Mech Models for Tau Conversions

I'd like to make a small Tau allied detachment, but I really don't want to pay the 90 bucks for a riptide, or the 150 for three broadsides, or the 140 for six crisis suits (etc. etc.)

does anyone know any shops in the area that have good prices on armored core models; or barring that, gundam or other mech models?

also, the 1/100 scale (AC) and 1/144 scale (Gundam) are about the size of a dreadknight/riptide, does anyone know of another scale of mech model that is about the size of a crisis suit?

I figure tau were originally created to rope in the anime kids, so why not go back to the source?

Heavy gear may be of use for crisis suits, Reapers CAV line is somewhat useful. I have several Reaper CAV models and the are ok for suits. Certain gundam scales work, I used one for my Dreadknight and it works well.

I do not know of any armored core models. You might try ebaying Front Mission, I know that series had some figures that may be useful. I don't know how much it would cost though.

Have you looked through Infinity?

those heavy gear models are pretty slick, for some reason I can't find any good size comparisons for them. I picked up a 1/400 scale gundam to test out as a crisis suit, and a 1/144 as a potential broadside/riptide. Hopefully they'll be in next week sometime and I can do some comparison images. I really hope the 1/400 work out, they're pretty darn cheap (4.50 for singles, amazon has a 15 pack for 55 including shipping) the only problem is the cheap ones are being shipped from japan so there's about a 2-3 week lead time. What scale gundam did you use for your DK?

I think the 1/400 is going to be small. The ones that are the right scale can be really pricey. I used to collect gundam a long long time ago, and I believe they are going to be a head too short.

Also, they are as brittle as glass.

As promised, the comparison pics.

when I first unpacked it, the 1/400 seemed rather small, but when compared to scale it looks almost the right height... I have yet to find a good image comparing tau suit sizes, so I couldn't tell you for sure.

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The 1/144 gundam came out to be the size people have been saying, however I made the mistake of not checking the grade of the model, and picked up a no grade rather than a high grade

[img][/img]

on the plus side, it was super cheap and did the job of showing me the size of the 1/144 scale.

i think i've settled on what i'll use for broadsides, the 1/144 High grade buster gundam. I'm not sure about which particular gundam the riptide should be yet, but I think for it I'll bump up to a 1/100 scale to get the increased size.

depending on if the 1/400 models actually work as crisis suits, the musha gundam that I have now will make a decent farsight, and I've got to decide on what the others should be

Those crisis suits are pretty small.

Riptide & Broadside next to Dreadnought:
http://www.totalwargamer.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/tau-riptide-battlesuit-size1.jpg

Crisis suit next to fire warrior:
http://foter.com/photo/tau-crisis-suits-and-fire-warriors-warhammer-40k/

Crisis suit ON space marine:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/409788.page

A crisis suit is ~2x as tall as a space marine.

My DK is a 1/144 Scale Heavy Arms Custom from Gundam Wing Endless Waltz. Literally it has 90 something missiles on it and 8 Gatling guns and could be used for a RIptide.

I toyed with the idea of using 1/400 scale Zeon Zakus (Standard), Goufs (Close Range) and Doms (Long Range) for various crisis suit configurations. A 1/400 scale Dom could be a broadside because they often include a bazooka that is called a Raketen.

If you want variety of options a GINN from Gundam Seed tends to have a good variety. (Assault Rifle, Bazooka and Missile Launchers)

Heavy gear models are Terminator size if I recall right.

very cool, I'm assuming the High Grade on the heavy arms... the buster is similar with the missile pods, but has one giant cannon that can be split into one in each hand.

the 1/400 models came out to be a bit small, but i came across the "Strategy of Gundam" models and the "assault kingdom" gundam models, which average about 3" and 4" respectively. I picked up a few retro capsule gundams on ebay, which should be a head or two larger than the 1/400 I have pictured. If they work in scale, I'll figure out which one to use as my crisis suits, since for the most part you can only get either series from Hong Kong and South Korea

Yes its high grade. It has a lot of articulation for a model that size. It cost like $20 off amazon and there are some Gundam Model distributors in the US.

as mentioned earlier, the capsule gundams finally came in, and they look to be more the size that bsimon was suggesting

only problem is, I seem to have bought the only ones in the us (the seller also had a rick-doms, but i think they look rediculous)

[img][/img]

they are, however, dirt cheap (which was the point of all this) so with enough patience I can get 7 more for about 20 bucks... only problem is I can't order them for another week and a half because I'm going to be moving