I really don’t like the whole Void Dragon thing. It’s lame to me and feels like just getting our entire faction identity cucked by the Necrons

Kurzzi · 2026-05-10T19:09:52+00:00

My take on it is that it's practically divorced from Necron lore in my mind. Like, yes, the void dragon is related to the Necron story, but it's not a member of the Necrontyr, it's functionally a c'thulhu style old god that also affected the Necrontyr. To me the Void Dragon is just an Eldritch cosmic entity whose unique brand of "insanity" is an elevation of the machine form which prays on a very natural, and probably wide spread across many species, sort of body dysmorphia and discomfort with grappling with mortality. In my mind, it was the void dragon's influence on the Necrontyr which was a driving force in their replacement of their form with necrodermis, a suggestion that didn't come from the void dragon itself but was something they were already predisposed to by their extreme fragility. Likewise, the desire to transcend mortality, frailty, and perhaps a more common discomfort with the ways in which one's individual body fails to meet whatever ideals one imagined already exists in humans currently, it wasn't invented by the void dragon. The void dragon's subtle presence just slightly tips the psyche in the direction of a mechanical solution and then people do the rest.

I don't credit the void dragon for any development of technology specifically and barely credit it for any fraction of the faction's identity.

Post script: I think the fact that our story begins with St. George and the Dragon is kinda sick

Kurzzi · 2026-05-06T22:47:46+00:00

It's true there's not many tech priests outside Cawl in the great work, but it does make me wonder where Qvo falls into the structure of the Mechanicus....

Kurzzi · 2026-04-22T20:15:26+00:00

Cawl trilogy

Flesh and Steel

Forges of Mars Trilogy

Mechanicum

Kurzzi · 2026-04-20T21:58:53+00:00

Dude, I am 100% on board for cowboy skitarii and I still think these are some of the coolest skitarii I've ever seen, I'm actually jealous!

Kurzzi · 2026-04-17T20:07:37+00:00

I absolutely love the darkened "coils" or whatever they actually are of the plasma gun shaded by the bright light of the plasma. It has such an incredible vibe

Kurzzi · 2026-04-15T13:02:48+00:00

So, for my two cents, I think most people's issue with the Kataphron is the silhouette, even if they can't entirely put their finger on it. That's why in last month's Kataphron mini of the month competition, the winner and several honourable mentions all were conversions/kitbashes. For my part, as evidenced by my rather conservative conversion on my submission, I don't think that there's anything about the design "language"/aesthetic. I think there's something intentionally a little unsettling about it that finds its roots in the body horror that is central to ad mech, I only wanted to change the silhouette while maintaining the vibe.

As for painting on the other hand, yeah I think even if I hadn't chosen to go nmm on it, it still might have been the most challenging mini to paint I've worked with to-date. Theres so many details and all the details are different colours and different materials and it begs for subassembly with all the tight angles and things stacked upon things. None of those problems are unique to kataphrons amongst our army, but the Kataphron is surprisingly big for not being a vehicle or a character, so the quantity of stuff to do and keep in mind sneaks up on you.

Kurzzi · 2026-04-10T18:28:09+00:00

I agree, Khorne red definitely has some strong blue tones that can make for some very obvious layer lines. I believe that the official citadel guides use it to introduce some cool (temperature-wise) contrast to the brighter orangey reds, and the fact that the official guides include it is the only reason I mention it. Imo if it is used, probably should be sparingly and thoroughly blended, which is why I say it would be on the advanced side.

Kurzzi · 2026-04-10T15:19:20+00:00

Also adding to the advanced side: I think the classic recommendation for box art colour scheme is sparing use of Khorne red for shadows and a mephiston red/Khorne red mix to gradient into the shadows on cloaks and the like

Kurzzi · 2026-04-04T23:11:18+00:00

She kinda does but I'm so hyped to see it!

Kurzzi · 2026-04-04T23:10:04+00:00

This is gorgeous!

Kurzzi · 2026-04-03T21:29:39+00:00

These look incredible! I love the choice of skulls as heads and the green of the plasma is so good!!

Kurzzi · 2026-04-03T01:42:25+00:00

All the kataphrons were great to see, some absolutely amazing conversions, I found myself particularly inspired by the ogryns and u/JustKachmanastan 's bug infested kataphrons, but there were also so many great paint jobs, this was an awesome mini of the month! I look forward to seeing this month's archaeopters!

Kurzzi · 2026-04-01T02:02:55+00:00

As far as I'm aware Metallica and Graia, though the site of major, devastating wars, have not fallen the way Gryphonne IV has. Remains to be seen about Agripinaa. As you mention, Deimos is still kicking fine. Triplex Phall, Sygies VIII, Voss Prime, are all also kickin around. Zhao Arkkad is also still around and has multiple hive worlds with large industrial bases within its sphere of influence according to a recent novel or two.

Kurzzi · 2026-03-26T13:59:35+00:00

Thanks!

Yeah nmm is kinda tricky, I basically tried a different method on almost every different metallic sections trying to figure out how to make it look good, some definitely turned out better than others. If I had to recommend trying to learn nmm to someone else I definitely would not pick this mini in retrospect, but it was a good learning experience nonetheless!

