I Needed Better Miniatures So I Made These (Some People Hated It)
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
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This week is an update to my previous video, We Need Better Miniatures, where I talked about the sexualization of the female form in the hobby, and my plea for more diverse miniatures. Fortunately, we have come a long way in how women are portrayed in the hobby. But does that mean we are done? Let's talk about diverse miniatures, how to make the community more welcoming, and talk about my latest collaborative Kickstarter!
We Need Better Miniatures: • We Need Better Miniatu...
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Daybreak Miniatures: www.myminifact...
Flesh of Gods: www.myminifact...
Loot Studios: www.myminifact...
Mammoth Factory: www.myminifact...
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Diverse Creators to watch:
Jaimie Daggers: / jamiedaggers
Zambies: / zambies
Dana Howl: @DanaHowl
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Witty: / wittlegoblin
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Lyla Mev The Mini Witch creates beginner miniature painting tutorials and easy-to-understand guides for Warhammer, dungeons & dragons, and more. My favorite things to paint are sisters of battle, display quality miniatures, and focusing on having fun.
Check out the Kickstarter!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/witchsong/persephonedeathreborn?ref=6nxd16
Hoping to get Cerberus
Backed!
Really great followup video and amazing looking model!
Edit: all stretch goals are included, their price is just mentioned -Sorry to ask you, but what does small print (Also includes all unlocked Stretch Goals (up to an additional $25 value)!) mean? With $15 pledge do I get all stretches (I don't see them valued separately)?-
Despite being a terrible painter, not really into mini figures, and Kickstarter (duh), I *can* see myself adding (more) spring colours to Persephone and companions in contrast to ice (clear resin?), frost (dissolved salt, might not work at all) and snow to the door etc :)
Maybe we will learn more about figure designing and collaboration :)
Backed at a merchant level! This will be the first 3d printed Items I've ever tried to sell. Really cool that you were able to collaborate with them!
This is completely reasonable. You saw an issue, you made a video that identified your issue, you did not demand that anything get banned and then BEST OF ALL you DID SOMETHING about it. This is EXACTLY what people should be doing. With so much division happening by people who are unhinged or simply unreasonable I am thrilled to see a reasonable person respond to an issue in a reasonable and measured way. For that reason alone I am going over to the kick starter.
That means so much to me!
Well said! And I just backed for exactly the same reason!
Best description of what happened. I NEED heroic figures to get inspired about. You created more of them. Thanks, Lyla.
Vae Victis Miniatures here! Thanks a lot for the mention, means a lot! Mathilde, the other half of VVM, is doing a great job at this, and it has been one of the corner stone of her work since we started 4 years ago.
Thanks for what you do!
As a father of two young girls that just is getting into mini painting myself, I am so grateful for you to be encouraging and enacting change for this. If painting minis is something my girls would be interested in trying in the future, I would want them to feel like they were painting a representation of their qualities on the inside, not just their outside.
"...the problem isn't that sexy models exist, the problem is that they [for female characters] historically been the default". ...I don't see how anybody can find fault with this.
And yet they do
@@LylaMev I mean, it has to be that said contingent thinks it's a slippery slope issue, that today it's "not making it the default", tomorrow they'll get kicked out of their FLGS for bringing an older Sisters of Khaine army. The astroturf moral panic around gender issues in The US and other Western countries feeds into that, as does frankly the fact a small % of the community are dudes with trouble relating to women.
I just want a few sensuous female models for my armies, but that just don't have blatantly stupid armor gaps where the equivalent male warrior wouldn't 🤣...like throw some form fighting chain mail in there!
@@pat0652 Theres a way to do scantily clad warriors well too, its all in execution. From what I remember, Privateer Press is pretty good about it. Their women are pretty much fully covered in armor unless theyre A.) Undead so armor is irrelevant, or B.) LITERAL fucking Sirens
thing is, it was not the default.
not all wargames are kingdom death.
Because it's blatantly dishonest. If there's nothing wrong with it, then there should be nothing wrong with it being the default. And this is where I point out the difference between "the default" and "the only thing available". As long as there is choice in the market, then what is the default is simply defined by what sells.
Which goes to the second veiled insult, that mini makers thinking that the community wants sexualized female minis is saying something bad about the community. Again, the only makes sense if wanting sexualized minis is bad. Otherwise it wouldn't be saying anything bad about people when you assume they want them.
This is, "l'm not judging but,...". And nothing before the "but" is true.
Not gonna lie I'd absolutely add 'miserable harpy' to my social bios. I DO need that Persephone model in my life though...
Maybe I should!
Same. Hell, I'd add it to my business cards if I could.
They obviously said it in a crummy, vitriolic way, but Miserable Harpy is such a metal title. I kinda love it.
@Goober And it would look great as lettered credentials. * Lyla Mev, M.H. * Fantastic!
@@LylaMev maybe a miserable harpy miniature next? In sensible clothing, obvs.
I remember your original video on this subject.
You are correct, it has in the past been very hard to find a women mini that looked like she could take care of herself and not show off her body.
Thank you!
@@LylaMev I watched your original video a while ago as did my girlfriend. Our difficulty has been finding equivalent in finding well armored, well equipped female miniatures, especially on horseback that are clearly female at table top level, and that aren't just one offs. Finding female landskncehts, on foot and mounted like you see in ranges like Steel Fist Miniatures, or crossbow women, or female gendarmes and late medieval knights, or females with spears and other pole arms like bills and halberds for instance is all but impossible.
