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I’m looking to do some Smurf marines but want to make them a little more fancy - better shoulder pads etc

I was wondering if anyone has had any good experiences with the 3D printed shoulder pads, resin print ones to be precise but with the chapter marking. Are they any good compared to just using transfers?

Also, any suggestions where I might find some decent heads? I’m looking for something a little regal that would work well with good accents, such as eagle plate / helm sort of thing.

I've 3D printed shoulder pads in the past. They'll come out fine and perfectly usable depending on the files you get.

as far as searching, have you done any searches to give an idea of what you are after?

 lord marcus wrote:
I've 3D printed shoulder pads in the past. They'll come out fine and perfectly usable depending on the files you get.

as far as searching, have you done any searches to give an idea of what you are after?

Yeah and the images seem good but then that's someone taking the best picture they can. I'm not sure if in reality they actually look good. Also if the chapter marking is raise, does it look wrong if the other shoulder pad is not raised with the unit-type marking?

Are you talking about buying 3D printed pads, or do you mean buying the 3D models and printing them yourself?

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Are you talking about buying 3D printed pads, or do you mean buying the 3D models and printing them yourself?

Buying them. No room for a printer

If I could find decent quality fallen angel shoulders at a decent price I might be tempted.

The easy way to do it is with transfers,
and you will have enough because the smurfs are the posterboys and trancers will be in every box you buy. Use micro sol and set and it will look good

Sumilidon wrote:

 lord marcus wrote:
I've 3D printed shoulder pads in the past. They'll come out fine and perfectly usable depending on the files you get.

as far as searching, have you done any searches to give an idea of what you are after?

Yeah and the images seem good but then that's someone taking the best picture they can. I'm not sure if in reality they actually look good. Also if the chapter marking is raise, does it look wrong if the other shoulder pad is not raised with the unit-type marking?

You can also get pads with raised unit type markings, so it doesn’t have to be different styles:

Sumilidon wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:
Are you talking about buying 3D printed pads, or do you mean buying the 3D models and printing them yourself?

Buying them. No room for a printer

I guess it just comes down to what you prefer aesthetically. I personally hate decals, so much so that I bought an electronic die cutter for stencils so I could airbrush markings onto my aircraft models instead of using decals, so embossed detail that I can paint is a big win over decals.

You mention "someone taking the best picture they can" in terms of 3D printed stuff, but that's often the case with decals, they look okay in static images taken from the correct angle but in person you can see the outline of the carrier film when the light hits it at a bad angle.

As far as "3D printed" specifically, if you're buying commercially printed stuff you should hopefully be able to find someone printing on a high end machine with enough experience to not leave any visible layer or voxel lines/steps on it. Stuff I print myself on my own 3D printer still has visible steps in it, but I've seen commercially printed stuff that doesn't have that issue, but I've not personally bought shoulder pads to know what they might be like.