WIP: Tau Piranha TX-42 (edge highlighting and decals)

Starting to take shape

I've done a little more on the piranha since my last update. The most time-consuming part was going around all of the armour panels and edge-highlighting them (twice in some cases). I had to keep the paint really thin and almost glaze them on in places as the blends with the camo stripes needed to be a different colour. I used Elysian Green followed by Nurgling Green for the main colour and Kabalite Green for the stripes. In terms of painting, the only other thing I've done is pick out everything (except the inside of the cockpit) that isn't 'armour' in black, although I'm looking to do something more with that panel that crosses the top of the hull, just in front of the driver. I'm currently experimenting with a slightly different edge colour, but I think I need to make more of it.

Something I wasn't certain about right up until a few minutes before I took the plunge was whether to paint on the details or use decals. In the vast majority of cases, I always opt to paint things like that on by hand. If you look at my Imperial Knight, you'll see examples of how that can work out. I was a bit more cautious in this case though. Had I painted the hull one solid colour, I might have been open to painting on any details myself. The nature of the blends and the way they were applied, however, made me question how easy it would be to correct any mistakes.

A glance at the transfer sheet that came with this model revealed several decals that I didn't object to using. Armed with that an some decal medium/fixer from Vallejo, I decided, on the spur of the moment, to go along that route. They're still a bit glossy, but I'll hit the whole model with some matt varnish before it's done to take the edge off. The benefit, for me, is that it's quicker than painting and will ensure a consistent look across all of my Tau models, should I choose to collect more in future.

I still have a lot to do on this model, but most of the work is in the cockpit where the drivers have caught a fair bit of overspray from the airbrush. I'll get to work on those in between other projects and hopefully show you an update in the not too distant future.