kingdomdeath wrote:
The Challenges of Digitally Sculpting & How the final print translates to plastic :

I want to bring focus to one of the challenges I face while art directing, working with digital sculptors. Not to say just working with them is the hard part at all, but when you take into consideration that their background 99% of the time is in the video game industry and that their tool of choice ( usually zbrush ) you end up with a very real and sometimes hard to solve disconnect.

A good miniature has just the right amount of exaggeration. The folds in their cloak are deep and heavy, the layers between the fabric are nice and chunky and the features of their face are deep and readable from a birds eye tabletop view. Hand sculptors that specialize in the craft, know all of this. However a digital sculptor is not used to this challenge and it really is a challenge when you have an art director like me on your back saying "no no, the belt needs to be thicker! not bigger, but like they are wearing a tire. the current detail is so thin it would barely print let alone be seen!"

The Pinup Twilight Knight was the 2nd digital model I ever directed. This was... 3 years ago? I remember how much push back the artist gave me when I told him how BIG the studs on her belt had to be! He said, "man this looks awful, its SOOO BIIG".

Her Sword looked huge and it came out all-right in resin. Resin being very forgiving and able to handle very slim parts. But as you can see the PVC version is down right crappy. I've debated recasting just that part in metal to add to the experiment of death box, which you are totally right. It was an experiment. I needed to invest and gain not just a working relationship with the vendor, but also learn up front and personally as much as possible in regards to the process.

So really the issue here is NOT the material, it was not understanding the limits of the material. The Pinup Twilight Knight was not designed for PVC. The New armor kits I am presenting, have been.

I till think a different material would be better suited for weapons, but we'll see what I can do. It sucks to just out right say it, but the more cash the better I can make everything. Since I am not factoring in retail yet, the cost to produce each box can be much higher since I am not factoring in distribution.

Tho, there is some danger in that because the end retail price of the box might have to be something crazy like $120-$150 if it costs a ludicrous amount to make each one. I am not running the project to get rich and I want to reinvest as much of the raised money into the product as possible. Haha, it would be nice to be able to pay myself at least a min wage salary for the last few years tho!

kingdomdeath wrote:My commitment is to bring about the highest quality experience possible. The brand has been built upon that and that will not change. I would not run a campaign to raise funds for productions unless I was confident about every aspect of the project.

The Pinup Twilight Knight is extremely finely detailed miniature, much finer then standard "chunky" miniatures, her face in particular is extremely faint and the experiment was to see how it would turn out in PVC. She does not accurately represent the future of the range because I created it to learn from it. All of the game components greatly benefited from the knowledge gained and have been improved from the very genesis of their design.

I am in communication with Ed of Trollforged, currently we are going over logistics and he is preparing some samples for me to evaluate. That is all I can share about that at this time.

If anyone has any more specific concerns, please feel free to contact me directly, either thru the PM system here or via the kickstarter. I get a lot of messages! But I will respond to them all!

kingdomdeath in Kickstarter Comments wrote:My commitment is to bring about the highest quality experience possible. The brand has been built upon that and that will not change.
The Pinup Twilight Knight is extremely finely detailed miniature, much finer then standard "chunky" figures and the experiment was to see how it would turn out in PVC. She does not accurately represent the future of the range because I created it to learn from it. All of the game components greatly benefited from the knowledge gained and have been improved from the very genesis of their design.

kingdomdeath in Kickstarter Comments wrote:@Breotan, ABS does not mean better quality hands down. ABS has its own limitations and strong points. It is EXTREMELY good with smooth simple objects, or things that are created on flat surfaces. However, it is not as good with organic shapes or detail that is on the sides of miniatures. In an ideal world ( for me ) I would use ABS for weapons and hard shapes and PVC for more organic models or monsters. But a lot can change as the campaign moves forward and I have a different budget levels to work with. Who knows, maybe we can do everything in solid gold! bwa hahahaha

420k Mini Stretch Goal!
Update #18 · Dec. 01, 2012 · 14 comments

I thought it would be fun to add this! If we hit 420k The Adam & Anna kickstarter exclusives are getting an upgrade! A one shot challenge scenario will be added to the rulebook, and a bonus copy of each of their heads, modified to be compatible with the armor kits will also be included with them!

For those interested, the talented Yannick Hennabo is currently slated to sculpt them in late January. Yannick is the talent responsible for the Twilight Knight & Pinup Great Game Hunter miniature from the Kingdom Death range. I for one am extremely excited to see his work on these two!

I've had many many requests from backers asking me to make the armor kits available separately. Seems a lot of you are interested in using them for conversion projects or as rank and file troops in your army. I still don't have any plans for releasing them outside of the game box, but in the spirit of the holidays I've decided to make them available thru the kickstarter! They will simply ship with the rest of your rewards once everything is complete.

For a single extra Rawhide Armor Kit (makes 4 miniatures), Please add +$24 to your pledge level
For a 5 pack of Rawhide Armor Kits (makes 20 miniatures), Please add +$50 to your pledge level
*these are a kickstarter special and you must pledge at least at the game level to be eligible for these, that way the shipping is included.

After the campaign is over, there will be a pledge manager sent out that you will use to lock in your rewards, so you don't need to write them down or message me a list of your current total.

 Buzzsaw wrote:
A wild stretch goal has appeared...

420k Mini Stretch Goal!
Update #18 · Dec. 01, 2012 · 14 comments

...

For those interested, the talented Yannick Hennabo is currently slated to sculpt them in late January. Yannick is the talent responsible for the Twilight Knight & Pinup Great Game Hunter miniature from the Kingdom Death range. I for one am extremely excited to see his work on these two!

...

*note her over-skirt is missing so i could check the pose

 kingdomdeath wrote:
@orkybenji, I agree it is VERY convoluted! This is in part due to the limitations of kickstarter and the practice of adding stretch goals with more options and content. In just a week, what started as just a pitch video has grown into a ton of content!

I am going to spend some time re-organizing and trying to make things more clear. It's still a challenge, but I am looking forward to approaching the information organization again.

 Grot 6 wrote:
Any way of seeing one of the figures put together with the "Add ons" in comparison to other figures of this range?

Can we see a size comparison shot of the figures alongside other figures of similar scale?

Are these the 54mm figures? Does "Boutique" just mean a special catchphrase for expensive? They are OK, but if they are just for the one game, don't really think they justify that price.


Watching it with interest, even if the price is a little too steep.

 RiTides wrote:
Hoping to wake up and see that the 425K stretch goal has been met

grefven wrote:
The KD miniatures are 35mm, so I think it would be hard for them to proxy for other games.

 Breotan wrote:

grefven wrote:
The KD miniatures are 35mm, so I think it would be hard for them to proxy for other games.

One does not use KD miniatures as proxies for other games. One simply buys KD miniatures, and cries himself to sleep at night because he doesn't have the skill to paint them in a way that is worthy.