"Why So Few Figures Of Non Humanoids In Space Suits?" Topic

Even if it wasn't a game taking place in Space …

Though the environment might not require the Humanoid figures to wear a suit, the non-bipedal Aliens might still need one, right?

Dan
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I would imagine some sort of space suit for pretty much any biological life form – and it might include Terrestial planets; oxygen is pretty corrosive to an organism that evolved without much of it

Even just for contamination protocols. Look at what happened to the martians in War Of The Worlds.

Lets not forget about the Chigs and their armour/spacesuits. It provided them with the atmosphere they needed to live and included a suicide device in the event someone tried to remove their helmet.

I really wish Fox hadn't cancelled SAAB :(

The Traveller RPG was good about about providing 'alien' aliens – I don't know if any are still in production but I'm pretty sure that I've seen Hivers and Centaurs in space suits.

Because Nadrek of Palain VII exists partly in other dimensions. It makes him extremely hard to cast. And if you can't get a Nadrek figure, why even bother?

Maybe one of you guys can help me …

I've been looking for a painting, perhaps from the 80s, that depicts a short cephalopod "astronaut" talking to some priest or monk in what looks like the Swiss Alps. His little white astronaut suit looks elastic.

Does that ring a bell? I've been looking for that picture for over an hour.

Thanks

Dan

I have 25mm Traveller aliens, and none of them are in vacc suits or, what would be better, combat armor or battle dress. I would buy a squad (or three) of Vargr or Droyne in battle dress, just to run them in a game.

The 25mm stuff is from Grenadier. I don't know if Citadel or Martian Metals made any Traveller aliens in any kind of spacesuit.

Martian Netals had K'kree in either Vacc Suits or Combat Environnmental suits.

TSR's old Star Frontiers included Vacc suited figures for all the alien races, including the Sathar. They can still be found occasionally.

According to Corvus Belli (makers of Infinity the Game), nonhumanoid aliens don't sell very well.

Agreed, it makes a lot of sense for any intelligent life to be wearing an environment suit in places where the environment is hostile to it.

the paucity of figures of such is for the *exact* reason that you have a lack of non-humanoid figures overall – namely, casting and to lesser extent sculpting difficulties. One sculptor I know pointed out that the range of poses for many non-humanoids was limited by the casting techniques available at the level of cost ( Which also explains their lack of popularity partially, Lion In The Stars ), and that adding a suit was just prohibitive. He's a hand sculptor,but similar remarks have been made by the CAD?CAM crowd.

What's needed to help this is an inexpensive ( And I'm talking to an international crowd so I will define that as in the USD40 to USD80 range ) 3D laser scanner compatible with all forms of 3D printing software and hardware. And then concede that is a long way off. :(

The problem is where are you going to fight with your ground pounders and what are you fighting for. If you are fighting in space/hostile environment then space suit is a great idea but somewhat limited. If you have got the ground pounders it's nice to have ground to fight on and see the critters you are fighting.

have had aliens for some time in my 25mm:
tin-soldier.com/sgdp.html

I think I found the painting I was looking for, if a non-humanoid (not an upright two arms, two legs body design) in a spacesuit in Switzerland!

It's by artist Franco Brambilla:

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Dan
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a Birrin spacewalk

a snake-oid in body armor

@Covert Walrus: Yeah, one of the reasons that the bug-like aliens got removed from Infinity is that they were hell on the molds. Another reason was that they didn't sell well (though at least for me, they didn't sell well because they didn't look like they were all from the same species)

The touble with SF is every game universe is unique, thus no crossover i.e. a small market. Compared to generic Elves, Dwarves, Wizards and Orcs; there's little profit to be made.

It's all Classified …

Mugwump: "The touble with SF is every game universe is unique, thus no crossover i.e. a small market."

I dunno. It doesn't really have to be that way.

I think that, with a little thought behind it, even size ceases to be an obstacle for mixing:

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Dan

I'm working on a project, slowly. A range of 25mm sf with a wide variety of aliens. Presently I've got three digigrade bipeds with option for cat, wolf, and rat heads and tails, I've also got a bearoid and a trilateral waterfiltering politician on corks. My plan is to do a variety of humanoid, non-humanoid, and downright weird races. Most will get around 12 figures, 3 powered armour, 3 light infantry, 3 civilian, and 3 ship crew. It's mostly for my own use, and I want them to match my Mega Minis, Grenadier, and RAFM TNE stuff. I don't really have production capacity or time to run a miniatures company right now. I may post pictures eventually if people are interested.

Great … Bugz & snakes in space … Like there are not enough problems already !

A bearoid? Wouldnt that be an Ursoid?

Non-humanoids are a hard sell to begin with. Add a spacesuit that conceals a good bit of their alien anatomy and they become even harder to sell.

-Eli

Here is a blueprint for a full alien's spacesuit. This feline explorer is completely insulated from both smog and microbes alike. The suit easily transitions between catty colonial conquest and after hours fraternization with the lady cat cadets from Fleet Central.

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