3D-printing Normandy... Pt. III

After printing a couple of houses and farms to replace my scratch-built foam buildings (more on that in another post) I figured I might as well update the rest of my scenery, too...

First up are my trees... Since no battlefield is complete without at least a few trees and my table measures 220x160cm I ended up having more than a few... My trees are split between single based trees and forest bases. A quick count yielded almost 30 forest bases and at least as many individual trees. 

Safe to say, I like my WW2 battlefields green, and for most of my games, I put all my trees on the board. 

A few months ago I picked up a set of trees to print as scatter terrain for D&D. Great looking Fantasy trees, suitably twisted and gnarly. 

The full set... As far as scatter terrain goes, this is all I need for D&D.

The design included a canopy, but I haven't printed those yet. These trees are meant to serve as scatter terrain for our D&D sessions, and the canopies would only get in the way and block our view of the board.

One of the many benefits of digital designs is that you can scale them any way you wish... I cut a bit of the bottom of the trees to remove the wide base of the trunk and made them a lot thinner. These trees are part of a Fantasy range of models and are thus scaled heroically (is that even a word?), by which I mean their shapes and measurements are slightly exaggerated, so to fit in with 15mm Historical terrain they needed some tweaking. 

I ended up with this set...

This batch represents four full plates on my Elegoo MARS. The tallest trees are using the maximum of height the MARS has to offer.  

I used round MDF bases to mount the trees on. I decided to use several different sizes, making a distinction between large and smaller trees.

There is no way I will be able to replace all my trees in one go, but this first batch is a nice start.

The painting was fast and easy; a basecoat of Dryad Bark and a very quick overbrush of Gorthor Brown. The bases were covered in a layer of textured paint. 

As soon as the textured paint has dried, I will give the dirt a quick drybrush with a lighter shade of brown. After that I plan on adding some static grass and larger tufts. For the trees I have several shades of clump foliage...

More pictures coming soon!

Déjà vu; here we go again...

Oh man, life goes on and typing this makes me feel a bit like deja-vu...

Over the last couple of months I have spent plenty of time on my hobby, but I haven't found/taken the time to keep his blog up to date...  

So, what have I been up to? 

Well... A lot of different things, actually... 

First up, I have purchased two new 3D-printers... After my two Elegoo MARS, the larger Elegoo SATURN is a proper upgrade; the larger print volume gives a lot more options. I also picked up a FDM-printer: A Creality CR-10S Pro V2... Having a FDM-printer with a large print surface, allows me to print bigger pieces of scenery. My printer prints at a very nice quality, mind you, it can't compare to resin, but for scenery or terrain it's perfect! It might not be faster, but the ability to print bigger makes all the difference, and that it's cheaper is a bonus, too.

I have printed a whole lot of resin 15mm buildings for my Flames of War scenery. Most of these still have to be painted, but my table now has a proper village. Even better, my friend and neighbour has been busy building and painting two whole armies and together we have been playing some games. 

Well, maybe not a proper village yet. Mind you, this is a 220X160 table...

I have completed a whole lot of pieces to decorate The Dungeon. I commisioned a set of full-plate armoured suits to put on display. I found the sculpter of Uncanny Minis on Thingiverse, joined his new Patreon and contacted him with a proposal. If you are interested in fantasy miniatures, check out his Patreon or his Thingiverse. Most of his models are absolutely free and, most important, very good! 

Two of the full plate armoured suits...

A painted example of one of his designs... 

After the set of armoured suits I asked him to design my D&D character: Gabnast, a Gnome Ranger wielding a heavy crossbow...

Meet Gabnast 'the bullfrog' Millwop... 

Speaking of D&D... Almost a year ago I joined a group of players for a new (and my first) D&D campaign. After our lockdown ended, we switched from online to physical game sessions. So far, I have printed and painted all the character for the players and I have been printing miniatures for our DM, too. 

I have also started printing scatter terrain for D&D. So far I have printed ánd painted (yes, I'm surprised, too) a set of trees, a complete cavern/mine set and a whole lot of ruins... We have been using my terrain during our sessions, which serves as a great motivation to actually paint all these pieces.

