final model for normal maps…
bugger me thats a clean peice of work. when i saw ur first image i thought oh great another bust but that last one blew me away, wonderful. my little brother is quite into his games workshop, fantastic source for insperation. so detailed plus u can get all the concept work that goes into the figures, a whole story behind each one and a finished model to refference. cracking.
nice model… except… that i makes absolutly no sence whatsoever…very chunky armor and super squishy faceI like the detail… but it does not feel complete as a charector 
hey alchemist! I absolutely love the armor and the character in general. Care to share how you got the armor so sharp and clean? I have problems with this and would love it if you could give me a few pointers.
I keep sharp edges by using a lot of bevels on the edges in my base mesh, usually a 3 segment bevel, so that when you bring it into zbrush and subdivide it doesnt soften out the edge, it makes it crisper
as a general rule if I want a sharp edge I will have 3 edges tight together in the base mesh. Then you can soften it down a little with the smooth brush if its getting too sharp
hope thats a help:)
Your Tau Firewarrior is really Fantastic!!! Tnx a lot about edge bevel tip… I’ve a lot of problem with this modeling aspect… Bravo Alchemist101! 
Wow Alchemist! This model is fantastic =) The detailing you have achieved on the armor is spot on.
I’m currently working on making a character for the UT3 engine too. I was wondering what poly limit you are aiming for with your base mesh? And if you have had any luck actually porting it into the engine yet?
How did you make the armor like that. I see how unreal 3 engine characters have very low base mesh armor but the high poly versions have gagdets and buttons and clips and just all kinds of stuff on the armor like you did. How exactly are you,( and they) doing this?
What’s it supposed to be? A Protoss samurai with a bluetooth headset and high-heels?
My render mesh is 10,000 triangles, not including the rifle. Geodav has written a great tutorial on how to get characters into ut3
http://www.ut40k.planetunreal.gamespy.com/unreal-Dateien/UT3_Character_tutorial_1.htm
its done using normal maps. you build the high res mesh and a low res mesh and normal map the details of the hi onto the low.
Wildsketch - Its a Taufrom Warhammer40K. Thanks for the mature constructive comments though
this is a fourm for mature 3d artists. i dont think anyone appreciates bickering. again fantastic sculpt and i would love a copy of the finished model if u get it UR3 ready. cheers buddy!
Thanks Henry, the game mesh is going to the UT40K mod for unreal so hopefully you’ll be able to play it on there in the future
I’m sorry I didn’t bring enough maturity to the task of critiquing a character that looks like an early stage clay maquette encased in greebles and intended to be a character in a multiplayer shooting video game. If I had the right frame of mind I’m sure I would recognise this as equally nourishing to the soul as any work of Rodin or Michelangelo.
But remember that I did say it seemed you had executed well your version of whatever it is. So since technique trumps conceptualization I guess you should feel good about keeping on doing what you’re doing.
So im guessing you make the pieces for the armor as seperate geometry in maya or 3dmax then somehow generate a normal map in those programs right?
Wildsketch - thanks again! we should be best friends:p you obviously know your stuff
CoreyArt - yeah, you have your high mesh, that is really detailed, and you bake those details onto the game mesh. There is tons of info online about it. You can bake the maps using Zbrush, Maya, Max, pretty much any major 3d program
fantastic detailing
Alchemist - The problem is that you haven’t looked at Wildsketch’s portfolio site. If you did, you would understand the perspective he brings to the critique he has provided.
Hah!
I’m not discounting his talents, but I fail to see how this qualifies as a constructive critique…
“What’s it supposed to be? A Protoss samurai with a bluetooth headset and high-heels?”
How am I supposed to use that comment to improve my work? I was asked to build a hi-res Tau firewarrior from my client’s existing design so thats what I made
Arguing online is pointless, so I’ll stop posting
I like this model. But it reminds me of this:
Nowhere in Wildsketch’s portfolio had I seen anything that is of at least this detail or quality or anything that gives him authority to evaluate a 3D model work that was meant to be used in a computer game. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. What may be true is that this is no Michaelangelo (which I don’t really like myself, his male bodies are ugly and unrealisitc), and wasn’t meant to be, it was already obvious this was a computer game character. In today’s world, the game designers of most popular game studios are reminiscent of modern DaVinci’s.