We don't especially mind form fitting armor like plate or a brigandine that actually protects and doesn't leave critical vulnerabilities--armor of these types would be form fitted anyway. If the figures are more slender, the chest is slightly bigger in front, the waist is tighter and the hips are more flared and hair that comes out from under the helmets just for visual distinctions might be good. (though realistically, a woman with long hair would probably pile it up under her helmet for more padding against eventual blows.) So when you're standing up at table top level and you look down, you can see which figures are clearly female and which ones are male. It's not just about big impressive miniatures, but people picking out the character they want to play, or having all female mercenary companies that make sense in the context of the campaign setting. Whether it's female knight in full plate harness on horseback with a lance lowering, or a Japanese female warrior in o-yoroi armor with a naginata and a katana and wakizashi at her waist--they are damn near impossible to find.
Brigade Miniatures has some reasonable female swashbucklers, but none mounted.
I agree, there's clearly a time and place for having sexualized miniatures---say you want to do a diorama of a sultan's harem (on our bucket list of things to do), or you have other slave owning settings you're campaigning within. You can have characters and NPCs who use sexual allure as a weapon, whether they are among the player races but there are also beings like Fox women or Dryads or Sirens, demons, devils, and other fiends etc who use beauty to charm and ensnare player characters who would be sexually attracted to them.
The more we lose the cartoon-quality to them and make them look like real people, the better.
This is why I, as a cisgender male presenting human, I avoid the "sexy" minis as much as possible. its really boring and annoying to encounter such a pointed marketing tactic at every turn.
@Andrew Lustfield the reason you can't find this is you want historical minis of things that didn't exist historically.
@@ChrisKCook Touche'---laughs. Though in a fantasy setting, realistic looking female soldiers make a lot of sense, and would look pretty damned spectacular on the table. My own D&D campaign is a low magic-high realism sort of game. So if the call is for better female miniatures in fantasy...historical miniatures are a great place to start with the question, "what if they did exist?" "How would women in a society of this tech level really outfit themselves for battle?" I contend that most women are pretty reasonable when it comes to this. They'd want the best armor and equipment they could afford that would allow them to move and fight.
(And if I win the lottery, I'd definitely approach the Perry Brothers and a few other companies about developing realistic, period female infantry and cavalry.)
Bad Squiddo Miniatures has some nice diversity but they are smaller scale, 28mm pieces. But you can get a lot of really tough looking woman warriors, older women, bigger women, different body types. I have used them to round out my table top forces and add diversity to D&D games a few times.
Bad Squiddo Squad unite! :D
Came here to say the same, Bad Squiddo is fantastic
As a man who likes painting the occasional "sexy" female mini, I do often roll my eyes when I'm trying to find non-sexualised ones for a particular army idea. There are just a few too many sculpts out there depicting female warriors who like to fully armour their arms and legs, but apparently not their torsos...
Persephone looks great by the way; I can imagine painting her with a really heavy Dark Souls vibe.
Door shield gave me dark souls vibes too!
Same here. More 'non sexualised female minis would be so useful for quite a number of projects
Exactly, there can be space for both things. I know women who paint the sexy women models too. But we also need the more realistic shield maidens, the buff warrior women, the larger body types, women of all races, etc. Spot on. Room for both in the hobby.
Eat a raw onion your T levels are dangerously low
I am a man. I started playing DnD in the 1980s, I think. It was a long time ago. It always seemed weird to me, the way women always had bikini armour on. How was that supposed to do anything? It always struck me as odd that warrior women always looked like a strong breeze would likely snap their ankles. A furry bikini for those winter adventure. It just bugged me. I could keep going but I think you get my point.
I would definitely like it if everyone was dealt with the same. I've met plenty of women in real life that are NOT built like a twig that could definitely snap most men in half. Surely that would make more sense. Why are old fellas wise & all old women hags? Seriously, what is that all about?
So, if it all get a bit more real and creators stop producing art for 12 year olds boys, that would really be appreciated, thanks.
Keep up the good work :)
Thanks for your comment!
Look for "The Bather" from Junebug Minis. She's a nude sculpt of a warrior women post battle. She's built like you'd expect someone who's spent their life fighting would look, which is to say like a brickhouse. Mr Lee's used to carry the model, but I don't know where to get it now that Mr Lee's has closed.
Its called fantasy... much like the barbarian males with little cloth underwear and maybe a belt across their body. Get over it. There is plenty of everything for everyone and if people want more they should make more like Lyla is.
One thing I want to see is more miniatures with handicaps. For example my wife has a character who is a dragonborn mage who has a strength of about five and she explains it with the fact that he was born lame with malformed legs. These types of miniatures could be used for all sorts of things like heroes, NPCs and big bads that outwardly look meek and powerless but then come out with some unexpected powers. The beggar that knows everything in the city and uses his handicap to hide in plain sight. There are so many things you can do with characters that have some kind of handicap.
I think Heroforge has a wheelchair option, and I saw one other manufacturer with wheelchair options recently too - alas I forget their name.
I certainly would support more handicap representation in figures! C'mon, adventurers don't always have the good fortune of healers around, and sometimes they take an arrow to the knee :)
Hell yeah. My 7yo daughter loves building and painting minis with me and I **love** that there are normal female models available now. The Loot Studios subscription is sweet and gives us tons to paint together.
I am over the moon about how many changes HAVE come from your video from two years ago. There has absolutely been a ripple effect during that time. Thank you for being awesome and pushing our community to be better.
Im an aspiring female mini painter (Have only been painting off-and-on now for a couple of months) I have to say while I don't dislike "sexualized" female/male models I do agree that its hard finding, particularly a female model, that doesn't feel unrealistically over-the-top and I have to say I absolutely love this Persephone model. Ngl when you said this was a kickstarter I immediately went over to back it!
