Painting Kastelan Robots - Monster March week 1

Following on from Squaduary, another excellent community painting challenge has sprung to life, namely Monster March! The aim of the game is to paint a monster in March, simple right?! Well, as usual I had to make things more complicated. First off, I only really have two choices immediately available, neither of which are monsters from a fantasy setting. The first possibility is my Hierophant Bio-titan, however it is half finished, so would be a bit like cheating and is also enormous and not a commitment I feel I can make right now.


The other available choice is a unit of Cult Mechanicus Kastelan Robots. Robots! I hear you cry, those aren't monsters at all! Well, to be honest, I agree with you one hundred percent but being an enterprising sort, I got in touch with Swordmaster over at Path of an Outcast to see if a pair of robots could be considered a viable entry for Monster March. Luckily for me, the answer was a resounding yes and so, I'm proud to present my first shoddily basecoated Kastelan Robot!

March of the Machines!

I will be following the usual scheme for my Skitarii with these guys. Namely an aqua green colour with lots of brass and a pink spot colour. Hopefully it will translate to a larger, less complex miniature without too much trouble.


Speaking of the miniatures for a moment; I totally adore the Kastelan Robots. I know a lot of people have come down quite hard on them saying that they don't match the rest of the range or that they look to simplistic. For me, that is the charm of these models, they are styled with a real 'atomic era' feel which makes them seem old and anachronistic. Quite a feat in a setting like 40k where styles from various eras clash quite happily. The official 'eavy metal paint job on these guys takes it one step further with the weathering showing layers of old paint beneath. Almost as though the robots pre-date the Imperium and have been stored and used in battle time and again. I really enjoy this concept; that these are something beyond the capability of the Adeptus Mechanicus to create or even properly understand.


At any rate, my goal for Monster March (March of the Machines) will be to paint two Kastelan Robots and their attendant Cybernetica Datasmith. Tune in next week to see if I've progressed any further or if I've fallen miserably into the pits of painting despair!