What is your most wanted model?

Hey ho boys and girls.

I'm just going to get straight to the point with this one ^^

As some of you may already know, I am in the process of starting up a skirmish/wargame model making business.

Currently I am going through R&D and pipeline testing to ensure the quality of the finished minis and nail down the time/monetary cost for producing a full run etc. To do this I will need to make a few minis from scratch and take them through the whole pipeline from start to finish.

Now I could simply take some of the ideas I have floating around in my head and roll with them, but I thought to myself "Hey, why not jump into the community and see if there is anything that the players REALLY want. That way I could test the pipeline and, if all goes well, potentially use the tests as my first actual product."...So here I am!

So here is you opportunity, have you ever thought to yourself "Damn there are just not enough "X" models out there..." or "Man why does nobody ever make any "Y" models?..." or "I would just LOVE to see a good "Z" miniature, can't find any anywhere!..." If you have felt this way let me know, and if it's suitable for testing purposes I might just make it

The mini could be anything, full models, accessory packs, scenic bases, small terrain pieces (I reckon a cart is about the largest I could go) etc etc, let your imagination run wild!

If you have any ideas please post them (along with any reference images you can find) and we can have a chat about the viability etc of making it a reality ^^

Disclaimer: I am obliged to inform you that any ideas/concepts you put forward in this thread, or any personal correspondence with myself, do not entitle you to any intellectual property rights or part ownership of the finished product or stake in the start-up business. (Sorry to have to throw his on here but my business degree screamed at me until I did ^^)

Cool idea! I don't really have an idea about specific groups of models that should be more represented, but female models that do not focuss on over-sexualization are always a good shot, and I would love to see a Baron Samedi like vodoo priest

I second the non-sexualized females. I would really love to see lady Witch Hunters, lady mercenary captains, lady possessed models of any type, and a female ghoul. Good luck with your project!

That would indeed be awesome. And maybe some goblins with various weapons?

Theo

Cool with some potential customer interaction! I agree with the others that there are way too few "normal" female figures.

I second the wish for Voodoo priests and maybe some western inspired figures as well, more like the good the bad and the ugly than john wayne.

All the best with the business!!

Some good feedback so far

Out of interest though, what your you all class as non-sexualised/normal in terms of female models?

Are we talking poses? Armour design? etc Linking/posting some reference images would be a good help(my experience has taught me that two people can describe the same thing but have completely different mental images ^^')

I'm basically thinking models wearing something other than chainmail bikinis and thongs. (Not that those models don't have their time and place!) Basically more models like this:


or this:


And less like this: http://images.frpgames.org/products/product_42315_thm.jpg

or this: http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/paintman44jay/mageknightfemalethierfa082908.jpg

Coming from an rpg/warband perspective, models like Citadel used to make, like poachers, game keepers, night watchmen, adventurers with hats, leather armour, backpacks etc.
And cloaks, cloaks are a must.

If you wanted your models to stand out amongst the rest, Theorox's comment about various weapons is a great idea too.

Give some modelling options and you would make a lot of people have a second look.

Go for unusual weapons like a leather armoured bodyguard/thug with knuckledusters, or a human with repeating xbow.
Duellist with Sword and Sword Breaker.

I could go on.....and on...

Most of us use GW models I guess, so whatever you sculpt, keeping it in style with those probably is a good idea. For example I am looking for decend dogs, a single Gladiator and an elven ranger. There are dogs, gladiator-style models and tons of elves out there, but often they do not really fit with the stuff I have (GW mostly).
Nice female models in style with that by GW come from Bruegelburg btw.

Edit: dualwielding clubs is a good idea for early-campaign humans, if you don't houserule otherwise. But there are only a few models around for that. And while I see te minis posted by Fenryll: The same character in different stages of development would be ace for MH! Cannot have enough of that.

Edit 2: strongman -everybody uses it, not many models look like it. Oh, an edition to the character-stages: there are few models that look like a human captain early in the game. There are posh minis, but they are all heavy armoured with lots of equipment. Less-equipped minis without armour often look a bit shabby.

I mean warrior women (and civilians I guess, if you wanna do that) dressed for battle or at least in real clothes. Not just a cloak and a thong, real cool-looking warriors that can be taken seriously.

