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So I was thinking, ceramite as a putty? I recall reading one of Bill King's Space Wolf novels and reading a description of Ragnar fixing his armour's ceramite shell with a tube of some stuff. If the stuff is applied in coats, then that might explain the benefit of having expertly artificed power armour, ostensibly just armour with fancy decoration, but with the added bonus of its embellishment reinforcing the armour that's already there. It's not generally issued because the extra mass puts strain on the armour's suspensor and musculature array. Shortening the range of the armour could be considered a minor drawback compared to the extra protection the artificer armour provides, its combination of agility and protection keeps it tactically preferable when Terminator armour is available.

Makes sense to me. Terminators are slow and purposeful after all...

Sounds reasonable. Frm the artwork where the ceramite layer as been 'chipped' off leaving the basic shell below I'd guess the ceramite part acts as a 'cushion'. Sor of reminds be of our reactive armour at the moment which is made from small sections which explode on impact adding reverse momentum to the round to slow it before it actually hits the main armour plate.

Ceremite is the 40k version of advanced ceramics. They are heat resistant, but very brittle. A carbon fiber based glue could be used to temporarily join shattered pieces until the whole shell could be recoated and refired.

That's the thing. Suppose the putty-like flexibility under low pressure is complemented by the matrix consisting of ceramic particles suspended in a flexible matrix that acts like a semi-liquid: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_32/b3996068.htm. It would crack and flak, and sometimes just heat evenly or even sublimate in order to disperse the energy of hits.

Nurglitch wrote:So I was thinking, ceramite as a putty? I recall reading one of Bill King's Space Wolf novels and reading a description of Ragnar fixing his armour's ceramite shell with a tube of some stuff.

Like Bondo. Putty until it hardens, then hard and strong

When Ceramite gets shot, I assume it breaks, and then disperses the impact over a wider area. I remember seeing a prototype body armour for RL Marine corps that worked the same way. Plates of ceramite were inserted into pockets with kevlar underneath. The plates would have to be replaced after every shot, but provided much more protection than just kevlar.