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I broke the first rule of hobby collecting, don't talk about the collection

Well I did prime some things this morning, probably won't be dry to paint today, but I'm off tomorrow . I did have a primed scout in a box so I figured I'd see how the colors would translate.



I went with three layers of green and then a heavy blue wash over the model. The cloth colors is actually three layers as well with agrax earth shade wash. I figure the accent color on the models will be blue to reminisce about the blue ocean of the home world, and to also tie in the mythology of the Kappa. The mythology claims that the Kappa have a hard turtle-like shell(power armor) stringy hair (sea weed), and that they have an indent on their head that holds water like a bowl (????). The story goes that the Kappa cannot stay out of the water for long times o the water dries up and they can become weak. Also the Kappa could be tricked into bowing and the water would spill out and they would become weak. While thinking of this I was wondering if I should make them more aquatic. The marines lungs are supposed to be able to breathe just about anything, so why not make them be water breathers? They have adapted over he centuries as specialized aquatic assault troops and spend so much time in the water that they actually have water tanks instead of air tanks. The oxygen is diffused into the water and their bodies breathe the water like a fish. There would be no actual side effect of them taking their helmets off, don't actually get weaker, but it is just not "normal" to them not to be in the water.

Reds will be used as kill markings and on some tubing and wires. Not sure about the brown color I have on the gun yet.

Comments and suggestions welcome as usual.

I like the fluff again that you are coming up with, the head actually looks rather good on a scout body...
Where I have my difficulties with is the current scheme...the first thought that struck me was: superhuman cadian...I think the beige is a bit too near to the standard cadia scheme with that green together...
The fishy theme is a very cool one and I would think you should work more towards that direction...so in the sea you either won't show up...meaning camo...or you totally fly some strong colours that tell everyone you mean business...maybe a strong orange? Also...I dunno about your freehand skills, but what about some lighter tones to make up some fishscales on the armour parts?I know there is a ccompany that currently makes some awesome stencil series...I think anarchy models?

The scheme works well. Background is interesting. I see no problems.

Other than the contrast between the shadows and highlights could be greater on the final models (I know that's just as test).

and the pouches could be a different colour (black or brown or whatever), if you wanted to add a bit more colour variation to the model.

Got a smidgen of time before I leave for work, so the big reveal......what did theo prime this morning

Ooooo, liking this.

Okay so the black is just a placeholder for now. I don't want to fall into the usual "bionic troops should be silver and black" so metals are going to be brass/bronze, still unsure of the body color, I'm leaning towards dark grey to be totally whacked against the brass/bronze. Also the dark grey would look like primed metal, and as these guys aren't to worried about their physical bodies I think an unfinished approach may be the route.
]

Other suggestions welcome too.

Old lizard men in previous photo are for testing scale ideas on.

open to suggestions...there is an open path^^

I had an instant idea... very much apart from your original idea...it goes like this...

well these bionics... well if you have tool like pliers, or a crowbar... they always get painted in a bright red or something... well here is the plan... the bionics are in a way a tool...or tools rather as the bionics are all over... so they get coated in sturdy and thick paint, but it got into deep trouble and is in bad shape... so the bare metal shows through...and this is how I would paint them...but no stress on one color from my part here

also...thanks for having such a deep impact on this thread^^

and those lizards would have been a conversion choice I would have suggested eventually anyway...also the finns of skinks are idea for some conversion ideas... remember you talked about gills and stuff.... for special models you probably could add such details...
wasn´t there a chapter... a lost one that was being eradicated due to their ...well lost the name...

but this could be an alternative chapter instead of the salamander heritage...

sorry for trying to confuse you with yet more ideas^^

Great ideas from Vik as usual , I will definitely scalp some skinks for head crests or elbow fins.

I think the chapter you are talking about are The Black Dragons, a 21st founding chapter that I think are based on Salamander geneseed also. They have a malfunction of one of the organs in the marine buildup that causes an overproduction of bones. They get elbow spikes, some get horns or crests.I don't want these guys being 'tainted' like that, and no gills, they just breathe the water. Marine physiology has extras that allow stuff like that to work. They can filter toxic air and eat strong poisons. Any extra stuff will simply be extra bling on the armor, like the salamanders have scale of the lizard skin on their suits.

