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Heya,

I remember showing some WiP photos of this battlesuit on the forums a few months back. I'm happy to say that it's finally gone into the final pre-production stage. Once the Christmas rush is over, the caster will be able to start spinning these guys out for me (and by extension the whole wide world).

Painted sample is done using Vallejo Model Colour, Citadel Foundation Paint and Inks.

Battlesuit stands 5.5cm tall to the top of its head, comes in 9 parts +2/1 guns, will mount Tau guns without modifications, other GW guns may require some minor converting first.




Poses (the model has 3 variants each of left and right arms and legs)



Size comparison with Infinity, PP and GW stuff:


Comments and criticisms appreciated!

Edit: In light of multiple fat jokes, I will not be responding to them as the chubbiness is part of the 'look' that I am going for. I could certainly do a more traditional, slim, anime-style mecha, but that is the point. If you have a constructive criticism regarding something (i.e. your detailing sucks) then I will be happy to respond, but saying the mecha looks fat is like saying "The problem with your model is that it's a robot... raaarrr". Unlike femmarines, I don't have any fluff to stick to this time.

Seems like a fat kid tried to stuff himself into a Battlesuit. I guess it's just my tastes, but I think that the thunder thighs, the ball torso and the battlethong are a horrid combo.

Baby got back.

Thunder Thighs.

Must be jello, because jam don't shake like that.

I like thunder thighs on some mechs, but the torso needs to be thinner and more detailed to get an agile look.

@Fafnir

There is supposed to be a person in there somewhere. I could have gone with a far more 'mecha' look, but I thought I would try for some realism instead. Also I don't get the comment about detail, how can making it more detailed make it look more agile?

@Endova

Well different strokes for different folks I guess. I personally think they mesh together very well. There is certainly some room for improvement, but I wouldn't change the thighs/torso/pelvis area much if I had to re-do it.

While the Tau battle suits do look goofy in compaired the rest of the army I do think that this model is going abit overboard with the organic style of armor. It needs to have more straight lines in the figure. Even the devilfish has straight lines on it. In it's current form it is very bootylish. Looking at it I can hear a dance beat and, "I like big butts and I can not lie! Babies got back!"

ZandrisIV wrote:@Fafnir
There is supposed to be a person in there somewhere. I could have gone with a far more 'mecha' look, but I thought I would try for some realism instead.

Something a bit more boxy would make the cockpit look a lot more attractive.

Also I don't get the comment about detail, how can making it more detailed make it look more agile?

It looks very rigid, even with the circular form. Giving it something like a spinal column instead of a swivel pelvis would give it a much more lithe and agile look.

Also, I hate the face. It looks very blank. The rest of the model grows on you, but the face looks absolutely horrible. Look to something like Armored Core classic. Very military looking, while still looking good and showing the slightest bit of personality.

Its a poor looking model, fat thighs, a big chest and a dumb head just plain look bad. There is no character or redeeming qualities on this model. It looks bad.

I was trying for a combination of



and this guy



I'd already tried and discarded several head sculpts prior to the current one, but I will probably revisit them in due time. Either a mono-eye like the one you posted, or a four-eyed head like the GITS assault troopers. The best part about this model is its modularity, so I can swap bits and create addon or customisation packs.

Also I understand now by what you mean about the waist. That is very true, a spine-like structure would have been perfect, as I was trying to figure out how to spice up the waist a little, I should have copied more of the cyborg ninja . As it stands though, the waist is pretty much invisible when viewed from any distance beyond point blank, so it isn't a massive issue that I need to fix immediately. Again, I'll definitely KIV this idea if I get the chance to revisit the torso, as it is truly excellent.

YET again Dakka shows poor manners and even more spam slapdowns!

Seriously, it makes me weep at the quality of posting here (MOST) of the time and also the lack of education!

The 'suit' has clearly been influenced by Appleseed Guges-D suits, which are from the mind of the genius Masamune Shirow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masamune_Shirow) and if you weren't aware of the suit in question:

Now to address ZandrisIV.. I actually reeeally like how you have gone about this sculpt, and while there are imperfections, the idea is sound!

Sculpting rounded limbs, making them symetrical, giving the purchaser a selection of arms and legs with weapons is something that is rare, especially in the world of metal minis!

