Hey… don’t say that about thumbs. Mine can bend almost 90 degrees, like 80 or something. And I know i’m not alone with being able to do this.
But you guys are right about the thickness, it’s really thin.
Except that the model and pose is outstanding! And moving the torso back really gave a lot of extra power to it.
Great work, sort the bend on the thumb. It’s a little to sharp so pull the joint out a little. Outstanding character though, and anatomy looks great also!
Wow!
Nice helmet 
the shield needs some more work though 
very very great progress. 
in which app do you render and do you use the highpoly or displacementmap for details?
great overall job, but check on that thumb. Try by yourself to throw javelin that way and immediately you will know what I mean Unless you are just planning to throw it in your own feet, then all is OK :lol:
Heres some links that can help you
http://www.someoneelseslife.com/images/1096.jpg
as for dynamism of the pose check that one
Last thing - biceps muscle would not be so contracted, stretch it if youre going for realism.
Hope it will be helpfull
Thanks so much for the helpful comments. I’ll get to fixing the thumb thickness. I tried to give the illusion that it’s pressed firmly onto the spear meanwhile forgetting how thin it became.
Aumakua- Thanks. The shield is nothing but a flattened dome for now. I’m trying to come up with a nice design to put on it and preferably not that “lamba” because that’s become quite cliche now.
Cral- I use Maya and mentalray to render and the model is highpoly only with no displacement, just a normal map.
Here is a small update on the helmet texturing.
The checker pattern is intentional but still in a very early stage. I’m going to emulate that with woven leather if I can, unless there is someone here that knows what it should be made of because I have no idea. Of course there will be bronze underneath.
Thanks for looking! 
EDIT: I just saw your post miztli. They are great references but I guess the major difference is they don’t carry a heavy shield and I’m guessin that will affect the position of the free hand greatly. Also my model is in a slightly different stage of the throw. But I will still work some more on the pose to try to nail the balance correctly. To me it still feels still and more like a pose than a moment in time. Thanks for helping!
Very nice work man! No critique here, just awe! Cant wait to see the final product! Make sure to do a turntable too, I love those things! :lol:
Wow, pap87 I really like your Spartan Hoplite
, it’s lookin awesome keep it goin. Can’t wait to final render
WOW this is becoming a great model. Cool work man. The only thing that caught my attention is that wrist is too thin maybe. keep up man .
looking good- I think this will look amazing when done. I have a question- are you using the JSnormalmapper for the normal map texture, or is there another way to render normal maps in Mental Ray?
Craig
Neticule- Definitely gonna do one of those! I love em too.
norbi1988- Thanks mate!
jmturbo- Thanks. I’ve loosely based the wrists off my own and from the side my wrists are quite thin. Is it normal to be able to make the tip of your thumb meet with the tip of your pinky finger while wrapped around your wrists? Anyway that’s how thick mine are. But still I’ll thicken them a little.
comic_craig- Firstly congrats on the top row! About the normal map, I must admit I have no idea what JSnormalmapper is. All I can tell you is I use zmapper to export the normal map from zbrush, overlay (as in overlay layer blending mode) it a few times in photoshop to strengthen it and save it in as a tga (I just like that format) then put that in a 2d bump node using tangent space for the bump mode. I hope that covers what you needed to know. Maybe your way is better. But I’ve just found one way that seems to work for me and stuck with it, mind you I know very little about normal maps as I’ve only been using them for a few months. Thanks for your comments!
Here is a small update on the helmet with the woven leather pattern modelled.
[
](javascript:zb_insimg(‘86280’,‘Renders12.jpg’,1,0))
I’m gonna work more still on the pose. Make it less stiff and more dynamic.
Looks good, amazing in fact!
The one thing I would consider, in the movie 300 and the comic, every spartan helmet you see has war marks on it. Chips, knicks, and grazes of all kinds. The sheild too.
I suppose your going to be adding finer details later on. 
Still, this looks freakin awsome. Keep up the great work!
Its coming out really nice…
keep up the good work…
Still looking great pap87. One thing that bothers me is the right foot as seen from the front view. I’m not sure why- but I think it might be for the following reasons: it looks small (maybe both feet are a little small for such a strong character), and it looks like the ankle might have too much twist. Both of these reasons make the foot look vunerable. This has an overall effect on the pose for me that sends it off balance and weakens it for me. Then again- I might be totally wrong:) . I guess I’m saying maybe check it yourself. Other then that- looks great.
Hey. thanks for the replies.
dustbin1_uk- Yes, I’m gonna add scratches and whatnot on the the helmet and shield, just leaving it for later. Thanks!
ivar_sn- Thanks mate.
comic_craig- You are probably right about the feet. I’ve now changed the pose a bit and the feet still need fine tuning and better posing. I’ll make them a bit bigger too like you suggested. Thanks for commenting!
Here is the latest update:
[
](javascript:zb_insimg(‘87364’,‘Renders14.jpg’,1,0))
The cloth has been scrapped coz it pretty much got destroyed from the deforming when I reworked the pose so I’m gonna do it again. The plume in the helmet is paintfx converted to polys.
Hope you like it.
The helmet is looking great now. Personally I think the previous pose had more foundation and strength, but the new one also looks great.
Chris
dude I love how you made that skin material. could you give some insight as to how you made the skin?? is it rendered? thanks.
noticed the left feet over twist and just wanted to write about that and then i saw the last render in which you have corrected it. over all I am loving the Pose, Balance, Movement, muscle adjustment/settlement according to the pose and effort involved in his action.
honestly the last (mirrored) render image looks a complete picture to me. its upto you how far would you go deep into the rabbit hole but for me its Awsomely Done.
Hey im doing the other spartan guy. Not the king but the guy killing the rhino… So he’s a little bit of a twig compared to the king…
Man yours is pretty damn good with all the detailed muscles. I have to admit i love the teeth and face. My guy is more of a statue so I weatherd down alot of the details. Thou i plan on texturing mine up properly eventually, so ill have to detail him like your guy. Looking good, so keep it up…
