|
|
Post by Jenny on Feb 24, 2009 10:34:12 GMT -9
15 mm figures seem to be a good choice when it comes to massive battles in wargames. Figures at this scale have the advantage that the amount of details and the overall design can be kept quite simple. The figures at Juniorgeneral are good examples. Here I tried to make a compromise between detailed 30 mm figures and the JG ones: the minis have a slightly higher resolution than the JG figures, there are no highlights applied, but shadows without gradient. So changing the colors of the uniforms is very easy. There are 3 sets of figures: one set is wearing desert uniforms, one set tropical khaki uniforms and one set is just uncolored. There was no sketch done first, the inks were drawn directly in Photopaint. I think the result is ok. More of these soldier girls will be added over time, including headquarters, heavy weapons and special/elite troops. Well, although the figures are simplified, this will take quite some time... The image here (png file) has already the actual size of the original drawing:  If you prefer a pdf file scaled to 15 mm figure height, it's here: www.esnips.com/doc/baf2fa68-ce26-4362-86ce-aa0e0fbe27a9/Imperial_Infantry_Test_(15mm)_pdfOr a tif file: www.esnips.com/doc/db7475d6-1132-4d45-8d5a-9e984672685d/Imperial_Infantry_Test_(15mm)_tifPS: I have also added the color palette of the girls' uniforms and gear. |
|
|
|
Post by squirmydad on Feb 24, 2009 14:18:15 GMT -9
I like the simplified designs, they capture the right balance of cartoony and realistic for the scale, and should be easy to cut to the line.
At the smaller scale I would suggest making the contrast between the shadows and highlights stronger. This will give them more depth when viewed from a distance. This comes from years of painting experience and playing games with small figures, bold strong colors with clear definition always look better than subtle coloring.
JIM
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Feb 24, 2009 17:53:05 GMT -9
At the smaller scale I would suggest making the contrast between the shadows and highlights stronger. This will give them more depth when viewed from a distance. This comes from years of painting experience and playing games with small figures, bold strong colors with clear definition always look better than subtle coloring. That's a very good point. The contrast between the flat colors and the shadows should be a little bit stronger indeed. When printing out the figures on my color laser both flat colors and shadows look ok, but the printer has a tendency to enhance the contrast. ...and should be easy to cut to the line. I have to admit that I have no experience in cutting out minis, but I was testing different outline thicknesses. Even at moderate thicknesses the black color of the outline is prevailing. That's the reason for choosing rather thin outlines. |
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Apr 2, 2009 23:42:28 GMT -9
Little progress with little girls... errr, some progress  . Although I didn't have much time for drawing during the past weeks, the "15 mm army project" is growing. After drawing the test figures above I realized soon that a whole army - even such a simplified ones - can't be created in the traditional way (each figure unique) but must be made out of modular parts (like the Mini-Gurus did it for ages  ). So I divided the figures in three simple parts: head, body / arms and legs. I set up at least 8 different poses / heads per part (which means at least 512 different figures  . The whole collection still has to be polished (e.g. the seams between body parts), some special-figure-poses are still missing and there is no coloring done yet, but the basic infantry figures, officers up to division commanders, NCOs, machine guns, gear and most of the division HQs are already done. Below is an example how the modular variation of the figures will look like (black outlines will be added after coloring). The figures are almost JG style, the poses are often not very natural and the lines are coarse. However, for a 15 mm army consisting of hundreds of soldiers perhaps it might work... .  |
|
|
|
Post by squirmydad on Apr 3, 2009 5:12:31 GMT -9
This is the reason I like to design in multiple parts. It's even easier to create variants just by creating a few new heads, weapons and gear.
Nice to see you back in the forum!
JIM
|
|
|
|
Post by kane on Apr 3, 2009 6:27:05 GMT -9
Looking good, Jenny! Good to see you back.
|
|
|
|
Post by Aestelon on Apr 3, 2009 6:51:44 GMT -9
Yeah, I'm starting to be swayed into the components camp myself.
Brilliant figs, Jenny.
|
|
|
|
Post by onemonkeybeau on Apr 3, 2009 7:55:11 GMT -9
Hey Jenny!
Glad to see you around!
512 figs... WOW... now THAT'S and army!
onemonkeybeau
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Apr 5, 2009 14:52:09 GMT -9
Thanks a lot for the warm welcome-back . Again just little progress, however, I think I'll soon put some figures together, so that a basic unit will be available (similar to the Guard division). More variations and new figure parts will be added later. Ok, here is another preview of the "15 mm army project", a comm-link, member of the HQ squad:  |
|
|
|
Post by Dagger on Apr 9, 2009 11:10:33 GMT -9
LOVE the comm-link figure...
