hero forge figures (Painted 3/20/17)

[Dentatus]

Those work. Well done.

[Michka]

Those look pretty good. For these figures the print lines almost look like texture on the clothing. The great paint job helps too.

[precinctomega]

Well I've just had an enormous amount of fun wasting and hour playing on their site to design characters suitable for Zero Dark with a nice near future, cyberpunk, hard SF, milpunk look to them.  At $29.99 plus postage I probably won't order them, but I'll certainly use them to help guide my sketch concepts for the company that has expressed an interest in making minis for the game.  And if it all falls out how I'd like, I might then order one or two from Heroforge to say "thanks" for making such a fun, interesting and clever tool.

R.

[Calimero]

I received two figures from Hero Forge yesterday and started painting them right away… I’m not sure it was a good idea since I didn’t wash or even prime the figures first… let’s say I was a bit too enthusiastic…

The figures looked very nice, some of the details that didn’t show on the computer render were actually on the figures. I used a rather slow computer to “make” the figures so that might explain why some details were lacking “on screen”.

I chose the plastic option, the “basic” one, and it’s a good material. It reminds me of the hard plastic wargames figures are made from nowadays.

[CookAndrewB]

Oh, man, I've spent a LONG time goofing around on Hero Forge. Their cost for STL files and prints are what ultimately keep me from pulling the trigger, but having seen some of the figures I can say it isn't the quality that keeps me from becoming a customer. Those prints look about as good, if not slightly better, than most prints I've seen someone do at home. For a site/service that keeps adding new poses, outfits, etc, I think there is value in what they are moving towards, even if the execution is not equal to a... *insert your favorite sculpt/brand/whatever*. But, for those of us who might not be great at cutting, pinning, repositioning, and otherwise modifying a miniature I think this is a pretty cool tech answer. At least it is the leading edge of something that will likely become more commonplace in the industry down the line.

If they ever cut those costs in half, or sell me STF files for $4-5, I might be willing to jump in now and again. Until then, I'm happy to build dozens of figures for the hell of it 

[Calimero]

It was hinted, somewhere on a Wargames forum or blog, I don’t remember which one, that the price will eventually go down if enough orders are made. I don’t know at which point it will cease to be profitable for them however… I wonder how low they could sell their minis and still "make a living" out of it.

For now, I think the quality is there… lower price should be the next step.

[Cait Sidhe]

If they ever cut those costs in half, or sell me STF files for $4-5, I might be willing to jump in now and again. Until then, I'm happy to build dozens of figures for the hell of it 

Well it seems they do offer a download function now for $9.99. I like messing around with the tool, not sure if I would bother getting one though, maybe if I had my own printer.

[CookAndrewB]

Well it seems they do offer a download function now for $9.99. I like messing around with the tool, not sure if I would bother getting one though, maybe if I had my own printer.

$9 feels like a lot for me to make my own mini. Granted, I could churn out hundreds of copies, but I think the reality is that most people wouldn't. That defeats the purpose of a custom mini if you make twenty copies of it. It feels to me that they would be smarter to lower that price point and encourage more home printers to buy lots of poses/figures in STL files.

[rwwin]

I'd been the same place of playing with the site for a long time but never pulling the trigger.  A couple of things tipped the balance a couple of weeks ago for me.  First, I picked up a resin printer this spring, second, Hero Forge had a sale last month with STL's going for $8.  I broke down and ordered a few.  This is the first test figure I did as a ganger for Fallout.  This was done at a mid level quality setting (0.05mm layer height) so you can still see some print lines here and there like his scalp.  Otherwise though I was really pleased with the results.  I'm still working on the rest.  I'm still learning how to dial in the print settings to get the best results.

As to price, I hear what Andrew's saying, but having gone back to the site and played around every few months or so, the amount of features and options they've added have really improved what you can create.  I think part of what your paying is the basic keep the lights on and the servers running, but part of it too is to pay the staff time to keep the site improvements going.

Rather than drop the price on STL's, what I wish they'd do is something like a subscription service where you pay a monthly fee.  I already do something similar with some designers I follow on Patreon and would be willing to sign up for something like that.

[Calimero]

That’s a nice looking figures…

I don’t own a printer so I have to order « ready made » figures. At 19.99$ each, they are a bit pricy still.