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  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 8:11 pm on May 8, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    A Hard Days Knyght 

    It’s been a while since my last post, as I’ve been busy (and sidetracked) with some projects. One project has to do with re-shooting photos of the entirety of my collection (over 1k figures), uploading and tagging them properly. This is roughly 1/3 done. It’s a chore, but I really love seeing them in better pictures. Still not perfect, but far better than previously. Although the new photos are less forgiving in some cases. When that’s done I’ll make a separate post about it, but I’m not in any rush, as I kinda paused it, working on my second project, that this post is about.

    I’m a huge fan of Moonstone. This was a computer game back in the 90s, released in Amiga and PC – I had finished the PC version. I recently bought it again in GOG and played a bit, and the idea stuck with me that I wanted to print a suitable miniature to represent a knight in a similar style. I tried finding a suitable stl model, but while some came close, they were not close enough. Titancraft and Heroforge also didn’t have the model I wanted. I then tried digital kitbashing using some parts I found in thingiverse, but they were using realistic proportions, and also were missing some important details. Then I tried doing a mutation from some existing models, cutting and glueing parts digitally, but that was an absolute mesh, which I abandoned quickly.

    Which leads me to the final choice. I decided to spend the time and learn how to sculpt it myself. This was a process that lasted around 2 weeks of intense, learning blender, watching tutorials, and making several attempts, hacking at the problem from different angles. I tried sculpting using MWsculpts tutorial, but that, while easy at the first steps, requires true skill to get a nice clean result towards the end. I then tried using an animated rig using Charmorph and Rigify to have a base character, but that wouldn’t work either for many reasons, the main problem being proportions being way off from Heroic. In the end I learned that I liked the approach of mesh editing and use of subdivision as my core editing, physics and modifiers for most of the part. I also used some parts as a basis to work upon which really sped up my process. Some sculpting here and there, and a lot, I mean a LOT of different iterations and learning. The body was rigged together via parenting parts.

    I also tried to make the knight a boolean union instead of separate parts, but I could go as far as 2 parts (surcoat and rest of knight) joined together before the model became non-manifold in my first version. First print was okay, but I found that I wanted a larger sword, as it felt flimsy when printed, so I revised it with a bigger blade and also increased the size of the helmet a tiny bit. It printed better.
    There were some warnings about floating regions, but it wasn’t really a problem when printed without supports on FDM. I didn’t design a separate base, as there are tons of good free bases to use, and I just used one that I liked. Here it is printed in 18mm scale, and painted in Pyrolle Red (as I realized the Primary Magenta that I used as Red until today, is not actually Red).

    Also I released the model for free over at Cults. You can grab it here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/sir-edward

    Hope you like it.

     
    • Daveb's avatar

      Daveb 9:22 pm on May 8, 2026 Permalink | Reply

      I remember playing moonstone on a friend’s computer in highschool. Amiga maybe.
      Pretty startling the first time the spear guys spike you and hoist you into the air.

      Liked by 1 person

  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 11:14 pm on April 13, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt166 – Hydra 

    I wanted a Hydra for so long. However the pewter choices were few and far between, and quite expensive, especially considering post-Brexit times. The FDM friendly options for models were also limited, and I just hadn’t gotten to pulling the trigger on them. Then Brite Minis came along, and released one (I’m subscribed to their patreon), so I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity. When my printer freed up, I immediately went to printing and painting it. It’s been a while, but I hadn’t gotten around to posting about it. So, here’s one of the rare monster options for 15mm:

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 10:56 pm on April 11, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt165 – Viet Cong women’s Rifle Squad 

    A year ago, I had gotten several vietnam-war related 3d miniatures models from 3dbreed and their March to Hell Vietnam range. These miniatures are not meant for FDM printing, and while I did print some US Special Forces for my Forgotten Ruin campaign (which I regret to say I did not continue with – and I should!) the results left a lot to be desired. I decided since I know a lot more about 3d printing today, to give it another go. First I measured a lot, and settled on a 60% scaling of the 28mm miniatures (5% larger than my old prints), and then I experimented with different options for supports. I tried the following:

    • 28mm unsupported miniatures with tree supports in bambu slicer using /u/ObscuraNox guidelines
    • 15mm pre-supported miniatures scaled at 115%
    • 28mm miniatures supported in SLA generated by prusa slicer
    • Combination of first and second option, using both
    • Combination of first and third option, using both

    *miniatures were rotated 30 degrees backwards for best results

    The best results were the tree supports. Hats off to ObscuraNox for well defined settings. However removing the supports was a pain – not due to them sticking on the model (a common issue which leads to undesireable artifacts), but because they wrap around the mini so well, that the legs needed careful cuts using flush cutters many times, and removing little pieces slowly. I broke legs sometimes and had to reprint, taking even more carefult steps. However the end result was more than worth it.

    I tried to get a historically accurate and popping colour scheme, and gave them a wash from my DIY sepia recipe (except the blue and black uniforms to which I applied a DIY blue-black wash). I also attached a Jungle base by EC3d that painted and then I populated with flock and grass tufts.

    Love these little dudettes, and looking forward to printing and painting more in the future.
    I only did 4 out of 7 of the squad, but took notes of the paints I used so I can keep the consistency, when I do the last 3.

