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I have a brand new imperial guard army waiting to be assembled and painted, what are they waiting for? For me to decide which direction I am going to take them! I have been debating the past few months on what I should do with them. I first thought about DKOK (ran in to budget concerns), then mulled over regular cadian (too boring, I want something personalized), almost went with Vietnam (I am almost done with turning a Valkyrie into a Huey, it converts a lot better than you would think), and now am thinking about doing a female guard army.

A few things:
1. I want these female guardsmen to be made entirely of GW guardsman models and green stuff. I know there are some great 3rd party heads and bodies for female guardsmen out there, I am going to be using solely GW products and green(grey)stuff.
2. I want them to be able to be identified as female by the model. I know that a female and male look identical in full body armor, I am not going for this, rather I am going for the anime/action style. With that said, I do not at all want to do the "skimpy, nothing-but-underwear," style of modeling.
3. My green stuff skills is mediocre, my modeling skills are average, I've watched several guides and practiced a few times. So the model will not be anywhere near "wow." However, with your critique and comments I hope to make it at least decent.

SO! HERE IT IS!:

1. Chose the pieces, I am going to be having a dynamic-pose for the first one. I'll have the lasgun being held with the left hand propped up against the left knee and have her pointing. There are many reasons for this, primarily it is modeled this way so more of the model would be visible, but also because if I scrap this project because I either suck or don't want to take so much time modeling that I could still use her as a commissar or something similar.


2.a Legs: First thing I did was shave the skirt off the upper legs. I then shaved off all the baggy-ness of the pants as well as the pockets that added a lot of bulk. Doing this I had to be very conscious of the shapes of the legs, the right legs that was straight was easy enough, however I quickly realized that the left leg was going to have the thigh much too long and shin much too short. So I took as little off the top as possible and also trimmed the very tops off the boot. I then did the same, though not as much, with the right boot. The boots looked too bulky so I decided to trim the bottom edges of the boot to be equal with the rest of the boot, instead of how it normally juts out to look like a very thick sole of the shoe. I then shaped the upper legs to connect well with how I thought the torso would be and then did some touche-up shaping.

2.b. Torso: I knew I wanted to keep the emblem and the flat-like surfaces of the breastplate, but the torso would need to be taken out. I tried to angle the breastplate where the first layer ended (just below the emblem on the left plate) to simulate protection of the chest, trying to keep it having flat surfaces (I don't want just a couple D-cups on the chest, not that young and immature... well not that young at least ). I then started to take away layers of the stomach/torso area, trying to make the breastplate look like it ends where the ribs would end. I did my best to provide curves to it as though it was a snug fit shirt, trimming the sides of the torso and the back just a little. I really wanted to make the neck more prominent so I whittled the the shoulder straps down and sliced the whole neck area plastic off (where cloth is meant to simulate covering most guardsmen's necks).

2.c. Right Arm: For the arms I am going for bare skin (I will have just a little cloth be on the upper-arms but I will add that with GS). I started taking bulk off and once I got a bit off I started from the backside of the hand and carefully started to get the bulk off. I did this all around the arm, having the top of the arm slope up after where the elbow would be but keep the bottom side of the arm relatively flat. In the pictures the right arm may seem thin however once I add the top of the sleeve on the upper arm my bet is it will be perfect.

2.d. Left Arm: I shaved the forearm from the wrist back to trim it down. However where the elbow bends I am not confident enough with my tools to work the crook of the arm and where the arm and the shoulder-pad meet. I plan to work this area when I get a more precise cutting tool. Ideally I will accentuate the crook of the arm to add length to the upper and lower arm and then make the difference between the arm and the shoulder pad be as defined as it is with the right arm.

2.e. Head. I took the bulk of the chinstrap of while leaving the length. I am unsure where I want the face to end at this point. I want the face to start up higher, so I sliced directly under the emblem. I also wanted the face to be more angular, so I took a lot of the cheek pad/armor off. I didn't like the placement of any of the facial features, so I took everything off, and will probably take more off as I begin to sculpt facial features. I didn't like the helmet so wide, so I took everything but the slightest bit of plastic off there ear extensions. I also took the bump on the back of the helmet off as I didn't want the head to be so bulky.


3. Comparison of the same parts (disco position!). I personally can't believe how big the difference is with the legs, they look like completely different poses at first glance when I look at it. The right arm of course looks very thin, especially considering the left arms look nearly identical. However, the left arm will hopefully look a lot more like the right arm once I touch it up. The big bulky stomach has been trimmed and fits with the legs nicely.


4. Work in progress (smoothing the bad edges from the first go-through with the knife, shaping the left arm, defining torso, then green stuff general shaping).

Inspiration:



SO WHAT DO YOU THINK? How am I doing so far? How can I improve? Any other ideas? Should I trim the lasgun down?

and of course... THANK YOU!

