Correct face/head review: library characters already carry the 0.9.4 sculpt; close hands/grip review

TODO.md

@@ -100,14 +100,20 @@ licence-free zone only.
 *Skill route: `character-artist`, `retopology`, `rigging`, `uv-workflow`, `texture-workflow`,
 `materials`, `hair-groom`, `asset-optimization`, `lookdev`, `qa-review`.*
 
-- [x] Face/head review: the skinned GLB head is a uniform sphere with floating eye spheres, brow
-      cubes and one mouth cube — no cheek/brow/chin sculpting or eye loops, which is the flat
-      faceted read at portrait distance. Concrete edits written in `docs/3d-model-review.md` §1
-      (single-variant `npc_casual` prototype: socketed sclera + upper lid, sculpted cheek/brow/chin
-      vertices, recessed mouth + lip line, re-UV + re-AO). Fix is gated on the owner scorecard
-      review.
-- [ ] Hands/grip: re-check palm, finger segments, thumb and gear contact; decide between a
-      finger-curl rig or the current open hand plus `HAND_ITEM_FORWARD`, and record the limit.
+- [x] Face/head review: the eight library characters ARE built with the 0.9.4 face detail in
+      `tools/blender_assets.py._face()` — sculpted chin plate + cheekbones (`_shape_head_mesh`),
+      socketed sclera + thin upper lid, nose bridge/tip/wings, rounded mouth and ear concha. The
+      plain sphere head in `tools/npc_pipeline.py` is the frozen `npc_base` fallback only. The
+      ranked P1 "flat faceted cheek/brow + slit eyes" is therefore a readability/scale question on
+      the existing sculpt (head `seg=18/rings=12`, small offsets), not missing geometry. Next step
+      if the owner funds it: a single-variant `npc_casual` prototype that raises head subdivision
+      and deepens the cheek/brow offsets. Fix is gated on the owner scorecard review.
+- [x] Hands/grip review: the hands ARE detailed — `tools/blender_assets.py._hands_and_shoes()`
+      builds a wider shallower palm, four two-segment bent fingers with rounded tips and a thumb;
+      gear contact is the open palm plus the `HAND_ITEM_FORWARD` (0.04 m) offset. Decision: **keep
+      the open palm + forward offset; a finger-curl rig stays out of scope** — there are no finger
+      bones in the 13-bone contract, so a curl rig is a contract decision, not a modelling tidy-up.
+      Recorded as ranked gap #6 (accept; revisit only if face work opens the budget).
 - [ ] Weights/pose: capture idle, walk, sit and wave; inspect shoulder, hip and neck collapse;
       fix the worst offenders using `rigging` practice without changing the 13-bone contract.
       **Blocked:** the new `capture_npc_pose.gd` reports the seated/walking pose while the saved

docs/3d-model-review.md

@@ -210,12 +210,14 @@ owner review decides.
    the most expensive (head rebuild + re-UV + re-AO per variant). Needs a targeted single-variant
    prototype before committing to eight.
 
-   Concrete edits (single-variant prototype on `npc_casual`, in `tools/npc_pipeline.py`): recess
-   the sclera into a socket instead of floating a 0.027 sphere on the head surface, add a thin
-   upper-lid plane above each eye, sculpt the cheek/brow/chin from the head sphere's front
-   vertices (the skinned GLB head is a uniform sphere today — no cheek planes, brow ridge or jaw),
-   and replace the single mouth cube with a shallow recessed mouth plus a lip line. Re-UV and
-   re-bake AO for the head, then capture the portrait before touching the other seven.
+   The eight library characters already carry the 0.9.4 face detail in
+   `tools/blender_assets.py._face()`: sculpted chin plate + cheekbones (`_shape_head_mesh`),
+   socketed sclera + thin upper lid, nose bridge/tip/wings, a rounded mouth and ear concha
+   (the plain sphere head in `tools/npc_pipeline.py` is the frozen `npc_base` fallback only).
+   So this gap is a readability/scale question on the existing sculpt — the head is
+   `seg=18/rings=12` with small offsets — not missing geometry. Concrete next step, if funded:
+   a single-variant `npc_casual` prototype that raises head subdivision and deepens the
+   cheek/brow offsets, then re-bakes AO and captures the portrait before touching the other seven.
 2. **No pose/weight evidence (unknown).** Idle, walk, sit, block and turn deformation has never been
    captured as a review set, so shoulder/hip/neck collapse is unmeasured. Cheap to add and it
    gates any claim that the rig is acceptable.