"Dollies" and diversity (no, not that kind of 'diversity')

[FifteensAway]

Checking out a post in Medieval and a thought occurred to me:

A lot of the reason for so many 'standard physique' figures might be down to sculptors using dollies and thus figures all fit some arbitrary 'standard' (or maybe a carefully considered 'average') as far as height and weight. 

Which lead to the thought that some company can put out a variety of dollies with some as fat men and women, some as shorter men and women, and some as taller men and women (and children and probably dead figures as well).

Yes, yes, I know there are some sculptors with variations out there.  But that is not the 'norm'. And, of course, using dollies to get to that diverse range of human forms will lead to a 'sameness' of diversity perhaps - but I am willing to take that risk to get that figure variety. 

All I ask, if someone follows the suggestion, is to do dollies in both 28 mm and 15/18 mm, please! 

Given the strong current of the hobby moving towards skirmish gaming I think this not only makes sense but  might boost sales.  People are not all the same - and never have been.

(Probably already lot of diversity in the fantasy figure world I'd guess)

Oh, for those unfamiliar 'dollies' are a starting point for a sculptor to build a miniature figure on, a 'not quite' skeletal armature to give a head start. 

And I'm not knocking dollies, without them our choices would be vastly smaller than they are - just seeing a chance to greatly increase choices.

[anevilgiraffe]

nothing stopping sculptors turning that standard dolly into a fat mini... and for that matter, nothing stopping them from making a tall or short dolly themselves - in fact they must for dwarves and so on...

[fred]

I think that for most ranges it’s better to stick with average, otherwise you end up with every shooting rifleman being the fat bloke, and the marching guy being the lanky one.

As you say for skirmish ranges variety in stature seems much more practical.

One of the easier ways to attain variety is to use different manufacturers

[Dolnikan]

That would probably be a pretty difficult market, especially with a lot of sculpting now moving to the digital sphere. Which in a way makes scaling even easier which means that figures are even more the same height. Build is a bit different, but even there we don't see a lot of variety. Of course, if you have a modern wargame the odds of an infantryman being fat or the like are pretty low, but I'm more than willing to bet that there would have been a fair few overweight knights.

Personally, I like having some variety in my armies. It makes it all look a little more real, so I don't really get the obsession some gamers have with them all having to have the exact same height.

[robh]

Umm, No.

Do we really need figures like this?

[FifteensAway]

oh, robh, you are on my short list for making me see that image! 

I'm pretty sure most people know that is not the goal - though for some it just might be.   

[Moriarty]

Nah. A lot easier to just mix manufacturers using 25 & 28mm ranges. At worst you’d have to do a few weapon/pack/hat replacements.

[Freddy]

I sculpted a lot of fat figures for my collection, for individual figures nothing stops you to do it. For "set" figures with interchangeable arms and heads it might destroy the compatibility as a fat figure needs a hand with fat fingers, a tall one a long arm etc.
Also note that Gravy Seals type soldiers is more of a thing in the modern world, 18th century peasants were pretty rarely obese like modern day desk jockeys who still eat like they were working on the fields 12h/day.