Las guns are pretty standard patterns, maybe a carbine version though, cut down para stocks, short barrel and lightened frame.

AND IT CONTINUES, BUT I NEED YOUR HELP! WHICH GUN DO I USE? (see pics below)

Step 4-6

4. Overall Touch-ups with the knife. Shaved the left arm more, contoured the torso, contoured the legs, trimmed the helmet where there was loose plastic.

5. Custom Gun: I wasn't sure if the lasgun was going to be too big or not, so I got another in order to whittle it down. I shaved off all the bumps on the stock. I then cut the stock so the top was flat. I took some plastic off all sides of the stock. For the rail, I cut the little knobs off the ends. I then shaved the rail down very flat so it just barely shows. I cut all the curved part on the gun along where they can hold it. I then shaved the muzzle off the barrel and then shaved the barrel down to be smaller in diameter, then cut in a direction to mirror the muzzle end that I just cut off. I then (not pictured) shaved off a lot of plastic bulk on the other side.



6. Preliminary Posing: First thing I did was cut the hand off the left arm. I then rotated it 180 degrees so that it would look as though it is holding the gun. I cut angled sliced off the back of the torso so that the right arm would be pointing towards the right. I did the same with the left arm so it would aim towards the left. I did some measuring and guestimation on the angles everything needed to be, glued the right arm to the torso, torso to the legs, then the left arm to the torso.

I NEED HELP DECIDING BETWEEN STANDARD LASGUN AND SHAVED LASGUN! (When deciding keep the following in mind: they will both be very similar in quality when finished, I am making a whole army like this and the regular lasguns may be a good symbol to show this army really is Imperial Guard, its a lot easier to glue 125 lasguns on then it is to shave 125 lasguns and then glue them on, BUT honestly tell me which you think is best as well).

Posed Guardsman with regular lasgun:


Posed Guardsman with shaved lasgun (ignore the quality and pretend it is clean):


Which should I use for my guardsmen??

and of course... THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!!!

I Prefer the standard but only because there is no special treatment in guards

You could try the folded stock on out of a tank sprue

Also thats a lot of carving

Also I dont remember where but there was a conversion that just involved putting the legs closer and using a female head that looks to be much faster of a conversion.

Also vic as a ton of conversion bits for female guard now

 Desubot wrote:
I Prefer the standard but only because there is no special treatment in guards

You could try the folded stock on out of a tank sprue

Also thats a lot of carving

Also I dont remember where but there was a conversion that just involved putting the legs closer and using a female head that looks to be much faster of a conversion.

Also vic as a ton of conversion bits for female guard now

Good point about the no special treatment. But I would imagine there is something done differently for females, considering probably half of all the guardsmen are guardswomen (even if GW won't acknowledge that).

I am not a big fan of the folded stock, thank god too, because if I did like it I am sure I would have to go and buy 125 tank sprues.

I would love to see that conversion, looked all over the web for several days (going months back) and only found a couple. As for conversion bits, I am trying to do a GW and Greenstuff female guard army only, its kosher, and it will give me incentive to personalize each guardsman!

Well thats understandable.

Il go give kitbashing one a shot in a few hours. (getting tired of painting 50/150 guardsmen :/)

I think an easy to do a guardswomen head is to use a dark elf which head

It should slot into one of those free helmets. just need to shave off the crown and ears.

HERESY

I don't see why you'd need a different lasgun on them. Keep the existing ones. It's less work for you and it wouldn't make sense to arbitrarily give women in the Imperial Guard smaller guns from a fluff standpoint. If you're in the Imperial Guard, you're strong enough to carry a rifle.

If you're already shaving bits down, consider using catachan legs instead of cadian. With the torso shaved down enough, they're better at creating the illusion of wider hips.You do need to shave off the belt on the cadian torso (or on the legs).

These were for some carapace vets in my army (torso and head were from MeowMeow Minis, which is out of business last I remember).



Also, just going with the standard bits gives you options for special weapons, etc.

Brother SRM wrote:I don't see why you'd need a different lasgun on them. Keep the existing ones. It's less work for you and it wouldn't make sense to arbitrarily give women in the Imperial Guard smaller guns from a fluff standpoint. If you're in the Imperial Guard, you're strong enough to carry a rifle.

Good point, I was aiming in that direction (no pun intended) anyway, but wasn't sure if my laziness was tilting the scale.

LoH wrote:If you're already shaving bits down, consider using catachan legs instead of cadian.
Also, just going with the standard bits gives you options for special weapons, etc.

I have a lot of new cadian models and just want to use them. I will be modeling all of them with different styles and proportions though.

And another great reason to do standard bits : )

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback so far!