Also I think I might try a dark blue for the scouts cloth, like you said it would help hide them in the watery deep.

Bionic colors are staying brass/bronze, it's the armor that's going to get painted differently though. I did consider red, but then it'd start looking like khorne or dark mechanicus

Well about to start work, I'll check in later.

Well you could hazard strip them!

Do a deep red, because they are the rid shirts . The Kappa fluff is interesting. Picturing marines with bowls on their heads full of water.

´m only suggesting mate... I wouldn´t want to change your mind... that would ruin your originality! and that´s a gem I wouldn´t want to see go to waste!

and I am always cool with brass... it is a warm colour that looks instantly artisan...and steampunky too

and yes... that was the chapter... maybe I should tackle that idea one of these days... the fluff is calling out for me I think...geneseedrebbels...

also... I know you said you don´t want no muties... but if the salamanders could have black (real black) skin... why not have an aquatic marine chapter have a more blue hue of their skin...? I have a mental image of grand admiral thrawn of Star Wars in my mind...?

This talk of breathing water reminds me of The Abyss. Where they use an oxygenated liquid so that they can dive to the bottom of the abyss and not be crushed by the pressure.

There's an advantage for your water-breathing Marines.

To answer Theo's and others questions, while I do have sizeable forces of Tau/Orks/IG/SM/ CSM stand ins, and started but yet to finish a Necron collection, I do not have more than a Lelith Hesperax and Lictor model, so NO Eldar/Dark Eldar/Nids/daemons or the other sub races but I do have somewhere a old witchunter codex I intend to use stripped down rules for the Heavy armor Eisenkerns

ing Internet connection last night .

I wrote a huge reply after waiting and trying multiple refreshes to even get pages open. It was full of my usual brilliant and pithy comments.

Anywho...

@shaso, I'd recommend using the grey knight codex for the eisenkern. Mini leviathans= dreadknights, big leviathans equal allied knight titans, Valkyrie= terminators
@Dr. H, that's exactly the scene I was thinking of when I was coming up with the idea. I just couldn't remember the movie name. There's fluff about a chaos marine chapter that lives underneath an ammonia sea that no other army can root out, so I was kind of going along those lines.
@Vik, I might try the blue skin approach, I'll give it a shot today, still so early on in the planning of this project. Plus I love to see what you could do with black dragons.
@comradepanda, did some searching last night about Kappas....really interesting stuff I hadn't known. Including the fact that they would reach up and pull people's livers out through their holes. It's believed this came about because bodies that are drowned cause the internals to swell and come out through there . I hope I don't drown...sounds unpleasant. But at least we'll have good posture with walking around with bowls full of water on our heads. "The Emperors prim and proper marines "
@cam, so hazardous our hazard stripes have hazard stripes.

I'm going to bust out som of my legend of the five rings stuff today to check what other ideas I can use for the Kappa.

Edit: so I tried skin with a blue wash then highlighted, here's the result. I couldn't get a better picture

But the majority of the Eisenkerns are more Tempestus Scions, and for the mecha, and leviathan, I can order the Knight codex

@Shaso,True, but that's two new $50+ codex, and the taurox isn't as cool as a land raider proxy.

Waiting around for a plumber, the wife has a terrible habit of putting things down the drain/ garbage disposal that clog it all up. The house reeks right now and I have a bad headache from it. Spent an hour or more trying to clear the line, but its further down than what I can reach.

In the mean time I'll show this off.


no it doesn't mean I'm going to start taking meds that I probably should be taking.

I saw grimdork cut one of these dollar store pill boxes up into sections and make dumpsters out of them for deadzone. Seemed like a quick and simple scatter terrain piece.

