Hi all,

I have recently received my 3d printer. And since it has been my dream to design and print my own army, I want to share the process with you. This is going to be mostly a learning experience so the end product is not as important as the process to get there.

So before I got the printer I started to design my soldier (pics bellow). the first version printed without problems, but since the 28mm scale is just so tiny, all the details were all gone and the correct size look like a tiny man compared to my traitors.
v2 was much closer to what i want but still looked way to small.
I just printed v3 which I'm quite happy with and I think this is going to be the base for the the whole army.

questions and suggestions welcome!

V3 looks pretty good, shame the details have blurred so much though. He's built like Conan though,

V1 and V2 are like dancers. Maybe a V2.5 or in-between would be the perfect balance.

 Shandara wrote:
V3 looks pretty good, shame the details have blurred so much though. He's built like Conan though,

V1 and V2 are like dancers. Maybe a V2.5 or in-between would be the perfect balance.

Yeah I know what you mean. I will keep that in mind on my current stance. I do want to incorporate some body build variations to the army (not to extreme) and eventually females as well.

current screen shot bellow (WIP Mar23)

I like your design. Seems like you are no stranger to the modelling software! That is so much cooler than the thread topic led me to believe. Awesome ambitious project well worth documenting and sharing!

Would you mind sharing behind the scenes info, such as what kind of printer you are using? The detail seems too good for your run of the mill plastic FDM model, but not quite as fine as SLS samples I've seen.

This thread is going to be epic.Already you have some badass designs id throw money at.

Really fantastic design!! V3

but the 3D printout is sorely dissapointing - what is with all the diagonal banding marks, is this normal? that looks terrible to me.

But your 3D sculpt is bang on, and slaps the GW design in the face, IMHO

Wow, those designs are epic. Extraordinary. I've been looking around for some properly scaled 28mm models (to help me sculpt my own IG as it happens) and here you've come up with something incredibly close to that. Very interesting indeed. Great stuff. Thread Subscribed.

Thats just the thing - currently you don't get an affordable 3D-printer that does not leave any lines. You can remove them with the acetone vapour method, but that says in equal measure bye-bye to any small details like buttons, noses, pouches or the like. I think the tech is just not good enough for infantry models at 28mm yet.

However, you could start with your tanks and APCs. That rough surface design would even fit well with your theme, as WW2 german tanks had a similar rough surface, it was a coating of some sort to prevent sticky charges.

This is going to be veeeeery interesting! The design of your army is great! Subscribed!

Thank you all for ]the great comments.

Kosake is right. at this point the lines are going to be there no matter what printer currently in the market you get. I specifically piked mine (is a Form1 from FormLabs) because it has one of the smallest layer resolution out there. I have seen better ones but only a business could afford those.

In anyway I think as I get more experienced I think I could get better prints. I have an acceptable knowledge of 3D modeling but I there is so much more that I need learn. and as far as printing I am just beginning the fun. At
And once I start to move from the tiny soldiers to vehicles, walkers, and structures, I believe that is were the magic will really start to show (it will probably be a while before that happens).

We have a really expensive thing here in the institute. I can ask, whether I can do a test, but the whole thing is really costly, even the fotosensitive ink they use costs a boatload. If you are interested, send me the file and any specs and i'll see what can be done with SOTA tech.

 Kosake wrote:
We have a really expensive thing here in the institute. I can ask, whether I can do a test, but the whole thing is really costly, even the fotosensitive ink they use costs a boatload. If you are interested, send me the file and any specs and i'll see what can be done with SOTA tech.

I would be down for a test like that. However, It would have to be one that has no 40k stuff on it. So far, GW has been quite nasty on people who have shared any model that remotely resembles their stuff. Which I totally understand, since it is their business, but trust me it would be more time efficient and way way way less expensive to just go and buy their stuff.

The digital sculpts are quite nice, but as has been noted the actual print is sadly lacking. My best suggestion here would be to have masters of the miniatures printed (minus copyrighted iconography) in high resolution at a commercial printer. Once printed and cleaned up the most cost effective method of making your army would be casting them in resin.

commissarbob wrote:
The digital sculpts are quite nice, but as has been noted the actual print is sadly lacking. My best suggestion here would be to have masters of the miniatures printed (minus copyrighted iconography) in high resolution at a commercial printer. Once printed and cleaned up the most cost effective method of making your army would be casting them in resin.

