# Tau lightning army, Nebula armada and WIP's



## Atropos907

I was requested by several people over the past few months to post some of my pictures on this site. Well I finally got around to it.
My goal is to ever push my airbrushing skills so I mostly post my airbrushed models. If you have questions, comments or anything about airbrushing please pm me, or respond here.

As some of the images have been shrunk you can go to the gallery to view them.
Edit: gallery links to some are included below the picture










My first WH vehicle completed









http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/gallery/data/553/medium/md-Lightning_Hammerhead_Panorama.jpg

My first tank









http://www.heresy-online.net/forums...ium/Stealth_Team_on_display_base_Panorama.jpg

A stealth suit that is part of a squad, check out the gallery for the squad pictures. I wanted it to look like the suit was in a transition state given how dark it was so it was rippling with static.










First completed squad of FW's only partially airbrushed.









http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/gallery/data/550/medium/FullMonomid_small.jpg

My first attempt at a really hard airbrush project. I saw a monolith months ago and envisioned this paint job but had to work a long time to get my skills up to par for painting it. Then I had another idea for a tigershark...









http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/gallery/data/553/medium/SkyrayBrighter.JPG

Some more practice on another tank to populate my rarely used tau army.










My first attempt at scratching with clay. then Practice with nebula painting.










Ok time to tackle that Tigershark scratch build. then paint it the way I envisioned it.










Whats a tigershark without a barracuda escort. the bottom cracked like crazy due to the clay... not sure why.










The evolution of brush painting in this hobby has come a long way in the past 20 years. Just look at the GD's. Id like to do my part for pushing the same evolution with airbrushing in this hobby. Help? Suggestions. Ideas. comments.

Heck I was bored and had a vision of a manta paint job so... I scratched that too out of foam and paper mache. The nova isn't done but its so big it may be a while till I finish it.


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## Sytus

ooh,
That is epicness right there,mate.I absoloutely love that monolith,could we have some bigger pictures please?
Also,is that a scratchbuilt manta?I love the nova on that thing,you should put up some basic airbrush guides, you are awesome!
Have bit o' rep there.


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## Atropos907

I attempted to add links to the gallery view but I cannot seem to get that to link to anything but the same picture you can see.
If you go to the gallery and look for these you can see much larger versions of the panorama's. The forum page shrinks them from to fit a height limit. 
But as the monolith was the most shrunk....


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## Ste

absolutelt f**king amazing! +rep


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## Concrete Hero

That's phenomenal work! +Rep


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## bobss

Holy jesus... :shok::shok:

Bullsh*t you I not, they are utter awesomness, not only do they fit the Tau theme well but are epically painted

REP!


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## shaantitus

Holy Shit.
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Bit stuck for words here.......
They are all outstanding. Push the boundries indeed. The stealths suit is the winner for me. Brilliant job. On the other hand the tigershark build and paint is awesome. And the monilith blb fgjsdn gwhjdnka... I am babbling now my brain melted.
REP


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## Varakir

*off to the gallery to have a look*

These are stunning, you're definitely pioneering something awesome here.

I can forsee some bloody sexy eldar tanks airbrushed like this.


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## The Wraithlord

That is just stunning beyond belief sir.


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## bitsandkits

simply breathtaking work,hell i have been trying to figure out how to get paint to come out of my air brush for two years,and have manged to base coat two tanks in that time.

what brush and paints do you use?can we see your set up etc and can you do some tutorials?


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## alien

Wonderfull! +rep.


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## Jaxx23

Dude just go and work for GW already and put out some of your work instead PLEASE!!!!!!


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## enieffac

Very cool stuff... I think if my opponent showed up with that level of awesomeness... I would concede defeat based on overwhelming epicness. But first I'd demand a few pictures.... +rep.


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## Phenious

Love that monolith! that is just great airbrush work. I so need to learn how to do flames, not that I would use them on my Nids.


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## Fumble Tumble

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ohh my GOD, sir you are a legend and you deserve 1000000000000000rep plus infinety, simply breathtaking work on the tiger shark and the stealth suit


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## Munky

Firstly why oh why did you take so long to post your pictures dude? lol
Secondly +rep for some superb brush work, please give us all some tips on what paints and mixtures you use.

Good work fella:victory:


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## Gothic

OMG! great fricking work cant wait to see the rest of the greatness of the army +rep


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## Pherion

Wonderful job! + rep...

