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The continuing development of Inquisitor Thaddeus's warband.

Started by Ynek, February 27, 2011, 12:50:35 PM

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Ynek

Good afternoon, esteemed members of the conclave!

Some of you with long memories might remember the warband concept that I submitted some months ago (If not, feel free to reacquaint yourself with it here: http://www.the-conclave.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=869.0)

I feel that I've reached a point at which continuing to show the development of the warband becomes less and less about rules and background, and becomes much more to do with it's physical appearance. I felt that in light of this, it was probably more sensible to show the continuing development here on the P+M forum, since this thread has more to do with the resulting models than it has to do with their background.

Anyway, some of you might remember the (admittedly rather rough) concept sketch I produced for Tech Priestess Victoria Murae. (If not, it's over the jump here: http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/695/victoriamurae.jpg ) I wasn't quite happy with this design, because her mask and plasma-cutter gantlet looked almost implanted, which wouldn't really set her apart from other tech-priests as being a member of the cult of the sacred barrier. Also, I felt that elements of my existing design (namely the energy blade's design) were rather close to Kaled's Tech Priestess Orla Riall, and I really didn't want to go stealing his thunder and diluting his originality by piggy-backing on his design.

So, I went back to my design for Victoria and incorporated some more elements from Victorian clothing, and also worked a little more on the eventual design of her equipment.

The result is seen below.

(Clickable link, in case of image failure: http://img546.imageshack.us/f/victoriamuraerevisedcon.jpg/)


Many factors were considered when designing the dress/robe, so I won't bore you with explaining it all, suffice to say that I quite like the aesthetics of it.

The plasma blade is, essentially, a sollex aegis energy blade, which has it's aesthetic design loosely based around the Cy'An monoblade glaive, with elements of the Klingon Batleth thrown in for aesthetic appeal. (Namely with the handles.) The blade can be used in an axe / naginata like fashion, with the user holding the central handle with one hand, and one of the side handles with the other. It can also be used like a duelling glaive by holding the two side handles, giving maximum control at the cost of reach, or it can be used like a heavy sword by holding onto a single side handle with both hands, giving maximum reach, but poor control.

As a bit of background, I was thinking that these blades are unique to the Ferrum forgeworld, and are normally only issued to the cult's assassins. However, upon being recruited into Thaddeus's warband, the weapon was gifted to her by one of the cult elders, to protect her from harm, in the same way that the blade had protected the cult.

Her autolaspistol has been removed entirely, as has much of her armour. I may give her a plasma pistol later, which would hook into the plasma generator. I have an idea for a rules mechanic on how to counterbalance the power of the blade, and if it works, giving her a plasma pistol would be just as much of a liability as it would be a benefit.

Anywho, if anyone has any comments as to how I might improve any of the above design, I'd love to hear your input.

Edit: Bah, my spelling sucks.

Edit 2:
Concept image for posing:


I'm thinking I might use a Death Cult assassin model as an armature, if I can get my hands on one cheap...
"Somehow, Inquisitor, when you say 'with all due respect,' I don't think that you mean any respect at all."

"I disagree, governor. I think I am giving you all of the respect that you are due..."

axiom

I've got to say I love the look and the plasma blade - it gives her a really unique feel. The background lends itself to the unaugmented figure, although I think a pallid flesh tone would reinforce the feel.

The pose is great - I look forward to seeing it realised!

kierkegaard

I think that everything about the model (except the hole in the front of the dress - not very AdMech, is it?) looks fantastic.

MarcoSkoll

Quote from: kierkegaard on March 01, 2011, 01:56:51 AMexcept the hole in the front of the dress - not very AdMech, is it?
TITS!

I have to agree there. The AdMech detest the weaknesses of the flesh, which presumably includes sexual lusts. So having cleavage on display seems a little unlikely.
The earlier design (with the overbust corset and cloak) was a more feasible concept for why a Techpriestess might have cleavage on display than a dress with a specific cutout for the purpose.

