Movie Modern Day Survivors - I think I fell in love

Cruising the usual suspect 3D model websites I found this collection of modern day survivors and fell in love.

Cheech and Chong

What an amazing addition to your modern day game.  A couple of lowriding survivors who just seem to have the ability to bounce through life.

Chuck Norris

You don't just 3D print Chuck, he prints you!

Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson)

If you are fighting zombies then having this cowboy fighting beside you is definitely going to increase your chances of survival.

The Lord Humungous

One of my favourite fictional bad guys from my favourite post apocalyptic property. 

Jessie's Prints - Episode 22 - Some Stuff For Friends

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Stuff for Friends

Bigby's Sign of the Horns - Thingiverse 4048680

My current DM Mark is a bit of a metalhead and in honour of his awesome DMing I printed him this equally awesome spell effect for the famous D&D spell Bigby's Hand.  I hope I get to see it in play in the not too distant future. 

Baby Yoda Lithophane - Thingiverse 4073323

Printing a Lithophane has been high on my agenda for some time and as I was due to meet my 3 old work pals from the Ministry of Defence what better way to celebrate our reunion after Pandemic.

This has been my biggest resin print to date and I really wanted to push the printer to see what it could do.  I am blown away by the mid bending properties of Lithophanes and how, on a budget resin printer, I can make photorealistic 3D art.  

Amazing and definitely fits into "optical Illusion" territory.

Displacer Kitten and Displacer Beast - Thingiverse 4830184  / My Minifactory

Fellow Dragons Keep member Kat told me that her DM had recently gifted her a Displacer Kitten as a moving-in gift so I quickly sourced this super cute mini and an equally awesome displacer beast to represent the kitten when fully grown.

Of course no birthday gift can come without a presentation gift box and my old 3D Printer sacrificed some of it's foam packaging for a custom box.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 21 - Some Characters

This week, I are mostly been enjoying printing some characters I found on the interweb.

The Dungeonmaster - Thingiverse 3850163

People of a certain age will instantly recognise this little fellow.  He looks harmless enough but back in the 80s he kidnapped a bunch of American kids and put them through all manner of trials and fights against dragons and monsters.  Today's generation would have none of his nonsense I am sure.

If Hollywood is listening, someone please make a live action remake of the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.  It will be a guaranteed hit.

Bender "Bending" Rodriguez - Thingiverse 32188

There  are a lot of Futurama models out there (I do want to print a cosplay brain slug and a Planet Express) but having a Bender miniature means I can keep those anoying meat bags at bay.  I needed to scale this one down and poor Benders antenna was just too fragile at that scale. 

Destroy all humans!!

The Monster and The Bride - Thingiverse 3782040 and 3844313

In a previous episode I printed the mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein and his able assistant Igor.  It would be churlish of me not to include his two most famous creations, the monster and Frankenstein's Bride.

Both these sculpts are by GloomyKid on Thingiverse who seems to push all my buttons when it comes to the models he chooses to sculpt.  Awesome work dude.

Reaper Bones #41 - Human Fighter, Duke Gerard

You wait months and two Reapers come along in quick succession!

Human Fighter, Duke Gerard - Bobby Jackson (SKU 77063)

This is a great mini because it is so purposeful.  Every fantasy game you've ever played has this type of veteran fighter as an NPC.  They're usually the one giving the orders and putting your neck on the line!

Jessie's Prints - Episode 20 - Cthulhu Characters

This week, I are mostly been answering...  The Call of Cthulhu

Victorian Tough with Dog - Pinshape 48509

I know our current Call of Cthulhu game is set in 1923 but who can pass up on the opportunity to print out a tough guy villain and his dog?

Pirate Pugilist - Thingiverse 3981631

Sam is playing an east end ruffian called Chester "Pretty Boy" Lyle.  A bareknuckle boxer Chester bears the scars of hundreds of bouts in some of the seediest dives that London's docklands have to offer. 

The Colonel - Thingiverse 3107434

Usually found sleeping in his easy chair in The Garrick Club, Colonel St.John Smythe saw plenty of action in his youth fighting for Queen and Country across most of Africa.  He now earns a well deserved retirement and occassionally tells of his exploits across the dark continent to anyone who will listen.

