Direction?

Posted on April 22, 2021 by grumpyoldtin

The evolution of 3D printing has been amazing. Four years ago I was eyeing up resin models from Forgeworld and Ramshackle Games. Three years ago I dabbled in FDM printing, with my Ender 3, but wasn’t impressed by the quality. Just over a year ago I started scratch building models using laser cut parts. Six months ago I got my SLA (I will call it resin from now on) printer and I was blown away with the quality. And now I have started studying tutorials on how to model in Blender with a view to making my own 3D models.

There is, or appears to be, an arms race going on with resin printers, bigger build plates, higher quality light sources to expose the resin and faster print times. As a hobbyist/consumer this is good news.

So if you don’t 3D model yourself where do you go to get digital print files?

There are Patreons, where for a modest monthly fee you can support a creator who will make 3D models. There are of course some artists who are good, some ok and some meh. This is of course depending on your own personal preferences and requirements.

If you have a need for just one type of model and don’t want the commitment then you can purchase them from MyMiniFactory or Cults3D.

Maybe you just want to try something for free? Then Thingiverse is for you. A place where artists put out work to gauge reaction before starting a Patreon. If you like their work there is the option to donate a small amount. Thingiverse is great for the remix community, where people will take parts from different models and combine them to create something new. Sometimes you have to be quick if you like a particular design, because some artists skate very close, or over, the IP line of a famously litigious games manufacturer and if you blink it will be 404’d.

One could venture into the wild west of Telegram. Just about everything is there. I once had an invite and put my head above the parapets. I made my excuses and left.

This burgeoning of the 3D printing movement has breathed back life into many old game systems.

A bit of Heroquest?

The best thing about Heroquest is……

….Thingiverse. All the game parts are there. Someone has meticulously scanned all the character models and even left on the mold lines for that old school feel.

Warmaster now has beautifully sculpted armies for a fraction of the price you would pay on Fleabay for the original metal models. There has been a revamped set of rules (there has been some pooh-poohing in more traditionalist corners) with Warmaster Revolutions.

Battlefleet Gothic.

SpaceHulk.

Adding to the mix is social media enabling previously isolated enthusiasts to get to know others and share. I am talking with people from America to Australia and points in between. Groups on Facebook have reignited interest in classic old games. One can gather galleries of well painted armies/figures of your choice to inspire you in Pinterest. The Blogosphere. Twitter and Instagram. Instructional videos on Youtube.

What a time to be a hobbyist!

What direction is this going to take Games Workshop/Forgeworld? There will always be people who will buy from them no matter the cost. And that is the sticking point for some.

The cost.

There are arguments out there for and against their pricing strategy and I will let you make up your own mind on this. What I am saying is purely my personal opinion.

Let’s give an example: 40K. I haven’t played since the Eighties but I like the look of some of the models and with inspiration from some of the Black Libraries books (Gaunt’s Ghosts and Eisenhorn) I have always wanted an Imperial Guard Army.

Taking a pretty basic army composition:

4 Squads of Infantry

2 Command Squds

3 Ogryn

2 Sentinels

3 Mortars

Chimera

Leman Russ

Demolisher

Roughly, I have been led to believe, a 1,000 points. Buying direct from G’Dub is €382.

Buying a printer, resin, sundries (gloves, cleaning accessories Isopropanol) and four months of Patreon (this is for the Makers Cult who do a lovely Guard army) takes me to just over €400.

BUT

I now have the printer, which was the biggest outlay, and the files for the army. For the cost of resin I can now keep on printing. Another four or five squads or a couple of armoured vehicles? Just under €20.

You would like another army?

Just buy the files and resin. So for about a €100 ish you have another army!

Forgeworld Titans.

Owning one was not for us mere mortals.

Now it is a different story. You can find them for free on Thingiverse or buy them from various makers. For about €40 I can have a Warhound with all the weapon options I want. Compare that to €664 with four different weapon options Mars Pattern Warhound. Plus I know that I won’t be getting iffy FW resin casts.

There is going to have to be a radical rethink because in two years time 3D printing is going to be ubiquitous in the hobby.

This is going to impact on some of the smaller manufacturers. For the moment historical figures are pretty safe from this, but it is only time when people will figure out that there is a vast audience out there.

Is it good?

Is it an evil that must be stamped out?

I would like to hear your opinions on this.

End of isolation?

Posted on May 22, 2020 by grumpyoldtin

Isolation, over here in Austria, has eased. There have been no new infections in Salzburg. For us it has been rather lovely. The only fly in the ointment has been trying to get the Boys to do school work.

I have been painting and crafting away. I did make for my Boys a hideaway.

You can just about see it, dead centre to the left of my shed. Two storeys, each level being about 2m long, 1m wide and 1m high. The Boys love it and have been sleeping in it even when it snowed!