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Apr 12, 2009 19:01:53 GMT -9
Finally, enough parts of 15 mm imperial infantry troops are finished... kind of a belated easter present . "This blister contains... errr, these files contain two sets of the Imperial Infantry Division No.01 (with desert and with khaki uniforms), including: 24 infantry soldiers, 2 heavy machine guns, 4 NCOs, 4 brigadiers, 1 signaler, 1 medic, 1 comm-link and 1 division commander." pdf-file: Imperial_Infantry_Division_No.01_(15mm)_pdf.zippng-file: Imperial_Infantry_Division_No.01_(15mm)_png.zipThe modular figures seem quite suitable for cheap mods (I have already some ideas...), also more different troop types will be added later. First of all the next levels in the chain of command have to be done (HQs of army corps, armies and maybe even army groups). |
|
|
|
Post by Aestelon on Apr 13, 2009 7:07:27 GMT -9
Wow - a veritable platoon on a page! Awesome stuff, Jenny!
|
|
|
|
Post by squirmydad on Apr 13, 2009 14:45:19 GMT -9
They look like very cool video game character sprites, just right for the scale. Try checking out the sprite files for Metal Slug. I use a lot of video game sprites as inspiration for coloring as well ,they seem to pop off the screen ,and that's just the look I try to replicate.
JIM
|
|
|
|
Post by Dagger on Apr 13, 2009 15:13:40 GMT -9
Very nice work... I'm impressed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Apr 20, 2009 8:43:05 GMT -9
A snapshot of my current Photopaint work space... "The 15 mm Girlie Factory" . As you can see, the next set (i.e. an army corps HQ) will contain standard bearers and protocol droids (the mechanical girls on the left side).  Oh well, the whole project does look really cartoonish... just like little dolls.  |
|
|
|
Post by squirmydad on Apr 20, 2009 15:22:45 GMT -9
You really should be doing commercial work. Your designs are top notch, clean with easy to read details.
I would really like to see what you could do with some monstrous alien race army, that would be cool.
JIM
|
|
|
|
Post by brynbrenainn on Apr 22, 2009 2:39:20 GMT -9
Oh well, the whole project does look really cartoonish... just like little dolls. I love them! I like the cartoony feel of your work. |
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Apr 25, 2009 10:35:17 GMT -9
Thank you, guys! I love them! I like the cartoony feel of your work. The basic line width of the actual drawings is only 2 pixels at 300 dpi, i.e. the figures have a height of roughly 100 times the basic line width - not much room for lot of details, but a very simple cartoony style might work. You really should be doing commercial work. Your designs are top notch, clean with easy to read details. Oh... thank you  (blushing)! Well, I consider myself still as an absolute beginner in miniature design. But practice makes perfect (or at least less clumsy . I would really like to see what you could do with some monstrous alien race army, that would be cool. I have the feeling alien races will come... in the end the Empire needs some oponents! Here are the latest girls of the "15 mm Army Project" - two flavors of an Imperial army corps headquarters (as usual, one with desert and one with khaki uniforms):  pdf: Imperial_Army_Corps_HQ_(15mm)_pdf.zipbitmap (png): Imperial_Army_Corps_HQ_(15mm)_png.zip |
|
|
|
Post by Dagger on Apr 25, 2009 14:20:10 GMT -9
Awesome...
Is that an Ewok?...(grin)
|
|
|
|
Post by onemonkeybeau on Apr 25, 2009 15:23:08 GMT -9
No, no, no... I believe that's a Jawa! By the way Jenny, these are ACE! Great job on these! My favorite by far is the two person gun fig! Jim, I'd like to see a Terra Force version of this... Great idea Jenny! Any chance of getting some males thrown into the mix onemonkeybeau |
|
|
|
Post by WaffleM on Apr 26, 2009 3:15:02 GMT -9
I really like the standard bearers. It's an awesome flag design. Very regal and very militaristic!
|
|
hg2
Member
Posts: 6
|
Post by hg2 on May 2, 2009 7:01:17 GMT -9
Fantastic Artwork!
Would love to add them to my table top.
Any chance you have them available in larger scale (25-30mm) for those of us who are optically challenged gamers?
Thanks and keep up the great designs!
