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It is crunch time as we work on finishing prototypes for a couple projects in prep for Origins Game Fair next month. There have been some finishing touches and modifications we've needed to do so most of the time has been with nose to the grindstone.

Miniatures side of things hasn't slowed down. We have 3d printed off most of the masters for one of our first fireteams. There was an issue with a couple of the pieces 3d printing that had to be resolved, but that only took a day to do. They are being cleaned and should have pictures soon(tm). Then they will be cast for a small run. We still haven't worked out how we'll separate the pieces yet. Originally the idea was to have a single box, which had different weapon options and heads. When we changed to not have a separate head but a single torso/head that may have changed things. We could create two separate fireteams A and B or just do one fireteam. We won't know which direction until we get final production costs to see what we can work pricewise.

So for now, until we get pictures of the 3d prints, here are more renders.
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Blinks also nicknamed "Devils" are the one of the Anazi Dynasty's best scouts and infiltration experts. They are fast moving units that have been specially trained for recon, survival and deployed in forward positions for infiltration, identifying military positions, sniping and surveillance. They prefer to engage from a distance, striking, moving, performing flanking maneuvers or capturing objectives. There have been few that have survived encounters with them and those that did were never the same. Rumors say they aren't human, they remember seeing nothing and then they were there with glowing eyes and horns before vanishing again.

Blinks utilize specialized biotech created to interface with their mutation from harvesting genes from Gnarls. Gnarls are a deep space parasite that attaches to ships to drain their energy. In the region of space Anazi settled, they encountered them and started to harvest genetic material from them to use in their gene-splicing. There is a device that plugs into their spinal cord on their upper-back, interfacing with the gene, this allows them to create a small gravity field around them, letting them essentially become a black hole that transports them from point A to point B. It only works short distances and can't be used in constant conjunction, often shorting the lifespan of the user.

Blink Scout; Light Infantry Fireteam (female 01) - Multi-piece miniature: torso/head A (missing horns, getting a new render), kneeling legs, arms with assault rifle, arms with sniper rifle, blade on belt, alternate torso/head B



Blink Scout; Light Infantry Fireteam (female 02) - Multi-piece miniature: torso/head A (missing horns, getting a new render), legs apart, arms with assault rifle, arms with dagger and sword, blade on belt, alternate torso/head B



Blink Scout; Light Infantry Fireteam (male 01) - Multi-piece miniature: torso/head A, legs apart, arms with swords, arms with pistol and sword, alternate torso/head B



Blink Scout; Light Infantry Fireteam (male 02) - Multi-piece miniature: torso/head A, legs walking, arms with swords, arms with assault rifle and sword, alternate torso/head B



Blink Scout; Light Infantry Fireteam (male 03) - Multi-piece miniature: torso/head A, legs apart, arms with assault rifle, arms with pistol and sword, alternate torso/head B

I see that your universe has a DD-cup minimum. Even for female ranger types, which I'd normally expect to be lighter & leaner, rather than the big puppies I'm seeing. It's just a little incongrous for what is otherwise "hard" design.

I thought your username and avatar...er...I don't know?

Anyway, I don't think it will be that visible/obvious in 28/32mm scale.

But maybe future female miniatures in the line will offer more variation there?

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
I see that your universe has a DD-cup minimum. Even for female ranger types, which I'd normally expect to be lighter & leaner, rather than the big puppies I'm seeing. It's just a little incongrous for what is otherwise "hard" design.

It actually doesn't but the Blinks were initially designed after two of my wife's characters from a book she has been working on. The main female character that the design was taken from was designed on my wife's frame which is actually a much larger cupsize.

The first miniature based on her was the main reason but doesn't have bearing or representation of the universe, considering it is one miniature technically. Yes there are two females, they utilize the same frame due to finances. Since we're starting we couldn't spend money on creating two unique different female sculpts for the same fireteam, since that can be used on another design. If I had a bigger budget, I would have chosen to make them them vary more, even changing the males frame. Maybe someday.

There will be some women, that probably the only way you can tell if they were women is based on their hair (assuming long hair means that) although painted they could probably pass as male. The heavy armor types, head sculpt will probably be the only way you'll tell a difference. The larger power suits, you wouldn't tell at all even with a head sculpt swap as they won't have a unhelmeted version. There would be an alternate helmet if we can, which could be painted a different color or something along those lines.