I have been cracking on with the 2020 Painting Challenge and have managed to do this years quota. This means I can relax a little and try and tackle some bigger projects. Heresy Dragon? Here is the progress roughly in order.

This was the bust produced for Goblinaid to support Kevin Adams after his assualt

This was something I cobbled together. It is an old 40K Gobsmasha. I had 3D printed the wheels and gun barrel and then my printer went all spanner on me. So everything else, apart from the exhausts (from Ramshackle Games) was laser cut.

These last two are also for my Earth Elemental Army used in Dragon Rampant. They are from Thingiverse and designed by DutchMogul. 3D printed by me.

Here are some Saga Measuring sticks. Another game that looks interesting but I will never end up playing.

I have some more bits of crafting to post which I’ll do as soon as I photograph them.

Orktober

Posted on November 1, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

Orktober this year has been rather busy. A trip to London and reorganising the hobby room so I can put a painting desk in for Number Two Son.

I did however manage to finish this little tankette.

The main chasis is from Ramshackle Games.

https://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?id_product=232&id_product_attribute=0&rewrite=plant-blank&controller=product

The main part of the turret, the exhausts and the Schürzen are scratch built.

The Ork is from Kromlech

https://bitsofwar.com/home/125-orc-tank-crew-.html

Things that I like

Posted on September 5, 2019 by grumpyoldtin

There are things that I like. Sculpts by Bob Olley and Kevin Adams. Gnomes from Ols School Miniatures. And parts from Ramshackle Games.

http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk

I don’t know what it is, but when I get a box of bits from Curtis my imagination gets fired up. This part might fit well with this, ooh and then if I add this etc. etc.

I’ve known about Ramshackle Games for about ten years, maybe a touch more. I started off getting some fantasy models.

In my Lead Mountain I have a mahosive squiggoth-like creature which is destined to be for my Orc Overlord.

Then a few years back Ramshackle Games had a Kickstarter for sci fi troopers. This was my starting point for my necromantic “Not Imperial Guard”.

You can see more images waaay back in my blog

Ramshackle also make vehicles. Here is my command APC.

Later Ramshackle ran a Kickstarter for the parts to assemble Jet Bikes. Obviously I sucumbed. I have only constructed one so far. Painting it would be nice.

Then I have recently been in the mood to bash up some tankettes for my Orks. Curtis, the ever obliging, helped.

Very recently I ordered some parts to make up a robot walker type machine. In the box was included a few other bits and bobs. This one was a personal project of Curtis’s for his Realm of Chaos warband. I saw it and it called out for a little floating platform. A sort of mini Slann.

Here is the walker.

And it is accompanied by a floating sensor/gun platform. Based on a Kinder Egg with extras from Ramshackle.

If you haven’t as yet come across Ramshackle Games do have a peek at the website. There is bound to be something there for you. Would free world-wide shipping be an incentive?

Just say I sent you

Reflections on 2017

Posted on January 11, 2018 by grumpyoldtin

I’m somewhat late on this one as I’ve been laid low with a rather unpleasant flu-like lurgy.
A quick catch-up on a couple of pieces from my last post.

Here is the Barbarian from the OS Miniatures Company. This was a challenge that I undertook to have him painted before Christmas. Nobody else took up the challenge which was a pity.
santa
This was from Warmonger Miniatures, again painted up for Christmas.
There is one more figure which was supposed to be my last figure of 2017, but the lurgy stopped that. I’ll post when it is finished.
Old age seems to have telescoped the year. Blink and I’ll miss it.
The first three months were taken up with making the Rogue Stars display board. April/May I did some landscaping in the garden converting a be-shrubbed steep slope into a flat grassy terrace.
June/July/August were at Electric Love. I had a great time and it gave me enough money to buy my own small laser cutter.
The rest of the year seemed to evaporate, lttle jobs around the house and making bits with my loot from the summer.
2017
Here is a group shot of what I finished painting. There is a lot more half finished and the 2018 goal is to finish all the half started jobs from the past few years, the Heresy Dragon being the main target, get all that out of the way so I have a clean slate. Then one project at a time, start it and finish it.
Yeah right!
Product of the Year 2017
On reflection it has to be the laser cutter. It’s small and slow but it has enabled me to prototype ideas and to make stuff on the fly. Christmas cards, party invites, party bag goodies, cake icing molds and gift tags just to name a few bits and bobs.
Heroes and Zeroes
Firstly the Heroes.
At the top of the list are the Facebook friends; EvH, DW, SR, ME and CF. They have been a constant source (sauce?) of inspiration, advice and encouragement. I might actually meet some of them in RL oneday.
Then comes the figure manufacturers who have gifted me with lovely toys this last year.
Ramshackle Games
http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php
The OS Miniatures Company
https://www.facebook.com/OldSchoolMinis1985/
Avatars of War
http://www.avatars-of-war.com/eng/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59&Itemid=51
Warmonger Miniatures
https://www.warmongerminiatures.com/
Finally Revolution Events
https://www.revolutionevent.com/
For fun, education and loot.
Now to the Zeroes
Wayland Games for lengthy delays, poor communication and their unwillingness (or inability) to combine orders.
TNT for their lack of customer service and making life just that little bit harder.
Games Workshop for tantalising me with the new rules for 40K, promises of fewer books and then conveniently forgetting about all that.
The new plastics are beautiful though.

