Factor40's Public Display

[factor40]

Zac, I'll be honest. I like the figure they way it is. The proportions are still relatively uniform and close to real life. But as I discussed previously, I'm trying to find out what other people really want.


Lol, your response seems half-hearted. Do you really think that 40k-style is the way to go?

[blind pig]

[mangozac]

[factor40]

Update: Newest 3D print received but the model was not resized properly. Hence, I have a 38mm tall figure. It revealed a few details around the head that need to be accentuated and then it's back to the printer, hopefully for the last time. One cool side note, I had a 15mm version printed up as well, just to see if it would work.

Well, it does...

[mangozac]

It's mini me!

Interesting to see how well the 15mm print turned out. The surface finish is great!

[factor40]

Wow, 2 months since I've posted anything...sorry my friends. But I have been busy and I return with some updates and pictures for your perusal.

Significant progress on the Greatcoat models, the final sculpts are about 1 week from being completed and off to the printers. Here's some shots:

First up is a shot of the individual pieces...




Next up is a group shot of various figures for comparison...




Finally we have a tighter shot of some standard troopers...




Things have progressed since then as I've received some feedback and we've made some changes to the gun and the helmet...






And that's where things stand right now. We're working on some proportional issues with the head, arms and some other things. I should to have updated poses and renders to share with you guys in the next week or so.

Any feedback or suggestions are always welcome. I am planning on some alternate head sets and some different weapons, all to be made available separately for purchase.

-Steve

[Lane]

my only complaint is he body armor. The small plates are oddly placed and for supplemental armor and not large enough for primary protection.

[Arkangel]

Steve,

Ive been following this for some time and im impressed with the results. I have only really one comment and thats to back Lane up.
Coming from someone whos had to wear body armour on more than one occasion, unfortunately your design falls away from not only conventional aesthetics but actual functionality. I understand you dont want the to look like Kasirkin but i really think you should go and google a world of body armour and personal protection vests etc to get a better idea. There is minimal protection for the heart area, where convetioinal body armour usually offers a large plate in addition to the vest itself. The pectoral plates on the kasirkin at least try to cover this usuing aesthetics as an excuse. The bolt on plates you have not only dont fit the 'look' but serve no functional benefit except to get in the way of bringing the weapon to bear in the shoulder and to add weight to the body armour already there.
However the addition of shoulder guards is good as this was only introduced to conventioinal body armour from 2003 onwards by the US to protect the top cover gunners on convoy duty. Its now pretty standard as is the neck collar also introduced roughly the same time.

I hope this helps? Please dont take this as a bash, its more as a constructive observation from experience Running around in body armour sucks

Hasta

[Lane]

[Arkangel]

I agree with the idea of a large plate. As for pouches etc id have to say the best look for the great coats would be old style webbing. Mainly because new body armour in either the british 'Osprey' style or any of the either US military or private company modular assault vests, incorporate the molle system where the pouches attach directly to the vest using either clips or the more common loop/molle sytem.
Eagle industries, Paraclete and Crye are all private companies that produce these style of vests. Crye were the company used for the future warrior project by the US DOD and they're the originators of 'Multicam'. The future warrior assault chasis was used in the Ghost Recon Advanced War Fighter games as was the 'Multicam' pattern material and was the first time the general public were introduced to both the chasis system and multicam, even though the multicam kit had been in use/trialed by both US and UK SF For a while.
British '58 pattern webbing or the more recent PLCE would be worth a look, or even the US 'ALICE pattern. Also the South African pattern webbing incorporates a small daysack/backpack which might also be worth a look.

If not just a simple cloth pack and basic webbing would fit in with the aesthetic i think you're after Steve feel free to PM me if you need some more direct pointers
Again hope this Helps!

Hasta

[mangozac]

Coming from somebody who has no practical knowledge of body armour, I have to say I do appreciate the aesthetic style that Steve is going for. The idea of armour plates "bolted on" to some kind of kevlar/flak vest style material feels sci fi to me. But having said that I agree with Lane and Dan in that the plates seem badly sized and positioned.

Looking back at the commander model I can see that it uses the same design, however the armour plates in that instance look like they're bolted to some kind of thinner, larger, completely covering armour panels. I'm thinking that's what needs to happen here.

So maybe that's what you need to go for - have whatever the plates are bolted too look more like a thinner armour plate and then just reshape the thicker armour plates so that they are providing a bit more obvious protection?

[paulson games]

Rule of cool!

I think the minis look great, the armor may not be realistic but it looks like stuff you'd see in a video game. If people have problems with the gaps between plates or the studs that's what greenstuff and a hobby knife are for

If I wanted realistic I'd be playing 15mm games with modern tactical forces, I play sci fi games like 40k because I want some dude swinging chainsaw swords, with gatling guns and walking trash can armor. Realism is overated for fantasy/sci fi miniatures games.

[factor40]

First off, a big thanks to the RA peeps. You guys give very good, detailed feedback and that's why I like to share things with you. From a creative standpoint, there is a balance that I want to maintain between realism and what people refer to as "the rule of cool"(ROC).

A Little History...
The chest plate came together when we were designing the Commander figure and the extra plates were added as a design element to make them a little more fun to paint. Since the figure is designed for painters as much as gamers, lots of rivets and plates are good opportunities for shading and using washes. The first pass was based on a design from a popular sci-fi movie. Following the lines of the base pieces, we added the extra plates for some visual interest and ROC. While they did seem to work well on the Commander figure, I admit they do seem a bit over-designed when compared to the rest of the Trooper figure(and a bit impractical to boot). It's interesting to note that there is no difference between the torso of the Trooper and that of the Commander, apart from a tiny bit of overall size.

The good news is that, since we are designing these to be modular, any adjustments will be relatively easy to make. I like the rivets, I like the plates, but they could stand to be moved around to make them more believable. I'm still entertaining the idea of having the torso be just the jacket, the armor being unseen beneath the coat.

It's awesome that we have opinions from both the practical and ROC sides of the spectrum. It gives you a glimpse into the war that rages in my head every day...LOL. Stay tuned for more updates and feel free to keep the feedback and suggestions coming.

[mangozac]

Interesting to hear the reasoning behind it. I would have sworn it was a different torso to the commander, so obviously the design doesn't translate very well to a grunt. Look forward to seeing your further refinement!

[factor40]

Here's a simplified concept with a pack added. Very WIP, but I'll throw it out here to see what you guys think.








-Steve