LOL...I read WTF at first...

nice idea... these dollar shop stores have lots of nice ideas... I got me some glass etui´s some years ago that were planned to be some scoutships for my airship...it never came to that tho... and they only took be back one € each...and are still on the shelf of shame...

the skin is very hard to decide... too blurry by far, but I think you´re heading in the right direction...

wouldn´t some pipecleaner stuff like something from P&G be of help for this problem?

WTF, Never realized it before.

The drain has some solid mess in it, I've gotten out some noodles, vegetables, and other stuff from her cleaning out the refridgerator. But it continues past the clean out point farther than I could reach and I don't want to throw chemicals down there since I've never had any luck with those. Plus it could back it up not the main line. I'd rather just get it rooted out because something had to start the issue.

I see... also you never know with chemicals ...for instance if you have plastic pipes...they could melt...

and I think you better educate your wife then to apprehend future block ups then

I've told her a few times, but its always something you wouldn't expect to be a problem. Last time it was mixed vegetables, peas, corn, cut carrots and green beans. Once it was broccoli that was all chopped up. Always something stupid happening .

Still waiting on he plumber. Why do they give a two hour arrival window when they always show up in the last five minutes .

Well kids are getting off he bus now, tomorrows the last day of school, and only a half day at that.

well...I could understand that corn could do that especially in a mix... but broccoli??? that stuff is never a bother... even in my mouth it is easy chew^^

we have (counting this day) for days off work, fathers day today, tomorrow bridge day and then the regular weekend....*sigh*

Well, not likely to get the stormtrooper book, just the Knight book. Taurox is bleah, prefer the Hanomags when they come out.

 Theophony wrote:
I've told her a few times, but its always something you wouldn't expect to be a problem. Last time it was mixed vegetables, peas, corn, cut carrots and green beans. Once it was broccoli that was all chopped up. Always something stupid happening .

Still waiting on he plumber. Why do they give a two hour arrival window when they always show up in the last five minutes .

Well kids are getting off he bus now, tomorrows the last day of school, and only a half day at that.

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Good Luck! When that happened here, the plumber had to roto down about 14 feet to clear whatever was clogging mine. All he did was hook a cordless drill up to a roto-snake and charged me $120 for it, so I bought one for the next time it happens.

I think here we have some regulations where you're in charge for a certain distance after the drain...so having that Roto snake keeps your costs for fees relatively at bay...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just had a short sit in the sun...looked to the sky and saw again my favorite color combo...: white clouds, clear blue sky and rich green leaves...that is probably the strongest and vibrant color scheme nature(read godfor some ) can oprovide...I instantly thought of your kappa...maybe of use?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

@vik, Cool pic Vik , indeed a great color palette only rivaled by the views we have around here during fall with all the trees changing color.
@dave, I'm definitely considering buying the drain snake for next time. I have a small 6' one right now, but need something longer.
@shaso, taurox is worse than that
@comrade, well better that quote than the gif of the guys mooning everyone , they enjoy school for the most part, I enjoy the regularity of a schedule.

Well I've run into a dilemma . I was so into the idea of "the Kappa" that I forgot that the salamander models I want have flames everywhere. I don't think I can pull that off with the colors or concept I had come up with. So the question is do I go full Salamander 30k, splinter group of salamanders (kappa), or go whole hog Japanese style army (puppetswar models and claim them as either the 2nd or 11th lost legion).

Salamanders: I really love he look of the upcoming Vulkan primarc figure, the other figures look good as well including their contemptor which I've seen previews of. Drawback is I don't play 30k or 40k, but then again I haven't played necromunda in years or used much of my terrain stuff either .

The Kappa: original concept, could turn out awesome, but then I'd be using mainly stock models, but I have most of them already. Still tinkering with their background info and home world concept. Right now I'm thinking of a water world with only a few islands that are inhabited by a low tech native people. The planet is and has been controlled by an adeptus mechanicus division for millennia, and the planet itself has been modified/ moved/ rotation changed by them. There is something sinister happening below the waves on the far side of the planet, where the inhabitants cannot venture to as they are still using sails and very limited steam power. Plus the mechanicus and the Kappa patrol the waves from below and sink any vessels that get to close. Basically the natives are on their side of the planet and have no knowledge o he others existence except for myth and legend. The few people (usually fishermen) who see something and survive getting back to their homes are considered crazy. The ruling aristocracy of the natives have technology (given to them by the Kappa), in return they are able to hold tournaments to recruit future marines.