I've been contemplating getting an airbrush for a long time, so some simple tuts would be great!


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## fynn

holy fucking grot shit!!! you sir, have a god like talent..................................
mm words fail me now.

have some rep my man


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## Calamari

Not very Tau, but then I don't realy care cuz they are epic.


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## Atropos907

Varakir said:


> I can forsee some bloody sexy eldar tanks airbrushed like this.


I was origionally thinking eldar when I got into the hobby but was told tau were one of the hardest to play so I went that rout. And now I think Ill stick with tau(maybe do an eldar or two) because pretty eldar have been done a lot. Ive done a necron monolith and I have a few other ideas for races that people don't put as much effort into making their vehicles/monstrous look "pretty"



bitsandkits said:


> hell i have been trying to figure out how to get paint to come out of my air brush for two years...
> 
> what brush and paints do you use?can we see your set up etc and can you do some tutorials?


I feel your pain on the paint flow. it took me about 6 months to begin to get it under control. Ill update and copy my tutorial from another forum that covers some common questions. Assuming multiform tutorials are "acceptable" I just want more people to do airbrushing so we can learn from each other and it seems multi-forums is the only way to get enough momentum. Seriously, for anyone who hasnt checked it out go to the deamon site and see how much mini painting has progressed with hand brushing. 

http://demonwinner.free.fr/

But basic tip for now I sometimes use GW paints and flow 50:50 to 50:70 paint:windex. Rather than windex ive tried 1part glycerine, 100parts alcohol, 100 parts windex 100-200 parts paint(like gw or liquitex)
I sometimes use liquitex airbrush medium but usually I just thin with windex because it is easier. All the other components do their own thing which at some point Im going to put more effort into experimenting with.... in my vast free time

But if you can afford it just buy airbrush paint and save yourself a lot of heartache. and be sure to prime.



Jaxx23 said:


> Dude just go and work for GW already and put out some of your work instead PLEASE!!!!!!


While ive considered commissions(not sure where Ill find the time and what a fair price might be) I hear being an employee of GW isnt all its cracked up to be. However, As im tired of trying to replicate their designs ive started designing some vehicals of my own and have one nearly finished being fabricated. Just trying to decide on what level of detail I feel like putting into it. The more I work on this the more it seems that the low grade approximations of tau aircraft I scratched were far easier than the stuff im working on seems to be. But I left a lot of detail out of the tau stuff. 



Munky said:


> Firstly why oh why did you take so long to post your pictures dude?


Sorry, the whole not lots of time thing. and I was waiting to get some more projects done and take some decent pictures of them. taking 100+ pictures and filtering down to 1-5 is a royal pain but necessary. As you can tell I slacked on some of the later pictures.



Gothic said:


> OMG! great fricking work cant wait to see the rest of the greatness of the army +rep


There is a reason you dont see the rest of the army. it suckith. But as I get better I go back and de-suckify some of it.



Calamari said:


> Not very Tau, but then I don't realy care.


My thoughts exactly.


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## Shadow Hawk

Wow amazing...

But I honestly have to say I'm not a fan of them. The painting is amazing, It just looks... over-done. I don't know if anyone else shares the same view but...

Still amazing work though. Have some of my rare +rep.


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## Atropos907

I finished a Necron destroyer to go with my monolith.

And im now taking limited comissions on large models so you can have something that commands attention on the battlefield!
http://sites.google.com/site/thirdfatecreations/


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## piemaster

Those babies are rediculous! +rep for putting me (and many others I would imagine) in my place


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## Khorne's Fist

That Monolith is one of the finest paint jobs I've ever seen. Stunning work all round.


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## unxpekted22

oh...my...god.

If I went to play a game with someone and they pulled an army like that our of their case. I would just give them the win.


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## Ordo Xeno Commander

That is simply amazing. I would go so far as to say the best work on large models I have ever seen. I am absolutely astounded.


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## Atropos907

*Tigershark*

I just finished painting my scratch built tigershark.
suggestions and critiques always welcome.

http://sites.google.com/site/thirdfatecreations/


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## EmbraCraig

Ooh now that's a lovely paintjob - strangely, it's not actually the spacey effect on the surfaces that grab me, it's the blue flare round the engines - that's a really nice finishing touch


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## Gobbo

i want it


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## dark angel

A very good piece of work from you in this thread. That Tiger Shark is bloody awesome fair play, how did you get the long.....Warp like effect upon it however? It's brilliant, cant wait to see more from you


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## Atropos907

*Manta Top finished*

Ok, finished adding detail to the top. I believe I will call this done until something further inspires me.










