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Maybe it's my own subconscious biases or stereotypes but for some odd reason, I have always imagined Ferrus Manus as a black dude. Not sure why that's just how I've always imagined him in my minds eye, and it wasn't until I saw the FW model that I realized he wasn't.

Would people freak out if I painted him with a different skin tone? (I don't have one and not sure if I will ever get one). But this is something that I have thought about. This thread may descend quickly into violations of rule #1 but I'd rather hope we can be civil.

What are your thoughts on someone painting minis as different ethnicity than their 'canon' portrayal?

Who cares?

I see no reason not to. I personally would be hesitant to alter those with unique and established appearances (Vulcan Magnus etc) but everyone else is fair game. Especially from a time of myth and legend.

Paint it how you like. Especially if it is an expensive Forge World model.

it's your mini.paint him how you wish, white, black, purple, hell if you wanna paint him in leadbletcher and claim he's a Necron go ahead.

Thanks guys. Obviously I have been overthinking/analyzing this.

I wouldn't freak out. I would think that it's "wrong" in a very broad sense.

Pedro Kantor doesn't wear red armor. He wears blue armor. His power fist isn't green. It's red.

The table top depiction of minis isn't an artistic interpretation of a non-visual media with no "set" canon visual representation. It's not like asking what Severus Snape's (of the book, not the movie) nose looks like.

Raven guard are supposed to be pasty white. Salamanders are supposed to be pitch black (who, incidentally, might be the only "black" people in the 40k universe). And Ferrus Manus is a white guy.

You can paint him however you want, of course, but inwardly, I'd be thinking: "Wroooooooooong!"

Making Ferrus Manus a black guy would be like painting an ork boy bright pink.

You can do it.

But still, that just ain't right.

Anyone who would freak out or judge you about it isn't really worth bothering with anyway.

Your models, your decision.

You painted it at all. That puts you way ahead of most people.

On the topic of racial change in 40k characters, isn't the raven guard psyker in the Death Watch box the same guy from the video game? Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I believe he was black in the video game...

Ultimately it doesn't matter (a statement we'll probably see a dozen more times in this thread haha). Honestly, I also imagined him with a darker skin tone rather than being a white dude.

Traditio wrote:The table top depiction of minis isn't an artistic interpretation of a non-visual media with no "set" canon visual representation. It's not like asking what Severus Snape's (of the book, not the movie) nose looks like.

Is it ever explicitly stated that he is white? I mean, he very well could be since there's a lot of fluff, novels, and other creative pieces that pertain to him that I haven't read, so he could have been described as white. Also, you make this statement and then all the other examples you give are represented on the tabletop with a baseline requirement for the colour scheme. Consider one of your examples, Pedro: In the SM codex, they have a picture of him with his default paint scheme, which means he has a set canon representation.

I would consider things like chapter colors and insignia as being far more important to a character than something as trivial as skin color, anyway.

IllumiNini wrote:Is it ever explicitly stated that he is white? I mean, he very well could be since there's a lot of fluff, novels, and other creative pieces that pertain to him that I haven't read, so he could have been described as white. Also, you make this statement and then all the other examples you give are represented on the tabletop with a baseline requirement for the colour scheme. Consider one of your examples, Pedro: In the SM codex, they have a picture of him with his default paint scheme, which means he has a set canon representation.

What about things like orks, though? Again, if someone had an army of bright pink orks, there's no question of whether or not this presents an obstacle to play.

It seems off, though.

At any rate, I don't know if Ferrus Manus (literally, "Iron hand") is specifically and officially said to be white or not. That said, the way I understand the question of the OP is:

"I saw the model and this is obviously a white dude. Can I paint him black anyway?"

[I then looked up ferrus manus on a web search and confirmed that it's a white dude.]

Well, sure, the OP can paint him whatever colors he wants, so long as it fits the color scheme for Iron Hands.

But we still know, on the inside, that the only black space marines are the Salamanders (and they're really just white dudes in black face).

Edit:

That said, I will say that if the OP already painted Ferrus black, it's probably not worth the effort to go back and paint him white. It's not that big of a deal.

Traditio wrote:
At any rate, I don't know if Ferrus Manus (literally, "Iron hand") is specifically and officially said to be white or not. That said, the way I understand the question of the OP is:

"I saw the model and this is obviously a white dude. Can I paint him black anyway?"

[I then looked up ferrus manus on a web search and confirmed that it's a white dude.]

You say you don't know whether or not he's officially white or not, then you classify the model as '...obviously a white dude...'. I sense much contradiction.

Traditio wrote:
Well, sure, the OP can paint him whatever colors he wants, so long as it fits the color scheme for Iron Hands.

...

Edit:

That said, I will say that if the OP already painted Ferrus black, it's probably not worth the effort to go back and paint him white. It's not that big of a deal.

Chapter Colours are the only ones that matter. Black or white skin doesn't matter and not wrong on any level or in any sense.

Traditio wrote:
But we still know, on the inside, that the only black space marines are the Salamanders (and they're really just white dudes in black face).

Not sure if trolling/being stupid or just trying to make a pretty average joke.

Its your model, paint him how you would like
(just dont forget the metal hands)

IllumiNini wrote:You say you don't know whether or not he's officially white or not, then you classify the model as '...obviously a white dude...'. I sense much contradiction.

