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I've never liked Cadian models in my guard armies because they always seemed too bland. I don't like the green/khaki thing. Is there any good or interesting paint jobs or conversions for the models that still mark them as cadians? Basically I just want a fluffy Cadian army that stands out and doesn't look the same as GW's interpretation.

Sure. Paint them with camo patterning. Paint them with white stripes on their helmets to show they're Youth Brigaiders. Pick a random regiment number and say "This regiment are from the desert part" and give them ochre uniforms and red/pink armour plates.

Try a different paint job? I really dont know what else to suggest seeing as you want cadians that look different to GW cadians.

base them on a real historical unit

US marines in WW2,Pattons armoured forces,british fighting in the desert,ect

I went for head and weapon swaps and a camo paint scheme. I rather like the torso armour on cadians, but the heads have always looked a little comedic.

Customize them with third party or other GW bits. Tanith first, Renegade guard, paint them as vets, paint/model them as a spehss mehreen auxillary force. Plenty that can be done... just don't use the stock helmets they're horrible haha. I love the cadian chest piece, don't mind the legs... the arms are ok just chunky.

If I were to go for an American army in the Vietnam war look, how could I go about doing it? I know that catachans are kind of like that (and I have an army of them) but they are more like rambo and I want more of a realistic vietnam soldier. Do you think cadians mixed with catachans could create that look?

Catachan don't mix well with Cadians. The basic Catachan box is fairly exaggerated, even for GW.

I've painted mine victorian-British style - dark red cloth, cream-beige body armour and they look badass.

If you have Dawn of War, play around with the colour schemes in that and see if you can't find one that you like.

Paint them up in WWII British army colours and have Creed, who is basically Churchill (even the way he looks) lead them. Fluffy, fun and lets you flick the V's at people.

All I did for my IG was paint them red and bronze like the Roman Legions.

If you read into the fluff of the IG then you may recall that the Cadian military equipment is pretty much the standard for the majority of planets who pay to equip their regiments with more than just the Imperium provided lasgun. Those who can afford better tend to use Elysian-looking equipment.

If you are looking to field a Cadian army you are pretty much stuck with using their green/khaki apparel (because they are a very regimented planet where even the birth rate is set - paraphrased from the IG codex). Unless you waver in how much you follow what the book says....

If you are unhappy with the green/khaki colors then I suggest that you homebrew your own planet and fluff, reasoning that they supply their regiments with Cadian equipment like most others do. I created my own using Cadian equipment. I used dark blue on my armor, light blue for capes, silver for emblems, white for uniforms, leather for boots and belts, and a different shade of dark blue for triangles with two black dots randomly placed around each triangle on their uniform. They come from a planet with a cooler temperature so they use those winter colors. This painting idea sprang from a GW article on IG paint schemes for camo... before GW decided to be anal and remove all their articles.

Green Stuff on faces!






Very veteran squad :p

kidding


Once you get the hang of it you can pump out 1 every minute (give or take a little). Spend some time ironing out what you think is cool and try and go for that.

Have you checked out the old metal cadians. They have a bit of a vietnam/ww2 vibe in the look of the equipment, without the foolish rambosity of actual catachans

Call them Canadians?

One idea is to have the armor black in color while the fatigues are a red-black camoflage. IT's not really camo, but it looks pretty neat.

Can some one find good pics of the old metal cadians?

 Color Sgt. Kell wrote:
Can some one find good pics of the old metal cadians?

Yes.

They're not made anymore, and good luck finding them used for a reasonable price.

HOWEVER, you can make some pretty cool lookalikes that get that same kind of vibe. Check out Max Minis, Victoria lamb, Mad Robot Minis, and Pig Iron. All those companies make very cool bits that bring to mind these older minis.

I was in the same boat you are in a little while ago, and while it can be expensive, the results are absolutely worth it

Damn. I hadn't noticed that they had dropped out of the catalogue. Its a pity.

I love the sergeant with a belly. One of my favourite GW minis ever.

 Color Sgt. Kell wrote:
If I were to go for an American army in the Vietnam war look, how could I go about doing it? I know that catachans are kind of like that (and I have an army of them) but they are more like rambo and I want more of a realistic vietnam soldier. Do you think cadians mixed with catachans could create that look?

Unless you were doing very early-war, the Catachans have too much armor to resemble US forces in Vietnam. While our troops shipped with it, most of them abandoned it fairly quickly as being too hot, too cumbersome and too ineffectual in the conditions. However, if you were going to go that route... eh, it's a lotta green paint. Olive-drab body armor over olive-drab fatigues.

I really like the Forge World Cadians with the Respirators and the Hazardous Environment gear.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 Color Sgt. Kell wrote:
Can some one find good pics of the old metal cadians?

Yes.

Spoiler:

Wow that first picture is so epic. I'm going to have to try and find some of the old metals

And now you know why they're so hard to find

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
And now you know why they're so hard to find

Yeah lol

 portugus wrote:
Green Stuff on faces!

I recognize the first picture as being a conversion from the tank kit. Great job on making the regular guardsman torso fit in between those belt pouches!

As for the greenstuff on the faces, how did you get the material to harden? Mine seems limp whenever I tack that much on without a plastic piece to support it.

Everything is sexier in Resin

Everything.

Have you ever had anyone at the LGS look at your Cadians and say "Oh hey, that's cool. Mind if I look at it?"

Probably not, because Cadians are as boring as Boyz. But with the FW upgrade kits, they gain some much needed, subtle yet attractive detail that draws the eye well. A blast to paint, too.

Paint them different and mix in heads. I have a lot of the Pig Iron Kolony Rebel heads floating around in my IG. Mixing in different heads really helps to ad some flavor to an IG force.

I painted mine brown and white with a desert-themed base. That right there set them apart. Then I started modifying their lasguns a little bit, and doing a bit of sculpting work, wherein I chop down their helmets and GS back on some hair.

The end result looks sort of cadian, but definitely different from the usual.

 Ailaros wrote:
I painted mine brown and white with a desert-themed base. That right there set them apart. Then I started modifying their lasguns a little bit, and doing a bit of sculpting work, wherein I chop down their helmets and GS back on some hair.

The end result looks sort of cadian, but definitely different from the usual.

nice guard you've got there