Is the Imperial Eagle copyrighted? I didn't think it could be given that 2 headed eagles have been used throughout history.

But I agree with your method. If you can get a high quality print of the masters and then use resin casting for duplicates.

Subscribed. I absolutrly love the models you made priorto printing and looking forward to following your printing journey.

These look awesome, to only have that kind of talent. Keep up the work and when are you doing your kickstarter?

What brand of printer is used for these beautiful things? lol

The renders look fantastic! I think you'd do best to use your printer for prototyping, then have a master model professionally printed and use it to cast copies. Urethane casting isn't too hard, with your modeling skills I think you could definitely handle it

interesting.

Ive been using 3D printers quite extensively the past few years, and while coarse printing like this can be a bit disappointing it still has a lot of uses.

I now print almost all my sculpting armatures. Makes it simple to ensure that all your arms and legs are the same length and you dont have to build up torsos and other bulk areas.

The other thing which I have relatively recently started doing. While companies like Shapeways offer cheap printing, it isnt the finest resolution. It isnt horrible though for the price. What I do though is print them at double size (triple for certain things like heads and weapons). When I get those in, I clean them up and make adjustments as needed for casting.

Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

Very good sculpture!

I'm amazed that resin can be made to shrink uniformly enough for that purpose.

Hydrospan works pretty good, some other methods are less reliable.

I had been using it for years to actually shrink masters for model train customers, and while cleaning a 3D print, it dawned on me that I might be able to make the striations less apparent by shrinking them. Did a couple tests, and it worked well enough.

The larger print is easier to clean and handle, and provided you do not have any really thick areas (talking a couple centimeters) it shrinks down fine. Thick areas can be problematic if the thin parts shrink much faster then them. For those, I hollow it out and then fill back in with putty if need be for final casting.

 Saz000 wrote:

 Kosake wrote:
We have a really expensive thing here in the institute. I can ask, whether I can do a test, but the whole thing is really costly, even the fotosensitive ink they use costs a boatload. If you are interested, send me the file and any specs and i'll see what can be done with SOTA tech.

I would be down for a test like that. However, It would have to be one that has no 40k stuff on it. So far, GW has been quite nasty on people who have shared any model that remotely resembles their stuff. Which I totally understand, since it is their business, but trust me it would be more time efficient and way way way less expensive to just go and buy their stuff.

As far as I can see your actual printouts, the only thing GW-protected could be the aquilla. Make your own variation of a two-headed eagle or make a double-wing symbol without a head or something and you are good to go.
Also, GW policy? Yeah. Sure. They totally can cease and desist anyone who does their own models that could possibly be used in some sort of wargaming context, good luck to them in this noble endeavour.... not.

HAIL HYDRA!

Haters can hate but I think there perfect

As much as I like the designs, the actual models really are not that good. As others have said, home 3-D printing just isnt there as far as small scale detail goes. Look forward to seeing some vehicles though.

For Anyone interested, this are a couple of good free resources for modelers and 3d printing. I am mostly working on Zbrush and 3ds Max but a lot of these models can be imported to any program. No need to reinvent the wheel when you can just download one.

http://tf3dm.com/3d-models/weapons
http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=warhammer&sa=
https://grabcad.com/home
http://www.yeggi.com/popular-3d-models/
http://www.badking.com.au/site/product-category/custom-brushes/military/

 Kosake wrote:


As far as I can see your actual printouts, the only thing GW-protected could be the aquilla. Make your own variation of a two-headed eagle or make a double-wing symbol without a head or something and you are good to go.
Also, GW policy? Yeah. Sure. They totally can cease and desist anyone who does their own models that could possibly be used in some sort of wargaming context, good luck to them in this noble endeavour.... not.

