Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Particularly, why are there so many topknots and so few beards?

Beards, it seems, are restricted to White Scars, Space Wolves, Rough Riders, Vostroyans, and Captain Lysander of the Imperial Fists. Even the Talharn models and many of their artworks show them as being very clean-shaven despite them being Space Arabs. Final Liberation did give them beards, though, so that's pretty cool.

Meanwhile, topknots are all over the place. For no reason at all, I see Aeldari (both Asuryani and Drukhari), Chaos Space Marines (mainly Black Legion), Loyalist Space Marines (mainly White Scars and Space Wolves), Orks (not technically hair but a type of Squig), and freaking Tau have this fashion.

Why?

There are a few bearded Ultramarines.

And when talking about hair styles, don’t forget the mohawk. Lot of those kicking around.

 Nevelon wrote:
There are a few bearded Ultramarines.

And when talking about hair styles, don’t forget the mohawk. Lot of those kicking around.

Mohawks are popular among armies in the modern era.



Beards are popular among armies in the medieval and antiquity era.

Topknots are, much like Viking horns, completely stupid to have in combat.

Topknots are easy to sculpt and work well with the limitations of injection molded plastic. Other hair styles aren't so easy. So if you don't want a bald miniature the default for the lazy sculptor is a topknot.

Warhammer aesthetics were moulded during the era of hair metal and aggressive punk. 40k is a backwards fantasyland in space where looking street credible is just as and more important than any practicality.

Top knots stand out. Big hairdos stand out. Both are pretty metal. That's all you need.

For practical reasons, topknots usually don't get in the way of other parts of the model and literally stand out on the tabletop, while beards and flowing long hair can hinder stuff like head swaps and conversions. That's also a reason for there being uncommonly many baldies

short answer is "it works better on the models"

things like topknots keep the hair clear of the neck/shoulders, which makes it easier to assemble and paint without worrying about the interface between the bare head and the chest armour.

its easier to make as well, as "Up" dos let you keep the head as a complete whole with a clear, easy to glue neck joint that allows that ever-requested CUSTOM POSING!!!, while a longer "down" hairdo would limit the position of the head to whatever the hair interface dictates.

also, models are used to visually express the faction, so hair styles need to be a part of that expression. topknots and mohawks on orks harken back to thier 80s goth/punk roots as footie hooligans. the Tau have topknots because they were popular with historical Chinese and Japanese warriors, suiting their Asian/anime aesthetics. Most space marines have short, practical haircuts as befits their professional warrior vibe, but Space wolves, as space vikings, get long hair and beards, and get to have up dos in the "barbarian warrior" style. Templars seem to favour either the shaven bald or the "pudding bowl" haircuts, as both of these are associtated with religious monks and medieval knights.

The sisters of Battle bob cut just seems to have been semi-fashionable in the early 90s when their original look was created, and has stuck around as visually iconic, though.

Even the Talharn models and many of their artworks show them as being very clean-shaven despite them being Space Arabs.

See, thats where your slightly wrong. They weren't "Arabs IN SPACE", they were "Lawrence of Arabia IN SPACE". At the time you could still buy talharn, they were uniformily painted in European flesh tones by the 'Eavy Metal team, and their notable engagements in the lore were cribbed form exploits of the british LRDG and SAS in north africa in ww2.

There’s also Warrior culture influences, at least pop culture Warrior cultures which are by no means historically accurate.

Consider Vikings being portrayed as wearing horned helmets. That has no historical basis, and instead was a Victorian invention, the prudish weirdos.

Let's not forget all the powdered wigs in the upper society. The wild and dangerous punk-and-road-warrior look for the underhive scums contrasting classical and decadent look of the wealthy and the ruling class? And top-knots has a more exotic feel over in the western hemisphere, so they use it for quasi-asiatic cultures as well as the Eldars.

Aecus Decimus wrote:
Topknots are easy to sculpt and work well with the limitations of injection molded plastic. Other hair styles aren't so easy. So if you don't want a bald miniature the default for the lazy sculptor is a topknot.

This one!

Action figures also had this a lot.

Probably because in a breather-helmet that beard would flop all over their face and make them into helmeted cousin it's.

This is why in jobs where you need to wear a gasmask/breather people have to shave their beards off.

 lcmiracle wrote:
And top-knots has a more exotic feel over in the western hemisphere

Not so much, anymore.

Star Grave just did a couple of female sets and yes everyone has shoulder length hair or pony tails.

I would like to see more hair styles, now that GW is more inclined to do semi posed minis.

Escher show they can do rather crazy hair, but I don’t like how they did it for them.

So they could do it for stuff in 40k it fits, but wouldn’t really look as great as resin or metal minis that can have the hair as part of the main body easy.

Can't trust a man hiding behind a beard. As Heresy is everywhere would you make it harder on yourself?

Honestly? Probably modelling trouble. Any time I've seen a model with hair flowing down over its shoulders or anywhere past the neck, it has to be part and parcel of the pose.

Top knots are up and out of the way, therefore allow more posing. Short beards are fine, but longer beards again have to be given space on the model or else lock how poseable it is.

We've started seeing little bits of new hairstyles here and there, and there's also the option of hacking the topknot off.

Given the prices, GW should give us a bag of micro wigs to glue on and style. Your dudes should have flowing locks in any style or color you desire.

 Canadian 5th wrote:
Given the prices, GW should give us a bag of micro wigs to glue on and style. Your dudes should have flowing locks in any style or color you desire.

Color's up to you bud, that's what the paint line is for

drbored wrote:

 Canadian 5th wrote:
Given the prices, GW should give us a bag of micro wigs to glue on and style. Your dudes should have flowing locks in any style or color you desire.

Color's up to you bud, that's what the paint line is for

I'm talking proper doll hair, stuff the ball-jointed doll community would be jealous of. Then we can ensure that we also get cloth bits made of cloth and with that done we can leave monopose behind because now our models can bend and stretch and not have as many hard plastic bits get in the way.