Welcome to the hobby! It can really be so much fun. And hopefully in time we will have even more representation in the options of our sculpts.
Shoutout to the Warcry sculptors as well! Several kits have had female presenting models in similar attire to their male counterparts.
Heck yeah!
I'm sorry the first video generated such a rough response but so grateful you stuck it out, dug your heels in and just made the damn miniatures you wanted! I can't imagine the hard work that took, and that is so awesome that it's launching on kickstarter. Great job, Lyla!
Any other companies I should look at for diverse and bad a$* miniatures?
Bad Squiddo!
Have a look at some of the Titan Forge - Titans of adventure packs, there are plenty of female characters that look like bad a$* adventurers.
I forgot to look at them!
Bad Squid Games :3
Kimera's Tenebrae Asteria miniature.. the new KS next week is scantily clad vampires, but Asteria from Tenebrae 1 is pretty bad ass.. Nerikson makes some pretty great STL models, some are still fairly lusty, but others are pretty well armored..
Good on you, Lyla, for pushing this aspect of the hobby.
Also, thank you for the ginger cat footage. 😻
I originally wasn't going to back this, I have too many files already to print-n-paint, and I've moved towards larger scale statues.
But after reading those comments, screw those people, I'm backing.
I want to see cool miniatures that aren't just boobs and ass, but badass and epic. I'm already a Witchsong tribe member, I know they make awesome miniatures, and I love undead, so these are pretty damn cool.
Yeah. I'm the same way. I have roughly 1.8 billion STLs (I counted!), but sometimes you need to get something for a principle more than needing that thing (though the models are amazing).
Really happy to see the diversity of minis in our hobby grow and hope it continues! Friend group I run rpgs for is mostly female or nb and finding minis that aren’t suggestively dressed or posed that also match their female characters takes way longer than it should. So excited for whenever you drop your own miniature line!!
The moment I saw the sculpt I knew I needed to back that up, its amazing a so much of what I love in a single miniature.
Lets hope I can get my 3d printing set up ready soon so I can paint all this amazing models you and witchsong made together.
I'm 100% sure the last stretch goal will be reached before the end of the week.
Just happened by this, and while i lack a 3D printer or the skill to paint this to a level I'd be happy with, i just wanted to say:
My god, Persephone is *spectacular*. What an absolutely gorgeous model, so much detail, and the appearance of motion. Absolutely wonderful.
thank you so much for everything you do for the miniature art hobby, as much as i love a lot of the sexy female models already out there (i am but a humble lesbian), we absolutely need more non-sexualized female models. in general we just need more diverse models of any gender. too many male miniatures look like they're bred to be sold as meat, we need skinny boys and we need fat boys! but yeah female miniature models are definitely the most lacking. (also! those undead animals are so cool!)
I agree entirely. More variety across the board is only a good thing. I paint Game Workshop models by the army but in my downtime I do like to pick up the odd miniature outside of that sphere to paint and having more to choose from is only a positive. I don't have a resin 3d printer so I'm behind on the 3d printing explosion and can't print new minis on a whim but Seeing what's available these days makes my head spin. Even models that look sexualised can be interesting to paint. I painted Game Workshop's Morathi model for a friend of mine and she demands respect. From her powerful pose (For both her elf and snake monster forms) to her determined stare you can tell she is not to be messed with. The same is true with the scarred veterans of the Adepta Sororitas. They aren't performing for anyone, they are just out to burn the heretics. I've set myself a challenge to make a female tech priest (priestess?) for my Adeptus Mechanicus army. I want to try to make it clear she has a female body structure without sexualizing her. After all, the tech priests tend to remove any flesh that they don't have any immediate use for. I've just got to find the right base model to start work from. Anyway, enough waffling on my part, yes, you're right, more varied male models, female models and anything else.
I got attacked for saying this very thing about the New Cadians.
The female heads are a good start, but saying that only muscular 'burch' women are Guardsladies is a poor message and doesn't fit the lore.
If you can hold a lasgun, you are eligible to be drafted into the Astra Militarum.
So 2 sets of 5 torso upgrades with some extra heads, one for each gender from FW would be a great addition.
Skinny, hourglass, short, chubby and prear shaped, for the girls.
Chubby, bulky, skinny, short and tall for the men.
Creepy Wokehammer weirdoes spun it as me wanting sexy women...
@ChrisKCook Except that absolutely fits the setting and is common sense. Not sure if you or anyone you know has ever been in the military but they do have basic physical standards and Cadian Guardsmen are drilled relentlessly. That goes double for their special forces like Kasrkin.
Private Mchamburgers the chronically obese Guardsmen doesn't exist in setting or out, unless he's an Ogryn and even they're musclebound brutes built like a brick shithouse who can throw around Astartes, or some corrupt and effete planetary noble commanding a PDF regiment who is only in command by way of nepotism.
@JmonsterTW I'm not asking for chronically obeese gardsmen. I'm asking for tall ones, rangy ones, slightly chubby obes short ones, extra buff ones.
There used to be acChubby Cadian officer in 2nd and 3rd edition.
And no, the Munitiri6ms standards are literally "Can you hold a lasgun?" Sure training will burn of the bulk if excess pounds but basic body shape won't change.
@@JordanR large chunks of my family and several friends have been in the military.
I subscribed to Witchsong on MMF about 2 weeks back and decided to join their current kickstarter last night. I was happily surprised to see you're involved with the project, and the Model looks amazing. Can't wait for it.
Lyla! Your Persephone model is gorgeous, and I love her even more after hearing about your inspiration for her ♥️ Honored to hold space in this community with you!