I agree, I feel that the whole copyright and cease and desist saga was totally mishandled by the companies. You cannot treat the people who feed you as your enemies. Instead of fighting technology you gotta embrace it.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:
Ive been using 3D printers quite extensively the past few years, and while coarse printing like this can be a bit disappointing it still has a lot of uses.

I now print almost all my sculpting armatures. Makes it simple to ensure that all your arms and legs are the same length and you dont have to build up torsos and other bulk areas.

The other thing which I have relatively recently started doing. While companies like Shapeways offer cheap printing, it isnt the finest resolution. It isnt horrible though for the price. What I do though is print them at double size (triple for certain things like heads and weapons). When I get those in, I clean them up and make adjustments as needed for casting.

Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

I am going to have to look in to that for sure. I did try mold making a while ago and I failed miserably. I am going to have to find an experienced person to show me the tricks. I do feel that eventually, the 3d printing technology will catch up on quality and price. the Demand is definitely there, and the amount of different things that you could possibly do is unimaginable.

Just curious what the cost is for the gear you used and the printed unit itself.

Those are the most metal guard designs I've ever seen.

 Saz000 wrote:

 Kosake wrote:


As far as I can see your actual printouts, the only thing GW-protected could be the aquilla. Make your own variation of a two-headed eagle or make a double-wing symbol without a head or something and you are good to go.
Also, GW policy? Yeah. Sure. They totally can cease and desist anyone who does their own models that could possibly be used in some sort of wargaming context, good luck to them in this noble endeavour.... not.

I agree, I feel that the whole copyright and cease and desist saga was totally mishandled by the companies. You cannot treat the people who feed you as your enemies. Instead of fighting technology you gotta embrace it.

You know, that's what I can't understand. 3D printing will be a total pain for GW soon enough. I've read about a dozen things, from concrete walls over metal guns to biological organs being ready or close to for 3D print. Now, if I were GW I'd jump on the train early. Make international competitions for 3D sculpts, winner gets a free baneblade/merch/cash and his model will be made into a GW product. Get lots of new designs for practically free, involve the community, promote stuff... Instead GW focusses on cracking down on sites that provide 3D models like thingiverse or similar. Good luck enforcing their imaginary rights on user-made models on pirate bay...

 Saz000 wrote:


Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

 Kosake wrote:

 Saz000 wrote:

 Kosake wrote:


As far as I can see your actual printouts, the only thing GW-protected could be the aquilla. Make your own variation of a two-headed eagle or make a double-wing symbol without a head or something and you are good to go.
Also, GW policy? Yeah. Sure. They totally can cease and desist anyone who does their own models that could possibly be used in some sort of wargaming context, good luck to them in this noble endeavour.... not.

I agree, I feel that the whole copyright and cease and desist saga was totally mishandled by the companies. You cannot treat the people who feed you as your enemies. Instead of fighting technology you gotta embrace it.

You know, that's what I can't understand. 3D printing will be a total pain for GW soon enough. I've read about a dozen things, from concrete walls over metal guns to biological organs being ready or close to for 3D print. Now, if I were GW I'd jump on the train early. Make international competitions for 3D sculpts, winner gets a free baneblade/merch/cash and his model will be made into a GW product. Get lots of new designs for practically free, involve the community, promote stuff... Instead GW focusses on cracking down on sites that provide 3D models like thingiverse or similar. Good luck enforcing their imaginary rights on user-made models on pirate bay...

 Saz000 wrote:


Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

Now this is a great idea. Probably obsolte in a few years, but definitely points for creativity.

I personally prefer V2 the most as I am in love with that detail and would paint dozens of these for my Guard army. I can not get enough of that pose and the photo either. You are definitely onto something there.

Subbed

Awesome stuff. I have no personal experience with 3D printing, but I kinda want to get one for terrain and projects like that. I'll have to do some research on 3D printers that cost less than 1000 USD

Isn't this illegal? Copyright What not?

 Dalymiddleboro wrote:
Isn't this illegal? Copyright What not?

He hasn't used games workshop models.

Damorang wrote:
Awesome stuff. I have no personal experience with 3D printing, but I kinda want to get one for terrain and projects like that. I'll have to do some research on 3D printers that cost less than 1000 USD

I did that recently. Makibox. 300 USD, cheap raw materials (I think like 15 bucks for a kilogram or so). Somewhat decent resolution but still too coarse for perfect results. I think the model will be in the same quality as this one here.