Dr. Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein needs no introduction and wasn't intentionally looking to build up a collection of classic horror minis, but when I found this one I just had to download it.  From sculptor Roman Bevza, I just love the pose and especially the action of pulling on of the rubber gloves.

 

Igor - Thingiverse 3926251

Frankenstein's erstwhile and capable manservant is another of Roman Bezva's creations and of course I had to print him aswell.

Private Investigator - Thingiverse 4231499

Steve is playing a retired policeman turned private investigator by the name of Ryan Wurmshurst.  No case is too small and his rates are very reasonable.

Researcher - Thingiverse 4499796

Every Cthulhu game needs a character with excellent research capabilities who can answer the call for "Library Use".  At the moment this is the stand-in for Thelma "Ginger" Purdey, our courageous girl about town.  I am currently on the hunt for a more appropriate miniature.

Reaper Bones #40 - Pirate with Treasure

It Seems like forever since I painted a Reaper mini (Dec 2021 to be exact).  I've had this one trapped shipwrecked in the painting queue for quite a while.

Pirate with Treasure - Julie Guthrie (SKU 30026)

Another simple and evocative sculpt from Julie Guthrie makes you wonder what this guy's backstory is.  What's in the treasure chest? How good is he with that cutlass? That knife looks like it's got it's own story.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 19 - Free Files Galore

This week, I are mostly been enjoying printing free pre-supported files I found on the interweb.

Truth be told they found me really.  I was approached in a random email by CustomMiniatureMaker.co.uk who run an email newsletter called Free Files Friday.  Seriously peeps if you aren't subscribed to this smorgasboard of STLs then you are missing out.  Join now at https://www.customminiaturemaker.co.uk and maybe even join their latest kickstarter campaign.

Blackjack Dreadnought Omni - Custom Miniature Maker

All the cool kids seem to be sticking it to the man (Games Workshop) these days with their "proxy" models for WH40K so I thought I's jump on the bandwagon.  I've always loved the chunky aesthetic of the WH40K vehicles and been a fan of the dreadnought's since the early days of Rogue Trader.

This is a wicked model and has so many possible weapon options that I thought I would have a go at magnetising my loadouts (ooer sounds a bit rude!!).

Goatman - Infernal Miniatures

For old skool gamers the Broo were the iconic bad guy minions of the Runequest franchise and I fancied printing me out this great double axe wielding bad boy.  Worth the download.

Amazon Warrior - Artisan Guild

I've been hearing about these chaps and their patreon but I wanted to try out one of their files for myself.  It came unsupported but I put my new found support skills to good use and she came out a treat.  And lets face it, who doesn't like a bikini clad warrior woman?

Slime Weird - My Mini Factory

In our last D&D game we ventured into the underdark and encountered a water weird which almost ripped our party to shreds.  This one is a slime varient and I love it's animated pose like it's trying to smother you.  

Yoshi Yamamoto - Ex Sumo Wrestler and Foreign Correspondent

In Episode 18 of Jessie's Prints I printed of a couple of models which, as the Spice girls once sang...

Two Become One

This is a head swap of a sumo wrestler onto the King Pin's body.  A perfect marriage IMHO for my next Cthulhu character.  Hai!!

This was another exercise in using the Army Painter Speedpaint over a zenithal highlight.  The suit about 4 layers of Gravelord Grey and the flesh tones are Crusader Skin with my usual blend of Army Painter Tanned Flesh and Vallejo White.  Black accents are Scalecolour Black.  The base is Speed Paint Hardened Leather with a light dry brush of a couple of other Army Painter browns.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 18 - I Need Supports

This week, I are mostly been learning how to add custom supports to unsupported STL files using Any Cubic Photon Workshop.

Rafts are essential to make the prints stick to the bed and not the FEP film

 

This is the slicer which came with my printer and has a somewhat frustrating interface.  The key things I learned were:

1. Always add a raft using the RAFTS tab in the Shape Edit window.  This is essential to help your minis to stick to the bed (Foot) of the printer and peel away from your FEP film.