Theo

as everyone already said "decent sister of sigmar" :p

also, there's an incredible lack of ratmen and lizardmen around (or at least, decent ones comparing to gws)

i can also tells you what there's enough of: chaos dudes with menacing axes and fur mantles. god they are everywhere.

also, something along the line of the mordheim equipment sprue would probably take not a lot of time to sculpt and help the lazy nonsculpting one of us that really wants to show that yes, they are carrying that mordheim map and found a lucky charm!

you could also try sculpting particular arms with weapons or stand alone weapons <- there isnt a skink arm with a bow (or any skins bow), any left arm with weapons for saurus, and a lot of mordheim weapons are non existant (like the trap sword or crossbow pistol or a lot of other)

dogs! good menacing s4 dogs!

jm2c obv. hope i dont ruin your business before it start

Averlorn wrote:

as everyone already said "decent sister of sigmar" :p

also, there's an incredible lack of ratmen and lizardmen around (or at least, decent ones comparing to gws)

From a Skaven perspective:

1) the plastic warband from games workshop is terrible. SO proper "old school" skaven for small scale warbands would be awsome! Something in the style of:

Spoiler:

and many more

granted it is true you can get them on e-bay, there are no new options for them ...

2) The most recuring miniature related rant on skaven forums is that the current Rat Ogre range is absolutly horrifying (in a bad way) and you cannot get the island of blood type rogres in a box.

Proper looking rat ogres with just enough detail to make them look "stitched up" and room for personalisation would be a big hit in the Skaven community

Grimscull wrote:

The same character in different stages of development would be ace for MH! Cannot have enough of that.

Love this idea, always really liked the way GW built up the "Valten" character over the course of a few years, first model he was just a blacksmith with a few hammers, by the third he was older and looked like a king xD This might be great for RPG players or Skirmish Game players who want to show character progression without having to convert the same dude over and over or make multiples.

I think I'll definitely throw together some weapon/accessory sprues, since they are very quick to do and if I try to cover some more unconventional/strange weapons it might help some people with tough conversions.

One idea I had that I would like a bit of feedback on is separate spell effects for use in converting wizards/spell casters. Basically making a "spells sprue" containing things like fireballs/chaos bolts/lightning/other crazy spell effects that you can attach to models hands/staffs/forehead/groin etc to represent them casting spells, I have noticed that most mage models out there are just standing there looking a bit confused, rather than their warrior friends who can be in all manner of mid-combat poses ^^ What do you guys think?

the real challenge with spells would be scoulpting something cool and that at the same time don't use 2" of space outside a standard 20mm base (that is also a thing that i hate on fighting guys with swords pointed directly where my friends models charge, or particular elongated poses ).
other than that, i could see that used but not a lot (not a lot of mages against armed/equipped dudes!). you could always try to target specifics spells in warhammer like flaming floating swords or something (that would broad the targets!)

Count Lucius wrote:

I second the non-sexualized females. I would really love to see lady Witch Hunters, lady mercenary captains, lady possessed models of any type, and a female ghoul. Good luck with your project!

For some alternative ghouls, you can check these out:

http://www.heresyminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_11_27

There is a female there:

http://www.heresyminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_11_27&products_id=29&zenid=a0015ec99dadf1319b5f43330eff2542

Joao

a whole sisters of battle range would be sweet tbh. the GW one is just terrible

From my point of view there is little in the way of henchmen such as the Dreg figure from the Vampire Counts Warband - some such scum would be a worthwhile creation.

NPC types, like has been said - poachers, highwaymen, bandits, blacksmith, barkeep, beggar etc etc, this could even cover Dreg types too.

These would sell both to skirmish guys and RPGers.

As long as they don't look out of place next to GW, AoW and Reaper I'd certainly be interested in these kind of things.

+1 for a decent sisters type batch,

warrior nuns FTW

multi bit is always a big help too IMHO. I love to have lots of building options. Don't do attachments at the wrist though if you can help it... they fall apart easier.

More women that are not out to the beach is also a plus.
Some more Amazon types too would be nice.
Female warriors that are not knights would be nice.

possessed that don't look like random play-dough

Are those two an example of "playdough" or those you want to have?

those are what i want to have. playdough is the official mordheim possesseed minis

A really hot chick with really large breasts. Why? Because I havent found one yet that I really like. So, scantily clad, perhaps a weapon, but not necesary and really large boobies. I am at least honest.

a remake of this guy would also be grand. or the unreleased mutant with claw and sword