

There is an animation called 'Alma' which has a great cartoony look. I wouldnt try and render a photoreal face in maxwell or any software actually. I know there are some great attempts esp Lee Perry's but they dont hold up as the lighting changes, ofcourse with enough motion blur and post the render doesnt need to be perfect, and for stills photoshop is a great solution.
In general if your learning about SSS its worth just messing about with using the small-preview interactively, and try to concentrate on whats possible, because thats hard enough. Skin is next to impossible and plastic is very slow to work with, I would avoid both while learning.