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After GW axed WFB we started playing Kings of War 2.
The only one of my WFB armies readily convertible was my Goblin army. My Ogres were not really usable.
The theme of my GW Ogre army, was Gentlemen-Ogres. That involved some conversions and when I thought about extending the army I said no, not again.
But why not use my fancy 3D printer. I had done a lot of Epic models with it, why not do something larger like Ogres.
At this stage we were testing extremes. So I decided to do a very shooty list. And that gave the idea to doing an Ogre army looking like an Napoleonic army.

Here you can see the first batch of Boomers lead by an Officer. I usually play all Officers as Army Standards.
In front you see one of my standard models, so it's quite a change in size.


The Boomers come in 4 different poses. Each pose has some variation. There are 4 different faces, usually 3 slightly different stances and some bits of armor. The officers have their "own" faces.
I'm a bit lazy as far as details are concerned. Of course there are inherent details like the wicker basket or the texture of rammer, but I don't do skulls everywhere and tattoos. But I like to have plausible models i.e. the Boomers must be equipped to reload their weapon - that's why the have sacks of powder, a basket of shot, a rammer and an pocket with flint.


I use different resins. Those models are printed in B9Creators black resin. It's fast and rather forgiving. Later you will see some green models, which are printed using SpotA-HT resin. It is much slower, but seems to hold detail slightly better - and it's much cheaper.
The models have the supports already removed and have been cleaned in IPA - I put the models in a jar full of IPA, close it and put it in an us-cleaner, which is of course filled with water. The models also have to be cured under UV light to make them hard and remove any tackiness..


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The next troop were some Shooters. SLow firing and long ranged make them riflemen in Napoleonic terms.
So their dress is inspired by the 95th.

That's what the models look like fresh from the printer. The supports are needed for printing overhanging parts. You can cut them off or break them off. If you do latter, there will be small blemishes. Usually they are connected to parts that are hardly visible, if at all. So I usually break them off.
The green resin is SpotA-HT. The models are tough enough for play after curing, no need to make a form and cast miniatures.


Two hordes of Shooters


As usual different poses, with variations of each pose. Here you can see how the crossbow is reloaded.
Every Shooter has his "spanner" and a quiver, just like every Boomer has a "rammer", a basket full of shot and some sacks of powder.


And than I realized that I wanted a designated General. I decided to give him an axe so he can pose as Grokagamok. You can see some waviness in the raw-modell. A sign of an ill-aligned printer. Depending on the paint job, it will still be visible after painting - or not.


That's do far for the Ogres. Next are the Goblins.

"No Ogre is an isle" or so they say. Ogres are always accompanied by Goblins.
To spare me some painting I decided to design them like Night-Goblins, but with Shakos. In KOW Goblin infantry is always equipped with bows, no decision to be made there.

A second Goblin weapon in KOW is the Goblin Blaster. Something like a cart filled with explosives. I choose something else.



The models in raw form. The green resin is SpotA-HT. The brown one was supposed to be B9Creators black resin, but I ran out of it half way through and filled up with some red resin. The result is some reddish brown.
The painted Goblins are prototypes, while the unpainted ones are of the final design. The prototype wears an original Oger Shako, which looks good, but gets always in the way of bow and string.


The Goblins are quite small compared to Ogres. So while the printer will create 3 Ogres in about 6 (black resin) to 10 (green resin) hours, It will create 12 Goblins in half the time. This results in max 9 Ogres (about what I can paint comfortably in a day) or 36 Goblins a day. Not enough for business purposes, but enough for my own 2k points a week.


There are also some Goblin mounted scouts. Hussars would fill that role nicely, so that's what they look like. Instead on wolves or squiggs, the Goblins are mounted on giant pugs for some additional "British" flair.

Color me impressed! And you've got me back to considering doing another ogre army as I head into KoW2 from WHFB ...

Thanks for the detailed write-ups, interesting to hear how 3D printing can actually be used for army building, not just hypothesizing on the same.

- Salvage

Really good work, that's a nice army! Also very inspiring stuff, both the manufacturing process and the design for an alternative Ogre army

What has a trunk and is big and hairy and no elephant ? A mammoth.
That's taking it to the limit in more than one way.
For one the printers build space limit is reached (which is just about as large as the mammoth's base and second my current design limits are reached.
There is an option for the mammoth to be equipped with an bolt thrower. So in the best boy scout manner "I'll be prepared" and took it.
If there is an bolt thrower it will need some crew. Let's face it an Ogre crossbow is an bolt thrower, so using an Ogre as crew, the model would be basically a mounted Ogre.
I wanted a more elephant/howdah style and so I choose an Goblin crew. Two guys operating the bolt thrower and one guy driving the mammoth.
This is what my first design looked lie in the printer-software.


The model is hollow, but there is no way for the resin to escape. So I had to drill some holes into the feet to drain the resin. The trapped resin was enough to print a second mammoth.


The model is printed with an slightly lower resolution, but I find it is ist still usable.
The mammoth in comparison with some Goblins and Epic Eldars (the standard size I design models for)

Directly under the mine, you can see the magnet. All bases have an magnet so when mounted on a metal sheet they will be rather secure during transport.