From the intro I find Ryan Lewis' comment about "why don't you do something about it" aged very well. You did!
There's not only plenty of people who would glady sculpt badass female minis for you, there's a lot who would also gladly help you learn to sculpt, so you could make whatever you wanted! As a side note, I've spoken to other sculptors, and heard some things that stunned me. More than one has been told to remove any expression from the woman's face that might give her personality, which actually stunned me.
Thank you for championing this. As a dad I'm super happy to see our culture progress in such a way.
I have 2 daughters (now 17 and near 20)... when I was trying to bring them into nerdy hobbies like a decade ago, it was so difficult finding figures that didn't tell them "you're supposed to be a plaything for men... that is your role"...
They were out there, but rare (and normally extremely uninspired -- they normally looked like the most generic guard or fighter with boob lumps and long hair -- pretty much the only difference from "generic town guard")
I'm so happy that there are getting to be more and more options. And grossed out by the number of people who have an issue with this because they want to get their rocks off looking at plastic toys.
I see we're glossing over the issue that the woman _ripped a door off of someone else's property and is carrying it around with her_! Vandalism! She should be arrested!!!
Honestly, it's a gorgeous model. And as a dad of two now-teenaged girls, it's great to see your efforts here (as trying to "nerd them up" when they were smaller was a challenge because so much of the culture is geared toward making female characters look like playthings rather than heroes. I love that the next "generation" of nerd dads with girls doesn't have to deal with it _quite_ as much as we did. You're already a big part of that)
It does get tiresome seeing nothing but sexualized women characters. Id like to see more female miniatures with battle scars, tiresome look, and of course a kick ass outfit. But then again we live in a time where everything has to be a sexual fantasy. That includes fictitious characters and so on. I just wold like to paint miniatures that look like they can save the world and not pleasure it.
The insults are completely unnecessary, i think we can all agree on that. I'd say the bad comments stem from your implying that a sexualized figure is somehow a negative thing, or that a sexy looking character can't be badass or take care of herself, that she needs a full armor in order to look strong, which is just straight up wrong. That said, I think everyone should be able to enjoy the hobby and the art within it in whichever way they want, and that goes for both sides of the argument. Nobody should complain about full plate armored female models, and nobody should complain about chain mail bikinis. "I want to paint it" should be the only thought that goes into choosing a model, and people in the hobby should learn to move on if they don't like it without throwing a fuss about it. If you have a criticism on my painting i'll happily listen to it, but if your criticism is about my choice of model, well, i couldn't care less, it's not yours or anyone else's prerogative to choose what can be painted and what not. A KDM Pinup is a great choice just as much as your Persephone, just as much as a scale model from any historically evil faction, and that should be the end of it. Also i'd like to add, the human form in art goes back waaaayy before miniatures were even a thing, saying it's a "problem within the hobby" is just delusional, or deliberately confrontational, not to talk about the amount of women who also appreciate and paint sexualized female characters.
Awesome video. Your Persephone looks amazing, that door is the perfect addition to the model.
Thank you so much for continuing to campaign for more diverse and representative figures and people in the hobby-sphere! I really appreciate you and your work! Also, for some other awesome diverse minis, Strata Miniatures combat wheelchair line, Dungeons and Diversity, is so good. 💜
Amazing miniature. Totally oozing with style and charm! I’m glad you’re working on great minis and I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
I think that the nice thing about the major innovation that you talk about in this video - the ability for anyone to design, produce, and share anything - is going to be the defining factor in the future of miniatures. Now the production costs can go down for small press creators, and that people can really just pick and choose exactly what they want, rather than being beholden to the mainstream tastes.
While this may not completely change mainstream or the more prevalent content out there, I think that might not be as dire an issue as it might have been in the past, inasmuch as many more miniatures which reflect the qualities you described in this video will actually be available, rather than just being an idea cast aside due to perceived market demand not supporting its production.
My hopes are that regardless of how the miniature designers trend, that the variety and quality of sculpts continues to improve, and that anyone looking for a desired miniature will find some (not just one or a few) that fit what they want to paint.
Thanks for this video and again, Persephone is an amazing sculpt.
One thing I sure didn't expect is every youtube channel having their kickstarter to sell miniatures.
It certainly isn’t every!
TIME TO FLOOD YOU WITH POSITIVE COMMENTS!
You are doing great work here, glad to see there is a shift. I have even seen people pushing back on the comments on instagram supporting more diversity and less sexualized fem models.
Thank you!
I think the point made that the ability to create is now much more accessible is the key here. Adding what you want to see and hoping others do as well (and are willing to pay for that especially) is the way forward in my opinion. I am a big believer in being additive instead of subtractive.
What I worry about sometimes is when things go from "I don't like what is currently available and want to see something different in addition to that" to "I don't like that and not only want to see something different, but want that gone as well". Subtractive. I just think that lowering the barriers of entrance to the marketplace that allows competition would be best here. It seems that technology and 3D printing has largely accomplished that goal. So now compete with your best efforts and let the people in the marketplace decide. Additive. All good things.
Your mini is beautiful and a fine addition to the market. I hope it does well.
Probably a decade ago now, I was helping the design team of a game, and working their booth at Origins. I watched as wave after wave of families walked into the booth, saw a display with “slave conquest” minis, didn’t bother to look at the hundreds of other Cool Minis on display and just turned and walked away. At dinner that night the president of the company was talking to me about my opinions and I told him about the experience. To his credit, he listened and while I think they still make the minis I haven’t seen them in the painted display cases for their con kit again…so you know…baby steps:)
That said, I also worked with several companies that dedicated their production to removing sexism where they saw it in their own lines…that always felt like an accomplishment to me.