@Alpharius - I'm no prude, but I was surprised at seeing the renders.

@DS - It's OK. I expect military females to look very similar to male troops, with the biggest (actually quite small) difference being stature and facial structure. For male vs female helmets, I like horsehair mohawks vs ponytails.

 Alpharius wrote:
But maybe future female miniatures in the line will offer more variation there?

It really depends on the faction. In the far future, greed and vanity is at its highest peak those that have money spend it, those that don't have money... can be identified by what little they have.

Women (usually not soldiers) but the Corporate leaders are actually fit form perfect in the United Republic. Children dna traits can be chosen before birth to ensure the best mix and match. That doesn't mean it always holds true but (think Gattica). Humans are vain in that aspect and those types of treatments aren't limited to surgery at least in the United Republic. It is all about public image to them. Europa is less vain, so more natural and less importance on public appearance also different social structure. Federated Commonwealth are miners, second generation citizens so can't really afford those things. Anazi are a mix breed of mutants. The next miniature for Anazi will be JK9, Jackal Defenders... sort of like a Anubis, light armored dog soldier. You'll be able to identify a female, but they are much smaller in chest size.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
LOL! I just told my wife about this post, her response was that she should make an account and post about breast shaming her. She wasn't serious, just some facebook discussions we get involved with some friends on and off though about body shaming. Although her actual response was, "Those are small. I mean you look at GG everyday so the fact that they are downsized to DD is a lot."

I will say this, the average size for breasts is actually 34DD, which was previously 34B about 20 years ago. I'm not saying that is what the average female is in my universe, but just a little tidbit.

And as always, renders size will shrink in 3D printing and shrink more in casting.

Fair enough, all good.

Severance, I think that you can actually manage the scattering without a numbered dice.

You've got different ways to do so with custom dices.

What you want is, basically, a random vector.

Custom symbols can create one, in the same way numbers (which are custom symbols themselves) can.

Since it is a D10 the top point of the dice can simply indicate the direction.

Or, "follow the 1", where you see where the 1 pip is pointing. If the 1 is up or down, it's a "HIT!".

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. The other ones should be finished printing today, then hopefully get some better pictures done. There still needs to be a little bit of cleanup work done on them.

Very nice looking prints there - this is getting real now, isn't it?

Those sculpts are very nice!

Nice work, though those ball socket joints will need some play testing.

Thank you. It is definitely getting closer, slowly but surely. This is just the first step to get a small production run done. Then we go back to the power armor 3d models, do some modifications to properly size and adjustments to the design. Then we'll probably do a small Kickstarter designed to flesh out the rest of the faction, the power armor and release the rules for free. Then expand and build up from there.

The balljoints will need some testing with. That is the main reason we're doing a small run. To finalize and standardize the rest of the miniatures. To determine if we want to keep the design with torso/head as one or instead go torso/legs combined and arms and head separate. We also may switch to a square shaped peg/key instead of a balljoint.

Here are a couple more prints and measurements. The size seems smaller to me, I'm asking for some more pictures and clarification. It should have been 32mm from the base of the foot to the eyes. I know that it isn't assembled, so there will be about a 1mm leeway. I also know she is slightly bent at the knee so not fully standing straight. But it looks to be about 28mm from base of the foot to the top of the head, which seems smaller since I would have thought it would have been around 30mm to top. Granted it could be the angle if the pieces are at a strange angle so that could explain it as well.

I prefer legs & torso together when the model can be sculpted as such. The body simply looks better, and it's not like you really give up anything in weapons options. That said, separate head is nice, so the models can look a different direction.

measuring the 3D sculpt is the most difficult thing and can lead to some trial and error, better print a model fully standing to the measure you want then create a box that size and compare all digital sculpts standing to that box to be sure of scale.

Delays, they almost never can be avoided.

The miniatures were sized correctly with a separate box measuring the correct size placed next to the miniature. I double checked the files, made sure they were the correct ones that were sent but still somehow mixups happen. Sometimes it isn't even the 3d file, but a parameter that wasn't set properly on the printer and other times there are other issues found.



