In December, I was lucky enough to be sent a T’au Darkstrider miniature from Games Workshop’s Warhammer Community Team, I’ve finally got round to blogging about it.
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Darkstrider-2500px.jpg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Darkstrider-2500px.jpg)
I use to have a T’au Empire army back in the late 2000s and I sold it because I was never really happy with how it looked (pic at the end of this post). For some reason, I thought a really flat, drab brown was a good idea. The thing is, sometimes you just can’t beat a classic. The original T’au Empire colour scheme, in my humble opinion, is the superior colour scheme for Tau. It’s just perfection, so with that in mind, I decided that’s how I’d paint the new Dark Strider miniature that Warhammer Community sent me.
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tau-Darkstrider.jpg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tau-Darkstrider.jpg)
Luckily, I already had my paints and recipes for Darkstrider sorted as I’d produced a tutorial for the Tau Sept scheme years ago. I copied it exactly. the only things I had to had was the burgundy brown for the drones and the white shoulder pad.
Drone Deep Red Recipe:
- Basecoat the Drone with Word Bearers Red
- Make a glaze with Barak Nar Burgundy and Contrast Medium and apply several thin coats building up a darker colour away from the edges of the drone.
- Edge highlight the drone with Wazdakka Red
- Ultra fine highlight the edges with Bugmans Glow
White Shoulder Pad Recipe:
- Corax White basecoat
- Apothecary White Contrast shading
- Edge highlight with White Scar.
I also updated my Tau skin Recipe.
Tau Skin Recipe:
- Base coat the skin with Russ Grey
- Mix equal parts Space Wolves Grey with Contrast Medium and wash the skin
- Reapply Russ Grey to the skin leaving some shading in the creases
- Highlight the skin with Fenrisian Grey
I really like the how warm the colours are on this model, it contrasts his cold skin brilliantly make his face pop.
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tau05.jpg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tau05.jpg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tau06.jpg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Tau06.jpg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/FKTJUW-XsAklz1N-scaled.jpeg)
![](https://taleofpainters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/FKTJUW-XsAklz1N-scaled.jpeg)
I’m really tempted to paint some more T’au. It might happen too, because Games Workshop sent me the Vanguard boxed set to paint too.