Best of luck on your kick stater, I personally as a male feel uncomfortable painting overly scantally clad models and dont want them on display in my house/socials but I'm still tempted to get some of the products from Neko Galexy so this video has made me reconsider my point of view. I look forwarded to seeing your model on Etsy at some point (I dont have a 3d printer )
Also check out the female Frostgrave plastic sprue kits. All dressed sensibly for cold weather battle. They are lots of fun to customize and swap bits around. Also very reasonable cost per mini.
❤❤❤ you’re amazing and I love youuuu! Keep up the great work! I’ll def be backing that kickstarter!!
BREAKER OF GATES. I love it. Also, *giggles at cat taking over hobby space* .
Could not agree more on needing more female models who are all about kicking ass! I have been super busy and just got around to catching up on videos today (including this one). Clicked on the link for the kickstarter thinking even though its the last day, i would still be able to pledge today. Apparently though the Kickstarter says it runs through May 24 I cannot make a pledge at all today. I was super stoked when i first clicked the link, only to then have my hopes dashed through seeing the campaign was closed early on its final day. I sent a message to the kickstarter, and hopefully i will be able to pledge still!
I have no 3d printer and I must scream ;A;
Love, love, love your work, your attitude and what you bring to the community! To hundreds of these years!
I founder out recently that my local library has a couple of 3D printers that folks can use for the cost of materials.. worth checking out locally? ... and requesting the library get one if they don't have one?
Make friends with somebody who does and pay them to print the models you want.
Also check your area for maker spaces. You can rent time there, and bring your own resin.
Daaaamn that Persephone model rules! You’re right, what 3D printing has done for this hobby is fantastic. There’s such a huge variety of stuff out there now, and lots of previously unfulfilled needs are being met now that anyone can make their model ideas into a reality.
I pledged to Persephone a few days ago and NO idea you had a hand in it!! 😅❤❤
The only thing I Disagree with you on is the fact that men and women. Depicted in scantily clad clothing or armor is the exact same thing. The things you said make the difference is what men are when we are being sexualized.
Great video, fantastic topic, and awesome miniatures! Thanks for posting this :)
I’m learning to sculpt my own miniatures right now and the representation of all genders and body types is one of my driving passions.
This is so true. Whilst I don’t have an issue with sexualised minis I was looking for a few decent mini busts to paint recently and it took me WAY too long to find a non-sexualised female. It’s not good when you have to scour the entire internet for decent sculpts that aren’t absolutely insanely OTT on sexualisation.
I agree with you, I don't think we should tell people what sculpts or art to make, but I do think a lot of them are sexualised to the point of insanity lmao. Half of them have like Double H size tits and just look fucking stupid lol. I was trying to find assassins for 40k on Cults and all them had massive tits lol, I just don't really get it lol.
I've never been comfortable painting overly sexual models. That's just me tho.
Additionally, there are only so many scantly clad "I can't hold a sword" women models I need before I have that base covered. (Think the number is 2 or 3). I prefer warriors that look competent (or at least confident), regardless of gender.
Oh, and ~3:56 I have that shirt!!
It is crazy that this has been a two year progress since that video I'm excited to see this kickstarter come to life
To be honnest, I discovered your channel with the video you're talking about at the beginning of video. I then suscribed (and even be a patreon supporter for a few months).
And yes, there is a lot of space for all kind of body type in miniature. Thanks alot for your work.
YOU HAD A HAND IN THE AWESOME PERSEPHONE MODEL I'VE BEEN WANTING?! OH MY GOSH!!
Fantastic sculpts. I couldn't pledge fast enough. Come on people, who doesn't want to see Cerberus hunting beside this incredible lady?
That makes me so happy to hear!
As a guy, I prefer this kind of miniature for women. Probably why I'm part of r/armoredwomen. The sexualized women miniatures are fine, I have a few as display pieces, but I don't like using them on the tabletop. The only time I use the scantily stuff on the tabletop is for stuff like Conan where it feels more setting appropriate, but I very rarely play/run such games.
I absolutely love this. I’m a guy in this hobby, very new, and my girlfriend supports the hobby. I subscribed to a few patreon sculptors and printed a set of the month that included a couple female “monsters” with barely any clothes and one armored character that had the torso visible and in a very traditionally feminine pose. I didn’t think anything when I put the set to print but she saw it and was suprised that I would chose a sculpt so sexualized, whereas in my mind that’s all I saw for feminine miniatures, there was a switch that flipped after that incident and I found it extremely hard to find feminine/female characters that WEREN’T sexualized.
So I absolutely love this and will be supporting and sharing this. I will also join the proud and miserable harpy gang. Much love.
Amazing work, Lyla - BACKED!
The figure looks amazing - I'm not usually a fan of undead/zombies, but the inclusion of small details like the roses, and the delicacy of her expression sold me. Plus I want to put my money where my opinions are, and back creators like you who are saying the things that are, let's face it, so very *long overdue* to be said in/to the community. And you said it eloquently, and respectfully. Kudos.
Illegitimis non carborundum! :D
Have a look at Bad Squiddo Miniatures. Not bought any myself (wrong country) but they look great to me
I don't have a 3D printer myself, but these models look SUPER cool. I'll have to keep an eye out for any of the people who back you at the merchant license pledge level to pick some of these up. I would absolutely love to paint some of these even just as display pieces. We definitely need more of this!