Getting the picture

Posted on July 11, 2016 by grumpyoldtin

This is a topic I’ve been having some problems with. Now things are starting to settle down a little with the house I thought it was time to get a little consistency with my model pictures.
There are a couple of blogs that I occasionally look at where their models are photographed with a scenic base and background and I quite liked it.
So here is my take on it.

The base was a square of polystyrene with some blue foam details. This was then coated in PVA glue and coarse sand added for texture. This was painted with some dark brown household emulsion paint.

Then it was drybrushed with two more colours of emulsion.

Then flocked.

I went a little low-tech with the sky backdrop. I used a diffuser tube, a kind of crude airbrush, figuring that the coarse splatter wouldn’t be seen.

On the reverse side of the sky backdrop I made a chaotic mix of colours. My main problem was that the card was not dimensionally stable and warped like mad. So I had to dry it like this.

Here is my set up. My camera is a Pentax istD. I went down the Pentax route as I have a large number of Pentax lenses from my time as a photographer in the Eighties. The soft-box and lights are from an eBenk WSB-342 studio kit that I bought for this purpose. The one thing I have done is to change the bulbs to LEDs as they don’t run as hot and don’t use as much electricity.

Here is the first attempt. The lights give a yellow cast, I haven’t as yet managed to source daylight bulbs, the white balance in camera is set to “Tungsten” and but a bit of tinkering in Photoshop (minimal, one slide of the colour balance) solves this.

Some trees in the background.

Now the chaotic sky.
So far the problem with this is the depth of field. There is far too much of it.

So I dropped the aperture right down and this is the result. There are some very minor adjustments to be made, but I think I’m pretty close.
Now to write down what I have done so I can continue to be consistent.
The model used for photography is from Ramshackle Games.
http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=255

August progress

Posted on August 25, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

Here are some work in progress shots of my command vehicle used in my Not DKK Army. Vehicle by Ramshackle Games from the recent Kickstarter.

Undercoat and the start of weathering

Weathering finished and dozer blade.

Rubbing away the white paint. I used the Hairspray Technique for this. It is a bit disheartening to spend hours painting on weathering for it all to be painted over.

Masking for the blue paint

Blue paint applied

Cutting the masking for the black stripes. This camouflage scheme was inspired by the film, “Inception”.

The original design

Black stripes. I wasn’t as successful as I had hoped with the masking and had to do a fair amount of retouching.

Start of muddying up the dozer blade. I used weathering products from AK Interactive.

And the finished result

August progress

Posted on August 12, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This month is not going to plan and this month’s work is going to probably be finished in September.
Why?

Days out at Wallersee, our local lake.

Mountain walks with Number One Son

And wanting to try out some weathering effects on the Command Vehicle from Ramshackle Games.
Here it is with the chipping waiting for a coat of hairspray.

Then sprayed white then distressed with warm water and a cotton bud. It is slightly depressing to see the hours worth of painting disappearing under a coat of paint only to reveal a small part.

Next I get to try out some AK Interactive weathering products on the plough. So far my impression that it isn’t that amazing. It’s basically an expensive jar of Humbrol paint. This may change with more use. Next to the plough you can see that I have been making a start on the Celts. It has been a bit of a slog, clipping, cleaning mold lines, basing and then painting the flesh.

This is the unit with the flesh starting to take form. I’m using Foundry paints for this. Standing on a pot is the unit champian.

July’s workbench

Posted on August 2, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This last month saw me more involved with the Boys so there was less time devoted to painting.
I managed to finish two squads of Ramshackle Games “Iron Brotherhood” troops from the Kickstarter campaign, but I didn’t manage the command vehicle.

These will complement my Anvil Industries “Tox Troopers” and the Raging Heroes “Toughest Girls of the Galaxy”, another Kickstarter I backed.
As you can see, a far amount of work to go before I even start on the camoflage.

July’s Workbench

Posted on July 7, 2014 by grumpyoldtin

This month I will mostly be painting two squads of Iron Brotherhood troops. I got these from the Ramshackle Games Kickstarter last year. I will be using them as zombie troops in my Not DKK Army alongside the miniatures from Anvil Industries (already painted) and the Iron Empire troops from the Raging Heroes Kickstarter. I plan to add some real DKK and the Leviathan from Dreamforge Games.