The cavern/mine set, all VaeVictis Miniatures...

Most of these ruins will form the basis of a new set of terrain for 40K. This set of terrain should help me to get back into playing 40K.

And because an update without some fresh pictures is just lame, here are a few from last weekend, if only as proof I actually printed and painted something...

These ruins are from Devious Games and are easy to print (they require minimal supports) and fun to paint... I think they are equally usable as scatter terrain for D&D or other Fantasy games as well as terrain for 40K.

I have designed a full set of detailed round bases, which I uploaded to Thingiverse. Originally I designed these for a project of my own, but for now, that project is on hold... Judging by the number of downloads, I think other hobbyists enjoy them, too. You can check them out HERE.

I sold my orange Feudal Guard army, clearing some space for a new Valour Korps force from The Makers Cult. Even though the VK models are pretty awesome to begin with, I found some room for improvement... 

I have kitbashed and designed a set of extra gear for the standard Korpsmen, resulting in kitted-out models which are a joy to paint! I digitally added bayonets and belts to all the lasguns, so I can print them as complete sets.

This army will get it's own series of posts. Well, that's the plan, anyway... 

So far, I have settled on a colour scheme, as can be seen below, and I have printed several squads of Korpsmen to get my army started.

A painted test model...

A squad of Korpsmen, equipped with extra gear...

Painted test model of a Sentinel...

This is the part where I normally say that more updates are coming soon, but looking back, I shouldn't be making any such promises...

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

After joining my very first campaign of D&D with a new group of players, my interest in the Dungeon is as high as ever... 

I have been dividing my printing time between 40K-related projects and Fantasy stuff for the Dungeon, printing monsters, npc's, characters and scenic pieces...

One of the most recent projects was expanding my set of loot piles and updating the existing set... 

The new additions...

I added ten new and unique pieces. The crates and barrels are all plaster casts, hence the occasional bubble, most of the smaller pieces are 3D-printed. These simple pieces add a lot of character to any room they are placed in. Furthermore, they provide cover and add an opportunity for gathering loot...

The full set. More pieces will likely follow...

I have used a lot of different bits and pieces, most are from Thingiverse, but there are quite a few VaeVictis designs, too. 

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

While it has been a while since I last worked on my dungeon, the project is never quite forgotten... I am always looking around for stuff to add, especially things like furniture and other clutter. This update was written back in December '20, but I totally forgot posting it...

I had already found a few great designs on Thingiverse by Ecaroth and Curufin. One of my very first prints was this Large Cask Shelf. I have since printed several of these and recently finished painting them.

A set of simple pieces, but I like them very much! This piece is part of the Aleworks collection and this week I printed some of the other parts of the set... 

Scaled down a bit to fit on the plate of my Elegoo MARS, this is a very big piece of Dungeon furniture. I tried to add a bit of variety by using three different shades of brown for the wooden containers. 

There are more pieces to the set, but these aren't painted yet... All these pieces combined make for a nice-looking brewing system

These designs then directed me to their website Hero's Hoard. I picked up both the Tavern sets and the Blacksmith. The Library set followed a few days later as I had printed some of the free cabinets and was suitably impressed with the detail.

I made some cabinets with half the depth...

The half-depth cabinets are very useful and use only half the resin...

A few samples of the modular library set...

The library set is extremely versatile and complete and allows me to print and build and almost infinite combination of cabinets... The detail is pretty good as well, adding nice touches like the carved owl.

The blacksmith's forge was a bit of a challenge as the full model is too large for the Elegoo MARS. I decided to reduce the size a bit, but the piece is still quite big and it will dominate any room it will be put in. Pictures will be coming soon...

The pieces for the tavern kitchen are very, very nice. I have been thinking about adding something like these for years... I have tried making my own, both with wood and plaster and digitally, but these are so much better. 

All of these pieces print very well and more are sure to follow...

Orange everywhere... EVERYWHERE!!!

I love the whole 3D-printing my own army thing, but, believe it or not, there is a downside to it all... Well, no, there isn't, but at the moment I am printing a lot faster than I can paint, but I am trying to catch up. Really... 