2. For best results with tabletop mini prints set your supports to LIGHT this will allow you to get more supports in tighter spots.

3. Fill your model with auto generated supports and then add more manually.  You're gonna need them.

King Pin - Thingiverse 4140572 

There are a lot of marvel minis out there but very few free ones of King Pin.  I liked this one because he had a useful pose and body shape for my character mini in the game of Call of Cthulhu which begins next week at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

Sumo - Sketchfab

To be honest I just needed the head for my character project.  I should probably have cut it apart in mesh mixer and blended it together with the King Pin but that's what superglue is for.

Crouching Gargoyle - Thingiverse 3604340

This is a neat model and useful for both set decoration and as a monster in almost any game.  I printed a bunch to fill up the print bed and get the best value for money from my printer.

My First Resin Mini - Sci-Fi Adventurer

As I mentioned in last week's Jessie's Prints one of my first successful prints on the new Resin 3D Printer  was the insanely detailed Sci-Fi Adventurer from Loot Studios.

Over the Jubilee Bank Holiday Weekend, I painted him.

This is most definitely not my finest hour.  I became incredibly frustrated with this model which decided to snap at both the ankles and the ipad hand multiple times.  

I am not sure if this was an error in the printing or curing process, the brittleness of the resin or the robustness of the sculpt, but if a mini cannot stand up to the rough and tumble of painting then it does not bode well for gameplay.

There is a distinct difference between digital sculpts and hand sculpts.  Personally I prefer the chunky aesthetic of hand sculpts over the extreme detail and "spikiness" of these newfangled digital sculpts.  There is a certain charm of a vintage oldhammer mini over the new plastic kit warhammer minis never mind the scale creep that has occurred over the years.

As you can see I am still getting to grips with Army Painter Speed Paints and I ran out of white primer so the zenithal highlight was a bit muted.  The next one will be better I promise...

Jessie's Prints - Episode 17 - Resin is the new Black!

 

This week, I are mostly been printing in resin thanks to me finally summing up the courage to dive deeply into this new technology and buy a resin 3D Printer.  My weapon of choice an Anycubic Photon Mono 4K

Anycubic Photon Cube - Thingiverse 213031

The first print should always be the supplied test print (or perhaps a Benchy) and it took 3 attempts to get this model to print.  Bed levelling or more accurately the distance between the bed and the FEP film appears to be critical when it comes to getting your print to stick to the bed and not the FEP.  I also found an article which recommends that you sand your bed to ensure that it is actually level in the first place.  The center of mine is slightly concave which must have been having an impact on the peelability.

This was actually the first resin model I ever saw printed, many years ago, and thought wow I will have to get me one of those someday...

Cute Mini Octopus - Thingiverse 3495390

I have tried to print one of these before (much larger of course) on my FDM printer with little success.  I guess it has to do with the tolerances involved in squirting hot melted plastic out of a nozzle at 200 degrees celsius.  This one came out bloody lovely and is small enough that he fits on the end of a pencil. 

Sadly, the other models I had on the bed failed to print entirely.  I think this was down to the supports I added in the supplied Photon Workstation not having a thick enough platform to ensure that they made a solid connection to the bed and so they just stuck to the FEP.  I have subsequently read that you can spray your FEP with Teflon PTFE Dry Lubricant to make it slippery.  I will have to get some of that.  

Space Adventurer - Loot Studios Free Miniature

The whole reason for me buying this printer is to print high quality miniatures for tabletop roleplaying games and so I went in search of some presupported miniatures thinking that these would fare much better.  I found Loot Studios who do an excellent bundle for $15 a month.  As this was my first stab at this I plumped for their freebie Space Adventurer who is almost as cool as Oswald the Overladen.

I downloaded the 32mm but scaled him down by 10% as I hate the GW scale and he only came out bloody lovely!!

Down loading this mini convinced me that the problem I am having with my unsupported minis is the crappy supports in the slicer software.  In the same way that I learned the tips and tricks of FDM printing, it will take time to master this new medium and its idiosyncracies.

