Code Zero - More Images

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**EmberlordofFire8**

May I ask what software was used to sculpt those minis? They look very cool.

**Dark Severance**

John Prins wrote:
I'm backing at $11 anyways. Maybe there will be a small rush at the end to $2000 for the Corsairs, but the KS exclusive mini is really nice. Hopefully the JK9's can turn up in a later Kickstarter.

Thank you for backing and your support. There are only 36 hours remaining and we are only $126 short of unlocking two more Corsairs. I think that it is definitely doable.

As a backer we'll be listening to the input of all backers, so JK9s could very well be the first miniature in the next Kickstarter. Before we relaunched we did do a poll to see which ones they wanted to unlock first. I honestly did think JK9s would be the most requested, it was interesting to find the Corsairs were requested. I had thought they would be considered last since they kind of had a generic sci-fi look... but maybe that was why they were wanted after all.

EmberlordofFire8 wrote:
May I ask what software was used to sculpt those minis? They look very cool.

Thank you. The sculptor used ZBrush was used to model and sculpt them.

**highlord tamburlaine**

Since it looks like the set of Corsair figures has a good chance of unlocking before this finishes, any idea on pricing and posing of them?

Have you guys gotten any of the Commonwealth cast yet? I'm curious how tall they're going to stand.

And yeah, JK9s need to be your next campaign, for sure!

**John Prins**

highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Since it looks like the set of Corsair figures has a good chance of unlocking before this finishes, any idea on pricing and posing of them?

Going by the rest of the KS, $10 a pop.

**Dark Severance**

highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Since it looks like the set of Corsair figures has a good chance of unlocking before this finishes, any idea on pricing and posing of them?

Have you guys gotten any of the Commonwealth cast yet? I'm curious how tall they're going to stand.

And yeah, JK9s need to be your next campaign, for sure!

The pricing for them would be $10 inline with the rest which is $10 per. We haven't looked at posing for them particularly, they will most likely be armed with the Battle Rifle. I tend to let the sculptor look at them, to see what they invision as the pose. I try to give artists some creative space. However we do have some pose ideas that we do experiment with or use as a base.

We are however open to backer input, so if you have an idea or reference of something you'd like to see please let us know.

The 3D-master prints are unfortunately stuck in customs. I've been waiting for them, so was hoping to have them here this week to show images. When I checked up on them, they were still in customs. They were sized based on the initial lineup in the OP so should be fairly close to it in terms of appearance, but I do understand wanting to see them in reference to actual minitures vs renders.

**John Prins**

Dark Severance wrote:

Aww, maaaaan, tactical cloaks!

**Barzam**

I'm curious, have you started the render process for the JK9s? I'd be interested in seeing how they translate into 3D.

**Dark Severance**

Barzam wrote:
I'm curious, have you started the render process for the JK9s? I'd be interested in seeing how they translate into 3D.

Looks like something unexpected ended up coming in the mail today. The 3D Printed Masters for the power armor suits have arrived. Sorry for the poor quality of the images, it is an overcast so not a lot of natural light to use for photos. I've thrown a few things together for comparison images.

Old Legacy Design (painted), New Current Design (master), Blinc, light armor (painted), Blinc (primed)

Old Legacy Design (painted), Infinity (Mobile Brigada), FC-Power Armor (master), Blinc (light armor, painted), Infinity (USAriadna Line Ranger), Infinity (USAriadna Line Ranger)

Old Legacy Design (painted), Infinity (Mobile Brigada), FC-Power Armor (master), Blinc (light armor, painted), WH40K (Space Marine), WH40K (Terminator)

We have not started the sculpting for the JK9s yet. I needed to see the 3D Masters of the power armor next 3D masters of the Anazi which are in light armor. The JK9s will be somewhere in between. They are essentially wearing medium armor. If using the comparison images, probably close to thickness of the Mobile Brigada, but not as bulky in areas. They will essentially take a naked version of the Anazi t-pose, then build around it. Since it is being built from scratch, where we modified an existing sculpt to scale into our universe (in the case of the FC Power Armor), it will be a step up from light armor but should see a visual difference between Heavy and Medium armor. I am trying to keep everything material wise and armor wise within the same spectrum.