That involves painting a lot of orange, and I mean A LOT of orange... 

A Chimera, Hellhound, some 40 infantry models, a squad of cavalry and the last pieces of my first Leman Russ... 

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

It has been a while; work has been keeping me busy, but even so, the printer hasn't been idle...

I have printed another two squads of Guardsmen to back-up my first squad. I also replaced four guardsmen who I accidentally equipped with the wrong style helmet. 

These three units will be forming the backbone of my growing Astra Militarum force. For now I have equipped two squads with a meltagun and the third with a plasmagun. One of the Sergeants is armed with a laspistol and chainsword while the other two have been issued a boltgun. 

Three Vox-casters...

The second half of TMC-Patreon for this month contained another set of Feudal Guard upgrade bits. Included in this set are bits to equip a Vox-caster with the new styled arms. The set also includes all the bits needed to upgrade the Heavy Weapon Teams (I will be printing these soon). These upgrade packs have been extremely useful in making the FG range even more complete and flexible. 

The second part of the FG reinforcements for this update is formed by a squad of Rough Riders... As with all the Feudal Guard models these are very well designed. 

While these models aren't supported anymore by GW, I think it's still possible to field them in my force (or at least, I hope so)... If all else  fails, I still have a very good looking unit.

I designed custom bases for my cavalry, too...

Right now, I am looking at all these freshly printed models with a mix of wonder, pride, anticipation and growing dread, the latter is being fueled by the prospect of having to paint all of them... In that regard it's just like the old days when I still used to buy all my models, as in that I would buy them faster than I could paint...

The next update will most likely feature a squad of Veterans and some Storm Troopers with my own designed grav chutes... I also have been printing a Valkyrie dropship which just needs some final touches before it can be assembled and painted...

Oh, and I picked up the files to print my own Cerastus Knight, but that's a whole different story...

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

After the last update, I picked up the Feudal Guard Troop Transport (counts as Chimera)... The kit comes with just about all the options you could possibly want for a Chimera and is just as detailed as I have come to expect from TMC designs.

While the design of this kit is absolutely amazing (I think it's miles better than the GW kit I owned more than a decade ago, which is still being sold today, only at twice the price), I still felt the need to add a little personal twist.

For the Chimera I wanted a wheeled chassis. The wheels were found on Thingiverse and were scaled to fit the hull of the Troop Transport. I also added a new hubcap, more in line with the rest of the design... 

Big ass wheels instead of tracks...

The last thing I changed, was placing a vent over the holes meant for the lasgun array. Can't help it, but I just don't like the way these look. I disliked them on the original model and, even though it looks better, I dislike them on this version. However, thanks to the wonders of 3D-design, it was remarkably easy to convert the model slightly and cover up these holes while still keeping the design intact...

Vents instead of the standard lasgun array...

The finished model is just sooooo gorgeous...

Armed with all the bolters I could fit on...

I also wanted to print a Hellhound flamethrower tank. On the Discord channel of TMC there were a couple of very nice designs made by other users, but they didn't have the look I wanted. Working from the original hull design, I used Tinkercad to create a suitable extra fuel tank for my version of the Hellhound.

The detail on the back of the fuel tank...

I replicated the rivets from the original model as closely as I could and tried to mimic the style of the rest of the model. I ended up with a big, well armoured fuel tank, not bad for a novice designer like me...

The printed version came out very good.

The finished Hellhound... 

The prints came out near flawless; only one of the track guards is slightly bent (just like the Battle Tank did), but that's hardly visible... 

Both models weigh around 200 grammes (the Chimera weighs about 190 and the Hellhound just about 240 grammes) and took four separate prints each. I printed these at a resolution of 0.03mm. While this adds several hours to the printing time, the detail of the prints is very, very good... 

Armoured support...

These vehicles represent a sizable investment in time and resin, but I am extremely happy with the results. My Elegoo MARS continues to impress me...

I will be printing more Chimera's, but first up is an Elite Feudal Guard squad with grav chutes and some Cavalry...