Japanese style: the puppetswar stuff is sooooo cool looking, but I've seen many people having problems with their orders/models with bad casts and poor response from puppetswar.com. Also they are more expensive than GW figures, but I think they may be justifiable considering the look.

hmmm.... I today saw the update on statuesque miniatures... they have some chrome knights...counts as marinelike minis... as well there is anvil industries... which have also great looking minis...(especially their robots, which call to me quite often )...so there is a lot of good alternatives for you...
out of personnel taste I'd say stick with what you already have, and I bet it is already enough as well... the puppet wars stuff look too modern for an anachronistic touched army like you envision... (in my opinion...but here mindframes, experience and all that other fuzzy stuff that is so hard to share even with your better half is so hard to explain via the web ways...)
I think you have quite a strong lead already into the fluff... which I think is the groundwork already done... now you need to see on what canvas you can paint the image of your mind...a tough nut to crack, I feel your pain...
IF you still go full salamanders... well then here is my idea... a merger of kappa and salamanders... and it goes as follows...change subtly the medium of their residence... aka...water to sand...so that the salamanders are now sand dwellers...read living in caves and big complexes hidden in the desert... and not in the depths of the sea... the natives still cant pin point their existences and the use of big drill droppods would be possible...(I've toyed with that idea for my own marines...)
the downside would be you have to change also the colour scheme as blue and greens wouldn´t work... rather sandy colours would be needed...which COULD look boring...pfff...I think I am not much of any help here

 Theophony wrote:
Well I've run into a dilemma . I was so into the idea of "the Kappa" that I forgot that the salamander models I want have flames everywhere. I don't think I can pull that off with the colors or concept I had come up with. So the question is do I go full Salamander 30k, splinter group of salamanders (kappa), or go whole hog Japanese style army (puppetswar models and claim them as either the 2nd or 11th lost legion).

Not being entirely familiar with the model range, some or all of what I am about to say may be pointless.

I'm assuming by everywhere, you mean moulded on to the model. You could file these off (I sure you can manage this) or replace the bits (like shoulder pads) with plain bits (or even with Blood Angels moulded pads, fill in the wings to look like fins and paint the drop as water...).

I'm not sure that full-on Japanese styled models will fit with the Kappa fluff. When I think of underwater Marines, I'm seeing things like steampunk or retro-futuristic spacemen style (bubble helmets and the like).

Hope that helps in some way.

My random suggestion is cammoflauge the by painting it as a blue-green spectral flame.

The Kappa are watter Spirits after all.

@chaoitc mind, thanks and welcome , definitely thought about trying to make them look like waves, but forgeworld has sculpted the flames as tall narrow flames and not short stubby ones that could easily be altered.
@Dr. H, I hadn't really thought of iconography yet, but would stay away from the droplet as that might make peeps think we're a blood angel successor.

Part of my idea for the water world came from snippets I remembered about Rifts:Japan, Legend of the 5 Rings (card and RPG), and my Asian homies . There's also another RPG game I had that I cannot think of the name right now, but it was on an alien planet ha was mostly water covered and there were nasty native wildlife, think Avatar movie underwater .

While rethinking ideas I retouched on an old one. Desert world descendants of the Salamanders, no name yet, but horny toads is on a short list . Thinking more browns and orange colors. This could work out with my pledge for creaturecaster if I can up my pledge to a mountain dragon instead of the demon.

The other sculpted goodies that affect the Kappa is the dragon head doesn't match up either with the kappa descriptions. Where I could have the desert dragons( not final name) use any Salamanders designs including stickers and pads. Plus the dragon could be fielded as a Stormraven, fire raptor, or possibly a thunderhawk .