**MLaw**

Those certainly are better! Do the fireteams for the FC Power Armors have weapon options or is the dual weilding guy kinda stuck that way? Trying to figure out a parts breakdown.

**highlord tamburlaine**

Oooh, good timing! Didn't realize the Commonwealth got a size increase- impressive!

Probably wouldn't hurt to include those scale photos in an official update (which you probably already were planning).

I'll be grabbing at least one of them (If I don't outright get one of their fire teams) as well as the Inquisitor in the PM once that hits.

**Dark Severance**

MLaw wrote:
Those certainly are better! Do the fireteams for the FC Power Armors have weapon options or is the dual wielding guy kinda stuck that way? Trying to figure out a parts breakdown.

Since we were incorporating an existing line, they don't have as many options in terms of weapons like the light scout. The initial cost to doing multiple weapon options, ended up being a lot more. In some cases it was just cheaper to do a sculpt, Infinity style, with some pose-ability but not a lot and do two different versions. Than when it was the way we designed the two initial fireteams for the Anazi. We are going to evaluate the pros and cons as well as how we can improve this process. In may be just sticking a Infinity style and just doing different versions.

The two miniatures on the left have separated arms in a ball socket. The sniper comes in 4 pieces body, sniper gun with hand/forearm, shoulder arm (sniper side), and pisol arm. The two gun one comes in 3 pieces body, pistol/arm, and pistol/arm. There is some room to rotate them or swap weapons between those two.

The two on the right both come in 2 pieces body, and forearms/weapons. You can swap arms between the two.

With some minor work, you could swap them between all four of them, but it would take a some kit bash knowledge and ability.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Update #10 - SG Unlocked, New Pledge Level

[b]STRETCH GOAL UNLOCKED[/b]

We made it to the $2K Stretch Goal with plenty of time to spare, which allows us to add two more miniatures to the line. That means we will be adding two more Corsair mercenaries to the available add-ons. They are available as an add-on individually for $10. You can add one of them by adding $10 to your current pledge level or you can increase your pledge by $20 for both of them.

NEXT STRETCH GOAL - $2750

There are only 28 hours remaining. Will we be able to power through to the next Stretch Goal?

The next SG will unlock another miniature to add to the lineup. If 80% of the backers added the two new Corsair mercenaries to their pledges, we would be able to reach that next SG. However, no one is obligated or should feel pressured to do so. We are already grateful for everyone who has already backed allowing us to make this a reality.

You will also be happy to know that what doesn't get unlocked, once we finish casting and delivery, then the next Kickstarter will most likely focus first on the remaining as well as new units. Which units really comes down to backer input and it is one of the benefits of backing even if only for $1 or $10 for one of the miniatures. The backers get to have the most input since they are ultimately the ones who helped create this line.

But wait! There's more! The next stretch goal will also unlock a hidden stretch goal which will reward every backer who backed at Corporal and higher with a free miniature of their choosing!

NEW PLEDGE LEVEL - A LA CARTE

There have been a couple requests from collectors and painters who were not necessarily interested in a complete fireteam or the game. After looking over everything we have decided to add a new pledge level where backers can choose any 6 individual miniatures for $50. They could also simply choose 6 of the same one if they wanted as well or they could essentially get one of each type. This allows some to dip their toe into the miniatures line by having a sample of each of the styles.

3D MASTERS

We were hoping to have the 3D printed masters for the Federated Commonwealth power armor suits last week but they, unfortunately, got held up in customs. We were not expecting them for another week. However, something unexpected showed up in the mail today. ^_^ The masters for the power armor have arrived! I apologize for the poor quality of the images, it is overcast here in the northwest so there is not a lot of natural light to use for photos.

**highlord tamburlaine**

Thanks for putting up the a la carte pledge.

Happily upped! Hopefully Mrs. Highlord doesn't notice...

