15mm Dutchmen

[Fitz]

Here are two prints of the 1:100 scale (15mm) Vickers "Dutchman" Commercial Light Tank of 1936 I showed before in its semi-raw state, now all painted up. Each has been printed in a slightly different manner, though the fundamental print settings are largely the same.

The one on the left was printed up on its tracks, and the supports necessitated by that have made a real mess of the running gear. I will probably go back and turn all that crap into mud and churned up vegetation at some stage; at the moment it's just painted more or less like it.

The one on the right had its running gear printed as separate components, lying face up on the print bed, and the results are very much cleaner, though I did have to remove a great deal of "string" from the print. I'm learning a lot about just what and what isn't worth worrying about for these little FDM printed wargaming vehicles, and one thing that's not worth worrying about is detail on the inside (the hull side) of the bogies and tracks. That may be important for fine scale modelling, but for my purposes it's pointless complication that will likely never be noticed.

Even after this short experience of FDM printing, I'm becoming ever more eager to get myself an SLA resin printer. That's a way more expensive printing method though, both in terms of the printer itself as well as the consumables, and it's going to be a long way off. Still, I can dream.

[Jemima Fawr]

Gorgeous!  I live in eternal hope of someone making a Vickers Dutchman, a Marmon-Herrington light tank (both types) and an Alvis-Straussler armoured car commercially available in 15mm for my KNIL force (though they would probably be the most commercially-unviable models of all time)! 

[Fitz]

My Dutchman is available from Shapeways at http://shpws.me/MMB1. Unfortunately, it's only available in their high-detail resin because I never could get a decent print from their cheaper materials, so they're about thirteen bucks a pop.