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What the hell is up with people assembling minis in the most boring positions possible? I got some Tau for xmas from my brother. HE bought them for a former g/f blah blah blah. Nothing was touched but the commander was assembled. Incredibly static. It was so BLAH I couldnt help myself but pop everything apart, and started chopping and slicing.
Needless to say about 30 minutes of fun, now the commander looks like hes kicking ass and taking names. Ive always personally wanted my minis (HQ and the like especially) to look cool and exciting. Not 2nd edition SM/boltgun bland. Is it just me?

no, it's not just you. The only group that is allowed to get away with that with any consistancy are new modellers, in my book... They're still getting used to it.

Ha funny you should mention static minis. I hated the way my 1k sons looked with their normal legs so i put them on berzerker legs. I wish i could put pics up but cant as i am doing this on my phone.

Well, I bought 20 DA Veterans (Marines with robes).
Thank GW that they are have no static pose.

What do you define as static? I have a few minis that look like they are charging into battle, or firing or running/screaming. But I've got a few that are just standing around aiming/scanning for enemies and generally looking badass. Does dynamic (the logical opposite of static) equal action poses in your book?

Dynamic doesn't have to be an action pose, but having them standing at attention (particularly since this is supposed to be a battlefield) is kinda dull. That being said, a dynamc pose gives your model a sense of purpose, like they're actually on the battlefield, skulking through ruins, listening for the enemy, or giving some other sign of their awareness of their surroundings.

Commander Endova wrote:What do you define as static? I have a few minis that look like they are charging into battle, or firing or running/screaming. But I've got a few that are just standing around aiming/scanning for enemies and generally looking badass. Does dynamic (the logical opposite of static) equal action poses in your book?

Well Ill give you an example to the mini I was posting about. It was a Tau Commander. Standing as strait as possible, with a burst cannon on one arm, at the hip, and a shield on the other, at the hip. The head was perfectly strait. Thats it. Pretty boring.

And to me dynamic depends on the mini. If a mini is standing/squating, while aiming thats not static. Its doing something. Running/screaming, well thats pretty damn dynamic already lol. Even a regular rank and file standing around holding a gun is normally ok, as they are the regulars of the army, nothing special. But when some thing like an elite or HQ mostly, is just standing there like a nob, yea its pretty static.

Just a twist in the positioning of the torso and having the head looking the same direction the gun is pointing can make a huge difference...
Mick

I see nothing wrong with a few static guys, because in the midst of the dynamic models they are unique as well.

I try to make all figures interesting, but don't go out of my way to do it for all of them because line infantry largely look similar most of the time. Otherwise it looks like they're all scene stealing in a film.

As an avid collector of old models, it's hard to avoid some static poses. 2nd edition "I love my bolter" Marines come to mind. Imagine, an entire army of models standing bolt(er) upright, holding their gun completely horizontally against their chest, and looking straight forward. I even have an old Ultramarines captain model to go with them, who's holding a sword and gun out to either side, and also looking straight forward.

To think, just 10 years later there were all kinds of lovely models pirouetting off pieces of rubble.

but it doesn't have to be anything severe, either.... It's a subtle thing. Give your model some body language, I guess is the real point to it.

Necrons standing straight up look nowhere near as cold and menacing as the ones leaning a bit forward or off to the side a touch. Even in more relaxed poses, you're going to give them some kind of body language, make it look like there more than just some mannequin at the local Old Navy, holding a pile of sweaters. If he's screaming, make it look like he's screaming at something, or about something... toss his head back, and it becomes a war-cry. Lean his body a bit forward, turn the head, and twist the torso a touch, and that war cry turns into a madman bearing down on you ready to check you into the wall. It's the subtle positioning that makes the model. A few degrees makes all the difference.

I feel your pain OP. With so many possible ways to build your troops you see so many out there in pretty bland positions/poses. My tau commanders crisis suit is modeled mid stride as if hes scanning a battlefield for potential targets. I think the worst I've seen is khorne berserkers all in static non running positions. No sense of urgency. I know its up to the owners preference in the end but I think the pose a model is assembled in can affect it as much as a good/bad paint job.

I agree.

Also I wasnt saying the whole army should be dramatic and crazy, because then its way over done. Im more of a subtle guy when it comes to the rank and file. Except my ork boyz. Sorry but there is way to many of them for everyone to get a touch of special

pics of dynamic Tau commander? (no dynamic entry trollery please)

My least favourite pose is the "look what I'm holding" pose, where they're simply holding a bent arm in the air with their weapon of choice in their hand, with no real action going on in the rest of the mini. The most recent example that comes to mind are the AOBR boyz and nobz.