**Dark Severance**

I am curious with the new Primaris Space Marines coming, how those will look scaled next to the Federated Commonwealth power armor.

highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Thanks for putting up the a la carte pledge.

Happily upped! Hopefully Mrs. Highlord doesn't notice...

Thank you again for your support.

**Barzam**

Hey, congrats on a successful project!

**Dark Severance**

Barzam wrote:
Hey, congrats on a successful project!

Thank you but It isn't successful yet. But soon(tm) it will be. Once everything is delivered, then I'll call it a true success. For now, I'll call this a successful first real step though. ^_^

- Anazi Dynasty - Blinc-A and Blinc-B fireteams, for now, are sculpted, 3d masters printed. There are some minor tweaks I'd like to do before final casting though which means a couple master reprints of some pieces.
- Federated Commonwealth - power armor is sculpted, 3d masters printed. Once I finalize the approval on the masters, they will be ready to go to casting.
- Ex-Inquisitor is sculpted and the master is now being 3d printed.
- The two Corsair mercs are starting the sculpting process for them.
- Bases are mostly sculpted, some changes to them to make them beveled.
- There are a couple possible surprises as well. It just depends on the results the test I'm doing.

Once those are all done, I can go to back to history and lore writing, rewrites, and updates. I can then start to properly name and work out actual background identities for the various Corsair mercs and ranked individuals.

**Dark Severance**

Update #12 - SitRep Saturday - May 27, 2017

Most Kickstarters do updates on either Monday or Friday. We have decided our weekly updates will be on Saturday instead.

We are still in the transition period waiting for the funds to be cleared and released. There is a mandatory hold period for 14 days, then usually another three to five days for the funds to transfer. We have however been hard at work to continue to make things moving along.

Barruz Studio is working on completing the last two sculpts for us, the male and female Corsair mercenaries. Other than those two sculpts, everything else has already been sculpted. Once we have those completed, we'll move straight into casting. That will allow us time to refine the Alpha rules into the Beta rules, so they are ready for backers.

There are also a couple surprises that we have been working on as well. We will give you a sneak look into some of them.

Update #13 - Painted Pretties - Jun 3, 2017

There has not been a whole lot of changes since last week. We are still in the holding pattern waiting for funding to clear, which should only be a few more days. The last 2 Corsair Mercenaries are still being sculpted but should only take a week or so to complete if everything stays on schedule.

Corsair Sculpting

This is a sneak peak into the Corsairs. Warning these are low poly, rough T-poses. They are not the final versions but it lets you see early on how they are coming along. The female Corsair merc is shaping up quite well, she matches her concept art fairly closely. The male Corsair will need some adjustments. There are parts that I'm ok with, but there are other parts which don't mesh up with the concept art and proportions are off a bit. We still have final posing, weapons, and some other tiny details but this lets you see our progress.

If you have any input, now is the time to get it in before we finalize things on these two. Don't be afraid to speak up when you think something is wrong or off. We enjoy hearing feedback from you whether it is good or bad or awesome. ^_^

Painted Pretties

These do not need a lot of introduction. These are 15 miniatures that are comprised of the two initial Anazi Dynasty Blinc fireteams, mixed together to create three fireteams. It gives you an idea of how they can be mixed and matched (not that they have to be grouped as 5, you can make them smaller fireteams but we'll get into that a bit later).

Higher Resolution Image

Higher Resolution Image

Higher Resolution Image

**Dark Severance**

Update #18 | GenCon - 50th Anniversary

GenCon

GenCon is coming up next month, the best four days of gaming and it happens to be their 50th Anniversary so it will be bigger than ever! Who is going to be at GenCon this year? As usual, we will be there as well so if you are interested in meeting up, let us know.

We have fallen behind on updates but not because we have been falling behind on work. There has not been a lot of progress in terms of production so we slacked a bit on the updates. It has also been a busy time around of year with the summer and the children out of school. We waiting on the finishing touches on the Corsair Mercs. You can see a preview image of how they have been coming along. This is still a WIP (work in progress).

