It's been a long time since I first showed any characters templates, so you may wish to view the older post to get some context. Ever since I started playing around on Hero Forge, I decided that I ought to see what I can get out of it before going fully custom and trying to make characters from scratch in Blender. Obviously, Hero Forge has its limitations, but I'm pleased with the results so far.
Druorns are easy, since they look like humans with long, monkey-like tails. Right now, my templates are somewhat androgynous, and I don't bother "shaping" them to look particularly masculine or feminine until I decide to create a specific character.
Again, nothing that unusual.
Votrels are also easy, since there is a wide variety of pointed ears that I can choose from, and I can add either a long or bobbed horse tail. The only respect in which this template doesn't match the idea in my head is that votrels have a very slight snout, almost identical to the whos (from the live-action Dr. Seuss films, it's the best comparison I can think of, although animé characters have roughly the same shape in profile). Fortunately, I can easily make minor adjustments to the finished product with a little modelling putty between the nose and upper lip.
From this angle, I don't think that facial structure is the best option I could have gone with, so I may play around with this one some more.
You definitely wouldn't confuse this with an elf from behind - not that there are any elves in my fictional world that anyone needs to worry about, as elves are extinct by the time the main story takes place.
Lavkins were a bit tricky - they have a visible snout, an obviously elongated version of the votrel face, but none of the animal faces in Hero Forge quite match what I had in mind. This is the "rat" face, and it works better for me than the cat, dog, or rabbit faces. It's fine, for now, but I would prefer to make it a little more monkey-like (think "baboon").
The faun ears, on the other hand, work perfectly for my purposes. I wouldn't mind having some more detail inside, since all anthropoid primates have the same basic ear structure, though the outside shape may vary. Nonetheless, these are the right size, right elongation, and good angle for my purposes.
This particular pose doesn't quite do the lavkin justice, as they have massive upper bodies and are a bit hunched over as a result. Fortunately, I can change the size of the entire upper body (to a point) and even adjust the width of the shoulders to ridiculous degrees. Two lavkins that I've already made from this template look a lot more like what I had in mind.
There isn't much I can say about the semki, other than that they suffer from the same nose problem as the votrels. The ears aren't quite what I'd like, as I much prefer the shape of the "fey ears," though they are far too large, so I went with "moon elf ears" instead. It's still what one might expect to see from a hybrid of a lavkin and a votrel.
Other than the complete lack of any hint of a snout, I really like the shape of the face on this one. If only I could make the nose a little bigger and turn it up slightly...
Semki have tails that are halfway between those of lavkins and votrels in both length and muscularity. In fact, young children are as much a hazard as dogs when it comes to tail-wagging. Lavkins, on the other hand, keep their long, thick tails relatively stationary to help keep balance, since they have a high centre of gravity that tends to lean forward.
The coggle looks nothing like the 2D concept art that I came up with. This one is mostly a placeholder, one which I'll go back to in case I see a new ear or face while playing around with something else.
Then again, this could have potential...
Maybe if I don't need to show the ears or feet, I could come up with something that I like. Time will tell...
I've saved the best for last! This is the first three dimensional incarnation of the chuyinka, my demonic, genetically engineered, shapeshifting birds. This is still a work-in-progress, but I'm happy with what I've been able to do so far.
Be honest, you were thinking that this was an angel with bird feet until you scrolled down to see those bushy eyebrows and BIG SHARP TEEF! Of course, with colour added, specifically their weird body markings, chuyinka look even scarier.
I really wish I had a fanned-out bird tail, but at least this one is long enough - almost. Of course, that is the least of the changes I need to make.
This shows most of the changes, the majority of which are on the head. I put fins on the arms mainly as placeholders, since I could easily add some thin plastic scales afterwards and then paint them to look like feathers. It's amazing what a skilled miniature painter (which I am NOT) can do with paint alone. The only changes not shown here are that chuyinka have very long legs with five-toed feet and massive, deeply curved talons.
Future posts in this little series going through my Hero Forge miniatures will probably not be as long, focusing mostly on individual characters (some of which have multiple poses), or a small collection of related miniatures that don't need multiple screenshots for each.