Actually, I think that a female Techpriest who still had breasts at all would be a bit of an oddity. To them, it's unnecessary flesh, so mastectomies are probably common. Still, I think that it's perfectly acceptable for a player character - mastectomies would make for what would probably be a somewhat androgynous model and lots of "No, it's a she, dammit".

~~~~~

On a similar note, I imagine the Hysterectomy being fairly standard. I can't see many Techpriestesses being willing to put up with a menstrual cycle or the bothers of pregnancy. Get rid of the womb, and if you ever want offspring, grow them in a vat.
While hormone treatments are a possibility (there are some of my female characters who do use such things), the pragmatism of "deal with the cause, not the symptoms" seems more AdMech - and indeed, that's the case with my female Enginseer.

Anyway, I'll stop talking about how the female members of the Mechanicus mutilate their femininity now...
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Ancelyn

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

William Blake

Ynek

Thanks for the positive comments, gentlemen. I'm glad that the design at least has some redeeming features. ;)
I got started with sculpting today - just the armature and some basic shapes. I'll post up some pictures the moment that there's something worth showing. :)


Quote from: kierkegaard on March 01, 2011, 01:56:51 AM
the hole in the front of the dress - not very AdMech, is it?

I fully agree with you and Marco that showing cleaveage, or even having breasts, is distinctly un-admech, and is probably virtually unheard of in the Orthodox Cult Mechanicus.

It was something that I had considered quite carefully during my musings on where the line was drawn on augmentation within the Sacred Barrier Cult. Including a mechanical part into the body, such as a bionic limb or lung, is strictly a no-no, as it contaminates the purity of the sacred machine spirit. Genetic modification and biological augmentation was something I also considered. However, a machine is really just a construct designed by man to fulfil a purpose or perform a task. Therefore, does it stop being a machine when it is made of meat rather than metal? Selective breeding is probably about as much of an augmentation process that a strict Sacred Barrier cult would allow. Selective breeding isn't creating something, but merely bringing about the conditions within which something might simply come into being. (Breed smart woman with smart man, and cross your fingers hoping they have smart babies...) So long as humans or other intelligences do not 'design' the thing, the cult has the belief that it is not a machine. Therefore, genetic augmentations are out, since these are designed, and are therefore a means of incorporating molecular machines into the human body. On the other hand, selective breeding is borderline, but permitted, since it doesn't involve design per-se.

In this light, I also started to think about self-mutilations, such as removal of extraneous body parts. However, this is really just another way of redesigning the body. More like chiselling away a piece of rock to make the desired product rather than adding things onto it.

The sacred barrier cult holds the belief that machines and humans are both sacred, but must be held separate. They tend to pray to both the Emperor and the Machine God, but not in the same way as the Orthodox Cult Mechanicus. When praying for themselves or other people, they would pray to the Emperor. When praying for the machines that they tend to, they would pray to the Machine God. This is due to the belief of the barrier separating humans from machines reaching not only into their physical existence, but also their spiritual existence. They dare not invoke the name of the machine god for themselves for fear of contaminating it. They only invoke his name to bless and protect their machines.

So, for instance, they might say: "In the name of the Emperor, I smite thee!" and "Machine God, oversee this lasgun and see that it fires straight and true." But never "Machine God, guide my aim."

I'm getting a little bit sidetracked, there... What I was trying to illustrate was that their belief system is just as human/Emperor centric as it is machine centric. To start cutting themselves up in the name of practicality would be an insult to their own humanity, little more than an attempt to be more like a machine by means of emulation. (Behaving like one.) To try to act like a machine is an insult to the Machine God, and might be seen as a condescending parody, which might incur his (or more technically correct - it's) wrath. Imagine how you might feel if you walked in on your servants, and they were doing impressions of you? Now imagine that you're a humourless git, like most Gods tend to be. Would such an impersonator go without punishment?

So that's my sketchy reasoning as to why the female members of the cult keep their mammaries, aside from the simple fact that I've already created a character who is a once-female androgynous cyber-castrati, and don't think that my shelf needs a second one. :P

Now, the reason why her boobs are on show is, I will admit, mostly aesthetic. The dress is mostly inspired by period clothing, where putting one's cleaveage on show was considered to be a normal way of showing off one's physique. I also thought that it was a good way to break up the otherwise plain, dull, red area of her chest. However, aside from the eye-pleasing nature of boobs in general, I felt that showing a little glimmer of vanity and putting herself on show might be just her own little way of expressing a bit of humanity.

Anyway, if I later change my mind and decide that her cleaveage shouldn't be on show, I can always fill it in with greenstuff to just make the "window" into an Admech cog... I'll probably make all sorts of adjustments as I go along with this model, so I won't rule out omitting the cleaveage.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on March 01, 2011, 03:10:57 AM
