3D-printing a complete army... pt. I

Well, almost complete... I won't be printing the infantry for this project, but apart from that, everything else will come out of my Elegoo MARS 3D-printer...

As can be deduced by looking at the previous posts, I am slowly building a British/ Canadian company for games like Flames of War, Battlegroup or I Ain't Been Shot Mum.

While 3D-printing is by no means a fast process, a single print consisting of two vehicles takes an average of nine hours to complete (and that's excluded the cleaning and curing), but printing almost non-stop yields results...

The start of the projec: Rams, Shermans and Stagjhounds...

In most cases the level of detail in these prints is almost as good as other resin, plastic and metal models. In some respects it's even better, sometimes by far...

Staghounds... I have four different turrets available for these models...

Dailmer Armoured car and Dingo's, Staghound turrets and an Archer...

Ram Kangaroos... You will be hard-pressed to find a place that sells these...

I can't take any credit for these designs. Most of these were done by m_bergman, they can be found here. 

The Daimler armoured car was done by Kharn3655 and can be found here. This design comes with two different turrets, both of which I printed.

Daimler armoured car, with both turret options... All are magnetized...

I did adapt most of these designs to accommodate a set of magnets. I also hollowed out all of the barrels. 

At the moment I am printing the last couple of Shermans for this little project. I hope the paint, decals and infantry wil arrive tomorrow so I can begin the second phase of this project: painting!

3D-printing tanks... pt. IV: Sherman Firefly

After the Canadian Ram, the Sherman Firefly is the next proper tank to come out of my printer...

Firefly in France...

These vehicles are going to be used in a new British/Commonwealth project. First on a small scale, individual tanks for games of What a Tanker!, but I aim to expand the set to a playable Company for games like Flames of War, I Ain't Been Shot Mum and Battlegroup.

Firefly taking cover... 

Lovely models, the prints came out great! 

Front and rear view of the model... 

The files for this model can be found here, courtesy of Thingiverse and the designer, m_bergman...

For the Firefly, too, I opted to use the 0.025mm resolution, further increasing the level of detail on these models. The prints are of a great quality, thanks to the level of the design. When painted, these will be hard to distinguish from a plastic or metal miniature.

Talking of paint... I have ordered a couple of new paints to get me started on this project. I also purchased a set of British infantry and some decals from PSC.

Next are two pictures comparing the printed model to a Firefly from my wargaming buddy. His painted Firefly is a plastic miniature from Battlefront.

The printed Firefly next to a plastic model from Battlefront... 

The difference in size and detail is negligible...

As with the Ram, I adapted the model to accommodate a set of magnets and I hollowed out the barrel and muzzle break...

The converted turret and hull to accommodate the magnets... 

The hollowed out muzzle break... 

3D-printing tanks... pt. III: Ram

Another tank I am keen to add to my collection is the Canadian built Ram cruiser tank... While this vehicle won't fit in with my U.S. or German forces (well, I could always substitute one or two for a couple of Shermans), it might just be the start of a British/Canadian project. At the very least it will see service in our games of What a Tanker!

The files for this model can be found here, courtesy of Thingiverse and the designer, m_bergman...

This is what my desk looks like...

I have set up several files with different configurations. I decided to print the early and late version, both with the 6-pounder gun. After a little bit of cutting and pasting in Tinkercad I adapted the design to accommodate a set of small magnets. I also hollowed out the end of the gun's barrel...

The first two Rams were laid-out with a horizontally printed turret. While the rest of the vehicle printed quite well, this resulted in two crooked barrels. Apart from the barrels, the bottom of the turret wasn't as tight as it should be due to support failure and the hulls suffered some damage due to excess support (both totally my own fault).

Crooked barrel...

The difference in quality is obvious. 

After that I decided to tweak the set-up in Chitubox. I placed the turret verticaly, with the barrel pointing up and I removed a couple of unnecessary supports which were damaging detail on the hull.

Little detail shot of the damaged portion of the fenders...

Hollowed out barrel and magnethole (if that's even a word)...

The two versions... Both miniatures still need some clean-up and curing but
I am happy with the results.

The second and third batch came out a lot better. Which demonstrates (again) that working with Chitubox is a learning experience...

Third batch, fresh out of the printer...

For the fourth run I have set the layer height to 0.025mm instead of the standard 0.05mm... Doubling the print time, but worth waiting for if it will improve the quality of the model even further.