Imagine how I could paint a Titan. Ohhh the possibilities.


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## Atropos907

*Manta Top finished*

edit: Just noticed I somehow accidentally submitted this page before I was finished and submitted it again. oh well fixed now. Sorry for the redundancy.


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## Kale Hellas

that is Amazing, not the build a light bulb amazing, what your doing is better


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## Jaxx23

is this epic stuff or do you seriously own a Manta?


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## Atropos907

Jaxx23 said:


> is this epic stuff or do you seriously own a Manta?


Sorry, I forgot to mention this is a scratch built manta. 25" long and 31 wide I believe. Made of styrofoam and paper mache which you can see if you look closely. See 4th grade arts and crafts paid off! To think they want to cut arts in school. 

No pictures are shown of the bottom because its ugly. I only worked on making the top look presentable. It weights maybe 2 lbs. If that.


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## MaidenManiac

This is gorgeous, nothing short of it!:biggrin:


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## Starship Trooper

Omg.......


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## Atropos907

Ok, Ive uploaded most of my tutorials onto my website.
http://sites.google.com/site/thirdfatecreations
At least the ones that are close enough finished to be understandable.

Feedback and requests are always appreciated as it makes the tutorials better.
Feedback on the site is also appreciated. I have yet to figure out how to have the gallery pop up an image viewer.
And I need to clean up the commissions page a bit.
Suggestions welcome.

PM or email me if you dont want to post your suggestions here.


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## Atropos907

*HighTech hammerhead*

Ok finally got this one 95% finished
100% airbrushed with the intent to look very high tech, rather than just very flashy like my other models.










click the link if this is a small image.
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/gallery/data/553/Rail_High_Tech.jpg

And a landing pad I painted for an upcoming con









My tau research station, for same said con









And finally I got out everything Ive built lately and took a picture with my entire army.


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## Varakir

I assume said con is in america?

If it was in the UK i'd seriously consider attending just to see this stuff in person, simply amazing job on the hammerhead mate.


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## shaantitus

Holy shit. This just gets more and more amazing. Someone needs to buy a FW reaver and have it painted by this truly skilled fellow. 
Rep for being Beyond Awesome.


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## undead rabbit

:shok: have some rep


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## subtlejoe

You sir are the don!


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## pathwinder14

Go win a Golden Daemon already.  Awesome work.


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## Atropos907

Varakir said:


> I assume said con is in america?
> 
> If it was in the UK i'd seriously consider attending just to see this stuff in person, simply amazing job on the hammerhead mate.


Yes its an american Con. Genghis to be precise.

And someone asked in a PM, yes it is all airbrush work. I avoid paint brushes like the plague now. Helps focus skill.


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## Atropos907

I just finished an eldar wraithlord.
Yea I know, not tau but eh.


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## Khorne's Fist

Any chance of a few close ups? Looks awesome, but I wouldn't mind a closer look.


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## Psychocath

That's some pretty damn sweet airbrush work, mate. 
Dunno if it's already been asked, but what kind of setup d'you have? I've been thinking of investing in an airbrush (Not specifically for minis though, I wanted to do some work on cars :biggrin

Also, +rep.


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## Otep

*tiny brain explodes from the epic amazing models*


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## ryan355

jesus christ! :shok: your freehand is amazing +rep


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## tehjohn

I don't even know how to comment on this... its just... awesome. I need to learn me some airbrushing!

+ rep!


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## Cruor99

Great, now I have to get an airbrush as well 

I can't explain the awesomeness in your work, mate. Have some rep!


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## Atropos907

I realized I forgot to put the flamin pink battle wagon i painted for Dashofpepper on this site. 

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did painting it! He had an awesome Idea and I just had to paint it. its an obsession...










99.9% airbrushed as always


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## ckcrawford

nice work, heres some rep


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## enieffac

It's a miracle!!!! First ork vehicle my wife has ever liked!!!


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## OIIIIIIO

Don't like the color scheme on the ork wagon but, Jesus that is some fantastic work


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## Loki1416

Extremely impressed with your painting! The Monolith is my fav by far, but there's not a item there that I didnt like! +rep for you!