More choice is a good thing for sure. As a boy, I was attracted to the scantily clad images of women in fantasy art, movies etc. But at the same time always thought it was kinda stupid that female warriors went into battle wearing a bikini. I recently had a heated "discussion" with someone who took offense at me having female heads on some GW space marine model bodies. Even after I explained I don't play 40K, and these are not Legiones Astartes, but used as generic power armored soldiers in other games, he just would not let it go. Its one thing to be annoyed by someone ignoring the lore of a setting you enjoy. But to still be angry even after the context is explained, is just willfully stupid. It didn't help very much when I told him that even some of the helmeted models were female, but it did make me smile.
Ah yes, the true and tested douchebag detector: "female Spehs Marines"! Bonus points if they defend whatever bullshit they get up to with "it's just a game, bro" 😁
Female Dark Eldar heads look awesome on Thunderwolf Cavalary!
Have you made a video about filling in gaps on miniatures, getting rid of seams etc? cheers.
I’m sorry to hear that you got the backlash for that earlier video. As man a I will admit that I love the sexualized minis, but that Persephone mini looks so cool! This is exactly why adding more variety makes things better though so thanks for pushing for this.
I posted this in response to an incelish post below (to be fair, the post was relatively respectful, if entirely dismissive of the problem). I was then told I was "condescending" and "sexual harassing".
I want other peoples' takes. Was I condescending? Was I sexual harassing? Please let me know (as I've been wrong before). My take is that the OP just felt that "playing the victim" was easier than discussion, but I can be wrong, and freely admit it:
---
"I shouldn't touch this one, because it won't be a discussion -- it rarely is. But while I agree with some of your points (in that "not all men" were out there doing anything but painting what was available), it ignores a much, much larger point about "how could women who wanted to get into a hobby get into that hobby that was being gatekept by men?"
(And, no, I'm not saying that was your fault... the only people I'm really assigning blame to are the gatekeepers themselves. And any man who actively attacked any woman for wanting to do this hobby. I'll go under the assumption that that wasn't you, either. And if you weren't, thank you for not being part of the problem, but sadly it doesn't mean the problem didn't -- and doesn't -- exist)
Sure, those men could look at their sales numbers and claim "These figures are only selling to men! So we need to sell them to men!" without realizing that "These figures are selling to men!... Because we're really only making them FOR MEN!!" A woman who wanted to paint figures had to "make due" with what clearly wasn't made for them. And if they complained, they'd be told "You should be happy we're letting you do it to begin with!"
It's as if you went into a shop to buy a pair of pants, and all that was available was skirts and dresses clearly designed for women. Either you'd go pantless, or you'd wear what was available. And then the shopkeepers would look at their sales and say "Well... looks like 95% of our customers are women... better stock up on more dresses!"
Of course, you'll say "I'll just go to another store!" --- But every other store only had dresses as well. You might find one with the odd pair of pants, but they'd be massively overpriced, made in extremely small batches, and sell out quickly.
So, great. You take a couple of dresses home, and make them into pants. You shouldn't have to do that, but you do. (In the hobby world, we call that "kitbashing" -- it can be fun, unless you have no choice but to do it because they only make dresses)
You go out, with your new "dress" pants, and are suddenly attacked for daring to wear them. Why don't you just wear skirts like you're supposed to!?!? How DARE you step out of the norm, when you've been provided with perfectly good dresses that accentuate your ass?!?
You want to claim it was a "male driven hobby", but it was only a male driven hobby because men turned it into a male driven hobby, and attacked anyone from outside that . Even a few years back, when she made her first video, she was hit with vitriol from men who hated her talking about making "their" hobby more inclusive. They weren't "supporting" their hobby -- they were guarding it like rabid dogs with a bone from people who wanted nothing more than to join in the fun in a way that made them comfortable. (And sadly, I expect she'll be attacked here, as well. Your post was respectful -- I'll give you that. Dismissive of the actual problem, but respectful).
It's painting figures, man... it isn't swinging dicks or generating sperm. There IS no gender to it. No part of your penis is in use for painting models or playing games, unless you play them VERY differently than I do.
3D Printing has thankfully helped lessen the gatekeeping involved here. And I'm thrilled the industry has changed for the better. It's a shame you see it as some sort of attack against your manhood. Even if you didn't do anything directly wrong (neither did I, BTW. I'm a 47-year-old man who lived the same hobby times you did. I never intentionally gatekept anyone out -- I didn't even realize there was an issue until I really started to think about it), doesn't mean the problem didn't and doesn't exist."
Hi! My personal take: I see no sexual harassment. To some people, the penis-comment might have come across as a bit crude (again, not to me) but that alone doesn't consitute harassment to me.
It didn't sound condescending to me, either. But that depends greatly on the recipient. From my experience, people who don't do well with criticism often try to deflect it by calling it something else (e.g. all the -ists and -isms) so they don't have to deal with it. I thought your point was well made. Thanks for your self-reflection! 🙂
wow, that is a wall of text. you can not expect people to read that much , if you can't make your point in a concise manner, it is weak point or you should think it over a bit more.
I am happy for you or sorry that it happened.
@@kimkong1413 Thanks for reading and commenting.
I actually spent way too much of the post assuaging the feelings of the guy I responded to (which apparently made it too long for the person who responded to this who couldn't be bothered to read it) just to make sure he didn't take it as a direct attack.
Based on his response, I could have simply said "Women should get to play games and paint figures they like too", and he would have called me sexist and misandrist. I was just making sure I wasn't out of line.
@@gergokerekes4550 Nothing wrong or weak with my point. If I didn't have to spend 3 paragraphs massaging the ego of the incel (which turned out to be a waste of time, so I can probably remove those paragraphs), it would have been shorter, but thanks for the suggestions!
