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So what do people think of the way Banshees are sculpted?

Interesting that the helmet design for the sisters is so polarizing. It's modeled after the Sallet. I like it. If I collected sisters I'd try to get them all with helmets.

Igenstilch wrote:I think the current model range needs to be reworked. Possibly in line with some of their other works.



While sculpting females in the 28mm scale probably isnt easy, but most of their design sculpts are much larger, so they do have room to work with the models before there shrunk to scale.

IMO the way to success with armored female models will be in the way the armor protects the form underneath. The way it curves and folds in and out. It shouldnt be form fitting either. As form fitting armor has very limited applications. One would hope after 40,000 years of war they would have a practical yet elegant design. The sisters can look attractive (and should to a degree) without losing combat potency (there should still be a intimidation factor, designed in a way that you would be cautious fighting, in fantasy or realistically). I hope GW's design teams can come up with something other then battle corsets and awful hair cuts.

side note... how do i make this pic smaller on the forums... its a little big

This, right here. The sexuality isn't overt or shoved in your face. It's there, but it's in the background - what you see first is a total badass performing total badassery. The armor isn't over the top, but she still looks clearly feminine, despite small breasts and short hair. Stylize the armor a bit more, throw on some fleur-de-lis, cover enough nooks and crannies to be able to call it power armor, and you've got yourself a decent set of Sororitas armor.

And don't forget Pauldrons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Multilazors! (C.S. Goto is writing the new SoB codex! )

Araenion wrote:Or did you post that as an argument for representing female models the way they should be represented? (so Lelith, nevermind the lack of realism on her model, actually looks exactly like a gladiatorial champion should, with added artistic license) In which case it's a good argument, but you weren't clear enough in the way you presented it.

That's exactly what I was talking about. I even clarified it in a subsequent post. Twice.


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Gwar! wrote:And don't forget Pauldrons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Multilazors! (C.S. Goto is writing the new SoB codex! )

Departmento Sororistartes?

That picture above seems great, but again, that's a big picture. Transfer it to a miniature model and you don't exactly have your work cut out for you. Breast armor? Silly. A clearly defined hourglass figure? Much less so.

Araenion wrote:I'm suprised no one brought Howling Banshees into the discussion yet.

That´s because they´re ok. Eldar chicks are allowed to look however they want, since their epic dodging skills ignore the most silly and counterproductive cloth design you could ever bring out.

CT GAMER wrote:

Igenstilch wrote:One would hope after 40,000 years of war they would have a practical yet elegant design.

I suggets reading up on the Imperium a little more: They rarely innovate or redesign anything.

The fact that they religiously do whatever a corpse on a throne wrote in a book many thousands of years ago or a talking skull tells them to regardless of the practicality/efficiency of doing such is the hallmark of the Imperium and defines them in the 40K universe.

This almost backwards devotion to old designs is intentional in the fluff and aesthetics of 40K. The "ugliness" of Leman Russ tanks and various other items of war in 40K is what gives it it's unique look and identity.

IF you want high-tech and sleek go play Infinity...

I wont argue 40k lore with you (I'm really bad at it). As far as I know the Leman Russ is one of the Imperiums most successful tank designs. for its ease of mass production and battle field performance. The (False) Emperor was supposed to be a deity of technology as well, so even if the designs havent been updated since his demise, they should still be relevant and practical, not power armored corsets. But thats my thoughts.

I would like to see some beautiful female fighters, instead of these circus freak goths. yes I know the 40k universe is very gothic, but leave that to their icons and some of thier weapons, with hints in their armor. If it is designed into their armor, make it cosmetic to the power armor, not the focus before protection is designed. Space marines are very much sci fi super soldiers, that have hints of gothic tossed around, cant we do roughly the same with the sisters?

I probably wont ever play Infinity, its to sleek and clean, and I love me some dark Gods of Chaos.

SaintHazard wrote:


This, right here. The sexuality isn't overt or shoved in your face. It's there, but it's in the background - what you see first is a total badass performing total badassery. The armor isn't over the top, but she still looks clearly feminine, despite small breasts and short hair. Stylize the armor a bit more, throw on some fleur-de-lis, cover enough nooks and crannies to be able to call it power armor, and you've got yourself a decent set of Sororitas armor.

I really need to get the Shira Calpurnia Omnibus. Melissia mentioned binding earlier. So Shira could have a good sized pair of breasts, and the armor keeps them pressed back as comfortably possible. But yea, GW should base a new set of sister figures off this design. possibly beefed up a bit for the kind of battles and opponents they face.

This is the classic female marine figure, obviously depicts a Space Marine rather than a Sister, however it provides some concept of how a feminine armoured figure can be designed without making it all "tits oot fer the lads".




