Magos Takatus

That's a curious take and your "my guys" is a very interesting thread and I think I supported you in there but I find sometimes rather than an air of mystery it just feels like a void to me. I just can't get excited about a blank slate like 2nd edition Ferrus Manus. I think the Index Astartes series from 3rd Edition (?) were fantastic as they fleshed out the legions and gave them and their Primarchs some degree of depth. I must admit it would be kinda cool if we had loads of info on some of the Primarchs... but it was all conflicting information from several different sources. There's been almost ten thousand years for the formation of rumours, legends, supressed or doctored knowledge and full on purging of data. If what we knew about some Primarchs was actually horribly inaccurate it could be fun. There would be more branching off points and plot hooks to inspire campaigns because there could be wild conspiracy theories to follow. Regardless, hopefully there is still room for people to have fun with the background and that there is still enough mystery and intrigue left to keep discussion going.

Sadly I don't think I can provide help much with Eldar civilian wear, from what little I remember of the Path of the Eldar series of books the Eldar from the Craftworlds tend to vary what they wear considerably, I think it did describe clothes some of the characters wore in those novels but sadly I cannot recall the actual descriptions. I get the impression that the Eldar of the Craftworlds would have a very diverse but elegant wardrobe. Unfortunately I'm of little help, I am a human male that wears cargo trousers and geeky t-shirts so I am probably diametrically opposed to Aeldari female fashion.

I can't say I agree with the sentiment of the OP entirely. When I started the hobby the Primarchs were pretty much just a list of names in the 40k rulebook with no character, motivations, appearance... nothing. If you were lucky you'd find a quote attributed to Leman Russ and that was your lot. There were so few plot hooks for each character that it was hard to get any inspiration regarding them. Nowadays the Primarchs have motivations for fighting each other and different factions in settings, now you don't have to pull a fanfic-grade Lion El'johnson out of your backside if you want to use him in a campaign. Granted, we don't need to know what he eats for breakfast, not everything needs to be documented about the Primarchs but the artwork of say, The Khan or Sanguinius is far more detailed and inspiring that anything I could envisage in my mind. As for their influence game-wise I don't think they or titanic units have made as much of an impact as some claim. Before they were introduced Chaos and Tyranids hoarded all of the monstrous creatures and the other armies didn't have anything of the same power level (You might be able to argue the Avatar of Khaine fits here but if my memory serves from 3rd edition onwards it was a bit of a damp squib compared to greater daemons). It was depressing having your tank fail to kill the opposing winged daemon, only for it to fly into combat, one-shot your tank and then follow up into the rest of your army game after game. At least in some of the later editions of 40k more armies could take Knights as allies, allowing other armies to reach some level of parity with the large centrepiece monsters (comparing monstrous creatures to vehicles was like comparing apples and oranges for the longest time, with vehicles having numerous weaknesses that monsters didn't). The loyalist Primarchs have given a couple more armies more options in this regard. I don't feel the need to bring a Stompa to every game though, so while I think Primarchs and Titanic units aren't inherently a problem I don't think they need to be in every game by any means. I think they need to be handled carefully and that is not currently happening but I don't think either are obstacles that can't be overcome.

I saw cog teeth and my mind immediately went in the wrong direction. All of these guesses make more sense than Mechanicus right now. The GSC looks most likely. I hope we get to find out soonish even if I don't collect them.

I guess the fine gentlemen are circa 1993-4. They look pretty miserable by today's standards but it's nice to be able to remember where you came from. It's also nice to show to novice painters so they don't get disheartened with their first efforts. Everybody has to start somewhere. By comparison: To anyone that needs to hear this, power through the cringe models and you will get better quickly. With Youtube tutorials existing nowadays you will grow as a painter far faster than I did. :)

That's some fantastic work there, Karhedron. I am quite the fan of the Avatar of Khaine myself. My plastic version is still in my pile of shame though.

I've always disliked marines being female as they don't fit into the established lore (as nonsense as that pseudo-science is), but female Custodes? That's a different matter entirely for me. I think it's awesome and as far as I know doesn't involved massive retcons. I think it's a step in the right direction.

Good news, the basing material has remained stable yet my models retain their oddly spicy aroma. I really hope that doesn't go mouldy in the future! Anyway, here's a look at the models in their primed state. Now just to actually paint them. Thanks for the help, turns out PVA was perfectly adequate after all and I was just being silly. :)

Those Nurgle sections are so busy, that must have taken ages to paint. Marvellous work.

Nice to see some interesting support for the Dread Mob.

Exactly. I don't dislike the sculpts at all, I think they are rather neat, but they certainly don't fit the theme of my army and if I really wanted a Beast Snagga army it's not that long ago that they dropped a box full of them.

Just a quick update, the PVA seems to have worked better than I expected. the Fairy Liquid did a great job of breaking the surface tension of the water, though near the end of the batch it was introducing a lot of bubbles to the bases, so I has to mix a little more. It seems the bubbles have disappeared now the bases have dried and I think it's reasonably durable. I'll find out tomorrow when I dig out the airbrush if I blow all my basing material all over my room/face.

As someone that loves the weird science aspect of the Orks.... Pass.

Yes, while growing up I'd see the Spanish entries for Golden Daemon over there. I swear there's something in the water, those guys are incredible.

Cheers for the replies. I tried watered down satin varnish on a test model and that seems to be okay but I haven't done any durability testing yet. I did find the water did bead up a little, the wet water mix sounds like a good way to break up that surface tension. Either that or a little dish soap? I wandered off to a board game club today so I didn't get anything done beyond the test model on the way out of the door. I will try pva tomorrow and compare results and then report back.