I'll say this though.  Props to all the guys and girls out there that are busy modelling their own minis and going through the laborious task of adding supports.  They are an absolute must.

 

Next Mission is to paint this little chap and all his little gadgets.

Helter Skelter - To Paint or Not to Paint

In an earlier article about Judge Dredd Boardgames, I hinted that I had prayed to the eBay Gods to send me a copy of Judge Dredd: Helter Skelter.  

 Well the Gods answered and now it is in my boardgame collection.

20 Plastic Miniatures in Need of Some Colour

So should I do it? Should I paint these up?  Tell me in the comments box below.

New Years Hobby Resolutions 2022

It's that futile thing we all do around this time of the year.  Some people might say that this only counts if you make your resolutions on January 1st but I say stuff that I had a 3D Printing hangover...

Blog More

I am in lock down until the Prime Minister says otherwise so this gives me ample opportunity to get ahead in the blogging stakes.  My goal is to brain dump at least one article a day and schedule the posts ahead of time.  

The name of the game is short and sweet with lengthier articles in between.  This is harder than it looks though so don't hold me to it.   

Play More

My List of Games I need to play in 2022

• Block Mania - One of my Games Workshop Bookcase Games and a Judge Dredd one at that.  Do I wait until I have the 4 player expansion Mega Mania? or do I just bite the bullet and try before I buy?
  
  
• Rogue Trooper - Another Games Workshop Bookcase Game which has never been played and really should.
  
  
• Dune - Another bookcase format game this time from Avalon Hill, with the re-imagined version launched to coincide with the Dennis Villeneuve 2021 movie release prices for punched but unplayed copy have plummeted to below the price of a new version so I should really work out if this is something I want to hang on to as I don't have the valuable version with Sting on the cover.

 

• Jaws - A gift from my old work colleagues which desperately needs to be played.
   
  
• Mow - A stupid little card game I picked up in a charity shop last year.  The box goes Moo and it's by Bruno Cathala (Shadows over Camelot, Cleopatra & The Society of Architects, 7 Wonders Duel)
  
  
• Shuggy Hall Brawl - A print and play game from the pages of Warlock Magazine back in the 80s which I am currently making a 3D version of.  This will require some 3D modelling work and I ought to learn how to use FreeCAD.
  

Print More

There's no point in having a 3D Printer if you don't use it.  Plus Jessie's Prints is always in need of new content so why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  Here are some grail prints which I really should try and get done in 2022.

• Aliens Pulse Rifle (Thingiverse 2334265) - A truly iconic weapon from the Aliens franchise and one that needs to be on my prop wall. Wait a minute I don't have a prop wall.  Well that needs fixing.  I don't think I will go the whole hog of adding lights and sound but you never know...
  
  
• Judge Dredd Killdozer (Thingiverse 3840028) - An absolute must addition to my 15mm Judge Dredd Vehicle Fleet and a great objective or background prop for my RPG Campaigns.
  
  
• ABC Warrior Bust (Thingiverse 2568026) - Stallone Dredd rarely gets any love, but the set dressing and special effects were awesome.  I refuse to call this Hammerstein but it's a pretty iconic robot which would look fantastic on one of my floorstanding speakers.  The eyes must light up of course and it would be a good starting point for an arduino sound / IR remote project.  I promise not to use it in anger and especially not to kill off Ian Dury's character.
  
  
• 15mm Blank People (Thingiverse 1695396) - My 15mm boingers were a great start but they were let down by my pathetic sculpting skills.  What better way to learn mesh mixer than by reposing these blanks and printing them.  I could also do with some fatter fatties if you know what I mean. 

I think that's enough to be going on with right now.  If you have any suggestions of games I ought to play or things I ought to print, you know what the comments box is for.

15mm Judge Dredd - Boingers

In the megalopolis of the future one of the more popular crazes is boinging.  I couldn't help but scratch build a few boingers to harrass my players in my next Judge Dredd RPG at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

What the Heck is Boinging?

