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Bald heads


sbarnby71

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Ok, so I just got hold of Haldor Icepelt, nice model, good striking pose, good Wolf trim.  Now here is where I have an issue with GW and their sculpting of Space Wolves...

 

Space Marines are pretty much immortal, unless they die in combat (Ulrik is over 700 years old).  Now to be immortal cell regeneration should play a big part, otherwise you'd reach 100 years old and look like a shrivelled up old prune and you bones and muscles would not keep up.

 

So why, why, why do GW keep modelling SW with bald heads that look like old men, Haldor could be around 100 years old based on current time lines, so why does he look as old as Ulrik? 

 

You'd think if the Emperor just didn't bother to remove the gene that causes male-pattern--baldness in his first go at making Space Marines, Cawl might have had a go at it. 

 

Now I'm all for shaved headed Marines, I just don't like the sideburns or mutton-chops we seem to get over and over again.  Last night I spent ages removing mutton-chops from my older SW heads as I was so annoyed.

 

And yes, I am bald, but I shave it all, so no mutton-chops.

 

Here's to more Primaris SWs with a full head of hair!

 

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In the lore the SW's geneseed has a tendency to cause early greying and baldness in some cases. It's a trade off for having higher senses and being stubborn/hot headed.

 

Edit: I just remembered that SWs aren't the only bald ones, even some custodes and primarchs are bald. Maybe the emperor didnt care about ensuring every SM had Sanguinis quality hair. SMs at the end of the day are nothing more than weapons.

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Ok, so I just got hold of Haldor Icepelt, nice model, good striking pose, good Wolf trim.  Now here is where I have an issue with GW and their sculpting of Space Wolves...

 

Space Marines are pretty much immortal, unless they die in combat (Ulrik is over 700 years old).  Now to be immortal cell regeneration should play a big part, otherwise you'd reach 100 years old and look like a shrivelled up old prune and you bones and muscles would not keep up.

 

So why, why, why do GW keep modelling SW with bald heads that look like old men, Haldor could be around 100 years old based on current time lines, so why does he look as old as Ulrik? 

 

You'd think if the Emperor just didn't bother to remove the gene that causes male-pattern--baldness in his first go at making Space Marines, Cawl might have had a go at it. 

 

Now I'm all for shaved headed Marines, I just don't like the sideburns or mutton-chops we seem to get over and over again.  Last night I spent ages removing mutton-chops from my older SW heads as I was so annoyed.

 

And yes, I am bald, but I shave it all, so no mutton-chops.

 

Here's to more Primaris SWs with a full head of hair!

bald heads make sense, especially for primaris.

 

clean shaven heads, so it doesnt get in the way to much.

 

as for old looking, it could be that they might have the facial appearance of a 50-70 year old, but remain in peak physical condition 18-32.

 

its a fantasy game. =P

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Ok, so I just got hold of Haldor Icepelt, nice model, good striking pose, good Wolf trim.  Now here is where I have an issue with GW and their sculpting of Space Wolves...

 

Space Marines are pretty much immortal, unless they die in combat (Ulrik is over 700 years old).  Now to be immortal cell regeneration should play a big part, otherwise you'd reach 100 years old and look like a shrivelled up old prune and you bones and muscles would not keep up.

 

So why, why, why do GW keep modelling SW with bald heads that look like old men, Haldor could be around 100 years old based on current time lines, so why does he look as old as Ulrik? 

 

You'd think if the Emperor just didn't bother to remove the gene that causes male-pattern--baldness in his first go at making Space Marines, Cawl might have had a go at it. 

 

Now I'm all for shaved headed Marines, I just don't like the sideburns or mutton-chops we seem to get over and over again.  Last night I spent ages removing mutton-chops from my older SW heads as I was so annoyed.

 

And yes, I am bald, but I shave it all, so no mutton-chops.

 

Here's to more Primaris SWs with a full head of hair!

bald heads make sense, especially for primaris.

 

clean shaven heads, so it doesnt get in the way to much.

 

as for old looking, it could be that they might have the facial appearance of a 50-70 year old, but remain in peak physical condition 18-32.

 

its a fantasy game. =P

 

I do get the age thing, yep my battle leaders are usually the older looking heads, just the mutton-chops, oh why do they do that so much?

 

And I've just in the last week or so started on Primaris and the shaven heads or short mohicans do work better for me, they are younger and possibly more used to stricter codex adherance so they have a more new recruit look to them.

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I mean theyre weapons. Aesthetics wouldn't really factor in other than making them look human in order to make others feel comfortable. I can't imagine Cawl even though twice about fixing Astartes pattern baldness....

 

We're a very individualistic chapter, hence one may think to stand out by growing the chops a bit.

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Male pattern baldness is not about regeneration. Testosterone in its DHT compound is toxic for our hair roots, reason why there is almost no female baldness. SM = extra testosterone so it's actually extremely logical.