@@jimbobjones9330 you know the saying "if I had more time I would have written a shorter letter".
your point might not be weak, but if it takes half a chapter to set up your argument is.
I just finished Alice, the Maniac from Flesh of Gods. It was a wonderful mini to paint. I also paintex a Dwarf warrior on a battle Ram from Artisan Guild but now you mebtion it, her bust was visible. But Alice was fantastic and an absolute joy to paint. I'd love to see how much better your paint job would be compared to my mediocre efforts. Love your work Lyla. ❤❤❤
Dang, it's been 2 years since that video?
The new Cities of Sigmar look like exactly what you're asking for. Different bodies, different ethnicities/races. I'm pretty excited about them.
If you see something that needs to change, don't wait around for others to do it. Be the change. Lyla knocked this so hard out of the park it entered the stratosphere. You've got my respect ❤
Your miniature design looks amazing. Makes me wish I had a 3D printer. It's good to see that you made some progress and just remember it's easy to be an a**hole on the internet because you don't have to look that person in the face. Thanks for making good content and inspiring me to paint more. 😊
Thank you for being a stalwart defender of marginalized people in the hobby and a voice of reason!
That video you mentioned was the reason I subscribed to and fell in love with your channel. ❤ (I mean, the cats are cute but they're a bonus.)
Thank you!
Even before I came out as trans, i was already annoyed with the lack of non-sexualized female minis. Yeah, i have a few that i bought them for D&D. I stand by those purchases. But they told a story, they made sense in the context of the campaign, or they were a riff on some trope. But the sheer amount of crap I had to wade through to find a good non-sexual fucking BLACKSMITH was fucking ridiculous.
I'm a 50 year old white man. I've been playing D&D since the early 80s. I was fortunate to be gifted a couple of box sets of official AD&D minis when I got started. They had a good mix of female characters and I always felt like while most of my minis were male, I had "enough gals". I played with mostly the same group of guys my whole life. Until last year. I started a new gaming group where I DM three gals and a guy. The night before they came over the first time, I was going through minis picking out the females. That's when I realized that at least half were some form of cheesecake. It's being corrected now. Perceptions can change over time if people are open. Your message is spot on.
Awesome stuff! Really cool for all of us.
That's a really neat model (kickstarter)! Unfortunately, haven't yet joined the print-it-yourself band so if this is ever available physically. (And yes, my daughter still paints - and we both appreciate having a wide selection of models [male, female, insectoid, monstruous, etc. ] to choose. Including properly armoured ones.
You will be able to buy her from individual printers on etsy!
@@LylaMev thanks! Will keep an eye out!
I started playing 40k when I was 14 in 2004 and the only real female models where Eldar and Dark Eldar. I became interested in playing after seeing that the model for the squad leader of the Dark Eldar warriors was a woman and that half the models in the unit where women. I would have never wanted to start the hobby if there where not bad ass women. Minatures like this are important.
Completely agree. Its great to see and hear someone talking about the oversexualisation in minis.
The literal only nitpick have is over clip choice. 60's star trek while seemingly sexualised for the male gaze especially, in context the miniskirts were female empowering, as a symbol of independence for them. THe main audience for trek at the time was surprisingly women who saw this, and the general writing of equality.
sorry for being that nitpicky person. The video was great and you're completely right.
YES! Very eloquently worded, very cool model, and very nice paint!
we love this! (+support from generic white guy #7 here)
Miserable harpy sounds like a gamer tag XD
thank you so much for this video. I'm so glad that I started the hobby more recently and have access to these great miniatures. Also, Persephone looks great!
Thank you!
I certainly hope we see an uptick when it comes to modern and sci-fi female miniatures the same that some are doing with fantasy. I know you mentioned warhammer, but I still look on MMF and see so many 'sexy' poses.
I fully embrace the idea of being the change you want to see - while not the same issue, it's why I focus on making non-humanoid aliens that aren't monsters, but sapient beings just going about their day like humans do.
If I had any talent for 3d design, I would ask your permission to make a badass harpy lady with your likeness :)
That's an awesome model! Fantastic work, and another great video!
This is really awesome! What a gorgeous mini!
I'm proud of all the hard work you have put in to move this conversation forward Lyla, its really inspiring to see such a great turnout.
Its disappointing that there are so many immature individuals who respond with such inflammatory comments. It really shouldn't be demonized just to say "Hey, I love this thing. I just wish there was also some more variety." Its ridiculous that at the core of the issue, there is such an easy resolution.
We can have it all! Who knew? lol
Hey, the more the merrier; the more variety, the better. Paint what you wanna paint, and I admit that your video about this a couple years ago definitely sparked thought on my end. I'm not into painting "sexy" miniatures on grounds that I lack the skills at painting skin tones to really do them justice, for one thing. I'm far more into painting monsters and mecha, here. I got a good laugh out of Shoshie Bauer's Demon Librarian miniature she released recently because I got the joke and saw what she was aiming for, and I was far from offended by it. I think I need Persephone in my life as well, though I hope they sell it as a printed miniature because I lack a printer of my own!
I paint models for my dnd groups campaigns and it took me forever to find awesome versions of characters for our group. I seriously feel like there was maybe one or two models to choose from for my wife’s badass dark elf rogue that weren’t half naked and Uber sexualized. I’m really happy you brought this issue to the mini community, and I support your message 100%!
The thing about the a variety of body shapes is that a lot of the language around that is as bad as what we have. There are a few girls and guys out there who are super derisive to any body type not like theirs or like the type they find attractive.
Body positivity is for all shapes not just dumpy girls...
