Sunday 24 May 2020

3D-printing dungeon decor... pt. VI

You can never have too much loot... And that's why you can also never have too many loot piles. These piles are very versatile and can be used just about anywhere in the dungeon, they can be used to store/hide loot (well, they áre called loot piles for a reason) and serve as cover during sneaking or combat. If all else fails they just look good... 

This is an overview of my current set of loot piles...
These loot piles originally started out as barricades for Mordheim, but a year or so ago I updated and repainted them to enhance my dungeon. The base of each of these piles is a stack of home-cast plaster crates, the smaller and more detailed pieces are a mix of plaster, metal, plastic and resin parts.

Having a 3D-printer opens up a lot of possibilities and the last couple of days I have spent some time putting together and printing a couple of complete loot piles and some separate pieces to further enhance the excisting loot piles.

The first two, relatively simple, loot piles...
These were printed as one piece.
The third pile, also printed as a single piece... 
For the third pile I wanted to try something a bit different. I searched, and found, a chicken and a birdcage.

The cage was printed separately, mainly for ease of painting...
On Thingiverse there are a lot of interesting and usefull pieces that can be used for this purpose. Most of the new pieces are designed by a very friendly designer from France. He designed the wicker baskets with tomatoes and apples, the bottles with a wicker shell, the bag of potatoes and the sacks... The wooden crates were found elsewhere on Thingiverse.

Three 3D-printed loot piles mixed with some of the models
from my collection...
The separate pieces... The detail of these items is amazing!
The printed pieces used on a couple of existing loot piles...
The size of these bits is just right!
This is just the first addition to the loot piles, I can imagine there will be more to come!

Tuesday 5 May 2020

3D-printing Feudal Guard... pt. I

Even before I bought my Elegoo MARS 3D-printer I had stumbled across The Makersguild, three designers working together, mostly creating 40K related stuff. The designs of their Feudal Guard just blew me away...

Feudal Guard infantry squad... Picture courtesy of The Makersguild...

I have played 40K, years ago, collecting sizable forces of Orks, Space Marines and Imperial Guard. All of these models are long gone, sold to other gamers, and I haven't played 40K in more than a decade...

I have, however, picked up a couple of rulebooks in the last year or so, namely the rules for Kill Team and Necromunda. At the moment I have no intention of building an entire army, instead I will be printing a smaller skirmish force...

I have also printed several Adeptus Astartes Space Marine miniatures over the last couple of weeks for the very same purpose, expect some pictures soon.

My first project will be a set of Astra Militarum models for a Kill Team. To print/build this Kill Team I purchased the following files:

While these files cost me about as much as a box of plastic Guardsmen would, I have a lot more options and I can print as many as I need/want/like... Apart from the skirmisher team, all these sets are completely modular and come with a wide selection of poses, heads and weapons.
The designs are sharp, clean and all follow the same distinct style. While they lack the abundance of skulls and the Imperial Aquila you see on GW-miniatures, these are very well suited to serve as Astra Militarum (or Imperial Guard as I can't help calling them).

Apart from one or two more delicate pieces, the models are very easy to print.

So far I have printed about half a dozen miniatures and started painting the first test models.






The units are all just a little bit different but all share the same distinct style.

My first impuls was to paint the armour in a metallic colour, give it a wash and call it a day. However, I quickly realised that would make them look like my Reiksguard on foot, only with lasguns instead of swords... So I opted for a more striking colour scheme, using bright orange, white and grey...


The first test model... This one is just about finished.
I think the orange works quite well, especially because the armour covers such a large part of the model... I tried to add some battle damage to this test model, but I need to experiment a bit more with this technique.

This Ogryn has received the first couple layers of paint but is
far from finished...

In keeping with their Medieval look I made a set of flagstone bases to go with these models. The bases are a simple re-mix of a stone texture I found on Thingiverse, cut to make 25mm and 40mm round bases. Should I want to expand this Kill Team into a full army (and let's be honest, we all know that's going to happen) it will be easy enough to make larger bases for the heavy weapons and the walkers...

25mm and 40mm round flagstone bases...

More to come!