Aesthetics was re: [Epic] Titans in 40K

From: Howard Liu <h2liu_at_...>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 1997 20:44:58 -0800

>Let me guess, it has heaps of skulls on it. Well what can you expect when
>they have designers dropping off all the time to be replaced with less able
>people. About the only real good designer they have is Jes Goodwin. I don't
>know if people agree but their minnies are getting pretty ugly generally
>speaking. The epic40K stuff looks good as it's hard to screw up a vehicle.

I don't know. A lot of the early stuff looked really, really bad. There
were, for instance, some truly horrific Terminator designs before they
settled upon the current model. The heads on the characters used to be
gargantuan, with strange expressions on their faces. And I've never liked
the Mark VI "Beekie" Space Marine armor.

Leaving out Epic 40K, I think the rest of GW's recent releases have been
hit-and-miss. I don't know the sculptors by name, but I like the look of
the new Fantasy line - the Lizardmen and Bretonnians look pretty good. I
don't like the Wood Elves, though. The new Great Unclean One looks great.
It does not, however, look $20+ great.

The 40K minis are the same way. I think the majority of the new Chaos
releases are ugly - plastic vat-grown Berzerkers, ugly Noise Marines,
dippy Plague Guardsmen - but there are a few gems, like the new Chaos
Sorcerers. The heads on the characters have been approaching normal
proportions lately, too, especially with the Blood Angels.

Jes Goodwin, however, is amazing. His minis look great, and I would kill
to pencil sketch like him. His sketches for the Tyranids, Necromunda
material, Imperial Titans, and the Eldar Aspect Warriors (way back) are
terrific. I am glad that White Dwarf is starting to include new art -
Around WD 180 or so, I was getting mighty tired of the relentlessly
recycled art. I'm especially fond of the new Fantasy artist, who draws in
a somewhat cartoony style. I'm still not going to pay money for the
magazine, but it's an improvement.


Howard
Received on Thu Feb 27 1997 - 04:44:58 UTC