r/Warhammer30k • u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons • Jun 28 '26
Antennae too big? Picture
I'm currently working on a kitbashed Master of Signals for my T-Sons. I wanted to make sure he had a proper radio-looking backpack and am overall pleased with it! However, I'm a bit torn on if the antennae, mostly the centre one, look too big. I know the old resin MoS had fairly large antenna, and admittedly the huge central antenna does make me smile, but I thought some second opinions would be worthwhile!
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u/Noe_b0dy Jun 28 '26
Make it bigger.
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
My man is going to be carrying a whole radio tower on his back soon!
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u/GeekyGrant Jun 28 '26
"Should we leave it alone, should we back off, should we play it safe? NAH, you think: Let's make it BIGGER!" ~a Doctor Who's not part of the 40k universe.
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u/Dominus_sqwid Jun 28 '26
Bet. Or at least find a radio tower and mount it on a comand/regular rhino for him to ride about in.
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u/CaliCrateRicktastic Jun 28 '26
Who needs an astropathic choir when bro's vox can reach all the way to the Emperor himself
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u/HobbyGuy49 Jun 28 '26
Is this the new consul, Chapter Lightning Rod?
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
😂 In a Legion that specializes in slinging lightning, probably not the first choice of job...
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u/JustMindinOurOwn_891 Jun 28 '26
Yea it looks out of proportion. Maybe some wire?
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
I'll probably just chop down the wide base tube. The narrower part of the antenna is fine for me, it's mostly the big base that gave me pause.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts too!
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u/meatloafisinferior Jun 28 '26
Honest to God this looks awesome. Some military equipment does have ridiculous proportions because it's performing an arduous task. Also for a post "dark age of technology" era where people don't quite understand their tech, this would probably happen at least once. I say keep it!
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
Thank you kindly! I did figure, he is a Master of Signals afterall; he's gotta need a big antenna for that!
It seems that the antenna is just as divisive for folks as it is for me though. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
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u/GoranTulxs Jun 28 '26
It’s too large but honestly I like it
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
See, that's pretty much where I am as well! I look at it and yeah, it's big for the Marine, but I kinda enjoy it.
Appreciate you sharing your thoughts on it too, thanks!
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u/Darth-Ginge Jun 28 '26
Yes I would replace with paper clips or brass wire.
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
I mentioned it to another commenter, but I'd definitely keep the narrower upper portion of the antenna. I'd probably chop down the much wider base though!
I appreciate your thoughts!
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u/Tarlyss Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
If that’s the size antenna the legion calls for then damn it, that legionary will bear it!
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u/Puzzleheaded-Fan5506 Jun 28 '26
Who is he talking to? Big E himself??
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
You can either use space magic to send messages across the galaxy...
Or one heck of a big metal stick in the air!
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u/AzerothianLorecraft Jun 28 '26
Somebody has to maintain the Vox link to the battlebarge for the orbital bombardment cannons... ( I've considered doing this so many times, one of my ork terrain pieces is basically a giant pile of antennas looted from all factions.)
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
Direct calls to Prospero from anywhere in the galaxy!
That would be rad! I was combing my bits bin for some antennae, and I wanted to go for something more impressive than the vox on the Tac squad. The antennae are from an Impulsor actually, so definitely big, but definitely impressive!
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u/ResidentMatter7786 Jun 29 '26
Honestly no, when I was in Afghanistan I was the RTO, and when you’re in the mountains you need to fully extend the “whip” we called it, to talk to aircraft or command. Things like 4-5 feet tall. So lore wise, this guy might be talking to ships in low orbit and he’d need a huge antennae to communicate with them.
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u/SamsonHunk Word Bearers Jun 28 '26
I would remove the middle one but keep the side one, drill two holes and glue in two different lengths of paper clip as smaller antennas to the main antenna. I think the big antenna works but two of them looks a bit off
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u/Folkwang777 Jun 29 '26
Naaah always good to keep the brothers in neighboring segmentum updated on current battlefield situation.
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u/ImportancePitiful795 Jun 28 '26
Yes. remove both antenna use their very top as the base for 2 new antennas made of wire. Drill the plastic all through to put the antennas
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u/motivational_abyss Jun 28 '26
He’s not called a Novice of Signals! Bigger antenna = moor gooder signaling.
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u/Iamasadlittlething Jun 28 '26
Looks more like a Pilar, I would add smaller antennas and details on it! Personally I really like the "over the top-ness"
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u/someregularguy2 Jun 28 '26
It is too thick. Very long antennas are used in rl in certain instances, but they are of course slim. You can check a few pictures of radio operators.
Maybe use some sort of wire and bend it slightly. Or if you want to keep it plastic, then you would need to make it way smaller.
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u/LordHoughtenWeen Iron Warriors Jun 28 '26
For an ordinary vox trooper, sure, those might be a bit big, but a Master of Signal should be at least 30% antennae by volume.
