Hi there! I've just made a bunch of blocks for Aristeia. They're 40mm tall, so they seem perfect! You can get them at Thingiverse HERE I've to test print them... but it seems to be a problem-less ride. They don't need supports anr the overhangs should be bearable. I hope you find them usefull
Ok... first one printed. It looks awesome! I left the base with small carvings to allow seeing the vertex light (and help positioning the pieces) and it is not only usefull but helps a lot to the overall looking of the pieces. Printer settings are 0.2mm layer and very fast option (which make shapes a little bubbly).
So yesterday evening I’ve instantly printed some of those, and they are truly magnificent. Thanks for effort (and by the way not only the Aristeia bits but also all the paper models you’ve posted). I do not play Ariteia but shall use it as scatter in my Infinity games. The piece is exactly as tall as S2 silhouette so works perfect game wise and may very well be imagined as a storage container.
I didn't notice it is S2 silhouette tall... great! :D The model is a quickie one made yesterday during a long long meeting at work (oh! I got paid for doing scenery) and composition and stl export at home. I tryed to keep detalis nice and yet low enough for a quicker printing and painting. I made on purpose that they can pass as containers for a regular table... there are a lot of them over an "Airsteia!" board, and that much printing time is better if you can use them on a regular table without looking weird. :) Thank you for your comments about the paper models too... lately I've got not much time for such community projects, my spare tame is almost fully booked just with the official scenery packs and taking care of my two year son XD
Congratulations! [Joke]Now teach him well to 3D model and papercraft design, so he can give us more toys!!!! ^^ [/joke]
First I've to teach him to paint miniatures... it is the only way I can have mine painted :tearsofjoy:
My daughters started painting minis when they were about 6… so your close if it is any indication. Right, I also took picture of my print – it took 6h40min at 0.1mm layer hight and 30% infill.
Awesome print! I'm printing grey with the sole purpose of not painting them... are you going to paint them? if so, don't forget to post photos ;) I'm finishing the test run for the four different modules... in my discreet 100x100x100mm printer the 4 block set fit too close to edges (making a quite thin and close to model skirt). But it is printing quite well. So any printer, even the lowest end ones, are ok with the blocks Mine is a 160€ Fabrikator Mini V2, a real jewel for that price if you are focusing on small pieces. Hot bed works like a charm (my previous printer was bigger but much much worse for about double price )
Most certainly I’m going to paint them. Didn’t decide the colour scheme yet thou. The most important question right now is if I want to go uniform on all of them, or make each one different. I’ll post the photos as soon as I have them. Right now, it is covered in primer and drying. As for the printer, the result you’ve shown in one of your previous posts look stellar for such a cheap machine, really great.
Yes, this printer is a monster... for the price you get a very good product, printing quality is great and heat bed (60º top) is slow but pretty effective, once correctly calibrated the bottom of the pieces is pretty smooth. Now Ulises (my kid) found that he likes this new blocks more than his, so I could use them for Aristeia! and Infinity, but he's gonna be the number one user!. :fearscream: I've already test printed all 4 pieces... and they're great! Now printing the rest (7 single blocks and 5 double blocks to complete). They will look great as ENOL fuel containers, ready to be used by the different starships... on the distance, the block may look like a hube gas bottle.
Well, here is a 2h quickie (photo was taken in less than ideal lighting – it came out… well yellow): I don't think this is best colour I could go for. Any thoughts on what to change?
I like the wasp lines on top and bottom line... but the protuberances in yellow... they seem like "corrugated" on the same material as the sides so a good weathering or drybrushing of them could be better than yellow over green. I thought the base "dots" to be light points... so you can paint a blue light effect there... could be cool. Apart from that.. the top padlock and the surrounding circle, I think it can work better in gray metal, like if it is some kind of valve to extract the content of the container.
A quick thought on your design. Would it be possible to alter the design slightly so that indavidual units could interlock so only a single unit would be needed to make all the different barrier layouts for Aristeia? I'm thinking of the 6 sockets around the top of each piece, make three of them into slightly protruding "keys" so that when they are pushed flush together they stick? It would mean that only a single master would need printed and the rest could be cast from resin. It would also allow for a wider range of designs when used on the Infinity table top.
I don't like the idea of making them with parts protruding... Aristeia is not like a regular measured wargame, it has hexes so you can put 3 blocks togueter without having to worry about them moving. Even if you need more cohesion you can just use some tape on the base to keep them tight, but they're heavy enough and sturdy... I see no need for additional measures to keep them toguether (and protruding parts make them less usable laid flat for regular Infinity). :)
And, everything printed! Added a bonus for the barriers (you can get them here). As you can notice in the last image... they fit inside the box pretty well
So, after another hour or so, I’ve change the tanks into something much more beaten up. The uneven surface of 3d printed model doesn’t allow use of many paining techniques and weathering has to cover all the imperfections. This is what I’ve achieved, mostly going with Topo’s suggestions:
Much much better!! Now the top makes a lot more sense, and the scheme seems a lot more convincing Good work!
There's ways to smooth 3D prints with acetone vapors (well, depending on what filament you use, of course, this is for ABS, no idea what to use for PLA). A tiny application of this technique may help. Otherwise excellent job
