So apart from everything else, anyone who has looked at this blog will know I do a bit of 3d printing, and this year has been no exception. So just a selection of some of the things I have printed.
I have a few companies I find produce really good quality STL files - Arvernes (through Wargaming3d), Fylde Armouries (Richard Humble on Wargaming3d), Night Sky Miniatures (Wargaming3d), Piano Wargames, and RKX Miniatures. I'm sure those aren't the only ones, I have some from 3dBreed, Kyourensko and others, but these are my go to vendors.
In my experience, you (generally) get what you pay for, sure there are plenty of free files out there, and for example the 1/100 and 1/200 armoured vehicles by M Bergman on Thingiverse are excellent, but for 28mm stuff they need additional detail. So it's usually worth paying the relatively small costs for a good STL. Particularly for vehicles you need multiples of, the cost is really low, so Shermans, T34s etc...
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| Panzer III - STL by Night Sky Miniatures |
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| Interwar 'Turtle' Armoured Car - STL by Jimbo |
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| WW1 German Armour - STL from a Kickstarter |
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| Luchs - STL by Arvernes? |
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| Challenger by Richard Humble, M16 my mix up. |
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| M4A3E8 - STL by Arvernes |
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| Tiger & Kubel by Arvernes, PzIIIN and Sdkfz251 by Night Sky |
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| Halftracks by Night Sky, Grille is a mashup of Thingiverse & Pz38t |
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| AEC Armoured Car - STL by Arvernes |
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| Infantry 'plug' using 3d Breed? STL modified by me |
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| T34 & Tankriders - T34 by Night Sky, Riders by 3d Breed? |
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| 'Buffalo' passengers - STL by RKX Miniatures |
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| Sikh Infantry compared to a Perry - STL by Kyourensko |
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| 1/300 small naval vessels, I think mainly Thingiverse |
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| Sample Sikh - by Kyourensko, painted in 2 minutes using Contrast paints |
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| Sample 40mm Rifleman compared to Perry 40mm - STL by NapoleonicSTLFiles |
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| Experiments in 40mm scaled up Piano Miniatures French and NapoleonicSTLFiles |
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| Ships for Undaunted Battle of Britain - my mashup from Thingiverse |
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| Adding Zimmerit to an Arvernes Tiger Hull |
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| Various |
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| Bavarian Officer - STL by Piano Miniatures |
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| Bavarian Infantry - STL by Piano Miniatures |
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| Austrian & Bavarian Artillery - STL by Piano Miniatures |
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| Bavarian Infantry - STL by Piano Miniatures |
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| Comparison - Rubicon kit and STL by Arvernes |
Wow.. the quality of the print is stunning.. I'm used to seeing them with the print lines, but clearly things have moved on!
ReplyDeleteWith a resin printer and a high enough definition, tilt the print on two axis. Pretty much no lines. Yes, the quality of prints these days can be amazing, and my printer is nowhere near the higher quality ones you can get now. The savings on printing rather than buying figures may not be as high as is claimed, but they are very real. I can buy an STL for perhaps between a third and a half the price of a single plastic vehicle model or between slightly more to 2x an infantry or cavalry figure - print three infantry and you've covered the cost of the stl plus resin and accessories. My printer paid for itself within 2-3 months.
ReplyDeleteTa Doug.. don't know if you fancy doing it, but a post on your printer set up, and the practicalities of doing 3D printing would be of great interest to me for one..
DeleteI can certainly give that a go...
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