I quote the OP:

"Maybe it's my own subconscious biases or stereotypes but for some odd reason, I have always imagined Ferrus Manus as a black dude. Not sure why that's just how I've always imagined him in my minds eye, and it wasn't until I saw the FW model that I realized he wasn't."

Chapter Colours are the only ones that matter. Black or white skin doesn't matter and not wrong on any level or in any sense.

In terms of gameplay, I agree with this. Aesthetically, not so much when we are dealing with characters.

I'm sorry, but a pale Salamander is as wrong as a black ravenguard.

Not sure if trolling/being stupid or just trying to make a pretty average joke.

I am neither trolling nor entirely joking. Consult PMs in a moment.

Traditio wrote:I quote the OP:

"Maybe it's my own subconscious biases or stereotypes but for some odd reason, I have always imagined Ferrus Manus as a black dude. Not sure why that's just how I've always imagined him in my minds eye, and it wasn't until I saw the FW model that I realized he wasn't."

The original post has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you seemed to contradict yourself in that post.

Traditio wrote:In terms of gameplay, I agree with this. Aesthetically, not so much when we are dealing with characters.

I'm sorry, but a pale Salamander is as wrong as a black ravenguard.

I could vehemently argue this until the cows come home, but this would not yield anything productive and ultimately has no bearings on what the OP has asked.

Traditio wrote:


What about things like orks, though? Again, if someone had an army of bright pink orks, there's no question of whether or not this presents an obstacle to play.

Colour blind snakebites? A new 'kunnin' strategy from a nob to freak out and shock da humiez. Radiation, or some weird symptom of whatever squig-ale their mad-doc has been brewing up lately?

Perfectly legitimate. No obstacle here then.

IllumiNini wrote:The original post has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you seemed to contradict yourself in that post.

I believe you misunderstand me:

I asserted two things:

1. I do not know of any official canon on the racial heritage of ferrus magnus.

2. It is apparent that the OP considers ferrus manus obviously to be a white dude based perceptually on the appearance of the model. Thus, that's what he's asking:

"The model obviously looks white. Can I make him black?"


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Deadnight wrote:Colour blind snakebites? A new 'kunnin' strategy from a nob to freak out and shock da humiez. Radiation, or some weird symptom of whatever squig-ale their mad-doc has been brewing up lately?

Perfectly legitimate. No obstacle here then.

Again, I completely agree. It's not an obstacle to gameplay.

It just looks weird.

I thought Snikrot was a purple Ork but then I saw the model and it clearly wasn't purple (I could see it). I'm not sure what to think anymore.

Just say the iron hands had many missions on blazing hot surface planets prior to whatever games you play and that is the reason why his skin is a few shades darker than usual and I doubt you'll have a problem

 Vankraken wrote:
I could see it

Then you know it was not the real Snikrot.

 SickSix wrote:


Would people freak out if I painted him with a different skin tone? (I don't have one and not sure if I will ever get one). But this is something that I have thought about.

I'm just laughing, trying to imagine a situation where somebody *actually* freaked out about the skintone on a model in another person's army..... LMAO

Is that reaction something that anyone's EVER encountered in real life? I would feel so sad for them (the person having the freak-out, that is).

^ I would laugh, then probably get angry when I truly realise they're being racist haha

Ill just leave this here to address the subject of color in warhammer 40k

if the video does not jump to it, its at 5:12

https://youtu.be/M56aycpd9kA?t=313

If someone freaked out or honestly even cared what skin color you chose for your models then that's likely someone you don't want to be around anyway.

It seriously doesn't matter; go crazy. Heck, I always thought Ferrus was black too.

Nocturus wrote:
On the topic of racial change in 40k characters, isn't the raven guard psyker in the Death Watch box the same guy from the video game? Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I believe he was black in the video game...

I'm assuming you mean the Blood Raven, since he's the only psyker in DW:O, and he's a completely new character named Jensus Natorian. The Dawn of War named psykers were Isador Akios in DoW, and Jonah Orion in DoW2 (he's the one you're thinking of). I use Natorian in my army, and I have a model for Orion as well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
It should also be noted that according to the fluff, one of the SM geneseeds (the Melanchromic Organ) actually causes his skin color to change depending on his environment. Raven Guard are pale and Salamanders are pitch black due to mutations in the Melanchromic Organ. It would honestly be just as accurate to assume that all Space Marines are black, they are just in low-radiation environments, and so their Melanchromic Organ has adjusted their skin tone to a pale tone.

Space Marines change their skin colour depending on the amount of sunlight. The Melanchromic Organ regulates the amount of melanin in the skin.
So realistically, Space Marines operating in hot, sunny environments would all be black, while they would be white in temperate or cold environments.
That means Space Marines are both white and black and you can paint them with any skin colour you want.
Ferrus Manus actually was a black guy, as long as he remained in a sunny environment

Ferrus didn't have SM organs, though, right? Primarchs had a physiology of their own.

Head-canon's a funny thing, isn't it? I always play the original Deus Ex as the black JC Denton, as I prefer the look of him - especially since the more melanin-challenged ones seem to have a creepy pallor to them.

Then I catch a glimpse of the official/default white JC on some website and I'm like "what?! Why's JC white? ...Oh. Oh, yeah..."

Ya gotta stick with what feels right.