Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of Myths, Gods and Empires => Topic started by: madaxeman on May 09, 2022, 12:19:39 PM
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I recently bought a set of 3D printed figures from a seller on Etsy (Small Scale Prints), from the Hannibal vs Rome range designed by Warprinter from Germany. I ordered a mix of the Etruscans and Samnites, planning to use them to bulk out some of my existing Early Roman armies into other Latin states of that era - armies that I was unlikely to use all that often, but which the completist in me fancied trying anyway a couple of times.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ZCny-7TDIB0iqzcDH6HzTfl9wVHCYJ8RzuceV90kHA4SoNZYgYTTCMbx-H0JgT359wxmQgFPWUmiOEAnZpkNZ-AW6mI-eRFxz7-J8SlUkXtEddkGY5haeAZAhDxt9OCktJyOgpFrQoFa9TAi1WdXCyfiqsQP9nLNsNLAkmrltTw8q1yls4R_Upe9/s2048/print1.jpeg)
For that sort of thing I wasn't ever going to spend a fortune on, say, Mirliton minis just to leave them in a drawer after a couple of outings, but the idea of having an excuse to take a look at what 3D printing could offer at the moment, and picking up a load of simple to paint minis (these were designed for 10mm, but the vendor scaled them up to 15mm for me) to bang out quickly was exactly what I was needed to prompt me to buy on in to some 3D prints.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHJOHfoPkrAU5UCAT9V2nYT-UcpK_8D25QLdHG-6IXM5dGZ4PrzD3q3pezobGJw1yipcFtUrhOK3E1EPPt_yBC6QIuAxKCTXaR0_yfAbVVqn0A-MOPVdKG9v7o1_npcjFmAqmKPH4CuJiA1DM06OqNJIGa7iPjdtXsjG0-EtQttsh2QGgUw4fpSGjm/s2048/print3.jpeg)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEthvTXH1st7XVoDZ6xIBNaGZuQJ7tg6UInIIfbsIvEzHsH7DXjUg_dkZqBoVCy9ZF6zjB_OjeGDV5OnxpJaFtwNM5mUMSzUMW0_Hw1GiSdQZVPowVFLC9utWdNOFa_1K3EFkXNpGJHw1on3H-RwCyLEGI0vrePKtZsggR1QE8AnFhtnArMsb5W7R0/s2048/print8.jpeg)
Maybe the best summary is to say that "They are what they are" - simply-designed, low cost figures sculpted for 10mm and scaled up to 15mm, and on that basis I think they succeed admirably in what they set out to achieve. Yes, they do still have an air of “Lego” men about them for sure, but I think in some ways that also makes them kinda cute and gives them a real likability factor too (reminscent in some ways of the Lamming 25mm range from back in the day). Stood next to Old Glory 15mm Romans, and at wargaming distances they don't - to me - look all that out of place at all.
Perhaps the more interesting thing for me is that having these guys in-hand, I've begun to see just how easy it is soon going to be for gamers - even using fairly basic 3D design skills - to begin to start playing around in 3D, mixing and matching even simplistic "lego-style" body parts to suddenly cook up entirely new, bespoke, limited run armies and figures to add to their collections.
And, I will stress again, these guys are not trying or claiming to be anatomically accurate works of art - they are just cheap and cheerful "get em on the table" figures.
Interesting times indeed!
(more photos and detail on painting on my website at: https://madaxemandotcom.blogspot.com/2022/05/3d-printed-miniatures-future-has.html)
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Apologies are hardly needed. I've seen far worse!
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I think they look just fine especially once one has an army en masse on the tabletop.
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The scaling up did not do them favors BUT I still think they will pass the arm's length test with ease.
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They lack some details due to upscaling, maybe, but I kind of like them. The simplicity of the sculpts certainly helps painting them quickly.
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I like them a lot.