"No, it's a she, dammit".
I already get this a bit with the Hive Maiden. Admittedly, she doesn't come off the shelf very often, but when players who are unfamiliar with her rather twisted back-story see her for the first time, it usually results in a bit of explaining as to why she's not just an effeminate dude combat servitor.
"Somehow, Inquisitor, when you say 'with all due respect,' I don't think that you mean any respect at all."

"I disagree, governor. I think I am giving you all of the respect that you are due..."

MarcoSkoll

Fair dos. However, if you'll accept me scrawling over your nice drawings, this might be an alternative - making it low cut, rather than a keyhole dress:



Still not standard Mechanicus attire, but it keeps that element of vanity without being quite so in-your-face as having a window solely for the purpose of cleavage. Not that a lowcut dress isn't designed to show off the breasts as well, but showing only your tits is a bit more openly sexual than showing the entirety of the upper chest.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Inquisitor Goldeneye

Quote from: Ynek on March 01, 2011, 06:06:37 PM
"An awful lot of frantic rationalisation to allow my Ad-Mech character to keep her lovely jubblies."

Seriously, though, It's a great design for the character, and I like the idea of an anti-augmentation Mechanicus character; very original.

Also, does her plasma-blade remind anyone else of the fold-out U.V. laser-sword thingy from 'Blade Trinity'?
'A truth that's told with bad intent beats all the lies you can invent.' -  William Wordsworth.

Alyster Wick

I personally like the original circular cutout dress design, mostly because it keeps the cog circular and that almost gives its own logic.  I'm sure you could come up with some kind of reasonable, utilitarian excuse for why it's designed that way, or you could just stick with the idea that if it looks good why mess with it. On the other hand, depending on her roll it can be advantageous to be capable of seduction ( a feat most admech characters can't begin to approach).  A further dimension to the philosophy of her being unaugmented could be her understanding of psychology to give her an edge that cold mechanics could never offer and the dress could be a subtle tool of manipulation.

Anyway, kind of hollow rambling, but I like the design regardless!

Ynek

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on March 01, 2011, 07:08:17 PM
low cut, rather than a keyhole dress:

That's actually quite a good suggestion, and one that I am now seriously considering. As Alyster suggests, it would stop the cog on her chest from being circular, but I daresay that if I continued the cog pattern up and around the hem of the hood, the vaguely circular pattern of the cog would be maintained.

As you say, it would help to lessen the obviously sexual connotations of the keyhole dress/robe. However, the other side of the coin is that in my original concept, the idea of the cog symbol on the chest was to have the cog symbol close to (or surrounding) her heart. I suppose this would still be the case, but as it would also enclose her head, it would be a bit less exclusive.

Perhaps I could extend the idea to the cog encompassing her heart and mind...

Like I said, it's a valid idea, and one that I'm seriously considering. I daresay the final choice will rest with my sculpting skills. If I screw up the shoulders/clavicles, I'll need to revert to the original design to conceal my shoddy workmanship. :P


Quote from: Inquisitor Goldeneye on March 01, 2011, 07:45:05 PM
Also, does her plasma-blade remind anyone else of the fold-out U.V. laser-sword thingy from 'Blade Trinity'?
Of course. The U.V. Laser-arc-thingy was one of my sources of inspiration, in combination with the "lightsaber" topic elsewhere on the forum, Kaled's Sollex-Aegis energy blade rules, and a few other sci-fi weapons such as the Klingon Batleth and the 'laser sword' from the nintendo game 'No More Heroes'. In one of my draft design pages for the weapon, I had a version which was a collapsible weapon similar to Jessica Biel's in Blade Trinity, but I thought that a weapon so powerful being so easily folded up and concealed might be just a little bit OTT. Also, to make it look obviously telescopic, it had to be quite thin in certain places which would make some of the technical aspects of making the model rather difficult which I might go into at a later date.

Anyway, I know it's not much, but here's some pictures of the early stages of the model's development.

From the front:


From the back:


As you can see from the two images above, I'm trying out a new sculpting technique for making the body of the character - by creating thin, flat surfaces in a 'silhouette' shape, as can be seen at what will soon be her hips and midrif, and then sculpting the body onto them. It's a new trick that I thought I'd try, since it's very similar to how I "sculpt" 3D models on my computer.

The beginnings of the energy blade:


It's a bit early to be able to really comment on, since it's really just a cutout bit of plastic sheet, but you can see the basic thing starting to take shape...

I got started on a head, too, but for some reason, the imagehost really doesn't like that picture. I'll upload it another time.

"Somehow, Inquisitor, when you say 'with all due respect,' I don't think that you mean any respect at all."

"I disagree, governor. I think I am giving you all of the respect that you are due..."

Ynek

And (if you'll forgive me for double-posting... [I know it's often accepted that if you bring new information, double posting can be acceptable, but it's a grey area that I still feel I should apologise for treading...{Also, for that matter, I should probably apologise for my inelegant use of stacked brackets.}]) it's time for an update!


