I've recently been touching up some of my older armies, including my Tau. Thematically I want to shape the force into a light Hunter Cadre equipped for vanguard operations/heavy reconnaissance so it will include small mounted units of Fire Warriors and well equipped units of Stealth Suits and Pathfinders along with some of the more unusual stuff like Sniper Drone Teams and Remora Drone Fighters from Forge World. Along with updating the rest of the army I decided I really wanted to convert a new Commander.

Back when the new Tau codex first came out I noticed that with the "Iridium" Battlesuit and Vectored retro-thrusters one can essentially replicate a slightly improved set of rules and profile of XV9 Battlesuits. The only thing missing are the photon-casters which give XV9s defensive grenades but I figure a Repulsor Impact Field could represent a prototype variant. I gave a lot of thought to how I wanted the model to look and have been accumulating the required bits for a while, as most of them are from expensive forge world or finecast models, and the idea was relegated to the back burner for a long time. However, now that I've finally gotten everything I need for the model I decided it was time for it to take shape.

[URL=http://s252.photobucket.com/user/Just_Me_Images/media/Tau/ShasOXV9_zpsd106c535.jpg.html][/URL]

He is a Shas'O in a prototype variant of the XV9 "Hazard" Suit, represented by the following wargear:

Signature systems
XV8-02 Iridium Battlesuit
Repulsor Impact Field

Support Systems
Vectored Retro-Thrusters
Shield Generator

Weapons
Cyclic Ion Blaster

Drones
Marker Drone x2
(drones aren't in the picture)

My one issue is deciding on what to fit in his final open hardpoint. I've narrowed it down to two options; a Drone Controller for BS5 Marklights, or a Fusion Blaster for a BS5 18" melta which matches well with the range on his other ranged weapon. The Drone Controller is easy, at most I just smack a cool little antenna bit on there somewhere, but the Fusion Blaster is a different story. If I decide to go that route it would give him more punch and make him a threat to literally anything in the game (short of Apocalypse/Escalation) but I'm not sure were I would mount it. I mocked up a few ideas with it tacked in place and I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback, both on the various mounting options and everything else.

First is "shoulder" mounted on one of the retro-thrusters:
[URL=http://s252.photobucket.com/user/Just_Me_Images/media/Tau/ShasOXV9shouldermount2_zps5871e6ea.jpg.html][/URL]

Second is essentially the same but with some sort of articulation to track where he's looking:
[URL=http://s252.photobucket.com/user/Just_Me_Images/media/Tau/ShasOXV9shouldermount1_zps4ada6316.jpg.html][/URL]

And third is to mount it under the shield similar to Farsight's Plasma rifle:
[URL=http://s252.photobucket.com/user/Just_Me_Images/media/Tau/ShasOXV9shieldmount_zpsec6e131c.jpg.html][/URL]