Left the print at 0.025mm and Ram on the right at 0.05mm...

Admitted, the difference is small, very small, barely visible with the naked eye and I doubt it will be visible at all when the miniature is painted. But I think it's worth the extra time...

Going to MARS... The final countdown...

The final preparations have been made, all I can do now, is wait for my printer to arrive...

Today I picked up several plastic containers at IKEA, the last of the supplies I needed... These come with a clamped, rubber sealed lid so should be watertight. These containers are going to be used to clean my printer parts (as they won't be able to fit in my pickle jars), like the resin vat and the build plate...

I also prepared a couple of files in Chitubox, the slicerprogram that's used to convert stl-files... I have studied several tutorials on how to operate this slicer, mainly focussing on support placement and model orientation... While the program is quite easy to use, I have the feeling I still have a lot to learn...

These models will be the first things I hope to get out of my printer. After that, I must really make some plans to get the most out of this machine...

The Innkeeper and a barrel from VeaVictis miniatures...

A rack with barrels, made by EC3D Designs...

Both of these prints will be printed at 28mm scale and will be put to good use in my modular HirstArts Dungeon. I really hope this is the next step, bringing further detail to this already vast project... The barrels were hollowed out, using the slicer.

A Jadgpanzer 38t, found on Thingiverse...

The Jagdpanzer will be printed in 15mm scale end will be used with Flames of War and What a Tanker! I used the slicer to hollow out this model, saving some resin.

All of these models can be found for free, on Thingiverse. A lot of designers use this platform to share their models, often giving access to free designs to promote their paid content. I have already found some very nice designs I am more than willing to pay for. When I am more confident I am getting the hang of my new printer I will surely get some of them...

Plans for 2020...

While this is in no way a new-years resolution, I do have some plans listed for the coming year...

Hexes...
I aim to expand my Hex terrain considerably. Not only do I have plans to double the number of snowflake Hexes to enlarge the surface of my Hex terrain, but I also want to create more different Hexes to further increase the diversity of the set. The Hex Terrain Toolkit offers plenty of options I haven't even used yet...

6mm...
Even though I already finished quite a few of my new 6mm stuff, I still have plenty of tanks and armoured cars waiting to be painted. I hope to complete my stock of vehicles and infantry, expanding my range of models to be able to play larger battles.

Play more games, fight more battles...
In that regard 2019 has been a very, very slow year, but 2020 is looking to a lot better already... Having recently discovered What a Tanker!, getting in more games should be quite easy... I also want to try the Battlegroup, I Ain't Been Shot Mum and Crossfire rules in 6mm, ad well as play a few games of Flames of war, also in 6mm...

Dungeon...
While most of my hobby time and effort is being absorbed by the 6mm WW2 Hex terrain project, the Hirst Arts Dungeon isn't forgotten... I do have some interesting pieces waiting to be finished as well as an abundance of very nice furniture and assorted clutter. I also have a growing collection of NPC's and monsters to populate the massive dungeon...

3D-printing...
I already have a bit of experience when it comes to 3D-printing, as I have an Ultimaker 2+ in my classroom. While this is an excellent printer, it's hardly suited to print 15mm or 6mm miniatures. At the moment I am saving up to purchase a resin 3D-printer, most likely an Elegoo Mars, preferably the updated Pro version... This type of resin printer has become surprisingly affordable and seems to yield impressive results...

Whatever comes my way...
Last year, the whole Hex project and the 6mm miniatures came rather unexpected, so there's no knowing what I will stumble upon this year...

What a Tanker!

Yesterday we played our first ever 6mm game. Due to the fact neither of us has a complete force to play with (yet), we decided to try out What a Tanker! by Too Fat Lardies...

With two tanks each, my opponent used two French Hotchkisses while I used a StuG B and Panzer IV D, this was a perfect game to get back on the battlefield. While the points weren't precisely equal, they were close enough for this test game. For both of us this was the first battle after a long hiatus, and What a Tanker! proved to be an accessible and entertaining game.

We used the rules with one minor adaptation, we changed all the measurements from Inches to centimetres. This way, the distances matched the terrain...

I had the intention of making a lot of pictures during the game, but quickly forgot about that...

My panzers taking cover at the edge of the village...

The French are advancing on the bridge...

The first Hotchkiss goes up in flames...

The game ended with two burning French tanks, maybe not surprisingly as those were a bit cheaper in points... More important, we got a good impression of the rules and got to play on my new Hex terrain.