A distraction messing around with an art resource.
Specifically this one. (Ah, be warned. It can be NSFW. You can remove clothing and this isn't Barbie Doll anatomy at play. Which is one reason why it's such a good artistic tool: it's actually surprisingly versatile with its more realistic physics and real thought put in.) So from it, I made the entire main cast of female riders, plus Ana.
Whitney, AKA Sky, AKA Shini, superhero name Sky Shinobi, is the tallest, at 6'. Now, her outfit wasn't really in there at all; there were no Power Rangersesque uniforms. Those are her civilian clothes. There's also no helmet, but I did get her headband and her cloth wrappings (though, in her actual uniform, they don't cover her mouth), not to mention, was able to substitute for her helmet with a headpiece and visor, which is semi-cannonically part of her outfit, just...not quite like that. Her spirit totem, clairvoyant eyes, manifests as two twin pistols, so that's accurate enough.
Sally, full superhero name White Sailor, real name Samantha Spencer, is 5'8". She wears a standard sailor fuku, which this captures. Now, the program didn't exactly have bazookas, yet alone a bazooka tied to thread, so I had to use the sealed form, a necklace with a whistle on it, though unfortunately program limitations placed it beneath. Still, this is probably THE most accurate of the whole bunch. That's a combat-ready Sally.
Hannah, superhero name Aeris, is also 5'8". (Though, somehow she ended up slightly taller than Sally.) Her spirit totem is a simple white staff, as shown. Her shoes and socks and pants are fully accurate, and I think this pseudo-sailor outfit is in fact what I have for my notes, too. Plus, so too is the ballroom mask in there. And, this is the hair type I had in mind. So, quite accurate for a combat-ready Hannah, though civilian...not so much.
Amy (full name Amethyst) is the furthest over, and starts the story at 5'6" and ends at 5'11". The gold you see over her hands is a manifestation of her spirit totem, which is...literally, her fists. She's obviously a vampire (being Ruby's daughter and all that), thus the classical black hair/red eyes combo. I'm not quite sure if this is her combat outfit, but she hangs most around Vili and has a similar fondness for fighting (albeit being more kind outside of one), so the similarity is intentional.
Vili (real name Suzane, superhero name Violet Ranger) is also 5'6" tall, and while I sucked at getting a combat-ready look (no ability to give her a smirk, and my limited understanding of the program hindering my ability to give her a combatant stance), the look's accurate enough: hair, eyes, outfit, all basically what I had in mind. Her combat knife there is her spirit totem. (Though, now that I think about it, I forgot to include her gloves. Whoops!)
Which brings us to D.D. (real name Melony), who is 5' tall. Pintsized, but mostly accurate. Her hair's wavy strawberry blonde (at least in superhero form; it darkens to more brown outside), which I think was captured well enough, though I don't think the frilly dress was captured quite as well as I'd like. Still, wand in one hand (not quite the right design, but oh well), this is a fair approximation of her.
Ana there in the other corner I don't have many specific notes on. Basically, black hair, milky blue eyes is all I have; I just assumed she'd wear casual clothing. So there you have it. My cast. This is an immensely-helpful artistic tool for me, mainly because I've never actually drawn most of them. The only one I've gotten close to drawing is Sally, and badly at that.
I've had their looks in mind for ages. Hannah in particular. (Though, Hannah has a different look in civilian form, one of the only riders with a drastic transformation. Sally's is basically her dark green hair turning to a dark brown; Vili's from dark purple to black; D.D.'s fades to brown. Hannah goes from long blonde to shortish black. She's also among the five riders to have a clear wardrobe change in civilian form, the others being D.D., Whitney, Sally, and Gary.)
But in spite of that, I've never taken the time to draw them out.
Now! Granted. The program has its imperfections. There's no program in existence which can, start to finish, create a character and have that be what I need. I've used three FaceMaker programs commonly before.
I've used another program on rinmaru games. (Which apparently keeps on updating with time, so might be worth taking another look at.)
I've also used the anime character maker.
These are all good for me, because with my limited artistic skills...I can't really show you myself. Here, see what I mean, when I tried to take the image above and make it myself.
The anatomy, the proportions, the expressions, everything just isn't quite as good here. Because I am not a good artist, and I cannot bring my vision to life. Not in the same way with my own worthless hands as I can with the programs. So they're a useful tool.
A bit of a crutch! Yes, there's no denying that.
But a useful tool, all the same.
Meaning, it was time well-spent, because it helped me get a better sense of the characters. When the only one prior to this that I had down was Ruby.