Confronting The Pile Of Shame

When I heard that Salute was on for November this year, I got very excited… no seriously, like so over-the-top excited I nearly had a fit. My first thought was to get a loot list together, so I started thinking about all the bits I 'needed' to flesh out various miniature collections or projects. 

I felt some nostaligia for the show and remembered all the cool loot I'd picked up at previous shows, then I actually started to seriously think about all the loot I'd picked up at previous shows and started to feel guilty. I went on a bit of a recce to see if I could even find the various bits I'd bought and that still floundered in the abyss that is the 'pile of shame'. The list of unbuilt – or even unopened – miniatures is frankly astounding.

Just getting started

After finding a whole raft of metal in blisters and boxes, I decided to do something about it – maybe to make myself feel better before I bought more, or maybe to get back to old school miniture building (i.e. pinning skinny metal limbs to bodies with paperclips and trying not to slice a finger in the process).

Top of my list was a group of four Reverand Moiras for Infinity, that I bought circa 2011 – ten years ago! – and were still in their box. Then I found some Infinity related blister packs of characters. I stuck bodies into bases and, whilst these were drying, I continued my search for lost Salute treasure.

Before long I found not one, but THREE boxes of Rackham Confrontation models (and a couple of blisters). I can't even guess to the year I acquired these but it was at least fifteen years ago.

I decided to call time on my searching at that point – my cutting mat was full, and I was yet to start the pinning. Yes, I'd dug myself quite a hole, however, once the models are complete I can squirrel them away in a soft and cosy miniature case until I get around to painting them. 

But that's a whole other mountain to climb!

3D Printing For Newbies – Part 1

This guide is aimed at the complete newbie. When I started looking into 3D printing I knew absolutely nothing and took the plunge off the back of some hasty research. I want other people to avoid some of the pitfalls and blind guessing that I faced, so what follows is an overview based upon my experience and conclusions after 12 months of participating in the 3D printing hobby.

So you're thinking about getting into 3D printing

The first question to ask yourself is what would you intend to print on your shiny new printer – miniatures? monsters? terrain? bitz?

I see two main routes to take with 3D printing, that will give different results:





Liquid resin printing

• Better for printing miniatures
• Machine comes (almost) ready to print out of the box
• Often has a smaller print area (so may struggle with big models)
• Can be a messy clean up process
  
  

Plastic filament printing 

• Better for printing terrain
• Machine requires some construction before you can start printing.
• Often has a larger print area
• Cruder prints so results will require some sanding

At this point we're going to focus on the Resin printing – I went down the Resin route myself, so I have no real-world experience of using the filament. I will revisit this once my experience expands.

Resin Printers – how do they work (in a nutshell)?

PREP

First all you need to download a 3D model file – a .STL or .OBJ – assuming you haven't created your own, and prep it for print. If it was a freebie you may need to fix it, but I'll cover that in a later post.

The model will actually be printed upside down so has to contend with the laws of gravity, as well as things like temperature. To help avoid failed prints you will usually need to add supports to a miniature (like scaffolding). 

Once done, the file needs to be 'sliced' ready for print. All the software to achieve this is free, and there is tons of 'how-to' videos on YouTube to help you. Transfer the file to your printer (usually via USB) and you're ready to go.

PRINTING

Once the printer gets started each 'sliced' layer silhouette is projected onto a screen with UV light, which cures the UV sensitive liquid resin to the exposed shape. These layers bind to the metal build plate, and build up over the course of several hours until you have a completed model – just like a traditional inkjet printer will print a line at a time until the page is complete.

CLEAN UP

Before you do a thing you'll need to put on some rubber (nitrile) gloves – liquid resin is nasty stuff and you don't want it on your skin.

With the print complete, remove the build plate from the printer and use a wallpaper scraper, razor blade, or similar metal tool to separate the print from the plate. The print is then washed in IPA (isopropyl alcohol) to remove any excess resin. Then follows a good bath in warm water (ideally in a sonic cleaner) to remove the alcohol and soften up the supports.

Depending upon how well the supports have been placed, the removal process can either be very easy, or very tricky. This is the point when you are most likely to damage your model, possible snap something off or leave surface damage.