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on May 2, 2009 9:55:34 GMT -9
No, no, no... I believe that's a Jawa! Right , it's a Jawa! And you are also right, I should add some aliens to the mix... errr, I mean "males"! It's an awesome flag design. Very regal and very militaristic! Yeah, a militaristic look is what I tried to achieve for the Imperial flags - I guess they fit quite well with the girls . Any chance you have them available in larger scale (25-30mm) for those of us who are optically challenged gamers? Hey, thank you for the interest! For 30 mm scale I can split the existing files into more pages and convert them to pdf. I already made a test print and the figures look ok even at that size (though the lines got a bit pixelated). Soooo, what have I done last week? Not that much, I mainly took advantage of the modular design and made a quite cheap modification... I just changed the design of the girls' boots and the headgear. The color scheme is basically unchanged, so the new soldiers will blend nicely into the existing units. And here they are - soldiers of the most important Dominion of the Galactic Empire : a division of the famous "Andaran and Nova Kron Army Corps (ANKAC)"   pdf: Imperial_Infantry_Division_No.02_ANKAC_(15mm)_pdf.zipbitmap (png): Imperial_Infantry_Division_No.02_ANKAC_(15mm)_png.zip |
|
|
|
Post by Slick on May 2, 2009 9:58:14 GMT -9
Great work jenny absolutely great!!!!
Nate
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Jun 2, 2009 9:42:04 GMT -9
|
|
|
|
Post by Dagger on Jun 2, 2009 10:38:44 GMT -9
Wow, you've been busy. I'm seriously impressed by the number of figures you've managed to put together. Is there a particular game or rules set that you plan to use these for?...
|
|
|
|
Post by squirmydad on Jun 3, 2009 13:00:35 GMT -9
Yea, you have been busy!
That should keep the 15mm guys happy for a good long time. Of coarse now you have to add some riding beasts, siths, droids and other starwars goodness.
JIM
|
|
|
|
Post by abaddonwormwood on Jun 3, 2009 15:15:53 GMT -9
Just think that these Ladies will "plug & play" with Mel Ebbles Gun Crawl very nicely - you just need to print GC in 15mm.
Lord Abaddon of Wormwood
|
|
|
|
Post by Jenny on Jun 3, 2009 16:37:46 GMT -9
Of coarse now you have to add some riding beasts, siths, droids and other starwars goodness. Yeah, I'm afraid I have to ;D. Wow, you've been busy. I'm seriously impressed by the number of figures you've managed to put together. The general idea behind the project was to create a set of troops where you have no alike figures even if a few hundred soldiers are fielded. Obviously this is possible now (as mentioned above, I'll even pester you with another 4 infantry sets). Is there a particular game or rules set that you plan to use these for?... Hah, that's a really good point! To be honest, I have no idea about rule sets or which large-scale games are available at all. Most games seem to focus on skirmish battles or role playing. The (free) wargame "Combat Action" looks quite promising when it comes to larger battles plus it is possible to set up a basic chain of command. However, even these relatively simple rules (38 pages altogether) might be too complicated if you go for hundreds of figures per side. At least Juniorgeneral-scenarios can handle such big numbers (e.g. their simulation "Battle of Verdun" is set up for 570 figures altogether) and the rules are simple enough to fit on just one page. Just think that these Ladies will "plug & play" with Mel Ebbles Gun Crawl very nicely - you just need to print GC in 15mm. Ah, right, this rule set should work well! I guess I should add a flame thrower though... |
|
|
|
Post by godofrandomness on Jun 6, 2009 15:24:21 GMT -9
Out of curiousity, has anyone tried to scale these ladies from 15mm to 30mm just by using the scale tool in gimp or photoshop or something?
I'd try it but my remaining printer ink is currently reserves for the rest of the gun crawl stuff I am printing out.
|
|
. Although I didn't have much time for drawing during the past weeks, the "15 mm army project" is growing. After drawing the test figures above I realized soon that a whole army - even such a simplified ones - can't be created in the traditional way (each figure unique) but must be made out of modular parts (like the Mini-Gurus did it for ages 
). So I divided the figures in three simple parts: head, body / arms and legs. I set up at least 8 different poses / heads per part (which means at least 512 different figures 
. The whole collection still has to be polished (e.g. the seams between body parts), some special-figure-poses are still missing and there is no coloring done yet, but the basic infantry figures, officers up to division commanders, NCOs, machine guns, gear and most of the division HQs are already done. Below is an example how the modular variation of the figures will look like (black outlines will be added after coloring). The figures are almost JG style, the poses are often not very natural and the lines are coarse. However, for a 15 mm army consisting of hundreds of soldiers perhaps it might work... .
(blushing)! Well, I consider myself still as an absolute beginner in miniature design. But practice makes perfect (or at least less clumsy 