I'd buy one, if I only really had the free time for that right now. The amount of still unfinished models, wIth all the stuff I'm doing outside of wargaming and lots of money going to be invested in my bike pretty soon I don't see much need to get one right this instant. When I come back to it in a year or so, the quality will probably have quadrupled...

edit: nevermind, answered my own question

 Kosake wrote:

Damorang wrote:
Awesome stuff. I have no personal experience with 3D printing, but I kinda want to get one for terrain and projects like that. I'll have to do some research on 3D printers that cost less than 1000 USD

I did that recently. Makibox. 300 USD, cheap raw materials (I think like 15 bucks for a kilogram or so). Somewhat decent resolution but still too coarse for perfect results. I think the model will be in the same quality as this one here.

I'd buy one, if I only really had the free time for that right now. The amount of still unfinished models, wIth all the stuff I'm doing outside of wargaming and lots of money going to be invested in my bike pretty soon I don't see much need to get one right this instant. When I come back to it in a year or so, the quality will probably have quadrupled...

Aye, thats one of the things that have stopped me from getting into this, the thought that I buy expensive equipment and a little while later something new and shiny comes along :p

forget printing in 3D....I wish I could create art like those pics! How do you do that?????

General Hobbs wrote:


forget printing in 3D....I wish I could create art like those pics! How do you do that?????

Uhm... 3D Modelling programm (which was necessary to get the models in the first place) and then asigning a skin/texture to the surface? Not to diminish saz' work, but I think that the pictures were the easiest part

That's what I mean.....I'm sure it took a ton of work to make tthose 3D pics.

The prints haven't turned out great but I love the design.

Those digital models are amazing! I think you should work over at GW, or Forge World... Seriously. Too bad the printer can't keep up with you.

I hope all have great plans for this weekend,

I been super busy and sadly I have to work today as well, so I may not have time to sit and model. I did have a little time here and there this week so here is my progress on the sentinel I am making. Still missing some detail and a driver but I do not want to put too much to have it lost later on the print. I am really curious how this larger model will look like once printed.

Looks nice. You can allways add more details to the model later when the printers can supply the resolution necessary.

Absolutely awesome work. Looking forward to seeing how the army turns out.

 ProfessionalAmateur wrote:
Those are the most metal guard designs I've ever seen.

This. 100% man.

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

The other thing which I have relatively recently started doing. While companies like Shapeways offer cheap printing, it isnt the finest resolution. It isnt horrible though for the price. What I do though is print them at double size (triple for certain things like heads and weapons). When I get those in, I clean them up and make adjustments as needed for casting.

Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

that is pretty much what GW does itself. The build the masters at 3x, then cast them down to the final size. I understand this to be pretty much how all of them do it for production.

Aw man, these guys are incredible. Well done!

barnowl wrote:

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

The other thing which I have relatively recently started doing. While companies like Shapeways offer cheap printing, it isnt the finest resolution. It isnt horrible though for the price. What I do though is print them at double size (triple for certain things like heads and weapons). When I get those in, I clean them up and make adjustments as needed for casting.

Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

that is pretty much what GW does itself. The build the masters at 3x, then cast them down to the final size. I understand this to be pretty much how all of them do it for production.

And you were about to share this info precisely when?! I'm starting digging into Inventor right this instant...

Subscribed! This should be a really interesting thread.

Love it mate, I've waiting to see someone try and do this with a 3D printer.

Look forward to seeing more.

This sort of work is going to revolutionise and change the Wargame industry.

If I were you I'd just print the base and then sculpt the rest on, you clearly have the skill to do it.
Fantastic work, I'll definitely be subbing to this.

barnowl wrote:

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

The other thing which I have relatively recently started doing. While companies like Shapeways offer cheap printing, it isnt the finest resolution. It isnt horrible though for the price. What I do though is print them at double size (triple for certain things like heads and weapons). When I get those in, I clean them up and make adjustments as needed for casting.

Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

that is pretty much what GW does itself. The build the masters at 3x, then cast them down to the final size. I understand this to be pretty much how all of them do it for production.

Interesting on the casting how is that done?

Really great work! I love the detail like the magazine pouches, the protective mask with the skull look, man they are just perfect!

Subscribed, exalted!

Go for true scale man much more appealing than heroic scale miniatures as you can see on your first post scale comparison , everyone would buy the true scale mini their over the heroic " scale" miniature too the right.

Over all amazing talent you have insculpting sir, tell me do you do this for a living and do commissions? and if so what do you charge?, just some great talent I see their.

As for printing I would recommend Moddler as you will get next to no lines on your prints, and then I would recommend getting them casted in resin or metal , a much , much more affordable way too produce printed minis than trying too just print them to go . Also for copyright as long as he doesn't try selling them for income their perfectly legal and he can even use them as displays of his work and that is still legal as it is his own art work. If GW came after them I would encourage everyone too stop supporting GW in any way and to report your case too any news outlet possible and even a decent lawyer can take on the pin heads from GW on something like this .

If you need help finding a caster give me a pm and I can help you find one.

keep up the great work man, I would love too see some of your stuff out side of the 40k / GW universe !.


with best regards - Shawn.

I want to see where this leads

 Kosake wrote:

barnowl wrote:

 Sean_OBrien wrote:

The other thing which I have relatively recently started doing. While companies like Shapeways offer cheap printing, it isnt the finest resolution. It isnt horrible though for the price. What I do though is print them at double size (triple for certain things like heads and weapons). When I get those in, I clean them up and make adjustments as needed for casting.

Once that is done, make a silicone mold of the printed master and then cast in shrinking resin (Hydrospan 400 is what Ive been using). Let it shrink and now you have a crisp, clean master for resin casting. You can do similiar stuff by shrinking your mold with naptha, but the Hydrospan shrinks further faster. You effectively double or triple the resolution of your printed master.

that is pretty much what GW does itself. The build the masters at 3x, then cast them down to the final size. I understand this to be pretty much how all of them do it for production.

And you were about to share this info precisely when?! I'm starting digging into Inventor right this instant...

Not quite what GW does, but sort of. For casting metal, resin and the like - most companies, GW included, sculpt the master at a 1:1 scale (the better sculptors taking into account shrinkage).

If you are having metal tooling made though for injection plastics, those are often 2ups or 3ups. They use that to create the mold master and then use a pantograph mill to actually cut the mold. If you are going from digital sculpt to metal mold though, it more or less goes straight to the mill. You might use a rapid prototype to look at a physical example before it is cut, but generally these will be 1:1 scale unless used at a presentation of some form (trade shows for example to show finer details when you don't want people pawing at your stuff).

I think Renedra's site used to have pictures of their pantograph process, but otherwise you can probably find videos on YouTube.

Back to the thread though, are you currently rigging the models or sculpting them pose by pose? One of the biggest benefits to me of doing the 3d prints is that with a bit of time spent rigging the figure, I can produce 10-20 different poses in short order. That way each one is a bit different. We are currently working on a HALO inspired army which our goal is 100 unique poses.

WoW! I am very impressed. Thank you for posting your progress, I was considering the Form1 printer for my next venture into that (for jewelry mainly). The lines are visible, but you know after priming and painting, I really don't think they'll look much different than most other painted minis. That automotive spray-filler primer is pretty good to fill in tiny grooves and things like that.

I haven't heard of the Hydrospan to shrink things, just to expand things. Gonna have to check that out!

I'd love to see what these models would look like printed out with a top-grade printer! They're excellent designs - the aesthetics are really good and the poses are very intimidating.

Have you considered selling these models through Shapeways? The Aquila designs could be an issue.

~Tim?

This is pretty neat. I like your designs. I do spy a Hydra logo on the shoulder pad of your first image. I'm eager to see where you go with this one.

Subbed.

I'm in awe here... Too bad your printer's resolution isn't that good. Beyond that your stuff is pretty amazing!

Forgive if I've missed the information in my skimming, but what software do you render the models in before printing?

PS, Awesome models

He said Zbrush and 3ds max.

