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Have a knight crusader. Would it be tacky to paint it in cadian camo? How about unfluffy?

I wouldn't think so. Every pilot and household is different. Maybe some do not like getting hit with air strikes because they stick out like sore thumbs to passing enemy aircraft. I intend on painting mine in camo when I get around to building that army.

I would avoid the camouflage pattern.

They're Knights and it makes this whole hooplah about them and "honor". Think of them like Space Marines in that regards.

Using markings like the Company's sigil(think of what would be on the banner rather than the Company's identifying number) would be more in line with what the fluff talks about.

If you are using the Oathsworn detachment, maybe that particular knight has devoted himself wholely to the Varian cause and saw fit to color his knight to fit their aesthetics.

 Kanluwen wrote:
I would avoid the camouflage pattern.

They're Knights and it makes this whole hooplah about them and "honor". Think of them like Space Marines in that regards.

Using markings like the Company's sigil(think of what would be on the banner rather than the Company's identifying number) would be more in line with what the fluff talks about.

Camoflage generally doesn't translate well to the highly rounded surfaces and gothic look of Imperial tech. Great minds have tried to make Camo Marines work, and the results have been... disappointing.

If you want to use the same colors, that could make sense. The fluff has Knights and IG in essentially different structures. It's not like an Army tank being assigned to a Marine company. It would be like a group of National Park Rangers being assigned to a Marine company. Odds are, they'd all keep their own kit.

But.. it's your fluff, and your army. If you want to have IG and knights under a unified command, knock your socks off. I know that I don't want my IG to have clashing titans.

 Dalymiddleboro wrote:
Have a knight crusader. Would it be tacky to paint it in cadian camo? How about unfluffy?

Certainly not anymoreso than people painting Knight's in Space Marine chapter colors

That said, Knights in theory should retain their own colors and heraldry.

On thing to keep in mind: Knights are 30-40 feet tall, and carry enormous power plants.

They ain't hiding, so camo really doesn't help much.

I'd say go for it. It wouldn't work as camo, but painting the pattern big and bold would look cool.

Tacky.

Knights are bold.

More than tacky, garish. It would look awful on a bipedal mech with its structure, defeat its entire personality (displaying its family colors with extreme zeal), and not even work that much in terms of camouflage. It's a gigantic mech the size of a small office building that loves to charge in for melee.

Even with camo, spotting it would be trivial.

 Polonius wrote:
On thing to keep in mind: Knights are 30-40 feet tall, and carry enormous power plants.

They ain't hiding, so camo really doesn't help much.

They aren't so big so that camo isn't a good idea. Even war hounds are still small enough to beneift. Especially in an urban environment. 30-40 feet isn't all that large relative to the buildings and rubble they'll be fighting among.

And from the air their silhouette isn't any larger than a tank.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
On thing to keep in mind: Knights are 30-40 feet tall, and carry enormous power plants.

They ain't hiding, so camo really doesn't help much.

They aren't so big so that camo isn't a good idea. Even war hounds are still small enough to beneift. Especially in an urban environment. 30-40 feet isn't all that large relative to the buildings and rubble they'll be fighting among.

And from the air their silhouette isn't any larger than a tank.

It's not just the size, although that's part of it, but the enormous heat signature a vehicle like that gives off. I don't know what it's power plant is, but I'm guessing that'll show up on some sort of sensor.

Camo or environmentally appropriate colors are never a bad idea, Even modern MBT's that may be 32+ feet in length and 1000 foot long Aircraft Carriers are painted to match their environments. It's not simply about hiding, but even if detected, making it difficult to get a perfectly clear picture and increasing the probability of a miss or losing sight at longer ranges or making detection take just a little bit longer.


The idea of a Knight in camo or whatnot isn't terrible from that perspective at all.

The issue is much more a social/organizational one than anything being wrong with camo.

It is your model(s), so it only matter if you like the final out come. My Gray Knight are green and belong to my Orc, and if someone has a problem how you painted your model. Let them know all they have to do is buy you one as a gift, and you will more then happy to paint your free new model (that they paid for) what color they like.

 Vaktathi wrote:
Camo or environmentally appropriate colors are never a bad idea, Even modern MBT's that may be 32+ feet in length and 1000 foot long Aircraft Carriers are painted to match their environments. It's not simply about hiding, but even if detected, making it difficult to get a perfectly clear picture and increasing the probability of a miss or losing sight at longer ranges or making detection take just a little bit longer.


The idea of a Knight in camo or whatnot isn't terrible from that perspective at all.

The issue is much more a social/organizational one than anything being wrong with camo.

that is a good point.

Camoflage and Heraldrly serve diametrically opposed purposes, in that one tries to hinder recognition while the other makes it actively easier. I suppose you could make the argument that the psychological shock of seeing the knight is a weapon in it's own right, not unlike the sirens on Stukas in early WWII.

 Polonius wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
On thing to keep in mind: Knights are 30-40 feet tall, and carry enormous power plants.

They ain't hiding, so camo really doesn't help much.