I would agree that I think you rushed the details (or lack of) and more could be done to make the suit technologically more realistic, but otherwise, great work!

I am curious why this is not on your blog, and also, how much are you looking to charge for the suit?

Cheers
WARHOUND

warhound123 wrote:YET again Dakka shows poor manners

Indeed. When a poster offers something up for review it is perfectly fine to critcise and say what one does not like about it. However please frame any such criticsim in a mature and polite fashion.

Thank you.

ZandrisIV wrote:I could have gone with a far more 'mecha' look, but I thought I would try for some realism instead. Also I don't get the comment about detail, how can making it more detailed make it look more agile?

Actually you kind of managed to get the Mecha theme right, making it fit in with the Tau. Maybe change the head a little to make it fit in with the other Tau battlesuits and make it a Broadside. With the way some Mechas seem to be going it's not such a long shot anymore. I think it looks pretty good

EDIT: If I didn't play 90-100% of my games in GW I would probably buy a couple for an Adeptus Mechanicus army.

Really good looking minis. Far more attractive than the GW tau battlesuit... and here's the clincher, they are aesthetically PERFECT alongside the tau tanks! The two are part of the same look whereas the actual GW battlesuits look ill fitting next to the curved and smooth edges of the vehicles.


Also, to the 'critics' that consider getting 'interweb kewl points' by deriding someone's work with frankly gak humour instead of offering constructive feedback, 4chan is over there someways, look for the sign that says 'short pier' and take a long walk.

ZandrisIV wrote:I was trying for a combination of



and this guy



I'd already tried and discarded several head sculpts prior to the current one, but I will probably revisit them in due time. Either a mono-eye like the one you posted, or a four-eyed head like the GITS assault troopers. The best part about this model is its modularity, so I can swap bits and create addon or customisation packs.

Also I understand now by what you mean about the waist. That is very true, a spine-like structure would have been perfect, as I was trying to figure out how to spice up the waist a little, I should have copied more of the cyborg ninja . As it stands though, the waist is pretty much invisible when viewed from any distance beyond point blank, so it isn't a massive issue that I need to fix immediately. Again, I'll definitely KIV this idea if I get the chance to revisit the torso, as it is truly excellent.

But those 2 are fit and not fat :x

Thanks Reds8n!

Tbh, I have avoided coming to both Warseer and Dakka for some months now as most of the time I cannot stand to trawl through yet another 'that's not GW style' or some snap reaction to someones work, let alone thoughts....

It strikes me that there is actually little constructive debate, let alone conversation which is what our great civilisation is supposed to be founded on and so I will never post my own work here again. I take my hat off to those that still do as there is little feedback of merit.

Anyway, apologies to ZandrisIV for this interuption in service...

oh and I love the reply with images- very courteous of you!

cheers
WARHOUND

Oh, and show off more individual parts. Focus on a less blobby or aerodynamic design, and more on a robot-like build. Sleek is great, but blocky robots make something look that much more gritty.

Fafnir wrote:Oh, and show off more individual parts. Focus on a less blobby or aerodynamic design, and more on a robot-like build. Sleek is great, but blocky robots make something look that much more gritty.

Tau aren't 'gritty'... Tau don't do 'grimdark'.

Well, I don't think the idea was to fit exclusivly with Tau.

Although, I'll admit I am a bit biased. I like mechs that are agile and fast looking while still being a bit gritty/blocky.

But I never said to make it grimdark, just a little more machine-looking.

Warhound123 , i'll beat that!
But yes OP , i think it'll look better to have some details sculpted inplace of (where muscles in humans would have been ) so they wont look fat

Tell me what that is, where I can get it, and what the size is. RIGHT NOW.

Fafnir wrote:Tell me what that is, where I can get it, and what the size is. RIGHT NOW.

My link? I would only search "power dolls" in google or ebay and see what pops up o_o
( are you looking for something as Tau Titan? )

Initial thoughts:
The pose is well done. The eye is brought to the helmet, however little detail is presented. Also the breast plate seems a little empty too.

More in depth thoughts:
After a longer look, it seems the model is nicely proportioned. However the groin seems a little small and boxy to suit the rest of the suit. From the back, I feel the vents should be more predominate but still looks good. The helmet has a nice smooth look but I would suggest more detail added to the mouth area or to one of the sides. I like the breast plate design, but again would like some more plates or interfaces. The rest of the model is good.

