Saul Tigh, Commander of the EXCAL Armed Forces

You know, the Commander is perhaps the most under-appreciated person here at EXCAL. A lot of people on the Special Ops side of things, especially the Knights, think of him as something of a joke. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yeah, he’s a hard ass, perhaps even a pain in the ass. But if you earn his trust, he’ll also put his ass on the line for you, and I don’t know of many folks in his position that you can say that about. I can’t get into details, but as an example I have a mission I’m setting up based upon the news that Rock N Roll was found – you heard about that right? Well let’s just say that I think I need some… unauthorized… support for my team. You might be surprised to find out who is willing to help with that kind of thing, knowing that some real good people might be saved as a result.
Knighthawk, Paladin Knight Master

He’s a pr*ck, there’s no two ways about it. It’s one thing to try to help out on a mission – when asked. It’s another thing to try to force his will on me to change my style. He has no authority over the Paladins, and without an army to actually command…who does he have authority over?
Steel Rain, Paladin Knight

We selected Saul initially just to command Battle Station Gamma, EXCAL’s primary base of operations. He has done a tremendous job with BSG, especially in developing the air defense system, most notably the fighter squadrons. We now have plans to have Tigh command the full extent of EXCAL’s non-Paladin Armed Forces. Because of his hard work, we now have at least 2 fighter squadrons per Battle Station, and the pilots he’s helped recruit into EXCAL are among the best in the free world. We also have been working on adding fighter capabilities to various of the Paladin airships, so that beyond mere defense, we now have the potential for air support on the spot, at the Knight’s command. We have a growing security detail…infantry if you will… but we are handcuffed for legal and political reasons from utilizing this force for anything beyond defense and limited support. The Knights don’t seem to appreciate this, and they can joke all they want about him commanding an empty army, but Saul Tigh has saved each of their butts more than once, when you factor in the air superiority, and his willingness to take the heat for less than legal security detail excursions.
Oliver Queen, EXCAL Director – Paladin Knight Program

Do I like him? No. Do I think he does his job well? Ever since he got back on the wagon, yes, exceptionally well. If that stays true it doesn’t matter if I like him. I like flying my plane, and he lets me do that, and that’s really all that counts.
Lt. Kara Thrace, EXCAL Fighter Pilot, former CAG of BSG

Two years. Two frakking years that SOB cost me. For what? Treason? Really? Look, I’m not going to get into this ok. I’ve already said too much. He personally selected me to serve as his XO, then he puts me in the brig at the drop of a hat – AND gives me this pretty little scar – simply because of a report filed by a Paladin Trainee – that he doesn’t even like? Is it a coincidence we haven’t heard from Dark Wing for more than a year? If it wasn’t for good guys here like Sentinel, and Panther and even Knighthawk, I’d be long gone.
"Kell", former EXCAL Officer; current contract special agent.

I’ll answer that off the record only. Off the record? The Commander and I go way back. He used to serve in the Navy with my father. In my own days in the service, we certainly had some run ins, that I will not get into, even off the record. But the Commander is a good man. He was a good choice for this whole EXCAL business. I have to tell you that I believe American forces are fully capable of handling this MEDUSA threat, all the more so now that the threat has become an open one. The U.S. Armed Forces are leading this fight, make no mistake. Nevertheless, these EXCAL Knights have had some noteworthy successes. And I do not question the integrity of the organization, nor do I question their allegiance to freedom and Justice. But I will not allow EXCAL it’s own standing army, to operate legally in the international theater of this war. I have signed the NATO/U.N./EXCAL treaty authorizing the deployment of the Paladin Knight teams freely throughout the world because I believe in the use of these brilliant warriors in these special operations. But if a threat requires significant force, then even EXCAL must go through me. I said before Tigh was a good choice for them. He’s the only man, shy of my father, who I would so willingly allow access to America’s finest. And he continues to prove his worth both as an EXCAL leader and as a “retired” U.S. Naval Officer, based upon his results in this war, with my soldiers, thus far.
The President of the United States.



receiving a request from Knighthawk



monitoring the launch of his fighters





Ok, so I posted Tigh previously as part of a multi-figure thread. But it was just a preview, and I didn't have his bio ready yet. So here he is, with some new action shots, and his story as well. I might post some general explanations as to the infrastructure of EXCAL if any questions pop up from Tigh’s bio. One thing I know that hasn’t been explained yet is that the EXCAL base of operations/BSG is built into the mountainside at a classified location. The core of the base is landlocked, including most of the civilian oriented enterprises, but the military component, including the PKP center, the CIC, and the airfield are all part of a self contained “structure” that has top secret detachable, mobile air capabilities.