 Ryan_A wrote:

LoH wrote:If you're already shaving bits down, consider using catachan legs instead of cadian.
Also, just going with the standard bits gives you options for special weapons, etc.

I have a lot of new cadian models and just want to use them. I will be modeling all of them with different styles and proportions though.

And another great reason to do standard bits : )

Thanks everyone for all the great feedback so far!

Good luck! I try to source bits when I can to minimize the total custom sculpt work. Especially for something like a guard squad, repeatability becomes a large concern.

Just my observations, but not all female Guards are going to be svelte young things (there's more variety in female bodies than in males), so it would be quite acceptable to use standard Cadian figures with just a head reshape.

Regarding the weapons I'd consider it perfectly acceptable to reshape some of the lasgun stocks to a skeleton type, like a UMP or M1 carbine, or a collapsible wire type, similar to an MP38/40 or AK47.
Also, it would be acceptable for some guards to be carrying carbine versions of the lasgun, like the US paratroops used in WW2, and as armoured vehicle crew carry now, like the British use of L85 A2 AFV's.
Cutting the standard lasgun's barrel shroud level with the sight rail on top of the weapon, and relocating the exposed barrel and muzzle, would be a simple task.

I've had a thought. How cool would it be, to have a grizzled *female* veteran sergeant, all motherly to her squad but also quite able to tear a Tyranid's head off its bony shoulders when riled?
*gets out the bits box*

Regardinng weapons, there are 3rd party sellers that do much better scaled rifles (i.e. that don't go up to the shoulder of the model carrying them). Maybe give them a shot? I can personally recommend the Hasslefree selection, but there are others.

 Flinty wrote:
Regardinng weapons, there are 3rd party sellers that do much better scaled rifles (i.e. that don't go up to the shoulder of the model carrying them). Maybe give them a shot? I can personally recommend the Hasslefree selection, but there are others.

I'd be doing exactly the same, looking for weapons and heads especially, but the OP wants their troopies to be 100% GW-based.

I did a female guardsman not to long back

Check Sgt Kristin Romana out by following the link. Hope you like her

[url]

Sgt Kristin Romana/Cadian Shock/Valkyrie Ground Ops.

[/url]

Word of caution,don't go down the great looking,stunning woman look. In real life in all services most women are not that good looking and are more on the normal side I ,m not being sexist but commenting on my personal view as I saw it during my time in the services. Women in the services seem to be a stronger breed Any women reading ,class it as a positive,admiring description

Wow, what you have manage is completely destroy a miniature, the time to sculpt back the detail and make molds to mass produce is a long task, you're better off sculpting from green stuff. If you're trying to convert female guardsmen, look into Victoria miniature's Arcadians.

Man Figures my new phone camara takes crappy pictures.

Il re try taking a picture later.

So far the Dark elf witch heads fits nicely into an spare helmet which is nice

the torso and legs are fine so long as you arnt using the ones with legs spread far apart of there adamantine balls bits.

the only problem is the arms being too big.

Sadly, without a ton of really good GS work, I think this model is ruined. There are several great companies out there making female counts as guard. Why not just use one of those?

 Big Mac wrote:
Wow, what you have manage is completely destroy a miniature, the time to sculpt back the detail and make molds to mass produce is a long task, you're better off sculpting from green stuff. If you're trying to convert female guardsmen, look into Victoria miniature's Arcadians.

Bit harsh but along the right line. Service uniform comes under the category of one size fits all,so a female guardsman will look exactly the same as a male guardsman except the face Forget the dream women and get real

Very interesting idea...you've done a lot of work for a single guardsmen...err women...which shows a lot of dedication...i hope this turns out how your imagining it will

 Big Mac wrote:
Wow, what you have manage is completely destroy a miniature, the time to sculpt back the detail and make molds to mass produce is a long task, you're better off sculpting from green stuff. If you're trying to convert female guardsmen, look into Victoria miniature's Arcadians.

How can you slate someone for them having a vision they wish to try out. Have you never made a conversion or even deviated from the standard style? I think you should be comending the man for giving it a shot!!!!!!!!!!!

All I can say is good luck dude im interested as to see how she turns out. Keep us posted dude. Have you looked at de and the hobbit for some female heads?

Have yo seen these heads? I think they would work well just scult the ear abit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WFB-Dark-Elves-Dreadspears-Champion-Head-Bits-1-/380938336043?pt=Games_US&hash=item58b1b1b72b

Something that occurred to me while I was working last night... unless, in the grimdark future, genetic manipulation has created all humans the same size, female troops will have to be shorter than their male counterparts.
That's going to be difficult to convert accurately - women are generally smaller all over with shorter legs, arms and spines, and smaller heads and waists..
Cutting down legs and arms can be done (carefully to avoid the stumpy look), but shortening and narrowing a torso might need more thought.