Do people still use Maya?

You have some real deal skill there, buddy, and I'm not foolin'!

3d printing is of course still in its infant stages, but it's just not fair that you are having to use such a terrible printing method on such absolute boss 3d models. Fantastic work on the 3d work. Just astounding.

 carlos13th wrote:
He said Zbrush and 3ds max.

Do people still use Maya?

Yep. Think that is still the package of choice for a lot of FX houses (Pixar is or was predominently Maya as of a year or so ago).

Since Autodesk bought up a bunch of them though, Max has managed to firmly entrench itself as the modeler of choice though.

ZBrush and a few other smaller ones have managed to gain their place as specialist software.

The software is less important though. All the full featured packages are more than capable of this sort of work (from Lightwave all the way up to Max). Blender could probably do it too, in a pinch.

People often chase 3D software looking for the built in easy button, but it is as much about talent as any other art form. Just like I wouldnt be able to sculpt like Tre Manor just by using the same putty he uses without putting in a lot of practice (or being born naturally talented).

Best 3d ever so far.

 Emicrania wrote:
Best 3d ever so far.

I would have to disagree with this, still awesome work.

V3 is looking really good. If you could just find the right machine....

Loving your design. Good luck with the rest of the project.

These are some sweet models. Definitely commenting so that I can see how this progresses! Nice work, mate

Not a bad start, I take it you have a game modeling background?

The prints look great!

You may want to be more realistic. try designing with reality and your printers resolution in mind. Try thinking like an engineer not an artist!

Hero-scale works better than true scale here, like increasing the gun barrel to make it less fragile and more likely to stand out visually with the resolution same with other details, exaggerate.

my ignorance of using max is nearly ... max, ditto for what you can do in the other apps. For what its worth shapeways has a printability and wall thickness checker that you may find useful.

i'll be watching this

thank you all for the great advice. and I totally agree with you OneManNoodles that one of the things that I need to start doing is thinking more on an engineer way. Right now I I have not found much time to work on modeling but I sense that this weekend I may be able to sit and have some fun. I want to start modeling a bigger vehicle but I am undecided yet. Also I need to get more resin cuz I'm out.

I like the legs and the more shallow cab, it makes it look more menacing. Great results once again. I've heard it said that it could take up to 18 months to properly start to learn to do competent 3D work, but yours seems to be a level beyond that so I assume you've been at it longer, would you say that is about right?

 Gogsnik wrote:
I like the legs and the more shallow cab, it makes it look more menacing. Great results once again. I've heard it said that it could take up to 18 months to properly start to learn to do competent 3D work, but yours seems to be a level beyond that so I assume you've been at it longer, would you say that is about right?

Thanks! I did learn to use 3ds max and Maya a while ago but did not use them for a very long time. I been using Zbrush for the past 5 months and while it was very hard to get used to it, once you do is sooo much easier. I know only the very basics but I learn more and more each time and Youtube helps a lot.

Very cool soldier design, can't wait to see the tanks etc.

I very much look forward to when 3D printing becomes so prevalent that GW will be forced to deal with it. I hope they still manage to make a tidy profit through licensing their IP and guiding the hobby through rules and such, but a world where I could take my pick from literally hundreds of designers and print the models that I think look the coolest is definitely one I want to be in.

Wow awesome sentinel design!!

Keep going with the heroic scale...true scale is great too but since GW figs are heroic scale, the true scale stuff looks reallllly out of place.

The issue with vehicles is also scale. 1/35 scale models are too big, 1/48 are just a bit too small. You need to aim for something in between tthose scales. To be honest, I think its all done by eyeballing it and comparing and nothing hard and fast.

 Saz000 wrote:

Thanks! I did learn to use 3ds max and Maya a while ago but did not use them for a very long time. I been using Zbrush for the past 5 months and while it was very hard to get used to it, once you do is sooo much easier. I know only the very basics but I learn more and more each time and Youtube helps a lot.

Someone put me onto some free programmes to use that certainly looked like they could produce great results but even 'free' I have very low data allowance so, maybe one day in the future I might be able to download one... However, I would love to have a go at something like this as I can't draw to save my life but I reckon 'sculpting' with a 3D programme is something I could learn to do; especially if, after a few years, you can get results like these.