Assuming everything went swimmingly, stick you model under a UV lamp for a few minutes to make sure it's thoroughly cured.

And you're done.

TIMINGS

For an average, 32mm human model, the process takes me: 20-30 mins to prep the file; an average of 4-5hrs to print; and another 20 minutes to clean up. 

Obviously you would load your build plate with as many models as you can, so I might get 3-4 models printed within that same 4-5 hr print time.

There are ways to improve on those times, with a better printer, different types of resin, etc. but we'll leave that for another time. It is also possible to buy 'wash & cure' stations to help the process – these units look not unlike the printer itself, but provide washing and curing facilities instead of having to do it manually. 

How much do the models cost to print?

Depending upon the size and complexity of the model, and the type of resin you use, a typical 32mm miniature would cost less than £1 to print, often closer to 50p.

Don't forget though, you will probably have to buy the file to print in the first place – they can range in price from say £3 up to perhaps £8 per miniature. The beauty is though, once you have the file you can print as many as you like!

Then you have the bigger models – the dragons, greater demons, giants and the like. They can cost from around £10 for the file, but might only cost another £20 in resin to print. That's an enormous resin dragon for £30 instead of £200. And if you wanted more than one, then the price comes down with each one.

So which resin printer should I buy, and how much will it cost?

The cost of resin printers can vary dramatically, as can their specifications. If you're looking at having a dabble at entry-level, you can spend as little as £200 – if you want the best quality miniatures possible you're looking at closer to £2000 or even more.

From my experience, the most popular manufacturers (and therefore the best community to get help from) are Elegoo and Anycubic. They both have solid entry-level models, but also offer larger format machines.

ELEGOO

Entry Level: 

Mars Pro (currently £235 on Amazon)

Very solid entry level machine and a bit of a workhorse (this is the updated version of my own printer)

Step Up: 

Mars 2 Pro Mono (currently £280 on Amazon)

Near identical to the Mars Pro but with some added extras, most notably a 2k mono screen which will improve the quality of your prints – this would be my recommendation based upon my experience with my original Elegoo Mars.

Larger Format: 

Saturn (found it on Ebay for £600-£700 – almost impossible to source)

This is the big brother of the Mars. It has a 4k mono screen and a much bigger build plate area, allowing you to print more or bigger stuff!

ANYCUBIC

Entry Level: 

Photon (approx £300 but difficult to source it seems)

Another solid entry level machine

Step Up: 

Photon Mono (currently £270 on Amazon)

2k Mono screen, and a decent sized build plate.

Larger Format: 

Photon Mono X (currently £800 on Amazon)

4k Mono screen, and a larger build plate.

There are of course other manufacturers out there, but these are the two that I am most familiar with.

The tricky issue we have right now is availability. Some of the most popular machines that folks on YouTube are raving about are simply not available in the UK.

My advice right now would be not to rush anything, do some research – YouTube is a fantastic source of unboxing and review videos (though be careful as many are sponsored by the manufacturers).

Next time:
We're going to talk in more detail about the kind of things you can print, and where to find them.

If anyone spots any technical inaccuracies above, just let me know in the comments and I'll correct it.

Models shown in the above photos are from Artisan Guild and Epics N Stuffs

A New Era

As you can no doubt tell, I've had something of a haitus from the blog. I've actually had something of a haitus from the hobby in general – life just doesn't seem to give time for hobby stuff (other than half an hour here or there),  and that was before a world pandemic, social lockdowns, cancelled events and the additional stresses and strains (homeschooling anyone?).

So with no time for the hobby as I knew it, I found myself gravitating to something new – a different side of the hobby – and the result has been game-changing (excuse the pun). The hobby, or at least the model side of it, will never be the same again.

I've discovered 3D resin printing.

In fact, not just printing but designing, building, kitbashing all in a digital format, and then printing out the end result. Kinda like the first time you discover Photoshop and can do loads of funky things manipulating photos, then print out the finished masterpiece. I have lockdown to thank for that (and Games Workshop's ever soaring prices).

I find myself in a position where I can print (almost) any miniature or bitz I want to, for a fraction of the price – and I can have it in my hand same day, no waiting for postage… I don't have to file down mold lines or stick it together with glue. I can quite literally have a new army, ready to paint, in a single day. And if I want to customise my plastic kits with specific bits, guess what… not a problem, and it'll cost pennies.