On the personal printing front - could I pay a commercial printer to produce a miniature for my personal use, I'm tempted to jump into printing but haven't actually got any kit .... yet
Commercial use means to sell them. You don't need a commercial use for yourself
@@LylaMev Cheers, just wanted to make sure you didn't have to actually print themself as well 👍
That model is exquisite! Love it! I unfortunately don’t have a 3D printer. I love your statement of support what you like. I like all types of models, I have noticed how artist and game/miniature companies have broadened their scope and reached out towards all kinds of people, I strongly encourage this. What I see a lot of people doing is turning this subject matter into a “crusade “ as if this was a problem to begin with, and have people take a negative defensive stance, no matter what your own personal likes are. I love being an artist and I love the community, it’s one I feel that it’s the most inclusive to people of all walks of life, I feel any time anyone brings up issues like this , it’s creates a divide that we don’t need in our community, but it’s a controversial topic without any real point aside from stirring people up. At the end it’s okay to like and support what you like.
Great video amd discussion on a topic that affects the entire community! I've been subscribed to Loot because of their (mostly) non sexualized minis and the diversity in hair, facial features etc! That Persephone model looks spectacular and what an amazing paint job! I look forward to more diverse, inclusive minis, something that should not be controversial or generate so much hate! Thank you!
The commissar raine model has been out for quite some time and was only recently brought back however I am quite glad to see minka lesk as a model and the fact that gw supplies female head options for the imperial guard figures
Yesss! I was just complaining about this a few days ago. I don't MIND the boobylicious models, but most of the time I don't want to paint them. I want to try to make characters for my players, and mostly, they're fully clothed. It's SO hard to find non-sexy female characters. I love that folks like you are trying to change that.
This is a very cool design!
Finding a niech and showing your vision is really what it is all about. I think there is room in the market for a variety of designs, from more traditional, to exaggerated features, etc etc.
As a man, I do not find anything wrong with a woman wanting women to be strong and fully clothed at the same time. It should be the standard. If you want your miniatures fully nude THAT should be the rare thing to find.
I first realized this issue when i wanted to paint my parents a couple of busts for Christmas. I found my dad a really cool and interesting looking Gandalfesque wizard, however, i could not find my mom ANYTHING appropriate. They aren't prudes by any means but it would have been incredibly awkward had o given her a half naked barbarian with a tasteful nipple slip. More options is always a good thing. Keep it up!
I love this video and your stance. Depictions of women in fantasy are so gross a lot of the time, and it's so off-putting. Thanks for speaking up, Lyla! I also come back to this video again and again to follow the different links you posted. So many gems I hadn't heard of before!
As someone who DMs for a group with mostly female players (we're all married couples and I'm a dude) while also being the only mini painter, it falls on me to try to find good models for female characters. It's not as easy as people might think, and I'm really grateful for new models that better represent female adventurers.
Also, where are all the over-sexualized men? If we want miniature equality we have to correct both sides of the equation. I demand a range of well endowed mankini wearing men in sexy poses! :P
That's what Shoshie is making! She's making hot dude figures for women to appreciate.
Very nice work on that Persephone sculpt. Well done!
Thank you!
This is so great. I've always played D&D with women in the party, and cringe at the thought of bringing some awful Reaper mini to the table. Nolzur's Marvelous Minis was a great, affordable first step to get some representation - would recommend to anyone entering the hobby with D&D! They've gotten MUCH better since their launch.
It is super cool to be able to give female players miniatures that look like badass female characters vs 13 year old male sexual fantasy.
Great video! I backed the previous kickstarter on your recommendation, and have not regretted it for a moment - great sculpts that my coed gaming group really appreciate! I'll back Persephone's KS as well.
BTW, one service you haven't mentioned is Hero Forge. I realize they're not quite the sculpted art you are usually painting, but my players looking for good female minis for TTRPG play have really appreciated that Hero Forge minis sculpt women as effectively as men. For what it's worth...
The most disappointing thing is that oversexualizing have become norm in todays world (in every media). It's so refreshing to see sculptors makeing queens that are in "spell casting" pose, and not just damsels in distress... Another one that I would add to the list is White Werewolf Tavern. Yes, sometimes they aren't armoured for battle, but poses are so powerful. Heck, even when they are posed as damsel in distress, it's like they are hiding true power (elements of base are telling whole different story from the pose they are in)
👍 Regarding other media, I would love to see an MCU film in which the guys are not dehydrated and ripped to the bone; and in which the woman aren't forced to fit a very idealized template, and made to wear combat wedges. I'll check out White Tavern.
@@euansmith3699 I wonder how would that work... Human being that far exeeds anything normal human can do, an it has beer belly?? yea... it doesn't add up. Hell, even Ironman wouldn't work
@@xManzi I'm thinking more the less extreme bodies that Steve Reeves and David Mazzucchelli's drawings of Batman had in Year One. Muscular, but not ripped.
I'm sure that Tony Stark could let his suit out a little to accommodate some extra lumber, maybe as Irondad 😄
@@euansmith3699 ok, in that case, I completely agree with you. And we could have Iron Lad, Iron Man and Iron Dad 🤣🤣
Is the Kickstarter only STL files? I don't own a 3d printer but enjoy the sculpts. Congrats on the campaign and this amazing venture.
You can send the stl files to someone to print them. Did that to get the full Guilty Gear roster printed, it was a bit expensive but I can't afford to have a resin printer in my home so...
I would love to get that 8" Miniture you are promoting, only thing I would change myself is the flowers to Red Spider Lilies they symbolize death, final goodbyes, abandonment, and bad luck. That would fit her so well