I agree with you that static miniatures look boring. I mostly stick with the poses given for infantry, but I got bored once and assembled a box of Tau Fire Warriors where every one had at least a small conversion. One guy was throwing a grenade (forget what I made it of but it looks a lot like a German potato masher), another guy was holding two guns, I had a model with the torso twisted sideways to make it strafe. My favorite was a heavy weapons trooper I converted to hold a spare burst cannon I had lying around. Ended up sculpting some very impressive cables heading to a custom made backpack.

I use that squad a lot for kill team. It's fun.

I don't know, I find static minis to be pretty cool as well.

However, I appreciate the work that goes into dynamic minis, and I'd certainly try to make my army look somewhat dynamic.

However, as I do play WHFB, I find that I am used to seeing static models more often.

Cryonicleech wrote:I don't know, I find static minis to be pretty cool as well.

Me, too--thank the Emprah, given I play SoB. They're all in the "Not now, dear, I'm busy shooting" pose. I think that some armies benefit from more static poses--as I think some IG player mentioned above. A crisis suit, on the other hand, will likely do better if you can manage to make him look like he's moving about. Along these lines, check out Ghidorah's Wraithlord. This generally cool model can end up looking like a bellbottom-strutting hippy if you pose them in an unimaginative way. Ghidorah's hunting crouch makes him look ten times cooler or, if you prefer, lives up to the coolness potential of the model. On the other hand, a pole-up-the-butt commissar rigidly pointing his pistol looks pretty good, too, considering that that's how he's supposed to look.

Fafnir wrote:My least favourite pose is the "look what I'm holding" pose, where they're simply holding a bent arm in the air with their weapon of choice in their hand, with no real action going on in the rest of the mini. The most recent example that comes to mind are the AOBR boyz and nobz.

The Orks I don't really have an issue with, but the Marines! My Lord, those are the worst! Their arms are fused to their bodies in the dumbest pose!

DarkHound wrote:

Fafnir wrote:My least favourite pose is the "look what I'm holding" pose, where they're simply holding a bent arm in the air with their weapon of choice in their hand, with no real action going on in the rest of the mini. The most recent example that comes to mind are the AOBR boyz and nobz.

The Orks I don't really have an issue with, but the Marines! My Lord, those are the worst! Their arms are fused to their bodies in the dumbest pose!

That being said, they do make for excellent statuary for terrain...

Or testing models for colour schemes where you don't have to worry about moldlines or losing detail when you reprime them 6 times in a row...

On topic: I find there is a limited amount I can do with my warriors, since I"m forced into certain poses just to get the splinter rifles to stay on. Most of mine has to be variations of how I match the different legs and torsos, angle of the torso (which is tricky, I'll admit I have a few that are bending back as if about to do Matrix bullet time...) and direction of head. Either down the gun, or looking the opposite way as a 'what did the dracon say?' or a 'ok, who shot at me?' look.

One reason I like the wyches is that they're all dynamic. Even the more relaxed looking conversions I've done are still either stalking towards you or angling a weapon to spin back into their leaps.

Yeah don't get me wrong. I don't mean all models in an army should be running/jumping. As said even when standing still you can still pose them as if in the middle of something or as if they are about to do something. Its all about body language and can really bring an army to life/give it a personality apart from others.

Edit: Once the base of that tau commanders finished Ill post it manchu. Pretty much done painting except for a few minor details on the back i want to rework.

this is the kind of thread that makes me make prone space marines.

Speaking of which, my SM army now contains a guy who's got an owned Eldar at the bottom, hows that for spiced up.

Dronze wrote:Dynamic doesn't have to be an action pose, but having them standing at attention (particularly since this is supposed to be a battlefield) is kinda dull. That being said, a dynamc pose gives your model a sense of purpose, like they're actually on the battlefield, skulking through ruins, listening for the enemy, or giving some other sign of their awareness of their surroundings.

Anything other than parade-rest!

Metal models are sometimes a pain in the butt to pose....

Agreed! I think it pertains just as much to vehicles as infantry as well. I'd let off tanks to some degree - how *do* you make a Landraider look dynamic? - but I definitely wanted to make my Ork Trukks dynamic - I mean, they are fast and ramshackle! They are currently still WIP - so I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions from anyone interested...

Arakasi wrote:Agreed! I think it pertains just as much to vehicles as infantry as well. I'd let off tanks to some degree - how *do* you make a Landraider look dynamic? - but I definitely wanted to make my Ork Trukks dynamic - I mean, they are fast and ramshackle! They are currently still WIP - so I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions from anyone interested...

WHOA! Your trukks look friggin awesome! Nice thought on those

Those trukks are amazing. I love when the modeling exhibits the goofiness of orks.

Yeah those trukks do look good! Good job.