Colour me Curious

I don't often buy painted figures. I have a modest number in my collection, but cost severely limits the possibility of acquiring more. That and the fact that I'm rather choosy about what matches my own painting style. I don't usually buy 3D printed miniatures either. I have my own printer and much prefer to print whatever I want rather than pay someone else to do that.

So, why would I buy pre-painted 3D printed miniatures? Good question. 

I suppose curiosity got the better of me again. It was an advertisement for Only-Games in one of my subscriber emails from MyMiniFactory that piqued my interest. Hmm, "Pre-Colored" 3D printed miniatures? They were running a promotion with a decent discount so I decided to take a punt. All in the name of research you understand.

Only-Games are licenced printers for a number of independent designers, so there's a varied selection to choose from. I deliberately selected two very different miniatures; the 'Vault-Tec Poster Girl' by Modiphius and a 'Kobold Cleric' by Bite The Bullet Studio. 

I chose the Poster Girl miniature as I felt this would be a good test of how well the printing process coped with representing flesh tones and hair texture. Then there's the bane of the shaky brush; the eyes. I do sometimes attempt to paint eyes but my worst failures come out looking like goggle-eyed freaks. Could colour 3D printing do better? I noticed that the miniature also has an integral base with lots of raised detail that would be a joy to paint in the traditional way. How well would the printing process manage this, I wondered?

I was interested in the Kobold miniature because it appeared to have quite a lot of detail and a number of different colours. I was curious to see whether the 3D colour printing process could represent shading, highlights and colour gradations that were similar to traditional painting.

Only-Games state that all their products are made on demand, with a production time of 10 working days for pre-coloured resin miniatures. I think I waited slightly more than a couple of weeks for the miniatures to arrive, so pretty much as Only-Games advertised. The miniatures came very well packaged, each in their own blister pack. They were protected from moving about inside their individual packs by a 'nest' of shredded paper strips (removed in the picture below) which did a good job of protecting the miniatures. Some time after I had unpacked them I did notice that the tip of the Kobold's tail was missing. However, I suspect that may be due to my clumsiness rather than any damage in transit. In any case, it is a very minor issue.

Blister packs (minus their shredded paper inner packaging).

Only-Games' website shows coloured digital renders of both my chosen miniatures, but no photos of the actual 3D colour printed figures. As you can see from the following pictures, what you see on the website and what you actually get are a little different. I wasn't surprised by this, but it would have been nice if there were pictures of the actual miniatures. To be fair to Only-Games, they do show pictures of some printed miniatures in the Pre-Colored range, just not the one's I chose. 

What you see...

... and what you get.

I was pleased to see that the colours on the digital render of the Poster Girl had been reproduced pretty faithfully on the actual printed figure. The blue in particular is a nice strong colour. There is a slight blurriness that is most obvious at the edges of the yellow trim. I guess this is a limitation of the colour print resolution. This seems to produce a slight graininess that you can also see around the edge of the base. On the plus side, I was happy to see that the miniature definitely has some shading and highlights. Had I painted the figure by hand I would have given greater contrast to the skin and hair, but otherwise the effect isn't bad at all. Close-up digital photos are also quite unforgiving and when viewing the figure at arm's length as it would be seen on the tabletop it really looks quite good.

Oh, and the eyes are there too. I doubt I would be able to improve on them if I had to paint them by hand.

I don't think I would have been able to improve on the base either. The details are nice and sharp and the choice of colours really help to make them stand out. Top marks to Only-Games on the base.

I'm not sure what method is used to apply colour to the miniatures. Only-Games don't say on their website, but I suspect it is something similar to the colour-printed option offered by HeroForge where colour is applied using something akin to a 3D colour 'inkjet'. This means the colour is only on the surface, which you can see in the photo below where the base is slightly mis-printed, revealing the underlying resin. Presumably the pigments are fused with the resin at the printing stage, so should be resilient to wear from normal handling.