_________________

If nothing else, there are a couple of nods within the bio as to some pending characters to be brought into EXCAL. I know the figure was previewed before in this form, but the bio does provide some insight into the EXCAL world. Also, I was kind of happy with the way the desk unit turned out, including the transparent screen (with interchangeable content), and the concrete looking no frills desk in Tigh's office. Will hopefully have more original content soon...

_________________

The figure was good before. I really like the desk. Modern but only slightly futuristic. The bio is a nice approach. I've seen bios from one person or tow people's perspectives, but having access to someone's record like this gives a much better idea of the character.

_________________

Those head mods are fanastic and the table is a great dio piece!

_________________

Damn cool bio and the figure ain't bad either.
One thing I think he needs is an eye patch.

Much appreciated guys. Pluv, I think headandhand does a really nice job with this form of bio. I tried to give more takes on him, from various perspectives, because I think Tigh (to the extent he does mirror his television counterpart) is a very polarizing individual. I also had given a fairly detailed outline of how he fit, when I previewed his pic earlier. So I wanted to do something new here, which also helps explain and preview other characters as well. I appreciate that you guys read these. I think this bio is one of my better ones actually, or I might not have bothered giving Tigh his own post.

Joe - ditto the above, thanks for reading through that. As for the eye patch, would it make you feel better to learn I have two other Henry Jones heads waiting to be converted to Tigh heads? One will have a beard and might just give the impression that Tigh may end up as a captive at some point. And the other will be this head, plus a patch, so I can have before and after versions.

Marcus - thanks mate. The desk is super simple, and my wife's laptop came with styrofoam inserts that let me cut out about 6 of these things, all the same, to be used as tables or desks for dios, if I ever get the time.

Do you guys think the monitor looks cheesy at all? I'd kind of like an opinion on that before I spend too much time making more of them. I have a million of those plastic dividers that I will never use, and with a simple waterslide decal I can make it look like a transparent screen. I could use regular paper and have it not be transparent, but I kind of liked the look. But if it comes across as cheesy, please let me know - before I spend the time I'm planning to spend on a round tab...er...conference room... setting

_________________

I think it looks great, mate. I thought it was part of the table.

_________________

I like the idea behind the desk....I'm just not a fan of the "styrofoam melted by spray paint" texture. If you're gonna be making more than just the one...you may want to look into plaster cloth...like the stuff casts used to be made from. that way you get the shape from the foam, then coat it with the plaster cloth and can paint it without it looking like styrofoam.

I think the screens look good...the bezzel might be a little bit to thick...makes them look like older imacs.... I think if you just chopped off the rounded corners it'd help get you closer to the 'animorphic' or 16:9 dimensions the currently look like the hot tech.

Last thing I'd add is a more impressive chair...anybody sitting at such a ritzy desk is gonna want a chair to match...not a folding chair. Not near as cheap as the PTE/MJ folding chair, but I think the Admiral's chair from the Flagg would be a good look to start from.

_________________

Amen on this part, Nova. I've seen some people do some really cool things with modern looking chairs at this scale, but scratch-building that kind of thing is not my strong suit at all. Wonder what those chairs might go for? I'm hoping maybe something comes out with the Star Trek bridge pieces that I can steal, for one idea. But if there were a simple styrene plan anyone knew of, I'd give that a shot too. I probably should have mentioned that I viewed that chair as a filler only, and I agree 100%.

Something nice looking would fit the deak, though a replica of an aluminum military looking chair, like they seemed to have a lot of on BSG would make me happy also.


I'm glad the screens at least convey the feel I was shooting for. That encourages me. I know exactly what you are saying on trimming it down a touch, though I plan generally to convert a lot of these pieces, and the plastic is pretty hard, so I'm not sure if I want to accept that challenege just yet. If I cut any corners, it might be in the rhetorical sense by not doing this... but it is a good call. I might test out how susceptible these things are to exacto blades, before I decide.




Any suggestions on where to get plaster cloth from?
I agree with you something needs to be done if the end result of this is 'hey, cool styrofoam'. I was partially willing to suspend reality and say it looked close enough to concrete for me, and I have seen some cool concrete bases for furniture like this. But I'm not shocked if it doesn't really scream concrete.

Thanks for all of the great ideas. The chair thing is one I really need to come up with a solution for, since I have some other projects in mind that will not work with fold-up chair look.



Thanks Marcus - I glued the base to the table top, but the screens are removable, and I have several different ones made to fit the need of the "scene". I'm not holding any of these out at dio-ready yet. Just small complimentary pieces to help sell the character a bit. But I hope to be able to get more into the dio stuff soon. btw, the screens are being made with some of the spare decal paper you traded to me, so thanks for that!

_________________

Ha sweet! Glad you put them to good use,mate. As for chairs, Build-a-rama's command chairs are pretty sweet, if a bit expensive.

_________________