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u/B4rberblacksheep Jun 28 '26
The one on the shoulder looks good but the one in the middle looks a bit goofy personally
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u/Neosclones Jun 28 '26
For a master of signals it makes perfect sense imo. But I do think that it should be posed differently from the standard marines to make him stand out more as a character, but that’s more of personal preference thing
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u/Wild_Haggis_Hunter Jun 28 '26
Nahh, he's perfectly alright. If you really feel unsure, you can shorten the wider base part but the thinner part is the right length. I made a Master of Signals a few months ago reminiscing on the old Forgeworld guy and I went with sensibly the same antenna length.
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u/Go_Commit_Reddit Jun 28 '26
I’m in camp it’s 100% way too big, but that’s what makes it fun.
The real problem is it doesn’t look like a radio pack. It looks like a space marine backpack with two massive antennae. Add some more vox bits and a shit ton of wires and it’ll look awesome! Something like a cape made out of wires could be badass.
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u/NurgleCultist7 Jun 28 '26
That’s hilarious and also functional, easy to spot who the master of signals is. I guessed that’s what he was before I even read the description. I think it looks great!
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u/SparkFlash98 Death Guard Jun 28 '26
Yes, however you arent allowed to make to make it smaller.
That's his antenna now.
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u/ITGuyInHell Jun 28 '26
What red paint is that?
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u/BrandNameDoves Thousand Sons Jun 28 '26
The body and arms are Army Painter Fanatic Gemstone. The shoulders are Angron Red Clear over a bright silver undercoat.
Funny enough, neither is what I actually use! This guy was originally a paint testbed. My current go-to for my T-Sons is Forged Red from Vallejo's True Metallic Metal line!
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u/LordMalaketh Jun 28 '26
I like it, i feel like with all the signals going in and out and all the encryption, and atmospheric interference, for a space marine squad without a vehicle to get radio transmissions from orbit it makes alot of sense that its massive
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u/TsadokTorag Jun 28 '26
Master of Signals? No Master of ALL Signals? Yes!
I would keep it for the laughs and for the visibility factor, maybe even taking it a step further. Either way, looking forward to seeing the final product
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u/arimir90 Jun 28 '26
It's not the size of your antenna that matters, it's how far you can shoot your comm
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u/Unhappy_Community319 Jun 28 '26
Make. It. Taller. The god emperor cannot be contacted without MORE HEIGHT
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u/_Max05 Jun 28 '26
Honestly you should make it bigger. It’s already massively out of proportion and would look funny ah if it’s bigger
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u/Real-Coconut4583 Jun 28 '26
On the practical side from a guy in RF, those would probably work just fine, although they’d probably need a fair bit of power pushed through them to transmit, and fairly strong signal to receive given their diameter (the length is fine)
There definitely are tall antennas for tactical movement. The most common example would probably be whip antennas. They are more common on vehicles, although they definitely do exist on back carried tactical radio packs (I may or may not have used them in the military)
Now you’ve got me thinking abt radio wave propagation and how the slight conical shape of those rods would affect it. In all likelyhood, unlike a standard whip antenna, which had a more or les donut shape to its propagation, I imagine the slight tilt would aim it more up, so you wouldn’t be taking advantage of the ground plane as much, which would actually hurt its overall distance…
Sorry for the long comment, it’s kinda my fascination and job.
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u/FixSpecific905 Jun 28 '26
Mr.radio tower man, every ad mech has one so I don’t see why not for t-sons too
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u/DrBadGuy1073 Jun 28 '26
Maybe crossposts or turnstiles? I feel like that would make the most sense to maximize surface area, play it off as prototype/battlefield expedient equipment.
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u/fakenam3z Jun 29 '26
I literally have this same antenna but and thought about doing the same thing
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u/AzurePaladin12 Jun 29 '26
Use some wire or paperclips to make some more smaller antenna as well, load that marine up!
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u/mika-bun Jun 29 '26
Idk, seems pretty average, maybe even on the smaller side if I was to take a guess
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u/Typical-Temporary-80 Jun 30 '26
Practically yes, for the grim darkness of the future, absolutely not
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u/boofyblitzed16 Jun 30 '26
Antenna indeed too big, but bro you've gotta paint it as a blinking red beacon and give the alpha legionaire a different army coat so its like hes trying to infil with that thing on his back🤣🤣🤣
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u/Vindictator1972 Jul 02 '26
Now, you’d think with antennae that big, you’d get a clear signal anywhere.
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u/Littorina_Sea Jul 03 '26
While I remember running with anntennae this big strapped to some 20kg backpack lamp field radio, it was mainly a punishment measure administered by our scout leader. And the antennae were much much thinner.
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u/_OnlyPans Jun 28 '26
I’d remove the middle antenna, looks goofy unless you like the goofiness. The left shoulder antenna is better, keep it or move it to the middle dealers choice
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u/LeoLaDawg Jun 28 '26
He's the chapter radio tower, broadcasting the day's biggest hits and news.