The branding had me baffled until I realised that Modiphius hold the licence
to produce miniatures based on the Fallout video game by Bethesda Softworks.

Now, on to the Kobold Cleric...

What you see (Only-Games' digital render)...

...and what you get.

I really like this miniature. The colours are more muted than the digital render but I like it better for that, particularly the paler green skin tones. Like the Poster Girl, there are shadows and highlights, particularly noticeable on the hood and loincloth. Again, definition is slightly weak. If this was a hand-painted miniature I would have made the recessed areas darker and added brighter highlights to the raised areas to create greater contrast. I'd probably have used a bit of black lining too, to better define and separate the various parts of the miniature - for example on the straps and buckles of the bag. 

So my verdict? Well, not bad at all. If these were traditional hand-painted miniatures they would probably have sharper lines between the colours and greater contrast but as I said earlier, at arms length they look perfectly fine. I think the main consideration for me is cost. Had they not been offered at a significant discount I think I would have passed over them. At the time of writing, the Kobold is £11.80 which is comparable to the going rate for a 'table-top standard' hand-painted miniature of this level of detail. However, the Poster Girl is £20.00. I guess the base adds to the cost and there is probably a mark-up for the licence Modiphius pays to Bethesda Softworks, but that's a bit steep for what would be a fairly basic paint job by traditional methods.

The other pertinent issue is the miniatures' intended use. I do think they are aimed more at the Role-Playing Games community, rather than table-top wargamers. In that context, they are probably filling a niche but I think that's a long way from breaking into the wargames market. Now, if they ever start 3D colour printing Napoleonic armies, or troops in Tartan kilts, that would be something else!

Bank Holiday Bits and Bobs

I've been stuck indoors today due to the typically sh*t Early May Bank Holiday weather - high winds and heavy rain. The upside is I've had a bit of a hobby day, in between drinking copious amounts of tea. Yes, there was toast too.

I don't often post uncompleted stuff on the blog, but it's been a while - and, well why not.

Currently on the painting desk are a bunch of Star Wars: Legion Imperial Stormtroopers. I love painting endless shades of pale grey and white. Not. They are great figures, just not very inspiring to paint, which is my way of excusing myself for my usually glacial painting progress. Don't tell their boss, or he'll find some "new ways to motivate" me! Still, I'm happy to have done some more work on them. One step nearer to completion.

"and over here we have... more unpainted miniatures!"

While I painted away, the 3D printer has been humming quietly in the background. Fresh off the build plate today; another terrain piece for Mythic Battles:Pantheon board game. It now joins the painting queue behind the Stormtroopers.

The ruination that is Mythic Battles.

I like some background listening while I'm painting - a chance to catch up on a backlog of podcasts. Queued up today and in no particular order were:

WSS Podcast - The Wargames Soldiers and Strategy crew. Always worth a listen.

The Grognard Files - The inimitable and eminently listenable Dirk the Dice. This one scratches my RPG itch, though it's a good few years since I last role played anything. (TSR's 1980's vintage 'Top Secret' revisited briefly in a fit of old school nostalgia in 2018). Sadly, it didn't last.

Lead Pursuit Podcast - Blood Red Skies (and other aviation wargaming topics). Usually something interesting, though I tend to 'tune out' when they get too much into 'the meta'. Great website too.

The Mad Axeman Podcast - I tend to skip through the chatter about about ADLG (Art De La Guerre) rules and competition games (not my thing at all), but there are usually some gems in amongst the general chatter, not least the now regular 'I'm sorry but I think you're an arse' feature. Check out Episode 77 if  (like me) you have never seen the attraction of wargaming the American Civil War.

I've also been busy making cards - specifically a Fortune deck for Pulp Alley. I've had a PDF copy of the 1st edition rules for a long time, but never had the opportunity to try them out. Cue an email from my cross-channel gaming buddy Ian, hatching another game idea and asking whether I had the rules. Well, we are going to need a Fortune deck, so I got busy with the printer, card and hobby knife. 

