4 ms·

This is going to be a really silly question. Do Warhammer players who buy the miniatures ever 3D print their own? Just curious if that's a thing.

by nindalf 9mo ago

riffraff 9mo ago
there was a very interesting blog post on this a few weeks ago https://matduggan.com/the-year-of-the-3d-printed-miniature-and-other-lies-we-tell-ourselves/ https://matduggan.com/the-year-of-the-3d-printed-miniature-a... apparently some do, most don't.
- nindalf 9mo ago
  Thanks, that post answered the question perfectly > In practice, the effort to get the STL files, add supports, wash off the models with isopropyl alcohol, remove supports without snapping off tiny arms, and finally cure the mini in UV lights was exponentially more effort than I'm willing to invest. And I say this as someone who has painted individual eyeballs on figures smaller than my thumb. I have a high tolerance for tedious bullshit. This exceeded it.
  - Symbiote 9mo ago
    The following paragraph is also significant — if you're going to spend 5, 10+ hours painting the thing, which might be free evening time for several weeks, the £35 cost isn't a problem. I spend more money per hour if I go to a bar.
    - nindalf 9mo ago
      It definitely is. He also mentions that he has several unpainted sets acquired during the Obama Administration. He's constrained by time he can spend painting, not money to acquire more sets. There's no point adding to his backlog.
- runaround555 9mo ago
  Anecdotal but the last time I actively still played at local games half of the players for that ruleset had at least 30-40% of their armies 3D printed. Half of that had 100% of their armies 3D printed and weren't buying GW at all. I think a big part of it comes down to scale- like that author mentioned, going through the effort of setting up a printer, printing, curing etc. for a handful of models is a pain in the ass. But if you're printing then curing half an army in one go (which the nature of resin printers easily allows you to do by stacking/arranging minis) it comes out as worth it over spending a few hundred USD on official plastic.

This is going to be a really silly question. Do Warhammer players who buy the miniatures ever 3D print their own? Just curious if that's a thing.

by nindalf 9mo ago

This is going to be a really silly question. Do Warhammer players who buy the miniatures ever 3D print their own? Just curious if that's a thing.

riffraff 9mo ago

there was a very interesting blog post on this a few weeks ago https://matduggan.com/the-year-of-the-3d-printed-miniature-and-other-lies-we-tell-ourselves/ https://matduggan.com/the-year-of-the-3d-printed-miniature-a... apparently some do, most don't.

nindalf 9mo ago
Thanks, that post answered the question perfectly > In practice, the effort to get the STL files, add supports, wash off the models with isopropyl alcohol, remove supports without snapping off tiny arms, and finally cure the mini in UV lights was exponentially more effort than I'm willing to invest. And I say this as someone who has painted individual eyeballs on figures smaller than my thumb. I have a high tolerance for tedious bullshit. This exceeded it.
- Symbiote 9mo ago
  The following paragraph is also significant — if you're going to spend 5, 10+ hours painting the thing, which might be free evening time for several weeks, the £35 cost isn't a problem. I spend more money per hour if I go to a bar.
  - nindalf 9mo ago
    It definitely is. He also mentions that he has several unpainted sets acquired during the Obama Administration. He's constrained by time he can spend painting, not money to acquire more sets. There's no point adding to his backlog.
runaround555 9mo ago
Anecdotal but the last time I actively still played at local games half of the players for that ruleset had at least 30-40% of their armies 3D printed. Half of that had 100% of their armies 3D printed and weren't buying GW at all. I think a big part of it comes down to scale- like that author mentioned, going through the effort of setting up a printer, printing, curing etc. for a handful of models is a pain in the ass. But if you're printing then curing half an army in one go (which the nature of resin printers easily allows you to do by stacking/arranging minis) it comes out as worth it over spending a few hundred USD on official plastic.