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Comments? Critique?

Cool idea, but why the bare midriff? "Ladies, show us some skin, for the Greater Good!"

Good use of the Shadowsun head, but I'm not entirely convinced that her features are typical of female Tau. It's just too drastic IMHO.

While it's not necessarily canon, Xenology depicts a female Ethereal with facial features identical to a male. I'm hoping that there will be more info in that department in a future White Dwarf. 

I agree with you on the head, but it's much easier then making one myself...

As for the midrift I needed a way to differenciate between male and female Tau in armour...and sculpting boobs onto Tau just didn't seem the way to go

As long as she gets a "tramp stamp" tribal tatoo across her lower back. LOL.

Question:  What makes you think that Tau have belly buttons?

Luku: I like the bare midriff, although I would paint it to look more like a skintight bodysuit (since DE seem to have the monopoly on midriffs). This is a very interesting concept - are you making all female squads or making them more co-ed?

Posted By brotherskeeper74 on 06/09/2006 11:07 AM
Question:  What makes you think that Tau have belly buttons?

Answer: I don't, but I'm inciting artistic license to give mine one

Posted By ancientsociety on 06/09/2006 11:19 AM
Luku: I like the bare midriff, although I would paint it to look more like a skintight bodysuit (since DE seem to have the monopoly on midriffs). This is a very interesting concept - are you making all female squads or making them more co-ed?

Possibly some of each...I'm finding out weither I can stand to sculpt that many... :S

Seeing as the Tau appear to decended from hooved, ruminant-type animals, maybe you ought to sculpt udders?

Udders? Nah- I don't think so Same goes for the belly buttons.

Here's how I'd interpret the Female Tau of the warrior caste:

Same body structure as the males, but slightly thinner and shorter. Not much more- it shouldn't be too obvious. Just a slight reduction in height and thinning of the extremities and waist. In Mark Gibbons' illustration of Shadowsun he really made her face OTT- far too narrow and possessing Julia Roberts-like-baboon's-ass-on-her-face-lips. I'd stick with a slightly narrower facial structure just to make it seem different, but nothing more extreme then that. You could really go either way though- maybe the females are bigger then the males or maybe they are indistinguishable but for some pheromone detectable only to other Tau- who knows? I'd stick with the smaller and slimmer look only because it screams female to us humans- and that's who you want to convey it to.

Nice work though!

"...and sculpting boobs onto Tau just didn't seem the way to go"

it could be boob!

Ok... she has a belly button... but no 6 pack abs? Guess she doesn't go out on maneuvers too often. Maybe she's worked out some sort of "Arrangement" with her Shas-el

Head is too big

and stupid things.

You should add something extra to the armor.
No.
Not that.
Something else extra.Details,like some armor plate as on the legs or at least a small Tau mark thing

On the subject of female tau I am curious what tau are clasified as. Are they mammals or what? I hear mention of a female ethereal and I would like to know from the one who mentioned this if she had a bust at about chest level. This would imply mammary glands. Of course they could be a marsupials thus ruling out mamilian belly buttons. Further more Tau have beaks and that would be very unfortunate for a nursing mother as every creature known to man with a beak is born with it and it kindy looked sharp.

Maybe I should just make a new thread in the fluff department.

P.S. All this talk about skinny wastes and breasts is... Well... It feels good.

Kroot have Beaks but I'm sure Tau don't. Do they? I know they have hoves, but beaks?

THere is a picture I beleive in the codex with a howling Tau and inside his mouth is a single ridge pointed like a parot's beak. It's nice to have a little creativity unlike some of those humans trekkies call aliens.

P.S. your avatar works perfectly with your post.

It works well with any speculation/question/statement :lol:

I'll check in the codex and see. Might just be teeth, blurred together. EDIT: If you're refering to the pic on page 2 at the lower left, I think those are just teeth. Interesting teeth though.

I don't have the codex myself and it isn't quite worth the effort to get to page to at the moment. I will see though. Well What does any one else think? Teeth or solid ridge?

Tau look rather reptilian to me, I would expect their skin to be more wrinkly and/or scaly. Tau are NOT a good army for custom sculpting a hot female soldier. Tau would probably think it utterly insane for women to wear anything less than full armor. In fact, they'd probably consider someone who wanted to show skin on the battlefield to be suffering some form of battlesuit psychosis. The desire to call attention to one's self and surrender to vanity is surely a sign of someone rebelling against the greater good who needs to be sent to a reeducation camp.

As for the hair... I'm 99% sure that Tau don't have any hair whatsoever. If you look at models like commander Shadowsun, you can see that the sole distinguishing feature we know that sets females apart from males is that females have a "V" shape on their forheads while males have a straight line. It's a nice sculpt, but it definitely breaks with what I've been able to gather as fluff.

The hair is part of the shadowsun model...

Ixe - the head with hair comes just like that with the Shadowsun model.

Posted By Drake_Marcus on 06/09/2006 12:15 PM
In Mark Gibbons' illustration of Shadowsun he really made her face OTT- far too narrow and possessing Julia Roberts-like-baboon's-ass-on-her-face-lips.

 

OMFG I just spit coffee on my computer!  ROTFL

Thanks jdp You know- I used to be quite sig-worthy. However, my quotes have grown less common in signitures as of late

AS far as the speculation on what part of the animal kingdom our alien species fall in- well I think it's pretty obvious that she shouldn't fit in any category!

In that case do you think this alien catagory lays eggs, gives birth to live young, face hugs an imperial wich spawns xenomorphic offspring, or what?

Hmmm... the Geiger inside me wants to believe the last option, but it just doesn't feel very Tau to me. Maybe Tau bud off of their parent? Maybe they have 3 parents and the zygote switches between all three at some point during gestation?

Posted By Ixe on 06/13/2006 7:00 AM
As for the hair... I'm 99% sure that Tau don't have any hair whatsoever. If you look at models like commander Shadowsun, you can see that the sole distinguishing feature we know that sets females apart from males is that females have a "V" shape on their forheads while males have a straight line. It's a nice sculpt, but it definitely breaks with what I've been able to gather as fluff.

Regarding hair, the Fire Caste and Ethereals are all depicted as having scalp locks in the models, art, and fluff: "Tau Commanders are formidable warriors, frequently sporting scars, bionics and disfigurements earned in their career. According to their renown they may be called upon to command anything from a Cadre to a Battle. The number and size of previous commands is reflected in the rings confining their long scalp locks." Some of the Ethereals have goatees.

As for the "V-slit" *ahem* , the Ethereal in Xenology lacks one despite being female (but then again, her feet are all wrong too). And the model of Shadowsun also has what appears to be a nasal ridge unlike the males or the female Ethereal. It would help to know which came first - the picture of Shadowsun, the sculpt of Shadowsun, or the pictures of the Ethereal in Xenology.

This may be helpful:

Personally, I'm partial to the vertical slit , and will continue to model my female tau in that fashion. I'll just chalk up Shadowsun's "Y" to ritual scarification.

Maybe there's avery prevalent theme in Tau reproduction....tentacle hentai!

you mean like Centauri?

Maybe all are correct? I mean look at human nose structure. Some people have broad noses and others don't. Some have larger than others, and the like.