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

As part of the TMC-Patreon for August another upgrade kit for the Feudal Guard was released. 

The FG upgrade kit...

Included in the upgrade kit are two whole sets of armoured bodies. The first half are just what I was waiting for to use for my standard Guardsmen. I love the original designs, but their style doesn't match the rest of the range as it is quite rounded while most of the other models are anything but, with sharp angles and edges... 

A comparison of the two versions... 

Both models are still very similar and could even be used together without a problem, at a glance you might not even notice the difference...

Thus far I have printed, and painted, mostly the elite troops (quite logical as I originally wanted to build a Kill team) and I have come to like their particular style. I really wanted my regular troopers to match that flavour... 

As soon as the kit became available for download, I went to work... With the arms and helmets from last months upgrade kit it's very easy to build a full squad of Guardsmen. 

Three full prints yielded a squad of 12 fully equipped troopers, including the same named bases I use for the rest of my models (these add just a little bit extra detail to the growing formation). I left the Sergeant quite basic, with just his standard chainsword and laspistol. It's easy enough to print another Sergeant and equip him with different weapons should the need arise. I cannot emphasize enough how big of an advantage this is as opposed to buying models like this in a box, where special components are always scarce... The same goes for the special weapons. For now, a meltagun and plasmagun are more than enough, but more of the same or different weapon options are readily available. I can remember, many years ago, before the convenience of online shopping, that I had great difficulty getting my hands on enough special weapons to equip my Guardsmen. Those particular blisters were never available and I ended up buying several command squad boxes for just those parts...

These troopers will first be used in Kill Team, but ultimately I want this squad to be one of the first complete units for my new Astra Militarum force for 40K... I might just use the current sale at CG-trader as an excuse to pick up a transport for these guys...

Another model I printed and put together is a new Sergeant for my Storm Troopers. I always liked the classic Kasrkin Sergeant model.

Equipped with a hotshot laspistol which is attached to his backpack with a power cable, just like the hotshot lasguns of the other Stormtroopers. This was a simple digital conversion, I cut the power cable from one of the special weapons and pasted it onto the arm with the pistol. Not as smooth as I would have liked, but it does the job.

The Stormtrooper Sergeant...

A little wink...

Designing and 3D-printing soda can terrain...

Because I haven't played any sort of 40K for well over a decade I have no scenery or terrain for this game... 

Some time ago (before I had my Mars) I printed this soda can terrain piece on my school's Ultimaker 2+. While not very detailed (this kit was designed with FDM-printing in mind), the print upgraded a humble soda can to a piece of attractive and functional terrain. Because I had no 40K at the time, I donated this piece to a gaming buddy, who painted it and now uses it on his battlefield. 

While browsing Thingiverse for terrain pieces to print I came across this very same upgrade kit again and thought of how it could be improved to make use of the capabilities of my Elegoo Mars.

I took more inspiration from another design made by the same user (be sure to check him out as he has several cool upgrade kits). I ended up not using any of his components, but he inspired me all the same!

While I know my way around Tinkercad I lack the ability to draw intricate/organic designs, that's why I used two pieces from this set. Using the gothic grate and the round fan I gradually worked towards creating a set of upgrade pieces. 

I have three kinds of cans available, the standard soda/beer can (be it 0,33 or 0,5L) and two kinds of cans commonly used for energy drinks. Funny thing is, we don't drink soda, beer or energy drinks, so I ended up buying a couple of the cheapest cans I could find and poured the contents down the drain... 

All these cans have different diameters and heights, but I wanted to create kits for them all. All kits are different, but share the same components to create an overall theme (I am a sucker for uniformity). To prevent ending up with a dozen identical terrain pieces, I made the upgrade kit modular, featuring several different versions of key components and several optional components. 

An example of the parts used to upgrade a can... 

At the moment I have sets for the two largest diameters, and I am thinking about ways to do something different with the smallest cans.

I have completed three different cans so far... 

Two of the different front caps...

Two of the different end caps...

Two examples of how to add variety by using different parts to detail the can... 

I have uploaded this modular upgrade kit to Thingiverse, check it out if you are interested!