Once these two models are finished sculpting and we have final renders, we will send out the survey. This will not be the Pledge Manager or a final commitment, just a basic survey to get information for the pledge manager (shipping address, name, email) and an initial idea of what models everyone is interested in purchasing. Once we have those turned in, then the final 3d-masters will be ordered and production on the miniatures will begin.

The plan is to keep the pledge manager open as long as possible. It will probably officially open a few weeks after casting starts. Once we receive the final miniatures, I'd like to get final production images and then close the pledge manager. That way everyone can see images of what they will be receiving, and any final miniatures they want to before we package and ship out.

You can get a preview of a few other things we have been working on. I am not sure if we'll be able to include these as well in the Pledge Manager. It really depends on final costs but if we can, they will be added. Otherwise, they will be available in the next Kickstarter for the Code Zero, expanding the miniatures line, once we've fulfilled this one. Keep in mind these are still works in progress as well and rough.

We have also been looking at various options to bring prototyping and/or 3d masters printing in-house. With the earlier versions of the Anazi Dynasty Blinc Scouts (before the Kickstarter), there was a sizing error which resulted in a costly reprint of all the masters. We could have avoided it had we been able to prototype them in-house to validate everything. It has been something we've been careful, planned properly, so hopefully, it won't happen in the future again but the best method would be able to bring that part in-house. Here are some examples of some of the test prints we've been doing.

Here are some other examples using test prints from two different printers, one being a SLA and the other being a DLP printer. We haven't decided on which one to go, either would be a good edition which helps us out drastically. It also means we don't have to wait days until we get sample pieces from the 3d printers we have been using.

The gray resin miniatures have details that are bit too soft to use them for master prints on some miniatures. Some the details turn out good. For the majority of them though they are just too soft, which means we lose a bit even with doing resin casts. The orange resin ones from a different printer are better, which is odd considering it was a lower spec printer. However, with 3d prints there is the printer, the slicer software as well as user that affects the quality of the print so we aren't quite sure which contributed to what yet. That was one reason we chose the Power Armor as our test print, since we have masters prints to compare quality with allowing us to see which ones performs better.

As you can see we have been keeping busy. We are still well ahead of schedule which is always good to hear.

**insaniak**

That female merc appears to be dressing to the left...

The big guys look cool.

**John Prins**

insaniak wrote:
That female merc appears to be dressing to the left...

Cannot unsee.

**Dark Severance**

John Prins wrote:
insaniak wrote:
That female merc appears to be dressing to the left...

Cannot unsee.

ROFL! Yeah, that sometimes happens with lower poly roughs before posing is finalized. Once the pose is finalized, then smoothing, final details get added and touchup happens. And who says we aren't forward thinking, why does she have to be female? She is in this case, we are forward thinking but yeah since her pose isn't complete so as they move things they don't get adjusted completely.

My wife's response which I had to add was, "Aww come on guys, we left that there so you'd have something to sand down. Who doesn't want to do that?".

**Dark Severance**

insaniak wrote:
That female merc appears to be dressing to the left...

How about now? ^_^

**JohnHwangDD**

Better. Now she looks like a Thai tuck.

**ncshooter426**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
Better. Now she looks like a Thai tuck.

...You say that like it's a bad thing.

**spiralingcadaver**

I think the chaps and body thong under armor (?) above her pants could both use a suggestion of cloth- right now, they look solid, which would be uncomfortable

**Dark Severance**

Update #19

Survey After GenCon

The final sculpting for the Corsair Mercs has been completed. Now that we have renders completed for all the units we will send out the initial survey. Since this week is GenCon we won't be able to complete the survey to send out until after GenCon is over. You can expect the survey no later than Saturday, Aug 26th. This will be the initial survey to show which units you are interested in getting, even if you haven't pledged for them yet and is not binding. It just gives us an idea of how many extra units to produce on top of our initial run.

Pledge Manager

The Pledge Manager is still being worked on. Once that is complete we'll send that out and keep it open until fulfillment which gives plenty of time for people to add things or if there are any late backers to jump in. The Pledge Manager is how you will choose which units you want and finalize your choices.