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I would recommenda also looking at some of the concept sketches of female Tau in armour.

There are certainly plenty of T&A designs but there are some good, properly armoured figures too.

Tau armour is mid-way between Guard and SM in terms of coverage, and may give some idea of how to do a 3+Sv figure without it being plain SM power armour.

Cor! Dem Legz is Well nice! ;P

Kilkrazy wrote:This is the classic female marine figure, obviously depicts a Space Marine rather than a Sister, however it provides some concept of how a feminine armoured figure can be designed without making it all "tits oot fer the lads".




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I would recommenda also looking at some of the concept sketches of female Tau in armour.

There are certainly plenty of T&A designs but there are some good, properly armoured figures too.

Tau armour is mid-way between Guard and SM in terms of coverage, and may give some idea of how to do a 3+Sv figure without it being plain SM power armour.

Isnt that just a BCG figure adapted to represent a fem-marine?

Kilkrazy wrote:This is the classic female marine figure, obviously depicts a Space Marine rather than a Sister, however it provides some concept of how a feminine armoured figure can be designed without making it all "tits oot fer the lads".

That is what a clearly defined hourglass figure is. If you shift focus away from the breasts when sculpting female miniatures, there has to be a focus someplace else(in this case the thigs and legs) otherwise the model simply doesn't look distinct enough for those that want to collect an army of warrior women. Oh and someone should tell Lucy Lawless that warrior women can't have shapely figure. Because Xena's role is obviously a better fit for Mila Jovovich(which also makes a pretty good warrior woman in "Fifth element" and "Joan of Arc").

If "shapely figure" specifically means nothing more than "HUGE TITTIES" to you, you're probably doing it wrong. Both Milla Jovovich and Lucy Lawless have shapely figures, but Lucy happens to have larger breasts than Milla. They both have pretty well defined hips and slim waists that really make a "shapely figure" "shapely."

Personally I htink the miniature is way too thin for an Astartes, female or no (they're going to be musclebound superfreaks regardless of supposed gender), so it'd fit a Sister better (if it had Sisters style armor).

Melissia wrote:Personally I htink the miniature is way too thin for an Astartes, female or no (they're going to be musclebound superfreaks regardless of supposed gender), so it'd fit a Sister better (if it had Sisters style armor).

I think that was the point.

And I agree.

Modquisition on. This thread has been reported and private warnings given. Everyone is to remember Dakka Rule #1: Be polite. We can discuss this rationally and with courtesy.


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I liek the Sabbat helmets noted earlier, and believe they have something similar in the WFB range. However, the executed SOB helmets are poorly done in that regard. Leaving the face open would have been an excellent version, or perhaps with a visor that is up in some, down in others, giving it more the Joan of Arc 13th century feel.

Arschbombe wrote:So what do people think of the way Banshees are sculpted?

Interesting that the helmet design for the sisters is so polarizing. It's modeled after the Sallet. I like it. If I collected sisters I'd try to get them all with helmets.

anybody else getting a darth vader feel from that?

Gwar! wrote:And don't forget Pauldrons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Multilazors! (C.S. Goto is writing the new SoB codex! )

Those shoulder pads are WAY too small. They must be 1.25 times the size of your head. That's cannon, that is.

But not canon.

I saw this pic and it made me facepalm.

SaintHazard wrote:If "shapely figure" specifically means nothing more than "HUGE TITTIES" to you, you're probably doing it wrong. Both Milla Jovovich and Lucy Lawless have shapely figures, but Lucy happens to have larger breasts than Milla. They both have pretty well defined hips and slim waists that really make a "shapely figure" "shapely."

I wasn't the one that connected large breasts with shapely figures. My comment was simply designed to refute that opinion, because it was stated earlier by people in your camp(and you yourself) that fit women must have small breasts. Which is blatantly false. If anything in my comment about the picture Killkrazy posted it's quite clear I think woman's feminine appeal is defined by more than her cup size. I'm thinking you're prejudiced against people in this thread being lusty teenagers with no eye for graceful sensuality. Can't speak for the rest, but I assure you, I certainly do not fit that bill.

Lets get this thread back on track or its closed.

I think that female Marine posted further up might be a good start for SoBs, but in this case the waist/mid-torso is WAY too slim. Considering a certain thickness in power armour, this girl would probably sport a wasp waist like in many exaggerated cartoons/animes. Or look anorexic. If we want Sisters of Battle to wear more "realistic" armour, I think toning down the cleavage-armor and then reducing the waistline even MORE is not really...well, honest. Because the waist/bust ratio is close to the same as before then, only thinner all in all, too thin for power armour for my taste.

