I am waiting for a female hero mod myself. Having those females use the model of the dwarf men just doesn't cut it (about the only thing in-game so far that I think is just WRONG!!!). Haven't tried modding character models yet, but I might try soon if something isn't invented. They are just silly-looking!
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Right now you won't find any mods that replace the Dwarves with other creatures, but I guess it's easy enough to make one which would exchange some units with Wolves, Manticores or other neutrals.
Character models can't be created or edited, but there is a way to make parts transparent: so basically, you can't add anything to a character model, but you can take stuff away. So this could be used to remove the dwarves' beards.