This opens up a whole new world to a gamer – anything is possible – and as a creative person anyway, my mind has been blown. I have so many ideas now I'm not sure where to start – the only downside being, the pile of unpainted miniatures in my cupboard just grew exponentially!

Over the coming weeks and months I'll be looking into this new side of the hobby in more detail. I'll post up a complete newbie guide to resin printing, together with mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned. I'll also be doing a few tutorials as well as showing off some of the things I've managed to achieve.

So, I wasn't exaggerating when I called this post A New Era. Come join me on this whole new adventure!

Star Wars Legion ATST

At last I have a finished model to show you all. The speed at which I paint and never finish anything has become a standard joke in these parts, so I feel super accomplished that I finished something – even moreso that it's this monster of a model.

Standing at 190mm (19.5") on a 100mm base, the Imperial AT-ST for Star Wars Legion is a beast. I was given it as a Christmas present by Bull, after our Legion exploits at Awdry Towers earlier that month, and it sat languishing in a box (as most of my models do alas) for several months. Something inspired me to dig it out a few weeks back and I became addicted to painting it, and also my wider Imperial snow-based army.

I glued it together and pinned it to the base, adding several 2p coins to ensure it didn't fall over! It got a basecoat of GW Mechanicus Standard Grey from a can, then I airbrushed some loose highlights with P3 Cryx Bane Highlight. I gave it a liberal wash of GW Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade. I then used more of the Bane Highlight with a sponge this time, experimenting as I went.

I lost track at this point of how the colour scheme evolved, although I remember applying GW Celestra Grey to the edges, and liberal amounts of GW Typhus Corrosion for the rust.

Whilst all this was ongoing, I came across talk of the 501st Legion from as far back as the Clone Wars (following Anakin Skywalker) through to being Imperial Troops (following Darth Vader). I loved the idea of this as a basis for my army so decided to add some markings to the AT-ST hull.

The black stripe down the front was easy enough – masking off the area and using a sponge to apply paint, touching up with a brush – the side markings were a little more tricky as it involved an Imperial symbol. My freehand painting is pretty rough these days, and I was not happy with the result (and didn't want to wait for a mail-order decal), so used the sponge to fade it back to obscurity. I like to think that they are always in some battle or other and things are getting worn out!

Once I got into the detail I got really addicted. More and more highlights and washes, till things were getting out of hand. I decided to call it a day and finish it all off.

My army is to be based on an ice planet (so I can build my Hoth table) so some resin rocks and liberal amount of snow was the order of the day for basing. I added patches of snow elsewhere on the vehicle, even going so far as adding icicles with Woodland Scenics Water Effects.

This one is now officially ticked off as complete. With so much else to paint I'm spoiled for choice, but this model has inspired me to crash on and paint an army and gaming table that would make Mr Awdry proud!

June Update

Wow – it's been over two months since my last blog post, and what a crazy time it's been. Aside from mundane things like decorating and major earthworks that have eating into down time, the hobby is very much alive and kicking.

To begin with, though it seems a lifetime away, I had a cracking visit to Salute. I haven't been for a couple of years so was really looking forward to it – normally the kiss of death. However, I didn't hold back this time around and came home with a boatload of loot, chatted to quite a few people about their projects and products, and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

After my game of Kill Team with Bull, back at the beginning of March, I was buzzing for my Crimson Fist marines and (more so) my new gaming board and terrain. I has quite literally become an addiction, and I have been building lots of Sector Mechanicus bits and pieces to create the ultimate skirmish environment.

Once done I had some time to ponder and ripped half of it apart and rebuilt it _ with magnets galore –  in a more modular and funky way. This felt a bit mad at the time, but has proved to be a genius move as the set of terrain I have is looking awesome.

Very happy bunny indeed. Most of it has a base coat, whilst some has been lavished with shade and even highlights. More on this another time.

My son even got in on the action, taking the time to construct a battlescape one afternoon, using lots of my 40k models. It was a good opportunity to dust a few old bits off and assess the model collection. I think I need more.