Kilkrazy wrote:This is the classic female marine figure, obviously depicts a Space Marine rather than a Sister, however it provides some concept of how a feminine armoured figure can be designed without making it all "tits oot fer the lads".
http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/5298/femalemini.jpg

I don't find that version to be all that much better. The shape of the waist, hips and legs is so overstated and extreme it feels less like I'm looking at armor than say, the legs of a mannequin with little knee pads stuck on. Instead of bludgeoning you over the head with T it's bludgeoning you over the head with A. There is still just a bit too much, Male Gaze (For Lack of a better term, I know it doesn't really apply in this context) going on there.

Some of you guys must really hate comic books . . .

I don't hate comic books, I just dont get why big boob (armor) is bad and unrealistic and sexualized but wasp waist (armor!!) should be considered completely normal for "warrior women".


...I mean, if we're arguing with "realism" and bad boob-armor shot-deflection angles, why do both the Arbites woman and the female Marine have the thinnest/smallest armor parts around their abdominal region? The most important organs are protected by the thinnest parts of armor, only to keep they female looking? That's not much better than complaining about boob armor, in my opinion.

The arbites is actually still my favourite look, because I agree that SoB boob armor is too much. The armor proportions of the Arbites are definitely better for SoB, but to be honest, realism was made as a point and her armor isn't that "great" in that department either.

I certainly wasn't aiming that at you, Witzkatz, as I feel exactly the same way.

What I don't understand is why some people go on about how unrealistic a female combatant's figure is and ignore the fact Chaos marines have horns...in real life, horned helmets were impractical to the point of being dangerous to the wearer. And then there are the spikes...

But at any rate, to get back on topic, warrior women models should look like warrior women. Alas, that doesn't mean tomboys, because this is sci-fi meeting fantasy and warrior women of fiction are anything but tomboys, unless the character is meant to be as such and in those cases the writer usually goes out of his way to describe just how unwomanly the character looks.

Of course, there is the "space nuns" aspect to the SoB and that's what should define their looks. They might be very beautiful, but they'd keep their attire chaste, as far as I can tell. And in the spirit of their fluff, their armor should reflect this. If the model designers are really good, they'd be able to achieve a graceful, unmistakably female figure on their models while keeping the image of chasteness. It's all in the eye for detail.

I have to agree that the tiny-waisted female Marine is way worse than the standard SoB sculpt. If that's what the anti-bewb brigade is arguing for, their argument is ironic.

As far as the Arbites go, that's perfectly fine - for a picture. As others have said, on a 28mm model, sculpting it that exact way would just leave you with a dude. And no, "smaller hands" and other feminine attributes don't really show up all that well at that scale.

Also, as far as I can tell, there is no modern day analogue for a futuristic non-Christian battle nun devoted to a corpse god who wants to take over the galaxy. In other words? I'm pretty sure GW is the only one who can tell us how Sororitas dress.

That's somewhat naive...as GW surely knows what kind of image their fluff will give on their models. I'm not saying the current SoB aren't fine as is(in fact, I never noticed this corset thing everyone is talking about), but if and when their new codex arrives, they'll need to think through what they intend to do with them girls. I for one would rather see something with taste and grace than something like that image Melissia linked.

I don't cater to the extreme realism crowd though. In my opinion, extreme realism has little place in an alternate-universe fiction. Why is why I understand the necessity for spikes on Chaos marines and for recognizable breasts on female models. It's all just eyecandy.

Seaward wrote:
As far as the Arbites go, that's perfectly fine - for a picture. As others have said, on a 28mm model, sculpting it that exact way would just leave you with a dude. And no, "smaller hands" and other feminine attributes don't really show up all that well at that scale.

Would it leave with you dude? Or just with something less than blatantly "Female". The idea of male as default where everything is a "A dude until proven otherwise" is a contributing factor to extremes in design some of us find to be less than ideal. I realize that is really more about huge cultural issues than tabletop games, but it's certainly worth noting.

Would it leave with you dude? Or just with something less than blatantly "Female". The idea of male as default where everything is a "A dude until proven otherwise" is a contributing factor to extremes in design some of us find to be less than ideal. I realize that is really more about huge cultural issues than tabletop games, but it's certainly worth noting.

Well, I don't know about the rest of the world, but a person clad in heavy plate armor blasting away with automatic grenade launchers and flamethrowers is male as a default, yes. Am I prejudiced now?

What I'm saying is, the context in which Sisters of Battle operate makes it necessary to emphasize their female form a liiitle bit, you know? In a way that is visible on 28m models? Hell, they're basically the only human female miniatures in 40k! Of course everbody's going to think they're dudes if there's not at least a small hint!