I always have to print an prototype, because there are things I only notice on a finished model.
In this case, the eyes are to far to the front, the top hair is too regular, the bolt rack looks like a rocket rack, the sides of the howdah could do with some ornaments etc.


So I did a second version, which corrects those. It adds also an mammoth whisperer in support of the mahout. The post is also changed to that on a threatening elephant, but it's not as impressive because of the smaller ears.


Both versions painted. I used a lighter fur color on the newer version and it looks rather flat in the photograph. It doesn't look so in real life.



An the last one, the mammoths surrounded by their peers.


I'm ambivalent about the model. I like the Gobbos and their poses. The crossbow and howdah take up army elements i.e. wicker for the howdah and basically the Ogre crossbow enlarged, put on a swivel and with a crank added for reloading.
The bundle of bolts works well, the rolled up canvas is ok.
The proportions of the body of the mammoth are ok, the first version probably a bit more mammoth like than the second one. The fur could be a bit more pronounced.
I'm not really content, but not discontent enough to do a third version, because I don't need two mammoths not to mention three mammoths.
I redo it probably on one of those dark and lonely winter evenings when you don't know what to do besides watching out for that red clothed guy who claims year after year that he brought all those presents you have spent your hard earned money on.

But for now I start on designing some more Ogres.

Some WIP. It's goig slowly, but that is as Darwin would tell you how evolution works, slowly.
Here is the evolution of my heavy cavalry. In fact they are chariots, but Napoleonic chariots don't make that much sense. In contrast a cuirassier mounted on a polar bear makes absolute sense.
Anyway here you see all steps from the teddy bear like beginnings on the right, to the near final model on the left. near final only, because the teeth didn't print well, have to check them.

The first one looked like a Teddy Bear. The second on was better, but still had that very short orderly fur.
The third one went into the right direction. As you can see I stopped printing riders, as it saves some printing time. If I really wanted I could add them later. I could even make them interchangable.

The I tried a different snout, but it would better suit the wolf of the red riding hood. So I went back to the other design and added bridle and saddle.
This gave it a more complete look and I only added some final detail like the stirrups, and some marking on the saddle.
On the last one, finally the rider is back. He got also some additional details, like some horse hairs at the helmet, sleeves with button and some shoulder pads.
This is supposed to be the final model, but for some reason, the teeth didn't print. Hmmmmm, no rest for the wicked.

So now I have to do some variants and print them and than paint them. Too late for the tournament tomorrow, but I could field a horde of bears ridden by men without upper parts.
Probably I will.

Painted the first three "chariots".

They are not perfect, but they just took too long to design and print and I'm running out of steam. I avoid starting on the next three.
Luckily I'm off for a long weekend, when I'm back I might be more eager.

Anyway here they are:

This is amazing!
Thanks so much for the explanations and the awesome pictures.

Can't believe this doesn't have more comments. Awesome thread.

Print and Design looks really well,
May I ask what Printer and Software you use?

I have a Makibox with a E3D Heatblock and Noozle, also the Slic3r and Repetier Host as Software.

The printer is a B9Creator V1.2. The models are printed at xy resolution of 50 um and z of 25 or 50 um depending on model.

The slicing is done with B9s own software.

For the design I use Cinema 4D.

Okay,
back from stormy Cornwall, I decided to get it over and PAINted the remaining 3 "chariots". The units is basically all prototypes and test models. But I decided to paint them anyway. So that's what the army looks now



In the afternoon I will have a battle at the club. Usually we play 1750 points. That's the army I will take. Probably not the most efficeient selection, but I like the models


The most asked question is how much costs a model.
That's difficult to answer, because I do not really keep track of material and number of models printed. The resin cost per Ogre is theoretically about 2,40 Euro. Theoretically, because it does not include spill and waste.
The army on the picture above took about two and a half bottles of resin. Cost about 400 Euro. I had to recoat the vat 8 times, which amounts to another 50 Euro. If we add another 50 Euro for paper towels, IPA and things I forgot, that's about 500 Euro.
But what you don't see are the prototypes and design studies I printed. That's at least a third as many models. And I printed other stuff as well, so the 500 Euro might be for 1.5 of this army, reducing the cost for the "next copy of the army" to about 350 Euro.

This does not take into account print- or design time or hard- or software cost etc..
This does not take into account the learning curve for the printing process, software and design.

So it's not worth from the point of saving anything, be it time or money.
But it allows me to design and "manufacture" my own miniatures which is in the end all I want - and wanted for a very long time.

The number of readily available free good wargaming-models is very low. So if you are not prepared and willing to design your own miniatures, it's not really worth to invest this kind of money and time.

Many thanks to those few who expressed their interest.
I will end that Blog on dakkadakka now, because a few are too few to keep it going.

brumbaer wrote:
The number of readily available free good wargaming-models is very low.

QFT

Many thanks to those few who expressed their interest.
I will end that Blog on dakkadakka now, because a few are too few to keep it going.

Sad to hear it, but understandable, given how much time you've put into your posts. Will you continue this in another location - forum, blog, etc? Happy to follow you there.

- Salvage

Thanks.

There is still my webpage
http://brumbaer.de/

and there is a thread on Warseer with virtually the same content.