of GW Warlock Purple.* I then went about shading with the airbrush. Basically this means spraying layers of paint in the cracks and recesses and lower parts of the different panels. The phone on my camera doesn't really pick up the shades as well as you see them in real life, so trust me...the shades are there. 

The next step will be to mix VA:scarlet and GW: Dwarf Flesh* and spray that in certain areas as a highlight. I may also re-touch with VA: Scarlet before doing that though. 

I chose red because these guys will serve as an ally to the client various armies, all of which have some component of red in them. I've also never seen a well painted red Tau force and I really wanted to do something out of my comfort zone this time. 

This commission has a March deadline but I am trying to get it done sooner. Yep, there will be a Riptide which I will save for last...