Heroic style Desert Rebels

 

Finally getting round to doing all my old smaller scale sculpts in chunky 'heroic style'. 

Not quite 100% replication but thematically close enough to the old desert rebels. More to follow, personal preference but I'm not keen on making 10 man strong units... 5 max for the time being.

3D printing - biting the bullet

Late to the party but by this stage there are so many resources and tutorials this should be easy.

Incidentally the total cost for all the associated stuff to start 3D printing (Printer, wash and cure, USB stick, gloves, cleaning alcohol, work tray, etc.) is roughly the same to start metal spin casting.

The main practical differences seem to be:

• Space - 3D printing requires slightly less space and is more 'home friendly' (you'd keep the metal spin caster in the garage but the 3d printer looks trendy in the office at home)

• Time - 3D printing has a bit of a time lapse vs metal spin casting, you can cast up 10-15 minis in as much time in metal. 3D printing said minis seems like it will take 3-5 hours depending on layout

• Hands on - naturally there's more 'manual labour' doing metal spin casting, but that has it's benefits such as quick corrections and tweaks to moulds to get the metal to flow better. The set up and let it run aspect with 3D printing seems to mean a greater cost sink if the print fails.

The similarity seems to be in the engineering aspect, metal spin casting needs gates, channels and air vents. 3D printing needs support struts. Different but similar challenges with both manufacturing processes.

I'll do a full comparison at a later date once I'm up and running.

I anticipate using this primarily for masters that go into metal spin cast moulds. Also, personal items and quick prototyping concepts. Mainly mechanical sculpts that require symmetry, flat surfaces and right angles.

That said, there's no reason I can't put 3D prints up on the webstore - this will help be flesh out some of the existing ranges with larger items.

Aether Pirates WIP

I'd really like to do a range of cog-punk space pirates ala Treasure Planet. One day. For now these two are a start.

Might be useful as Rogue Traders or Inquisitors for warhammer 40k players.

Few minor touch ups and details still to be added. Heads are separate.

Rusty Tox Troopers

This was a bit of an experiment and departure from my usual painting style. As such I struggled with the photo lighting - usually I just ramp up the exposure and brighten things a bit for webstore shots.

These are gaming paint jobs... so perhaps photographing them in amidst terrain at some point will improve them.