This is something I’ve been working on for quite a while. A bit too long in retrospect… Is started off an inspiration for these ponies wearing Gundam-like armor, and it inspired me to draw Rita wearing similar armor. It didn’t really work out, mostly because the Gundam mechs are very boxy or triangular, and I thought it suited Rita better to wear armor that’s more rounded. But one aspect I’ve noticed in the armor is that there’s a kind of layering system going one, and there’s a simple garment of sorts underneath it all.
 
Though I didn’t complete the drawing technically, though it was supposed to be a reference drawing, it was enough for me to go “hm…” 🤔, and try to model out the armor. After a bit of trial and error, this is what I’ve come up with. I think I actually like it, to the point where I may keep this as a default look for her. Ironically, I realized this isn’t that different from the first outfit I made for her when I first modeled her. I practically went full circle. :P
 
I do feel rather crummy for all the effort of giving her a regular outfit. But quite frankly, giving her a measly shirt and shorts didn’t sit well with me. Maybe it’s a poor excuse to justify her new look, but looking back at the previous renders of her wearing that short and shorts, it felt…off. She didn’t look too bad, but the outfit looked too simple. Oddly enough, the armor feels a little more balanced. Though she does technically still have a short and a pair of shorts.
 
On a side note, I really wanted Rita to have a two-toned color scheme, but nothing worked. After some time, I’ve decided to go for, as a default color scheme, cyan and yellow, with some black to balance the colors out. A little flashy, but eh, I want to see if this will work for the time being. Though Rita can change her colors. More than that, she can change the colors of the two colors independently, granting her more flexibility.
 
On another side note, I’ve given Rita a bit more makeup. Specifically some lipstick and a soft, colored blush. All this change on her is, admitting, a little tacky perhaps. But I think it’s for the best. While not often, I always feel like I have to handle the aesthetics with my characters with kid gloves, otherwise it would be imperfect, which is of course a terrible thing. But, I’ve gradually found this holding back more of a burden than a benefit. Especially since my “reward” for such restraints is, quite frankly, nothing. So I going to try to loosen my restraints a bit. I’m a nobody artist anyway, let alone an “artist” of any kind, so there’s no real point in not “letting loose” a little.
 
I had intended to make several renders of Rita in variations of her armor, but I couldn’t think up other poses, especially since I’ve had other things going on in my life (which was part of the reason it took me so long to submit this). So I’ll just eventually render her out in other ways down the road.
 
Reference Drawing  
HDRI Used