I managed to get a fantastic 2-day gaming session in with Bull at the end of May. Instead of picking up the Kill Team again, of which he wasn't really a fan, we took another look at Shadespire. I think it's fair to say that this definitely ticked a box for Bull, to the point I did think he might go out and make a rather large purchase of everything related (but he held his nerve!).

I had a bit of a lull after this marathon gaming event, but my son persisted with the big 40k displays. It got my enthusiasm back up again, and I've been spending my evenings building lots of Space Marine models I'd bought and had sitting in a box.

This last weekend was something of a highlight as I took him to his first ever wargame show – Broadside 2019 in Sittingbourne. Despite not being a fan of all the walking, and the fact he was a little short to see what was going on most of the time, he loved it. His biggest highlight was a demo game by Friday Night Firefight Club of Dinosaur hunting, using a modified version of the Congo rules. Of course, having been reminded of that amazing game we had at Awdry Towers, I had to buy the Congo rulebook!

Crimson Fists Kill Team – Part 2

So as we head into the end of March, I thought I would sneak in an update on the Crimson Fists' progress.

I had raced ahead with my Comms marine, even getting so far as to test some red and black out the blue overspill. This did however leave the rest of the team lagging far behind. I got the bulk of them up to a basic blue coat, but it took a while for the Veteran Sergeant (with all his greenstuff additions) to catch up.

Last night I put in a shift to make sure they were all finished with the blue, with final highlights (I may got back with a touch of white at the end) and ready to see red! With the grinding bit over I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some details to bring their characters to life. Alas, with Easter fast approaching, my wife has decided that now is the time to tackle the redecorating of the living room – the second largest room in the house, and the one we've been putting off since we moved in five years ago.

With that in mind I expect progress to be slow, but I hit my self-induced deadline of the end of the month for the armour to be complete. OMG, I may actually painting some models here people – I may actually be able to tick something off the Hobby Bingo list (soon)!

Kill Team – Crimson Fists Primaris Sergeant

The image above is the one you've already seen of Primaris Veteran Sergeant Vorn. He is the last of my 7-man Crimson Fists Kill Team to see any kind of undercoat, the reason being that I wanted to adorn his armour with a few unique elements so that he stands out on the tabletop.

Now I've not done any greenstuff sculpting for a very long time, so my skills are quite rusty, but I had my list of additions and gave it a go.

First on the list was a loin cloth. I wanted to add a bit of movement to the model and another colour, as they are turning out to be very blue! I supplemented this with some purity seals – on the belt and the shoulder pad.

I managed to find a rather nifty skull with roman numerals etched into it from the Primaris Apothecary model, so I added that to the shoulder pad first. I then also sculpted a (crude) skull to the opposite knee pad. I like the idea that this is some kind of icon for the team – Skull and VI – so may have to use it on the other models in various forms.

He is now on the painting table and should have caught up with the rest of the team's completed blue armour in the next couple of days!

Painting my Crimson Fists – Blue Armour

After the success of my terrain sponge painting, I pondered the prospect of using the same technique for painting space marine armour. The 7 members of my Crimson Fists Kill Team were the perfect opportunity to give it a try!

I picked out two extremes from my team – my Comms Intercessor and one of my Scouts. This should give me an idea of whether the sponge technique will work for models or not.

Step 1

As always, a spray undercoat was the first order of business. In this instance I chose Chaos Black as I wanted a dark feel to the armour.

Step 2

A solid base coat of Kantor Blue, applied as several thinner layers, came next. This should give me a sound starting point for my experiment.

Step 3

Next came a liberal coating in Drakenhof Nightshade – my new favourite wash! It gave the blue armour a boost in saturation as well as darkening the whole model and settling in the recesses.

Step 4

Now, this was the fun bit. Unlike my previous sponge experiments, I used a very small piece of sponge (which pretty much meant it went all over my fingers!). I started off by putting the smallest amount of raw Kantor Blue onto the palette and dabbing it around with my sponge. I then dabbed a large proportion onto a wipe, so the application on the model would be subtle. I then slowly build up the layers of Kantor Blue until I had a nice balance. I then mixed in some Alaitoc Blue in with the colour still on my palette and continued the process. Finally I used pure Alaitoc Blue in some key areas.

