[Wintermits]

http://imgur.com/a/dIimo
Don't mind the crappy paint job, These are just quick test models!


I'm having trouble choosing between these, I feel like the red might look better on my riptides but the green works better for my firewarriors


I want my tau to be a breakaway faction thats rebelling against the ethereals, Which one conveys that more :P

[Sunspear]

I think the green. They are both nice but I like the green

[Carrelio]

Red is usually the Farsight Enclave colour. Either could be a break away faction though, since Tau pick their armour colour to reflect their surroundings and provide better camouflage. Pick the one you like best.

[LastRaven]

If I may from a artistic standpoint both are basic and a little bland if you REALLY want to wow everyone with fantastic painting you'll end up using around 7 or more different colors. Why not try using both on your models to really give them a POP.
You can use the green as a detail color and give it to things like the emblems, antennas, eye pieces, belts, and maybe even armor parts, while you use the red for a more general area, then use another color for a "secondary base" something that would look good with both of the colors to bring them together.
Like a yellow blue or white. Then you'll want to pick some detail colors for things like barrels, antenna tips, maybe even the center of the emblem.

Here are some examples of why using multiple colors can make something pop out at you. I ended up using 9 Different colors not including the chaos black primer. I used Ironbreaker(silver), Nuln Oil/Agrax Earthshade(Shaders), Khorne Red, Wazdakka Red, Averland Sunset(Yellow), Auric Armour Gold(Shiney yellow), Balthasar Gold(Shiny Brown),and Abaddon Black.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/72...ng%29.html?m=2

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/72...ng%29.html?m=2

So all in all I think you should use both colors, never feel like you are stuck to one choice. Think artistically on it and say "If I can't choose between the two. Then hell I'll just use both!"

Hope that helps man. Have fun painting and let the greater good guide your way!

[Carrelio]

7 colours directly gives the wrong idea and sounds like way too many! 7 shades perhaps. Tau typically sit really nicely at 3 main colours; a base colour and a complimenting colour that form the bulk of their outfit, and a sept colour which provides splashes across the entire army to ensure they tie together. Even that devilfish example only had 3 real colours to it.

[LastRaven]

That is fair for basic paint jobs yes. If you go to a tournament thought they do not want standard they want to see something new and inventive something that looks great and it may not show in the picture, but all of those colors helped this model very much for the tournament. So if you want basic go basic if you want to wow people then use my example as a template. That devilfish btw was one of the reasons I got 3rd in paint. Also you can choose just one color to tie them all together or many it really doesn't matter, but just that little bit of wow goes a long way.