Proof of Concept
Okay, so I've been starting my Tau army, and I'm planning on converting my Crisis Suits and Broadsides from the new XV25 Stealth Suits, since they look a lot cooler to me. If you've been following along at home, you'll know that I already ran into my first hurdle: Crisis Suits are about 20% larger than even the XV25 Stealth Suits. A bit of Apoxie Sculpt and some sculpting later, I had enlarged them in all dimensions and was quite pleased with how they looked. My next difficulty was that most of the things that I wanted to arm my Crisis Suits with (Plasma Rifles and Multitrackers, for instance) were available in the Crisis Suit box, but not in the Stealth Suit box. (Since Stealths can't get plasma.) I solved this issue by doing a large order through Battlewagon Bitz. The final issue was to get enough of the look and feel of a Crisis Suit that hopefully my opponents will never have a chance to confuse them with Stealth Suits. I intended to handle this through a combination of poses (Crisis Suits are typically seen in more dynamic poses than the Stealth Suits, and they are often modeled in mid-flight) and accoutrements. Basically, Crisis Suits typically have a number of sensors or spines or other gubbinz sticking off of them, whereas Stealths usually do not. I decided I was going to have to "Tau it up" with my Suits to make them look more like Crisis than Stealths. The standard battlesuit configuration I chose was Bladestorm. Thus, the Crisis suit you see here has a Plasma Rifle, a Burst Cannon and a Multitracker. There are also a couple of sensor/communication spines from both the Stealth sprue and the FireWarrior sprue to make it look more like a Crisis suit.

Arms Deals
First off, I decided to glue the weapons to the arms. It would give them time to dry while I dealt with the body and it would make them easier to handle later. I considered using magnets so that I could switch weapons if necessary, but I didn't do that for this model. For the most part, the Bladestorm configuration will be very effective for me. It doesn't have the range or light vehicle capacity that made the Fireknife the most popular configuration, but it's actually more effective at taking down Space Marine-equivalents, as well as other kinds of infantry. I plan to have vehicles covered between my Fusion-Blaster equipped Pirahnas and my Broadsides, so I don't need my Crisis Suits to perform that role. Later on, I may decide to use magnets on some of my weapons, but I'll save that for another time.

I have always liked the look of weapons mounted under the arms, like the Burst Cannons on Stealth Suits, so that's how I mounted these. (Quick Note: I chose the Burst Cannon from the Pirahna rather than the Stealth Suit Burst Cannon partly because of it's resemblance to the Crisis version of the weapon, and partly because I wanted it to look a little different.) Once I'd gotten the glue to set enough to put them down, that's just what I did so that I could turn my attention to the body.

Going to Tau'n
As I mentioned earlier, I knew I'd have to "Tau it up" a little to make it look less stealthy. What I mean by "Tau it up" is that most Tau things (except Stealth Suits) have various little sensor spines and communication things sticking off of them. I grabbed one from the XV25 Sprue and another from a box of FireWarriors to give my Suit a little more Crisis appearance. Looking at the model, there were several places that could work and might make sense. The sides of the main body, just above the arms could work and would be close to the actual head of the Tau pilot. The back "deck" of the backpack could work as well and would be out of the way "in real life." Finally, I decided to go with just above the "head" of the model, since that's the classic Crisis Suit look. The Multitracker would fit really well on the "deck" of the backpack as well, but it's usually on the shoulder of Crisis Suits, so I thought I should follow that pattern.

Sticking it to The Man, with superglue!
After gluing it all together, this is the final result. While I intend to do some more dynamic poses later, I wanted to stick to the pure and simple for this proof-of-concept test. I think it ultimately turned out quite well. The combination of extra sensor gubbinz and two weapons and some decidely Crisis Style choices really makes this model for me. It is aesthetically pleasing and still manages to convey that it is a Crisis Suit, I think. Even as I finished this Suit, though, I knew I still had another challenge ahead of me.

This is my Boomstick!
When I was ordering from Battlewagon Bitz, I needed some Railguns for my Broadside Battlesuits. They didn't have any Broadside Railguns available, though. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I opted to go with Railguns from a Hammerhead. I didn't know there was a difference, except for the fact that the Hammerhead only mounts one Railgun, while the Broadside has two. When I opened the package, I knew there was a bit of a problem! Apparently, Hammerhead Railguns are substantially larger than Broadside Railguns. The picture below illustrates this rather effectively with a Hammerhead Railgun standing next to the converted Stealth Suit that is supposed to carry it.

It's not the size of your gun...
While I did have some amusing ideas float through my head of mounting them as-is, along with using great quotes like, "It's an 88 Magnum. This baby shoots through schools!" I decided I'd better shorten it somehow. I didn't want to mess with the back of the weapon, since that would be difficult to cut through and had more details. I didn't want to mess up the "business end" either, as I like the looks of the giant muzzle brakes. That left the middle of the barrel. Fortunately, there was a section in the middle that not only didn't have much in the way of detail, but it had clear lines separating it from the front and back of the weapon. (Cutting next to clear lines like that makes it easier to put together without a noticeable seam later, since there's already a visual break.) Then it was just a matter of cutting it off and lining it up. Well, almost...

Whittling it down?
Well, it provided a good look on one side, but the other side had these two supports or something going out into the area I was cutting away. After some thought, I decided that it would be more visually interesting to keep them, but I had to get rid of the barrel material that was between and beneath them so that the newly relocated muzzle would fit. I cut the barrel at the edge of the two supports, then I started whittling down the material underneath and between them. (Whittling uses very shallow cuts to remove material without sticking the knife in too deep. It also lets you remove material relatively quickly without having a chance of cutting off your thumb! Once I'd whittled the material down enough, I had to sand it to get rid of a little bit more and make it flat and smooth so that it could glue properly. Here you see the finished "Carbine" Railgun next to an original one.

Do you feel lucky?
Once I'd made the shorter barreled versions of two of the Railguns, I tried mounting them on the battlesuit. They are still pretty large, but I rather like the look. When I ordered the parts for them, I considered picking up some Smart Missiles for them. Not because I think they need them for gameplay, but because the models normally have them and I want these guys to be very definitely Broadsides. On the other hand, I don't think anybody will be able to mistake them for something else given the size of their weapons!

The Proof is in the Pudding?
Okay, these two test models have given me the confidence that I can modify the XV25 Stealth Suits into something that will look appropriate for either an XV8 Crisis Battlesuit or an XV88 Broadside Battlesuit. Of course, if I ever want to use actual Stealth Suits, I'll have to use the old XV15 models instead. I don't plan to, though.

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