To all those whom were offended by my first comment on this thread I will be the first to apologize, especially to the the OP. This is a heart felt apology to all of the dakka community, not spurred on by any threats from mods or admins (which none have contacted me) but seeing the error in my ways by that post.

My orginal post has been changed to more provide positive feedback on the OP model. Some of the orginal humor has been left for all to enjoy. This will be my only comment on this issue.

I like the helmet and the way the guns are mounted... the whole under the arms style. Really, I like the whole top half.

I'd have to agree with the detractors about the thunder thighs. I understand that it's a particular style, but not one I'm fond of, regardless of how well it's technically executed.

To address some points

@Pipboy

It's not strictly meant as a Tau alternative battlesuit. Like Warhound123 said, it's a Shirow-style suit first, Tau suit second. Forgeworld can do better than I can in the uber-tau suit department anyhow.

@Warhound123 (and many others)

There is one reason quite a lot of the battlesuit is light on detail, especially around the shoulders and groin. Namely in that it is poseable. That means that to accomodate the ball joints and making sure they can actually rotate to a meaningful degree, I couldn't put too much detail on or close to the various joint areas.

Now the chest, the chest was my mistake. I sort of painted myself into a corner when I sculpted the torso, as I had shaped formed up the chest to the size I wanted it to be, rather than the size it *should* be without extra armour/detail on top. When it came to detailing, I was quite worried that if I added any more plating on top of the chest, the thing would look even fatter than it does at the moment. Now that I've seen the fully assembled bot, I think I may have a solution to that, and it may well make its way into the final iteration.

There is a fair amount of detail on the model, it's just that it is hidden, I added quite a bit of detail on the sides of the torso, as well as on the forearms, but on the whole I was also shooting for a fairly minmalist look, so accusations of lack of detail are probably not unjustified.

With regards to your other questions, it's not on my blog because the blog gets less traffic than the forums, and I don't get as many comments (or youtube links) as I would get if I posted it around here. I will post "Official" release details up on the blog though. Price on this will hopefully be GBP10.00. If my caster can do it for less, then I will pass the savings onwards.

@LunaHound

I was referring to the helmet style, not the entire body.

Powerdolls are mecha with a pilot in the chest. This is a battlesuit where the the pilot sits with his legs in the thighs and arms in the arms. Some styles of jointing aren't really suitable.

@Squig_herder

There's detail on the helmet, I crammed a lot of it on the back, where it is unfortunately, not very visible. There was more on the jaw area as well, but it did not cast well and I scrapped the lot of it. Making the helmet blank was something I really wanted to do from a stylistic point of view, unlike the chest (see my reply to Warhound123).

I think I've pretty much answered the majority of questions, if I've left someone out, please to pipe up and douse me in more blazing promethium. It's bitterly cold here...

It actually reminds me a lot of the recent Retribution of Scyrah releases from Privateer Press, especially in the legs.

I think more detail on the front of the torso (similar to what is on the back) would make this a more interesting model.

But I don't mind it as being a little large. If you are fitting a guy, wiring, armor and powered musculature in a suit, is isn't going to be skinny.

Mattlov wrote:It actually reminds me a lot of the recent Retribution of Scyrah releases from Privateer Press, especially in the legs.

Yes, I'm seeing this style on several minis here and there. The Infinity range has some robots(or suits) like this, some with quite epic thigh sizes, it's all part of this particular look.

I like the look, reminds me of the Infinity Yu Jing (not all of them, but this particular model):



I'm thinking that the legs don't necessarily have to be slim, but the proportions have to
be the smaller than the torso, rather than wider.

From an engineering viewpoint you want to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, so fat thighs containing as a lot of equipment (generators?) make sense.

Personally I am used to the Appleseed look. The suit operator's legs are entirely within the thigh, which needs lots of room for them to move.

It's all personal taste of course. Overall it's not a bad thing to make a suit/robot which is different to other stuff already on the market and I liked this one (the OP one) when I saw it in the Gallery.

I would put a bit more engraved detail on the front torso and thighs.

I like it - I'm a big fan of the Guges suits from Appleseed, too - it's kind of an acquired taste. I know I didn't dig them at first, but they grew on me.