Pulp is on the cards

Over the past few weeks, Ian and I have been battling it out with Bolt Action via Skype using Ian's DAK and 8th Army forces. We have another game lined up this week, so I spent a bit of time re-reading the rules, the next scenario and pondering whether I'd made a good choice with my force selection. 

Speaking of Bolt Action, Warlord Games recently had a Spring Sale, so I took advantage and a couple of books came winging my way; Close Quarters for Cruel Seas and Air Strike! for Blood Red Skies. I've not done much with either game recently, but I like the simple pleasure of flicking through rule books - so I was able to indulge myself a bit today.

Light reading for a rainy day.

All-in-all, a pretty good day hobby-wise. 'Every cloud...' as they say.

New Adventures In The Third Dimension

I finally caved in and bought a 3D printer. I'd been dithering about it for some time, but when I spotted that Anycubic were running a brief promotional offer I decided it was too good an opportunity to pass up. It was my birthday too, so I had an extra excuse to splash out and treat myself. 

So now I'm the proud owner of a Photon S resin SLA printer.

I'm still experimenting with different print settings, support configurations, slicing software (Anycubic's own, plus Chitubox and Meshmixer), but I'm rather enjoying the whole process. This is like a whole new hobby!

As with every hobby, the list of tools and 'essentials' soon grows. Top of the list was a big 5-litre bottle of IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol, not India Pale Ale) which is a must for cleaning the prints, print bed and resin tank. I will soon have to sort out a UV lamp to speed up curing times. I'm using good old sunlight to cure the finished prints at present, which is a less than reliable resource here at this time of year. I would really like to get Anycubic's all-in-one Wash and Cure machine, which seems to get favourable reviews, but that is an expense that will have to wait for a bit.

Amazon - free sample by Francesca Musumeci / ArtizanGuild

I fancy trying some different resins too. Anycubic bundle a 'random' 500ml bottle of resin with the printer, but from what I can tell its always of the transparent green variety, which is exactly what I got. I'm happy with the results so far and being transparent, the prints probably cure faster in natural sunlight than they would do with opaque resins. Still, some grey resin and Anycubic's water-washable, low odour Eco resin are on the shopping list.

Kingdom of Mercia, Praying Hero - free sample by Lost Kingdom Miniatures

Of course, a 3D printer is useless without files to print, so my web wandering lately has taken me in search of free files to try. I'm not short on choice, but the amount and quality of paid-for content has also opened my eyes. I suspect that nascent 3D hobbyists like me are in danger of "Ooh shiney" syndrome every bit as much as we were with traditional metal and plastic miniatures. The amount of new Kickstarter and Patreon content offering 3D files for home printing is relentless. Having looked at a few of these, they are generally bundles offering a collection of 3D files, rather than single miniatures. Some subscriptions add new bundles monthly and I have to wonder how anyone is supposed to print, let alone paint and play with all this stuff. We wargamers are used to lead mountains and even plastic mountains, but I forsee that the STL mountain will become a new thing, if it isn't one already. 

Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral by MiniWorld 3D

3D files are, of course, even more dangerous to our wallets than their 'physical' counterparts since the digital files are intangible and it is easy to convince one's self that they don't count as a hobby purchase. When the postman or courier delivers that heavy package full of all those new miniatures you ordered or backed on Kickstarter, you know you've spent your hard-earned cash and have something to show for it (or perhaps something you need to hide from your better half if you are in the habit of explaining away your hobby addiction). With 3D files, you click 'pay', receive your download in seconds and feel - nothing.  And you still want more. Very dangerous indeed.

HMS Grey Goose - fresh out of the printer

I shall no doubt be returning to the topic of 3D printing in future posts, but for now I need to go pull on my rather fetching blue nitrile gloves, strap on my mask and goggles, wield my plastic scraper and break open the IPA as another completed print awaits my attention.

Till next time.