Originally I thought the females were incorrect size and were a tad bit smaller. Now that I've seen the male, I think the female was most likely probably sized properly. There is a slight angle she is at so when placed on the paper like she was, it can account for the slight mm adjustment. The male however definitely does not look like it was sized properly. It looks about if we were doing 35mm which originally they were accidentally sized too. Adjustments were made and I was sure I sent the correct files. The artist is double checking them now. Unlike the female who can be explained based on her angles, this is fairly straight standup piece so eye level should been at least at 32mm, not as tall as this.





There is a concern about the swords being too thin. That is definitely valid since no one likes swords snapping off. I'm trying to get a better idea of the thickness compared to some other models. Scale 75 is doing the initial printing and casting. I'm having them compare the thickness to their Fallen Frontiers line against Bianca Carlson, Sphynx, and Sihlas Fenn since I have those models to compare with. The swords blades are a bit thin, but not thinner than most swords, so as long as they match up with that then I believe they should be fine.

Unfortunately that means a week of delay. A day to check the files, if they are fine, then have to check the printers. If they aren't fine, then at least a day to modify and update them. Then reprint them and cleanup. Overall they could be done in as quick as a couple days but usually something like this add's about a week. That delays the ability to start casting which causes a cascade effect down the line. On the plus side, a delay like this early on though can be adjusted for in the casting stage. Making up a 1-2 weeks during casting isn't too difficult if it was needed. Thankfully we aren't on a timeline to deliver a set date, although I'd like to have some cast before Origins Game Fair. This amount of time in my initial project was actually accounted for. You never like to use that cushion of time though, you always want to shoot for things to go flawless but you should always account for delays.

Version control becomes important. When files are updated, they should have a version with them whether it is a date stamp or a A/B/C and so on so you can tell the files apart. You can't rely on the dates of the files. You can't rely on the naming of the file all the time. Especially when you are dealing with multiple artists sending files, when something is updated and it has the same name. These are processes that need to be developed and in place before going ahead full steam to prevent mix-ups.

I always like to name things "whatever vxx - yyyymmddhhmm" so that the name carries the version and timestamp.

The swords are thin indeed, you can see the various versions of Infinity figures, especially the era of the military orders compared tot eh new ones to appreciate the thickness change and the reasons for that.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
I always like to name things "whatever vxx - yyyymmddhhmm" so that the name carries the version and timestamp.

That is a good suggestion. We tend to use yyyymmdd, only because there aren't changes in the finals to touchups within the same day. If it was inhouse I probably would use hhmm too.

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
The swords are thin indeed, you can see the various versions of Infinity figures, especially the era of the military orders compared tot eh new ones to appreciate the thickness change and the reasons for that.

There is definitely going to be an issue with the swords. They will unfortunately need to be redesigned and updated on the miniatures.



The center arm-blades are from Fallen Frontiers miniature Sphynx from the Harvesters faction. They are 35mm miniatures however it is probably the thinnest a blade should be. The one I tested survived quite a few flick and drop tests. Comparing it to the ones in our designs, ours is definitely way to thin. The one that gets glued to the lower back/belt would probably be fine, since it has backing from the miniature. However if the swords are changing, then it should probably change to match them.

Fallen Frontiers: Sphynx

The first issue was that the swords and blades needed to be reworked. With how thin the blades ended up being we were worried they could snap off easily or break in shipping. That is something no one really wants to have happen. The overall design was going to stay the same and only the thickness was going to be increased.



The image above shows the original design next to the proposed changes. As you can see we couldn't simply just increase the thickness and only that part. It can cause some pieces to be distorted so they needed to be touched up. The hilt and other parts would need to be adjusted accordingly. There doesn't appear to be that much difference in thickness when you look at it at this size because it is a blown up image. When they are printed and casted at their correct sizes you can actually notice the difference more.

Below you can see images of the reworked designs with the new thickness included. They maintain the same feel and designs just are thicker.




With the swords issue resolved we had to move on to the next issue which was to verify and double verify the sizes of the miniatures. Some of the measurements from the actual prints, although not completely accurate, seemed off. I would expect some variance because of how they were measured but not as much as I was seeing. Since we did change from a 35mm design, from the base of the foot to the eyes, to a 32mm design we wanted to make sure the wrong files weren't sent.