What I find interesting is that the sponge physically won't fit into spaces that would naturally be in shadow, so it's pretty hard to go wrong. The only mistake I made initially was too much paint on the sponge and it swamped the model. The effects look a little bit like dry brushing in these close-up photos, but from the tabletop it looks quite smooth.

Step 5

Finally I added some edge highlights with a fine brush. I started with Alaitoc Blue and moved on to Lothern Blue. I may go back a do a couple of tiny off-white highlights. I was also considering pushing the highlights back a bit with another wash before re-applying Lothern Blue to the most prominent edges. We will see. 

Again, the colours seem rather extreme close-up, but it looks quite smart on the table. My problem in the past has always been that I'm too subtle with the highlights – they look great up close but non-existent on the tabletop.

And that is it for the armour.

The whole process took about 15 minutes for these two models (excluding drying time for the wash). I just need to rinse and repeat for the other five members of the team and I can move onto some red, or rather crimson, fists!

Painting my Kill Team Terrain… with a Sponge!

Having acquired a rather large amount of GW's Sector Mechanicus terrain for my new Kill Team board, I had to face the task I normally fail at – painting it all!

I no longer have access to my airbrush, so I needed to find a quick way to get some colours down that would also satisfy my nitpicking attitude towards details and 'looking cool'. I decided to go down the route of the sponge technique I'd used on my board.

I spray undercoated everything with Leadbelcher (what an awesome spray can that is!). Immediately things looked better. I then painted the area I wanted to colour up un Rhinox Brown. A couple of thin coats later we were ready to rock and roll.

I started by mixing Rhinox Brown and Mephiston Red on my palette and began sponging the colour on, subtly at first but then I got bolder. I added more Mephiston Red and let the sponge do the mixing. The colour was beginning to focus around the central part of each segment, leaving wonderful dark shadows at the edges.

I gave the red areas a wash of Baal Red (now sadly no longer available) then, once thoroughly dry, applied more Mephiston Red, moving up gradually to Evil Sunz Scarlet and even a little Wild Rider Red.

I retired the sponges and tried out some edging colours with a fine brush, going through my cycle of reds, and things were starting to look good. However it was not dark or dirty enough.

Next I touched up the Leadbelcher where the sponge had contaminated the metal with red, and washed the metal areas in Nuln Oil then, once dry, the whole thing in Agrax Earthshade, concentrating on the recesses and clearing the glaze away from the central highlight areas almost completely. Understandably I had to leave it 24hrs to dry!

I was very happy now, but felt I needed to highlight the individual plates within each segment. Again, I cycled through my reds, but pushed on to a Fire Dragon Bright and even touches of a flesh tone (don't recall white one – Kislev?). I finished with some Agrax Earthshade in the recesses between the plates to add contrast to the highlights.

I'm calling these red sections done, except for maybe a huge stencilled number and sone distressing at a later date. The plan is to approach the metal parts in a similar fashion, getting the overall highlights to a mid-tone then some edge highlights quite bright.

I'm just happy that I'm close to my first piece of painted terrain in almost 15 years!!

Collecting Kill Team Terrain

Preparation of the Kill Team board continues, as time has become generally limited to finish my team. I'll admit this is probably the most expensive route to go, but the hope is that I will have a decent set of terrain that works well for both Kill Team and Necromunda.

I started with the Ryza ruins from GW, which are relatively cheap and provided a good basis. I then bought in to the idea that I was creating an abandoned/ruined manufacturing zone, and things started to… erm, escalate. I love the look of the Manufactorum (above in grey plastic) and it would also bring height to the table (which is always a double edged sword!).

By this point I was bitten by the terrain bug. I have always loved the Armoured Containers, and they would be perfect for my setting, so they were next on my shopping list. I only have one built at present, but there are two more waiting in the wings.

Then came the 'pièce de résistance'. An Adeptus Mechanicus specific kit, I found it lurking away from the other terrain in my local GW store. It is an absolute beauty, and makes an awesome centrepiece. The fact it cost less than the Armoured Crates was a bonus.

So that is the collection so far. All lacking a bit of paint, but that will come – I'm very much looking forward to getting some colour on this lot and creating an awesome gaming environment in which to play Kill Team.

Stay tuned for more Kill Team!