They aren't so big so that camo isn't a good idea. Even war hounds are still small enough to beneift. Especially in an urban environment. 30-40 feet isn't all that large relative to the buildings and rubble they'll be fighting among.

And from the air their silhouette isn't any larger than a tank.

It's not just the size, although that's part of it, but the enormous heat signature a vehicle like that gives off. I don't know what it's power plant is, but I'm guessing that'll show up on some sort of sensor.

Modern tanks give off massive heat signatures. Although even now there are programs trying to develop shielding that masks thermal emissions. I imagine in the Dark Age of Technology they sorted that out, or figured out Cold Fusion.

Plus in a massive ruined city there are going to be any number of ambient heat signatures around from ruined equipment, operating machinery, ambient radiation, etc... that would make thermal tracking not as reliable as you'd think. Tack on even rudimentary shielding and you've got pretty decent thermal camouflage.

I've been playing around with the idea of painting up a bunch of Knights in olive drab with camo netting in drapes and rolls making them resemble trees with muddy feet, bark-like body paint, and mossy camo up top. Seems like it would look cool.

SJ

At the very least it would look good. I've seen some good looking camo IK on the web.

Imperial Knight camo scheme


some SM "camo" for reference

Links!

If you want a camo aesthetic, paint it to suggest camo rather than painting a real camouflage pattern. I'd personally suggest a very very large hex camo pattern, because it's easy to tape off on such large surfaces as a Knight.

As an aside, this is probably the best camo scheme I've ever seen on a Space Marine, and it's really not that great:

I forgot what I was replying to
...

Oh right! Camouflage.

No don't do it. You'll just lose track of it one day.

 Polonius wrote:

 Vaktathi wrote:
Camo or environmentally appropriate colors are never a bad idea, Even modern MBT's that may be 32+ feet in length and 1000 foot long Aircraft Carriers are painted to match their environments. It's not simply about hiding, but even if detected, making it difficult to get a perfectly clear picture and increasing the probability of a miss or losing sight at longer ranges or making detection take just a little bit longer.


The idea of a Knight in camo or whatnot isn't terrible from that perspective at all.

The issue is much more a social/organizational one than anything being wrong with camo.

that is a good point.

Camoflage and Heraldrly serve diametrically opposed purposes, in that one tries to hinder recognition while the other makes it actively easier. I suppose you could make the argument that the psychological shock of seeing the knight is a weapon in it's own right, not unlike the sirens on Stukas in early WWII.

Yeah, and from the background of the Knights, they really sound more like something where their ethos and mindset is going to be about getting to grips with the foe in open battle, not really about engaging in tactically minded combat, very much like medieval French warrior class, where displays of valor and heraldry were as important as actually defeating the foe, as opposed to modern "down to business" soldiery that's more the Imperial Guard's lot.

 j31c3n wrote:
If you want a camo aesthetic, paint it to suggest camo rather than painting a real camouflage pattern. I'd personally suggest a very very large hex camo pattern, because it's easy to tape off on such large surfaces as a Knight.

As an aside, this is probably the best camo scheme I've ever seen on a Space Marine, and it's really not that great:

Well there are multiple reasons camo doesn't work on a mini that mostly start and end with the fact that it's a mini. The only real issue with that one is the contrasting environment camo pattern on the bolters.

Taken for what it is though, an homage to the US desert camo, it's very well done including the backwards wrong shoulder US flag

Weren't the Mechs in Metal Gear Solid in camo? They were cool.

It really depends on the execution of your idea, but they're your minis, so I say paint them how you like.

D

Make your knight a freeblade and paint it how you like.

For the price of them you can do what you like!

it's not 40k but if you're looking for ideas on painting camo on giant stompy robots you may wanna peruse the battletech website camo specs online http://www.camospecs.com/

Check out Dyros Kamata, the Scorched Knight in the new IK codex. While not "camouflage", the scorched paint job is very good at doing what camo is suppose to do, ie, break up the outline for blending in to the background.

SJ

You may not be able to hide too well from opponents on the ground being 50 foot tall but avoiding notice from enemy aircraft would be highly important and camo would definitely help in that department. I have flown in both low flying helos and in aircraft, a target that at least attempts to be hidden from the air will be hidden from the naked eye with proper camo as long as it isn't standing off by itself in a field.

Autumn color and desert color marines look great in camo. I have never seen woodland camo marines able to pull it off. The Raptors are about as close as I have seen and still look good. I think the autumn colors work better because details aren't lost on a dark model. Howling Griffin camo looks excellent when done right. Just takes forever to do right.

 Polonius wrote:
On thing to keep in mind: Knights are 30-40 feet tall, and carry enormous power plants.

They ain't hiding, so camo really doesn't help much.

Doesn't matter, camo is a much used to prevent the enemy from finding out an objects distance and direction as it is to prevent said object being seen.

Camo also isn't always about completely avoiding detection, its about making your opponent not be able to get a perfect shot at you.

He knows the general area where you are, but he can't aim that lascannon directly at your vulnerable parts because he can't see exactly where to hit.