    Viet Cong Rifle Squad Front
    Viet Cong Rifle Squad Rear

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 10:37 pm on April 9, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt164 – more Space Crew (and extra) 

    I realized I never displayed my space frew from my 5 Parsecs Campaign properly. It’s three characters, one, for my protagonist, that I’ve designed in titancraft and kitbashed in blender, and the other two by EC3D, Novus Landing range, Zane a human mercenary, and Ratticon. I’m using Zane as a human mercenary (ha!), and Ratticon as a skulker. I went with bright colours overall.
    So I clothed, posed and chonkified my protagonist in titancraft. Posing was done so that she’s supportfree, and gave the heroic proportions (perhaps not enough, so that she fits with the rest of my minis). I didn’t like the firearm options I had, so in blender, I swapped it with one I got from cults3d. I wanted something special, since she mustered out with her service pistol.

    Also since, I’ve dabbled further in titancraft and designed another sci fi fighter lady. I hadn’t decided on the pose, so I printed and painted two different poses. Check the bottom of the page for her photos.

    Zane, human mercenary
    Ratticon
    Ariana Raschke
     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 10:25 pm on April 7, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt163 – Sci Fi Girls 

    Here are some science fiction warrior girls, two cyberpunk elves, two humans, by Ill Gotten Games. My keen eyed audience may identify that the first of the elves I had printed and painted again some time ago when I was just starting printing FDM miniatures, and wanted to give it another shot, to see if there’s any noticeable difference. I think there’s an overall improvement, but the original print was good enough, so not too much.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 10:20 pm on April 5, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt162 – Dragons 

    I printed and painted 4 different dragons from Brite Minis, in 4 different colours, so it’s a Green Dragon, a Blue Dragon, a Brown Drake and a Red Chubby Dragon. I wasn’t very happy with how the Army Painter washes behaved. The Green Dragon was acceptable, but the Blue Dragon was almost ruined and I had to go over it and drybrush to cover the wash, so I went back to my DIY days, did some research, and created a nice Sepia wash, using a homemade recipe of acrylic inks, water, PVA, floor polish and some varnish. I used it on the Brown Drake and the Red Chubby dragon, and I love the results.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 12:56 pm on April 1, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    FDM supportless creators 

    I already have a list of 15mm miniatures vendors, so now let me share my go-to list of FDM supportless miniatures creators.

    Brite Minis Lots (170) of freebies at thingiverse, great poses, a 5$ patreon gives access to entire back catalogue except modulars (for which you get a discount)

    Ill Gotten Games Tons (1K) of freebies at thingiverse, a bit less detailed, the $1 patreon of Multiverse Mondays gives access to entire MM back catalogue, and discount to their store.

    Arbiter Miniatures Only a few freebies that aren’t easy to find (spread across stores and kickstarter), very detailed, they have a Tribes subscription

    EC3D Lots (240) of freebies at thingiverse, nice designs, on par with Brite Minis, no subscription service, no discounts, but getting bundles via the Late Pledges on kickstarter is cheaper per mini (though more costly overall)

    Monstrous Encounters Has some cool undead support free models

    Fat Dragon Gamess Has support free miniatures, via DrivethruRPG, with a few freebies

    Duncan Shadow Has some support free models, and a few freebies, quite unique designs

    That What Grows Has a few old-school designs, and some space orcs and space goblin supportless sets. Subcription to their patreon gives access, though they’re no longer active, so it’s more like a one-stop purchase, and they have some sets in their itch.io shop

    Rocket Pig Games They’re inactive, but have a huge list of models for purchase, some which are support free, and some are free also at thingiverse

    Nozzleborn Foundry new sculptor, sharing free models of his designs over at makerworld

     
    • Onibaba's avatar

      Onibaba 9:26 am on April 2, 2026 Permalink | Reply

      Thank you, i’ll look for them. I pledged a KS of ill gotten games (cultists i think) but never printed

      Liked by 1 person

  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 3:20 pm on March 28, 2026 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt161 – Beastmen 

    A set of 3 Beastmen, by my favourite 3d supportless miniature artist Brite Minis.

    Simple but effective designs, easy to paint. I used earth tones.

    Scaled 60% for 15mm. Supportless models from Brite Minis. Printed on a Bambu Labs A1 mini with a 0.2mm nozzle. eSun PLA+HS Filament. 0.06mm layer height. High Quality default presets.

    Beastmen

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 9:58 am on December 21, 2025 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt156 – Halflings 

    Nasty little hobbitses printed in FDM in 15mm scale. Brite Minis sculpts. They’re more round than my other halflings so they’re closer to hobbits.

     
  • Unknown's avatar

    giorgis 10:17 am on December 17, 2025 Permalink | Reply
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    Miniatures pt155 – Elves 

    I’ve painted more of the Brite Minis I had printed in 15mm scale. This time various Elves. A couple wood elf archers, a couple high elf warriors and several adventurer type elves (sorcerer, mage, mercenary, bard).

    The wood elf scheme was close to my previous wood elves I had painted from Demonworld. Went with light greens, and red accessories.

    For the High elves I went with a white and red scheme (wanted pink but guess I missed the mixing of paints in proper ratio, so I just went with it).

    For the adventurers I focused on vermillion and turquoise with some variations.

    Printing was okay bar the sorcerers staff head which was corrupted during printing so I turned it into a flame.

     
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