Creating a block, the bottom was lined up with the base of the feet with the top lined up with the eyes. Then moving it to the side we can get the exact measurement for the block. This lets us see for this one, which was in question, it was 32.19879mm to the eye level. That size would be fine for them. I then verified the files, matching dates and sizes to make sure those were the same ones that was sent and they were using. Once we verified that then we were good to continue.



New Finalized Sculpts

Since no other sizing or changes were made, we only had to reprint a few pieces. We had to change the notch on the belt where the sword attaches so those legs will need to be reprinted. The swords and arms that are using those swords will also need be reprinted. Then after final approval we move into casting.

Meanwhile we are starting work on a couple of the power suits for the other factions, since we already have completed 3d sculpts for them. There will need to be some modifications to fit them into our universe so we needed to work on the concept art. We are printing a sample on a lower resolution printer just to get the sizes of the current files and compare with ours. Then we can increase the sizes to what we think will work, then print those pieces. That will let us know where we'll need to change in sculpting. There are also some changes to shoulderpads, helmets and few other things to make them match up more with our universe. The idea is to do as little as we need to reduce sculpting costs or starting from scratch. However that does not mean we are opposed to starting from scratch. If we can't get them to work and they don't look right, I have no issues doing them over completely. Although we want to keep costs down, we don't want to cut corners or give something that is lower quality and doesn't fit our vision for that universe.

I'm sorry, but the concave bit on the blade of the kukri isn't working for me. It's in the wrong part of the blade for what it "should" be. If it were just above the crossguard, that would be fine and sensible. But in the main slashing part? Not so much.

Also, from a modeling standpoint, you are just asking for the tips to be broken off.


Finally, these are primarily 3-part models of body & 2 arms, yes?

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
I'm sorry, but the concave bit on the blade of the kukri isn't working for me. It's in the wrong part of the blade for what it "should" be. If it were just above the crossguard, that would be fine and sensible. But in the main slashing part? Not so much.

Also, from a modeling standpoint, you are just asking for the tips to be broken off.

Finally, these are primarily 3-part models of body & 2 arms, yes?

That is a valid concern about the tips being broken off. That was one of the reasons we increased the thickness. If there ends up being an issue we can make a modification fairly easy if needed.

We are into theory-crafting territory since the fighting style doesn't exist, although it might. It utilizes forms from Pencak Silat and fencing. It isn't completely practical but it isn't meant to be, rule of cool and all. Their blade fighting style is more akin to dancing around their opponents, then slashing and striking.

It isn't used in a normal slashing sword style but relies on speed and finesse. The ritual combat style during honor fights involves using the lower part to slash the opponent to score points. In non-ritual they would thrust, pull back to slice the blade tip while using the gouge to rip flesh. Other methods are to do a normal fencing thrust inward, then pull out causing more damage as the tip comes out (similar to removing an arrow by pulling it out). When faced against normal swords with a cross block, it is used to push or pull the sword away or downward, then they thrust forward, while dropping low and spinning around the body. The idea is the sword pulls/pushes the block, then quickly thrust and avoid the other sword by spinning around, while raking it across them.

These unfortunately are not 3-part models since we already finished printing the bulk. They are 4 part models at this juncture with 1 torso/head, 1 leg, 2 arms. We will re-evaluate once we have these in hand and have worked with them. At this time we are leaning towards the new models being 3-4 parts: 1 body (legs and torso), 2 arms, 1 head.

OK, got it. BTW, nice call to base on Pencak Silat as something different.

 Dark Severance wrote:
, rule of cool and all.

Truth! Thanks for this thread, been great following along!

I am not sure if having a separate head will help enouph with the variety to offset the extra small part that it will be.

GW does 28mm heads, and they'e OK - this should be similar. Separate heads are nice because the sculpting can be cleaner, and they can be posed to look about a bit. It avoids tricky undercuts at the neck, ears, & jaw.

The game will benefit more from 1-piece torso+legs for fast building. And it will look better if the spine can form a proper shape to match how the torso can twist & bend properly on the hips.

GW does heroic though and this does not seem to be in the abomination scale of GW.