Tau Reinforcements 2026 Project Diary

Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition is here! As part of this new edition launch, I have decided to get some models that have been sitting around painted. I gave myself a Warhammer model budget of $250 for this year (of which I am $10 $70 over), so I purchased a few models early this year along with some models that have been sitting around since the middle of last year. Progress photos will be posted newest to oldest. On the list to get done over the summer are the following Models:

Models (% Complete)

• Twin Lance (90%)
• Riptide (90%)
• Hammerhead Tank #1 (40%)
• Hammerhead Tank #2 (0%)
• Vespids x5 (0%)
• Pathfinders with Rail Rifles x3 (0%)
• Darkstrider Kitbash (99%)

Twin Lance (90%)

The Twin Lance is a cool set of models. I don't love them, with their weird barnacles and rotten armor pieces, but the shields and weapons are cool. Biggest thing we're trying to achieve with these models is to not paint them in the blue/white diver flag paint scheme and instead paint them in the red/khaki/gold colors of my Tau army. I also omitted the flame base effects, as that's just not my thing.

 

 

 

 

Riptide (90%)

After nearly 10 years of playing Tau, I finally purchased a Riptide! I don't love this model, and would prefer more Crisis suites or Ghostkeels in my aesthetically pleasing army. I went for the kneeling pose rather than the standing pose because I wanted to try to avoid the look of the Riptide leaning back and looking like it was going to fall over (which I think most Riptides look like...). I don't think I nailed it, but I still haven't glued the whole thing together to get a final look. It's glued together now!

 

 

 

 

 

Hammerhead Tank #1 (40%)

I picked up two Hammerhead tanks while on sale for a BOGO half off sale. They are versatile enough to be used as three different models in the Tau army (Hammerhead, Skyray, and Devilfish) so I thought it a good bang for my buck. Challenge with these is paint that large, smooth tank hull. I purchased a red spray primer for my Harlequins army that I tried to do a lot of the leg work.

 

Hammerhead Tank #2 (0%)

The second of the two Hammerheads. We have had a catastrophic issue with priming this model and it was left with a powder coat like finish!

Vespids x5 (5%)

The second half of the Vespid box I purchased last fall. Painting blue will be a nice change of pace from all the red. Models are primed Khaki. I remember the first 5 models being fun and easy to paint, so looking forward to painting these between some projects. 

 

Pathfinders with Rail Rifles x3 (0%)

As part of my Pathfinders Reinforcement project, I created 3 Rail Rifle models using what leftover bits I had. Now its time to get some paint on them, which shouldn't be too hard, but also not terribly exciting.

 

Darkstrider Kitbash (99%)

Also part of the Pathfinder Reinforcement project I kitbashed a small, custom character unit. This is my flexible model that can act as Darkstrider or a Firesight Marksman depending on the day. I've already put some paint on the model, and it's mostly done. The base needs cleaned up and hopefully that will make the model look better because right now I think it looks pretty poor.