3D printed/sculpted miniatures and crowdfundings

[Steam Ball]

GW catalogue is full of twins, back to the 80s, and not just BB, even jumping from one to another range. Amazons are newer and good example, but so are others like older Chaney (Fantasy werewolf, IIRC).

I think 2nd Ed Skaven team has a special spot for many because, while you get plenty of "different" players, enough for a full team, you don't get repeats, just easy to group "brothers" (blitzers one stance, linerats other, throwers, kickers and catchers other but they are still obvious). Also they are sturdy, well sized and usable in the game board. They combine many if not all features to be a good team to be used and not just sit in a cupboard.

IMHO brands should remind this more, and get some sunglasses for other things, which seem to blind them too much.

[iandarkart]

- Sukubus Studio is a "please go back to the drawing board" (but I'll happily change opinion and retract my comments if they solve their failings).

Thanks for your understanding to new sculptors. I hope your final opinion .

[spubbbba]

Kickstarters do seem to be the in thing at the moment. Some well established companies (Mantic springs to mind) are clearly using it as a pre-order surface with the added bonus that they don’t have to honour the commitments. I’ve only taken part in a couple of them precisely as I am aware that more risk is being passed onto me as the consumer.

The good thing with the 3D drawings is at least they are an accurate representation of how the models will turn out. So many awesome concept sketches have ended up as mediocre final models. But it is a worry that purely computer rendering does not factor in the practicalities of creating models that can actually be used. Bloodbowl models have a rougher life than other games since they need to be picked up as well as placed prone on a regular basis. Making cool looking dynamic models is all well and good, but if they continually fall over or break apart then they are not much use for the actual purpose many will get them for.

The other consideration is turning the masters into real models. I’ve seen some pictures of great looking fantasy football models, but the model I got had warped parts, air bubbles or other issues due to poor casting or the use of a rubbish material.

[Steam Ball]

Renderings can also hide real shapes, for good or bad, because most use default options instead of settings that represent what will be really printed. Shadows are a big factor used by our brains to determine how things are, for example.

[connexion]

Thanks for your understanding to new sculptors. I hope your final opinion .

No offense meant but one thing is "hi, i am a new sculptor, what do you think of my models?" and another is "hi, i am a new sculptor, these are my models, please give me money for them". While in both scenarios there is room for friendly and constructive criticism, and in the first there is some tolerance, in the second scenario you're assuming you have what it takes to play seriously and, consequently, tolerance and understanding fly right out of the window. If you're offering a product for the market there is no room for "please forgive us, we're new sculptors".

That being said...

The'"Extasis Queen" (that's the 'big guy' model of the team, right?) seems mildly interesting. Let's see how the crowdfunding evolves over the next couple of months...

Just compared the render for player #2 and the respective 3D test print:

https://images.indiegogo.com/file_attac ... hrower.jpg
https://images.indiegogo.com/file_attac ... _Model.jpg

Even at a glance, I can spot a few places where details from the render disappear or are significantly changed in the test print.

Will you be trying further test prints as the crowd-fund progresses?

[iandarkart]

Right. You are absolutely right. The image of the first sample does not match the render of the campaign, they are different files. It was the first test we did during the pre campaign and we would like to do more models and show more examples. We are constantly in touch with our producers and we fully trust them.

We do not see the problem to say ... "hey, we are newbies, help us (if you like our works)". But this is our point of view, of course. We wanted to be transparent from the beginning and seek the support and feedback to improve. In fact, your comments are very well and we want to thank you. Thanks for you patience too.

[iandarkart]

Good news. I've talked to Laia when she has awakened (we spend 2 days without sleep and it has been really hard for us, but don´t worry, we fall in love and there is no problem for our relationship ). Your comments have made us conclude that it is good idea to make another master model soon. Therefore, we would like to propose you to tell us which miniature you think can be problems, such as spikes, bubbles, etc ... and we do it as soon as possible to display it during the campaign. Expectation mode on!

[connexion]

but don´t worry, we fall in love and there is no problem for our relationship

Too. Much. Information. ;-P

About minis... Perhaps you start a new thread asking for advice from the comunity?

My idea is check out how different kinds of spikes come out in the prints as that should give an idea already of what kind of casting issues you may have (parts of #4 might be good candidates). Also, watch out for models with open hands #1 (or #3 flipping the finger...).

My 0.02€

[iandarkart]

Great! Work in progress...

[Digger Goreman]

Just to chip in, compare the spikes on the Sandgroper Mummy (the only problem on an all-time favorite of mine) vs the spikes on Willy Miniatures Undead Elf....

