3D printed/sculpted miniatures and crowdfundings

[Darkson]

Only 3d produced figures I know that I have are the ones that came with my Shadows of Brimstone kickstarter, and the physical items arent as good as the renders, just because they've lost the finer details in the moulding process. It doesnt bother me, as they're board game pieces rather than wargaming figures, but if I'd got the same in a BB team I'd be disappointed.

[Madsherman]

I think this miniature/pose has way more dynamism and subtle tension than any of the 3D printed models I have seen.

I'm not saying that people can't create that same feel through 3D. I'm just saying what I've seen so far looks as if the sculptor is too inexperienced. Another thing is something I realized when I modeled a figure of my own.. I used to hate the standard standing poses of the gw models, but now I realize they also have a practical purpose: You have to be able to place the miniature flat on its back or flat on its chest.

It's a lovely miniature no doubt. This isn't an apples to apples comparison. Blood Bowl figures don't have the luxury of using potion bottles, weapons, shields, bedrolls, etc... to enliven them. It's so much more difficult to sculpt a "naked" mini.

Well actually when I used this model as an example I was only referring to the pose, (although the mini is awesome). If there is anyone who knows how to do nudes, however, it would be Tre:

[connexion]

Well actually when I used this model as an example I was only referring to the pose, (although the mini is awesome). If there is anyone who knows how to do nudes, however, it would be Tre:

Nudes, facial expression, etc. Those are, to say the least, superb. O_O

Didn't know that sculptor, is there a link to more of his work...?

[Madsherman]

http://red-box-games.com He has made a lot of reaper stuff, but most of his stuff is probably best suited for RPG.

[charlesanakin]

http://red-box-games.com He has made a lot of reaper stuff, but most of his stuff is probably best suited for RPG.

This guy is an amazingly talented sculptor. I checked out the website. Thanks for that. I wonder if we could talk him into making a Blood Bowl team? I wouldn't care if it was Halflings or Vamps I'd buy it.

Maybe this should go under a "my favorite sculptor" thread. This guy is good because of amazing talent. Greens and metal casting, 3D printing and manufacturing it wouldn't make any difference which medium this artist used. His minis would be amazing.

Is the website you posted his personal site?

[Steam Ball]

After seeing some 15 mm miniatures, and even 6 mm, I think the "more detail" is not a good excuse for increasing size. Some sculptors (3D or putty) can do wonders in packed spaces. Easier with 3D as you can zoom not only the view but also the tools, so to speak.

If the reason is to be easier to paint, you have to balance detail level, so you can't go nuts anyway. And still fit the task of being gaming pieces, with all the constraints of board size, being laid down, etc. In other words, get some art direction to control the result, instead of just doing big miniatures crammed full of tiny details in very complex poses. Great models for the showroom of master painters, not so much for all range of painters that want to put them on the gameboard.

Which leads me to think maybe the issues are higher up. The errors may give away the tech (poor translation of screen to master for 3D, blobby shapes for greenstuff) but they should be fixable and fixed before reaching the moulds. Even non errors, like the effects of massive metal casting instead of high quality resin casts, should be taken into account. If you let artists go free, you end with all kind of results. The specific tech used would be merely a factor of the more probable direction it failed (= the give aways mentioned), but not an excuse.

[Madsherman]

Yeah, it's getting a bit off track, so probably best to move that discussion away from here. I think red box is his own company.

[Madsherman]

Ok, I made a thread in the other miniatures section, so back on track:) I'm not saying that 3D can't be as good as greensculpting however there are some things the digital sculptors need to take into consideration:
Level of detail (everybodys commented on this)
Posing ( as a sculptor you need to have posing down. The 3D version of Jordell is in a very awkward left knee/left arm up jumping pose. To me as an animator it does not look legit because it doesn't follow the laws of physics very well, and to everybody else it'll just look off in some way) the wild exaggerated posing is a matter of personal taste, but practicality on the pitch isn't. You don't want your minis overlapping other squares and you need to be able to lie them down properly.
Painting friendly: I'm not a professional sculptor but I can imagine that GW sculptors have a design bible on what angles should be acute and what angles should be obtuse in order to make the model take the paint and washes properly. I tried painting some FF mansions of madness characters and their lack of sharp edges made it very hard to do anything but freehand paint the entire thing.

All in all with better printing material, and more training for the 3D artists, I think we can have just as good models as the greenies we have now. Just not quite there yet. Oh, and I must say that I think the willy Chaos team looks the best of the 3D teams, although they are pretty vanilla.