Here is the picture of the head that I promised you fellas earlier. For some reason, I just couldn't get the image to host. I'm guessing the problem was with my router, though. It's just been a bit iffy recently. No idea why.

Anyway, I've exaggerated the "Blanchian" cheekbones and lips, namely because the model will most often be seen on the table, at around 2-6 feet away from the viewer's eyes, so I wanted to make the features easy enough to distinguish at that distance.

I've started work on the goggles, but might have something a little special in store for these as well... Although I'll hold off on telling anyone what that special thing is until I know for sure if it'll work or not...



I know that most of the work I'm putting into the body and legs is going to end up covered in robes, and will therefore not be visible on the finished sculpt, but I decided I should take this opportunity to practice my "comic book" muscle sculpting. If things continue to go so well in that department, I might consider casting the 'naked model' to make a generic female, which I can then hack up, repose, and use in other projects.

At present, the front of the body hasn't had much attention, but I'm thinking of doing something special with this model that might require me to make some changes before proceeding with the front...


"Somehow, Inquisitor, when you say 'with all due respect,' I don't think that you mean any respect at all."

"I disagree, governor. I think I am giving you all of the respect that you are due..."

Ynek

Just a quick update to show the 'jubblies'. I think I might have made them a little on the large side, but as can be seen in the concept images - she's not exactly an A cup, so I think that once the robes etc. have been put over them, they'll be alright.

Once I finish off the arms, I think I'll dismantle the model to make a mould of it. I reckon that I could make quite good use out of a generic female figure.

Still making progress on the 'secret bits', but I'm still not entirely certain that they'll work very wekk, and if they don't, I'd rather not humiliate myself. :P



"Somehow, Inquisitor, when you say 'with all due respect,' I don't think that you mean any respect at all."

"I disagree, governor. I think I am giving you all of the respect that you are due..."

Ulgavitch

boobs ... cool .... he heheh ehe .... cool.

(For all the Beevis and Butthead fans out there)


MarcoSkoll

Holy lower back strain Batman!

Yes, those are slightly on the large side. She may need another alphabet for when she goes underwear shopping, because I think they'll've run out of letters by that cup size.

... and now all I have to do is stop wondering what measurements I've made all the girls sitting on my work bench - knowing the scale bra size of your miniatures can only be all different kinds of weird.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Ynek

Having signed in to the "Emperor's Finest" plastic surgery practice and facemeat takeaway, Victoria has had a breast reduction, as well as having her head attached. (I'll sculpt a proper neck once the head has cured into place.) I am aware that her right breast is currently slightly smaller, but I'll be fixing that properly once both boobs have cured.




Additionally, during a lecture at University, I was struck by a little spark of inspiration....

Thaddeus owns his own ship, which is mostly crewed by Sacred Barrier menials. (Inquisitor Eisenstein is on very good speaking terms with the Cult of the Sacred Barrier on Ferrum Forgeworld. He's never explained to his pupil, Thaddeus, how he managed to earn this rapport with them. By dropping his master's name, and also using Victoria's considerable influence, Thaddeus was able to obtain a fairly modest crew of just over 200 souls for his ship. Not quite the size of an Imperial Navy crew, but more than enough for Thaddeus's needs.)

So, thinking about these menials... They basically replace all of the servitors and suchlike that a ship might normally have. (Using servitors alongside so many Sacred Barrier cultists would be insensitive at best, and suicidal at worst.) So, one function that a menial would have to fill would be the task of shipboard pest control. They would be selectively bred by the cult of the Sacred Barrier to deal with the same problems on their own ships. - Hrud in the crawlspaces, Umbra stuck to the warp drives, Space weevils munching all the food, and good old fashioned terran rats spreading disease.

On Thaddeus's crew, the longest serving pest controller is Crewman Doyle. Doyle leads a three-man team who are all experts in tunnel-fighting and squeezing into difficult places in the search for their prey.

Doyle is equipped with a miniature lascarbine (to make it easier to use in the cramped crawlspaces) which is phased to do maximum damage to organic tissue, but minimal damage to nonorganic matter. This is a precaution to help minimise the chances of damaging the ship's delicate equipment, rather than to prevent out-and-out hull breaches. If every time you shot a rat, you burned a hole in the floor, the place would probably start to run out of spare floor panels very quickly. With this sort of weapon, that is not an issue.

Aesthetically, Doyle was inspired partially by 'jungle men', with the difference being that Doyle's jungle consists of cramped steel tunnels, pipes and gantries, rather than trees and waterfalls. He wears a tooth necklace, consisting of a single tooth from every kill that he deems worthy of boasting. On board the ship, there are rumours that he has a genestealer tooth on his necklace somewhere, but few people dare stare at him long enough to verify this claim.

Constantly covered in engine grease and with something of an 'angry Crocodile Dundee' demeanour, Doyle is something of a loner onboard the crew, which suits him just fine. He isn't there to be loved, anyway.

[/URL]
"Somehow, Inquisitor, when you say 'with all due respect,' I don't think that you mean any respect at all."

"I disagree, governor. I think I am giving you all of the respect that you are due..."