Sandgroper's spikes are so thin they almost bend in the wind, and are hard to prime/paint.... Willy's are sturdier without being overstated (well, on the left shoulder and helmet anyway)....

[Lecter1972]

I have got to admit the lack of something different has put me off a number of the campaigns despite some of the miniatures being really nice and well sculpted & executed

There currently seems to be a checklist for manufacturers, they pick a race such as Skaven they do the basic roster, throw in a Rat Ogre, add in the relevant star players ie a Hakflem variant, a Skitter StabStab variant, a Glart variant, Fezglitch Headsplitter etc......

Meiko has an Indiegogo campaign under process and it has the idea of adding in a mutation sprue and that has got me kind of intrigued enough to maybe look at that but I really wish the companies would do something different

Rolljordans Horned Frog campaign added some miniatures that were new concepts and ideas that were outside the official boundaries of the latest Living Rule book for instance the 4 armed Frog / Slann and the Frog / Slann with Chainsaw and I really like that idea

There is tons of scope though in the Blood Bowl / Fantasy Football universe, some of the old illustrations from old editions offer some great inspiration and ideas for directions to go in

I'd love to see some sculptors produce some of the following

Skaven Mutant Obese (like the drawing from one of the early White Dwarfs)
Skaven Mutant with Tentacles
Skaven with Chainsaw (I know Rykar did a conversion of this but a whole new sculpt would be interesting)
Rat Ogre Mutant with either 4 arms or 2 heads
Chaos Dwarf Mutants - 2 heads, multiple arms, mace tails etc...
Chaos Dwarf with Chainsaw
Chaos Dwarf Deathroller / Killdozer
Ogre Mutant with four arms (remember seeing a sketch of this on Impacts forums that would have made an exceptional sculpt)
Ogre with Chainsaw
Chaos Warrior with two heads
Troll mutant with two heads

I'd also love to see a variant of Flint Churnblade as a Trollslayer

The possibilities in this are limitless but some of the companies seem to be playing things a little safe. I can understand why they do this as it is a tried and trusted formula for them but something different and outside the norm would also be hugely appealling

[Lecter1972]

Heres a few sketches that I'd like to see realised


Skaven Obese





Ogre Mutant






Chaos Warrior mutant

[iandarkart]

Heres a few sketches that I'd like to see realised



Chaos Warrior mutant

Your desires are real nightmares...

Like you wanted???

http://youtu.be/Pk2KCLyD8sA

[J_Bone]

Bloodbowl models have a rougher life than other games since they need to be picked up as well as placed prone on a regular basis. Making cool looking dynamic models is all well and good, but if they continually fall over or break apart then they are not much use for the actual purpose many will get them for.

This is something that is always in my mind when considering Blood Bowl miniatures... I know a lot of people complain about the Willys miniatures being in too large a scale but I always feel Willys can take a lot mor abuse (LOL). I am currently painting up a 4th edition GW human team and while the sculpts are fantastic (the scale is all over the place though... Some throwers/catchers far bigger than others and looking weird next to each other etc. At least Willys tend to be a uniform scale throughout a team) some of the miniatures are INCREDIBLY fragile. I have had to pin a great number of them purely because the ankle points broke in transit or by lightly handling them while painting. I really want them to be my NAFC team next year but I am beginning to doubt they'd survive the weekend.

[charlesanakin]

I know this is an old thread and there may be no reply but I really feel like a couple of things need to be said especially considering that 3D printing is going to be the future of miniatures.
First, take some ownership as a customer over decisions. If you have experience with minis that have open fingers breaking avoid those figs when they show up on KS. Look for minis which have achievable models and not just what looks pretty.
Second, as witnessed in this thread many of these new KS are hyper-sensitive to suggestions from customers. They may be new at this and in over their heads in some ways but they are often willing to listen. As an example there is a current Lizardman team on Indiegogo which looks pretty nice. I like Lizards and there are very few (I think Meiko has the only other one) teams available. I contacted the sculptor and told him players love unique/team specific block dice. His response was that dice were so expensive the couldnt do it but maybe they could do standard pipped d6 with a team logo. I said, "why don't you just design and 3d print your own dice". That light bulb came on fast for him. It was like he never even considered that. A few days later and he had designed some really cool Lizard block dice and for his smaller KS over 20 people bought them. My point is that if you want something instead of just complaining that it isn't this or that get the manufacturers ear and make an active suggestion. Often they'll listen. Be an active participant not a passive wisher. It never hurts to ask.