 Saz000 wrote:
thank you all for the great advice. and I totally agree with you OneManNoodles that one of the things that I need to start doing is thinking more on an engineer way. Right now I I have not found much time to work on modeling but I sense that this weekend I may be able to sit and have some fun. I want to start modeling a bigger vehicle but I am undecided yet. Also I need to get more resin cuz I'm out.

I say this as a sentinel fan - I want one.

Fantastic designs- better than GW for guard by a long way in my book. Looking forward to seeing where you go next.

Just found this thread and I have to say stunning work, great designs love those troops evil looking buggers and the sentinel is just amazing.

You should put these into production I would buy these would make an amazing blood pact stand in, just amazing work and really you should release these I am sure you would make a ton of cash.

I swear, if you can get the final products looking that good, and in a better scale GW, I will order some, or politely ask that you can make some from a few sketches XD

Hi All,

I really appreciate the great comments, they really give me a push to continue modeling.
Now I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is that there seems to be an issue with my printer. Now the good news that is very probable that this has to do with the lower quality of the prints. So I'm excited to fix it. mean while I have just started with a chimera.

So you you know a little bit of my work flow, I begin in Illustrator creating the outlines of the shape (I'm basing this one out of Patoroch's design), then import the paths to 3ds Max to create the basic shapes. After that, I will bring the block-shapes to Zbrush and there is where the fun happens.
I leave you here with the humble beginnings.

Looking forward to see an 'updated' Chimera as there are some great mechanical details on the sentinel and it will interesting to see that translate to a tank. It's also very interesting to see how these things begin with basic shapes and outlines, Zbrush obviously comes into its own for the details.

That sentinel is awesome man. It looks menacing. I love it!

This will be fun to watch the developing process, I also would second that the sentinel is one mean looking machine.

Keep going with true scale! ( if Heroic scale was considered more of an art style that is ok, but as a scale it really is ugly compared too true scale), their is much more of a future in that scale and I have personally seen people much more willing too purchase miniatures that are nice clean and well proportioned over that of heroic scale cartoony futures.

It will open your minis up too way more of the growing wargaming market than just limiting them too GW products, just my two cents worth anyhow its all up too you, I just think you have a lot of talent and I would hate too see it limited to one certain scale style!.

what about some 3D model'd cybernetic replacement parts for your poor injured troops? replacements arms, legs, internal organs such as lung/gill repairs? then I could borrow them?

mullet_steve wrote:
what about some 3D model'd cybernetic replacement parts for your poor injured troops? replacements arms, legs, internal organs such as lung/gill repairs? then I could borrow them?

That would be cool. It would make each soldier a little bit more unique. once I go back to troops I will give it a go.

Here is an update on my quimera. I am spending a lot of time on 3DS max to give it a good foundation. and also spliting the model in the sections that will be printed before Zbrush instead of the other way around.

Im following this topic with great interest!

You have some amazing design skills

I do have a niggle about the chimera model tho, the tracks look like like they are sunk into the hull, ie it wouldnt be able to move.

Yes i do know we are playing with toy soldiers in a fictional world but i thought id bring that up anyways

Awesome stuff!

The dozer blade and turret are really good, the rest of the chimera looks just like a chimera so what more can be said?! The sunken tracks, whilst pleasing to look at do appear impractical though as wurrkop has pointed out.

I love it looks awesome!

Really does look amazing that dozer blade is just stunning the angle is just more pleasing to the eye I have to agree the sunken tracks just don't work unless this is a showroom piece.

Nice one. The Gunner for the Boltgun needs some sort of vision slit though. It's a tad bit difficult to aim otherwise.

When printer tech catches up with your design skills you week have an awesome looking army!
how much would one squad cost to print?

Sorry for the necro, but I'd really like to see any progress on this.

Fantastic Work !!

Makes me fight the urge to by a 3D printer.

At this point the only reason I don't have a 3D printer is that I don't know how to 3D model, and I haven't had the time and energy to take classes to learn.