The hoplite for Mike3 is coming along and I just wanted to give you a little taste of what's in store :) Of course, he's still missing some things here, such as the "pteryges"(flaps on the lower part of the cuirass) and sandals. There will be two variations to the main Corinthian helmet, the standard and Spartan that has the comb extending to the sides. As always, all designs, colours, and fabrics have been researched and replicated from accounts and surviving images on urns and other findings making this suitable for any history/educational needs in your renderings and animations as well.

Shown here is an example of an Argean (from the city of Argos) hoplite with the traditional snake symbol and the painted white shield. And one of his weapons, the "xiphos" (sword) and its "koleos" (scabbard).

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=476814&Start=1&Artist=Jon&ByArtist=Yes

And last but not least, an example of a Spartan company leader much like he would have looked at the Battle of Thermopylae. The lambda-lettered shield was typical of Spartans or Lacedemonians as they were called. His spear is also a perfect replica of the standard hoplite spear with a "sauratir" (literally meaning lizard-killer) at the end of the bottom of the spear. This was mostly used by the last rows of the phalanx to stab the wounded enemies as they marched on. Ok, history lesson over :) Due to the fact that this project aims to be as accurate as possible, there's a chance it probably won't be completed until after the release of Mike 3 as we don't want to compromise the quality. So, after you get Mike3 you'll have approximately a week or so to train him! There's a further example of the hoplite complete with a morphed M3 at the link :)

Potentially my favorite of all historical figures............will there be textures provided for a "high king"?

Jon, you do amazing work! I'm really looking forward to this package.

Very, very nice...brlliant. Just one comment. I used to belong to a re-enactment group - and one of the things we did recreate was a linen curaisse like this. It was surprisingly comfortable to wear...and WOULD keep arrows out (we tried - not wearing it, of course)..but the linen had to have a fair number of layers (20 or more)...so it didn't bend and flex like a single layer of linen The same with the ptregyes - they didn't flap around loosely

Thanks all! freyfaxi, I know what you mean but believe me the cuirass model is shaped as stiff as it could be, there is the obligatory bending on the shoulders and abdomen since it's a conforming figure. You can't avoid it in a 3d program without non-collision. The best thing of course would be to have it as a prop so it wouldn't bend but that would make it impossible to work with in Poser and a nightmare to animate. It will take more careful posing to get the effect you're talking about and that in stills only :( That's one of the limitations of Poser and is evident in most chest armor as well. You're very observant, freyfaxi - I've never seen this mentioned before not even in cases where metal armor bends :))

Wow!! It's looking fantastic!!!

If I could make any suggestion, it would be to make the fabric of the tunic a bit more coarse (kinda like the texture on your Anakin figure). :-)

My favourite type of garments are those sithgoblin :) I love doing the grimey ones too but in this case the Hoplites would have only the best in linen and their armor would be shiny to intimidate their opponents under the strong Greek sun - this is brilliantly described by Pressfield in his "Gates of Fire", probably one of the best historical novels I've read in a long time. I'll definitely do an "after battle" tunic though with all the signs of wear and tear!

looks fantastic John! Great work as always ;)

Your work is beautiful as always John!

True, the Spartans would only be dressed in the best, but I thought other city states didn't have "official" soldiers, only citizens how would go away to fight during war, and since most of them were lower to middle class, they had "hand me down" kind of armour. I'm not sure how correct that is though, it's been a few years since I studied Ancient Greece. :-)

Superb craftsmanship as always. :o) M