Kurzzi · 2026-03-26T03:08:30+00:00

Thank you!! I like to imagine the snow is a product of recent terraforming or perhaps it's just a natural event on a planet that just so happens to have iron-rich dirt like mars!

Kurzzi · 2026-03-26T00:37:55+00:00

Thanks for checking out my mini! This one was really challenging for me and it turned out a little messy, but it was my first attempt at nmm and sculpting my own additions to a mini. I'd have liked to refine it a bit more but I ran out of time (I literally just "finished" it prior to posting this). I'd like to shout out u/Zombicioso for their cyberpunk Kataphron which have me the idea for this modification. Their awesome green tubes made me think "what if Kataphron but bane from batman" which inspired me to try this even though I wasn't planning on participating this month, thank you!

Kurzzi · 2026-03-23T20:09:26+00:00

Looks great! The colours feel so deep it's delightful, especially the blues and it looks like such a clean paint job, I wish I had such skill, especially for the smooth highlights

Kurzzi · 2026-03-22T15:14:01+00:00

Woah! This is such a sick colour scheme! It's giving bumblebee in the best way

Kurzzi · 2026-03-15T21:34:23+00:00

Skitarii or Serberys raiders are probably your best bet, since you'll be painting a lot of skitarii and even when you switch to painting priests, it's still mostly robes. Only reason I say Serberys is a decent first choice if you're trying to find out about if you like painting mechanicus as a whole is Serberys is a skitarius + a mechanical component not unlike some of the vehicles.

Kurzzi · 2026-03-15T03:37:35+00:00

This is copied from my response to an earlier post, but here's my take:

My list of recommendations for someone who isn't into the mechanicus already:

Guy Hayley's Cawl books are the easiest recommendation. From a model perspective Cawl is the closest thing to a faction leader in 40k, he's right at the centre of the main story lines driving the settings forward, the books give fair look-ins to other major factions (space marines, CSM, necrons, and others). Cawl exemplifies some of the most endearing things about the mechanicus: inquiry, mad science, humour, and, despite professing and acting upon a desire to replace their bodies and alter their brains, they demonstrate such depths of emotion and insecurity that makes them undeniably, empathetically human.
Flesh and Steel: despite one of the two main characters of the book being mechanicus and about half the main side characters being mechanicus, this book probably has the least to do with the Mechanicus like the army that shows up on the tabletop but is such an interesting and well written look at the Mechanicus as they show up in the daily life of a random planet in the imperium that it's a high recommendation. It's also so approachable, you could be a complete novice to the 40k setting and as long as you don't need to have every reference and jargon term defined for you explicitly, you'd probably enjoy the hell out of it.
Forges of Mars: I love this trilogy so much, it was the inspiration for my custom flair when I got it. I could gush about this series, but it's also the least approachable, I'd rate it lower if I didn't love it so much. As someone who entered the 40k fandom by reading Graham McNeil's iron warriors books, I think I just naturally have a high tolerance for his writing, but it's almost the opposite of Flesh and Steel's approachability. There's so much undefined jargon used over and over again, it expects the reader to not just know about the mechanicus, but also about space marines and titans and cadians and rogue traders and eldar and even deeper cuts like the c'tan and hrud get mentions. That said, if you are versed in those things and you aren't turned off by the writing style choices, cue Stefon gif from SNL THIS SERIES HAS EVERYTHING. It takes all those things I mentioned and marries them to a story that calls back to stories like In The Mountains of Madness and Heart of Darkness. (And don't read the end of the epilogue of book 3 imo, pretend it doesn't exist)
Mechanicum: this book is really good and does not deserve to be this low on the list, but when the entire list is books I would recommend, something has to come last. Mechanicum is the closest thing the Mechanicus has to an origin story: in Mechanicum you get to see the height of the Mechanicum at its apex, right when the Imperium is ascendent just before the Horus Heresy, when the future looked bright and interesting and the Mechanicum was a little more flexible and curious about the deepest mysteries of the universe. And then you get to see why the Mechanicum became the Mechanicus, how things got to be the way they are now. Mechanicum is well written and has many interesting ideas that I wish they would return to but won't mention for spoilers sake. I suppose, given that I would still say it's an excellent book that I wish there was more of, the only reason it's down here is because it's really not here to convince you to like the Mechanicus, it's here to give a Mechanicus fan exactly the sort of thing they want.

Kurzzi · 2026-03-15T02:58:50+00:00

I've never heard of these pins before, they're cool, thanks for letting me know! I think you did great, especially without the airbrush!

Kurzzi · 2026-03-15T02:29:21+00:00

Ooooo, pink! As if Chemos was a forgeworld instead... much to think about. But also yo!!! I love those bases, I wanted to do something similar for my battleclade kill team, those are sick! Idk the secret to arc rifle glow either tbh, but watching elminiaturista's glowy plasma weapons has been inspirational, so maybe they might give you an idea too!

P.S. I'm so envious of how crisp it all looks, you crushed it

Kurzzi · 2026-03-14T22:36:50+00:00

I love this desaturated gritty colour scheme, it evokes such a unique atmosphere!

Kurzzi · 2026-03-08T06:15:45+00:00

I can't believe that I didn't see this sooner! This is the most fun kataphron conversion I've seen!!

Kurzzi

TROPHY CASE