Corsair Mercs

They will each have an additional head so you can choose if you want them to wear their helmet or not.

Anazi Blinc Commanders

We have also been working on two additional commanders for Anazi Dynasty that are compatible with the Blinc Infantry scouts pieces, providing more options for poses. I am waiting for costs for 3d masters and adding to them to the production run. If we can they will be added to the pledge manager otherwise they will be available in a future release.

We have mixed the top torso, arms, head from the commander with the legs of one of the female Blinc scouts.

We mixed in the arms from one of the Blinc scouts with the head, torso and legs of the commander.

**JohnHwangDD**

Dark Severance wrote:
Corsair Mercs

Spoiler:

We mixed in the arms from one of the Blinc scouts with the head, torso and legs of the commander.

She has a metal thong? Seems like it'd be exceedingly uncomfortable.

The torso seems unnaturally long.

**John Prins**

JohnHwangDD wrote:

She has a metal thong? Seems like it'd be exceedingly uncomfortable.

The torso seems unnaturally long.

There's tons worse there to argue about if you've a mind to. I mean, she's got partially sculpted boob-plate that seems integrated into the second plate (while the male armor is not?), and those greaves would cut into her ankles something fierce (while the guy has articulated armor on his ankles). And the gross differences in the neck protection - hers is form fitting to her neck, his is wider than his head. And he lacks the crotch armor that she has (arguably, both should have cupping armor, but not thongs).

**JohnHwangDD**

Yes, there's other stuff. I just called out what I considered the worst offenders.

**Dark Severance**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
She has a metal thong? Seems like it'd be exceedingly uncomfortable.

The torso seems unnaturally long.

John Prins wrote:
There's tons worse there to argue about if you've a mind to. I mean, she's got partially sculpted boob-plate that seems integrated into the second plate (while the male armor is not?), and those greaves would cut into her ankles something fierce (while the guy has articulated armor on his ankles). And the gross differences in the neck protection - hers is form fitting to her neck, his is wider than his head. And he lacks the crotch armor that she has (arguably, both should have cupping armor, but not thongs).

The one hard thing about renders and something that is unpainted, it can be harder to imagine how something fits together, is designed or ultimately has functionality. Although it is amusing that no one says anything during the months of concept art previews, creation, sculpting, modifications until something becomes finalized. So of all the times to bring objections up, to where we could have made design changes (not that we may have, but we have made changes due to input quite a few times actually). They are however valid and fair comments that I don't expect that these would not be the only ones. And that is ok.

References for design are pulled from multiple facets. Some of them are more widely recognized. Initially, the operative armor was designed to be layered. This is a more medium/light configuration, where lighter has some plates removed and heavier has an exo-frame that the armor wearer interfaces. The exo-frame then interfaces or inserts into a larger power armor suit which interlocks with the other pieces.

I can see how her torso could seem long, could be the pose but ultimately I think that is within acceptable ranges. Not everyone will have the same build, height and it can vary. As long as those proportions are properly displayed throughout the range, I believe it should be fine.

REFERENCES - Spoilered because of image dump of some of where inspiration and references to concepts came from.

Spoiler:

Her breastplate is not integrated into the second plate, it is just like the male version. Given the lower res render combined with the angle, I can see how it may seem that way. It is a separate piece, attached to the bottom plate (like the males) to allow adjustments between different soldiers body types. The initial design for the breast plate is based on a sports bra which are designed to support, minimize breast movement, alleviate discomfort and which reduce potential damage to chest ligaments.

Yes, there are differences in the neck design between the two. His armor is a different design, although similar, they serve different functions. He is wearing a lighter based medium armor, designed for basic troop types. While her operative armor is designed to integrate and connect to other pieces like an exo-suit or power armor. I can see where the assumption of the greaves could be seen as being a solid metal plate similar to closed greaves. It has more of a boning type lining, the male version does appear outwardly articulated while hers do not.

**JohnHwangDD**

@DS - sorry that I didn't call it out earlier - it wasn't as obvious as in the latest render.