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## ThaPinkPownerFatty

what kind of air brush do you use? i have always wanted too ditch the paint brushes and switch too air brushes but i never found the courage or the money too begin it those things are expensive arnt they?


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## Rob1981

bloody hell- amazing stuff, the monolith in particular


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## ROT

Just... Wow.

Speachless here.


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## HorusReborn

wow man, sweet work with the AB! I do think though that you're using your talents on te wrong medium. You need to be painting cars and such with those cool flames for a show like Pimp my Ride or something. But on these vehicles, I don't think it's really appropriate. I know alot of people will disagree with me, but in reality if I saw you on the battlefield, I would laugh. Maybe it's the colour choice? I sense a strong use of purples and the likes. Now if the flames fit more into the fluff and were painted using red or a variant of it to represent the kult of speed would have been a better choice. Your skills are ace man, no doubt, but being used in the wrong way!


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## SonofVulkan

Awesome painting. Some great stuff here.


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## Dillusion1979

Words cannot express how i love your vehicles. Amazing; I'll be sending people this link!

If i could give you more than +3rep i would. Just astonishing levels of detail!


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## Something Yellow

I think the monolith 'while back' is seriously one of the coolest models I have ever seen! 
your models are just saaa indie (in a good way  ) 

You know what.. have some rep points


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## Lord Sinkoran

can't find words to describe so heres a line of smiles 

:shok::shok::shok::shok::shok::shok::shok:k:


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## Azkaellon

Holy crap very sexy man.........*sends you his power weapons*


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## Atropos907

*Chaos Predator*

Ok Finally got around to finishing this Pred after a year...
Not quite as nice as I wanted the flesh under metal to look like, but close enough to call abandoned. As usuall, 100% airbrushed.


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## Midge913

Just went through the whole thread here and your stuff is really amazing! Very nice work!


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## Hammer49

Fantastic log. Very impressive. I really like the monolith & the predator you just posted. Look forward to seeing more!


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## Reported

Atropos907 said:


> Ok Finally got around to finishing this Pred after a year...
> Not quite as nice as I wanted the flesh under metal to look like, but close enough to call abandoned. As usuall, 100% airbrushed.


Haha looks like C'thun, wicked.


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## Atropos907

Been a while since Ive painted 40k stuff
This is a model of my own design, Its an old design I found in a notebook a while ago, And I realized it looked like it could be vespid since its partially insectoid/beetle.
This is primarily an air superiority figther with short duration low orbit capabilities. Not meant for deep space. The design is highly manuverable and adaptable to atmosphere giving it an edge over aerospace fighters
The primary weapon is an enormous neutron focusing crystal, similar to whats used in the vespid rifles. Capable of bypassing armor and damaging sensitive organic and electronic equipment inside enemy fighters. Thicker armor protects against its damage but cannot stop it. However this weapon, while instantaneous and therefore does not suffer Leading its target, is fairly short range (24inch) due to the difficulty of focusing a large flux of neutrons.

The ship boasts expendable weaponry including symbiotic rocket pods range 36 inches and two squid class organic missiles.

The vespid pilot interfaces directly with the ship using a specialized version of the "communication headsets" given to vespid commanders. This allows the multifaceted and multispectral sensor dome integrated onto the canopy, similar to insect eyes, to feed directly into the visual processing center of the pilot. While extremely fast and maneuverable, and capable of regeneration, the armor is no better than that of a barracuda. However top speeds are on par with the fastest enemy fighter, without sacrificing superior atmospheric maneuverability.

This ship was genetically engineered using dna from the vespid queens, plants that symbiotically link to vespid nests, and it is suspected, a bit of tyranid. The only pieces of technology implemented are the neutron cannon, its power supply, and the neural interface.

The core of the ship boasts an irridescent shell similar to that of the vespid while the outer wings express more plant like features. Since there is little metal in this its radar signiture is remarkably low.


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## Atropos907

and now for an xv9 commander
an xv9 hazard suit commander R'alai from forgeworld.
99% airbrushed (bit of drybrushing on the base) . note the carbon fiber shiny armor, the recessed lights between armor panels, and the inconspicuous shields deflecting an impressive barrage with the shield drones pulling their own weight on the small arms fire, and the primary shield shrugging off a hit from a strength 10 weapon.










ive already had pm's on another site about comissioning shields, if your interested pm me,


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