 

The other key component is hair follicle sensitivity to toxicity (purely generic and not correlated with regeneration, apoptosis or telomeres as far as I know) and chances are that was not a big concern for the Emperor :p

 

Also more important than regeneration in longevity is oxidation and telomere length. The first causes DNA mutations which make us malfunction and the second is literally a counter that indicates how many times our cells can duplicate before dying.

 

*nerd mode off*

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Aside from the SW gene causing everyone to look grey and grizzled, a thing to remember about Space Marines in general is that having an artificially inflated life span doesn't mean eternal youth. The upgrades keep their bodies and minds ticking in optimal condition to fight. Any effect of time or aging not specifically targeted, because it doesn't effect combat, will tick on as normal.

 

Wait...I wonder if that's why Space Marines are sterile...the augments didn't do it, but any Marine over fifty or so just has trouble getting it up anymore...to say nothing of Guilliman's shriveled manhood by now...

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It’s probably a case of making the SW heads stand out, in relation to our visions of Vikings and grizzled veterans. I think you’re putting too much thought into their hairstyles; there are far worse rabbit holes to go down in regards to things stretching believability and realism.

 

You could always just not use the heads you don’t like, and only use the heads you do. I know Blood Angel heads have fine hair and no sideburns...

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From a combative standpoint it would actually make more sense for all of them to have been engineered to not have hair. Hair is a handle, where the head goes the body follows.

 

Though, I also would think the E would assume they would all wear their helmets all the time too...

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Speaking of Space Wolves and their hair, I was so dissapointes that Leman Russ looked the way he foes when he was released, as I always pictured him looking more like Logan Grimmnar.

What do you mean? Old, balding, unable to grow hair on his chin and a flattened nose? How they made Russ's model is how the books describe him. How he would have been handsome had his face not been damage by combat and had a sense of savagery, with straight blonde hair with parts of his hair in braids. The only thing missing is the 5 o'clock shadow that is sometimes mentioned. I don't know if Russ shaves (and why) or if he can't grow a beard.

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Speaking of Space Wolves and their hair, I was so dissapointes that Leman Russ looked the way he foes when he was released, as I always pictured him looking more like Logan Grimmnar.

What do you mean? Old, balding, unable to grow hair on his chin and a flattened nose? How they made Russ's model is how the books describe him. How he would have been handsome had his face not been damage by combat and had a sense of savagery, with straight blonde hair with parts of his hair in braids. The only thing missing is the 5 o'clock shadow that is sometimes mentioned. I don't know if Russ shaves (and why) or if he can't grow a beard.

Lol, I don't really agree with your description of Grimnar, he kind of reminds me of what I think Odin would look like, that's why, in my mind, bearing in mind I haven't read any of Heresy stuff with Russ in it, I thought that's what Russ would look like. I read a few Heresy novels, got as far as the First Heretic, but then started a job which doesn't leave me a lot of time to read, as I prefer to read a novel in one sitting if possible, only stopping briefly to smoke, eat, toilet, shower, that sort of stuff, and would happily read a book cover to cover, even if it takes twelve hours, lol.

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Though, I also would think the E would assume they would all wear their helmets all the time too...

 

hahah 100% this.

 

 

"hey here you go, heres this ancient battle armour passed down through generations, master crafted by the finest smiths in the imperium, capable of shrugging off anti tank weapons...and here's the helmet to go with it so you dont instantly circumvent all that work by getting shot in the face...which lets face it..is where everyone is going to aim at as you are an 8ft tall superhuman with multiple hearts...."

 

"thanks...but i prefer to let my mutton chops free..."

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Slimmer is better for true scale! I love them. Was the print good for you?

I do prefer the slimmer look.  On the print front, no it was not great, all of the 20 heads I bought had awful residue on the backs, not so bad on the ones with full hair, but where they had shaven parts I had to spend hours using a scaple to remove it.  So I think the actual designs are real good, but let down by Shapeways printing.  I started a thread a few weeks back on how they had come out.

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Though, I also would think the E would assume they would all wear their helmets all the time too...

 

hahah 100% this.

 

 

"hey here you go, heres this ancient battle armour passed down through generations, master crafted by the finest smiths in the imperium, capable of shrugging off anti tank weapons...and here's the helmet to go with it so you dont instantly circumvent all that work by getting shot in the face...which lets face it..is where everyone is going to aim at as you are an 8ft tall superhuman with multiple hearts...."

 

"thanks...but i prefer to let my mutton chops free..."

 

I think the Thousand Sons made good use of the no-helmet policy.

 

I prefer bare heads, mostly cause I find painting armour a real chore, so helmets are just another dull bit to paint, if I had my way I'd not bother putting the backpacks on!

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