One of the many crazy inventions which are an everyday occurence in Mega Dity One, Boing is a miracle plastic-in-a-can which saw its debut in the Daily Star serialised adventures of Judge Dredd between 1981 and 1998 and fully fleshed out in the Prog 136 story Palais de Boing

One spray with Boing encapsulates the user in a bouncy ball of plastic, turning them into a living pinball.  Within days of Boing hitting the streets the first casualties occurred it was made illegal but since when does that ever stop the citizens of Mega City One, and soon regulated and safe establishments sprang up in every sector to cater for the boing craze.  These Palais De Boing feature tubes and bumpers to really accentuate the boinging experience.

Needless to say the enterprising, and foolish, perps of MC-1 have occasionally used Boing in their criminal ventures and illegal use comes with a mandatory 20 year sentence or death as Boing is incredibly flammable.  Boing was notably used for good to encase Judge Anderson as she harboured the spirit of Judge Death.  However, the three other Dark Judges, Fire, Fear and Mortis managed to orchestrate his release.    

Make Your Own Boingers

My boingers are made from 40mm plastic fill yur own christmas baubles with hand sculpted figures made from milliput hot glued inside.  

My sculpting skills are pretty pathetic and I will definitely have another go at this.  I will probably try making an armature or using one of the 15mm "Dolly" miniatures from Alternative Armies.

But in anycase the mission statement for these guys is to be a surprise encounter for my players.

Surf's Up - 15mm Judge Dredd Sky Surfers

In preparation for my next Judge Dredd Savage Worlds game at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club, I've been printing and painting like a banshee.  I covered this in my post about 15mm Judge Dredd Civillian Vehicles but now the Sky Surfers are complete.

Supersurf 7 and the Midnight Surfer

Illegal competitive Sky Surfing was first introduced to the Dredd universe in the Midnight Surfer story (Progs 424 thru 429) and one of the iconic thrill packed stories which I devoured when I was a kid. Prog 425 has a great line-up of the contenders which I used as the inspiration for my surf dudes.

The Competitors

Supersurf 7 had a huge number of entrants, 57 in total, and many got no more than a partial reference in text or their name printed on the bottom of their boards.   

• Dak Goodvibes - The first ever supersurf champion, and recently released from a five year stretch in Mega City Two's cubes, wipes out and gets impaled on a spikey sculpture at the Fountain of Yooth.
  
• Yogi Yakamoto - Current World Champ from the Fuji Territories in Hondo Cit gets knocked off his board by a truck's wing mirror in the Manfred Fox tunnel and saved at the last moment by Chopper.
  
• Natilda Stank - Aka The Flying Ozzer was arrested by Dredd an ultimately gave up the final route of the race, the Manfred Fox tunnel.  
  
• Klaus Reich - Shot and killed by a Judge
• Johnny Cuba - Gets squished in one of the Phoenix Scraps vehicle crushers
  
• Caruso - Crashed into the OkeyDokey Man and then headfirst through a Chemicool truck windscreen causing a multi vehicle pileup on the Kranski Zoomway.
  
• Fargo - Shot and killed by Judge
• Crazy Kwezi - Shot and killed by a Judge
  
• Tijuana Pino - Shot and killed by a Judge
• Marlon "Chopper" Shakespeare - Arrested after winning Super Surf 7 and saving Yakamoto's life. 

Chopper returns in the epic 26 episode story Judge Dredd in Oz (Progs 545 thru 570) where escapes the iso cubes and journeys to Oz to participate in Supersurf 10.  Good vibes indeed.

15mm Judge Dredd: The Justice Department

My current penchant is for Judge Dredd, so I dug out some old Laserburn Lawmen which had been gathering dust and decided to splash some paint on them

Street Judges

You can never have enough rank and file street judges on hand when your PCs have just ordered a Crime Blitz or as crowd control reinforcements at that Ugly Pageant.

Standard Justice Department loadouts are the order of the day, but may be augmented with the ever popular Widowmaker 2000 magazine-fed automatic shotgun.  Sometimes a stern warning falls on deaf ears.

Riot Squad

Probably the hardest working Division (also the highest injury rate) of the Justice Department.  Everyone does their stint on the Riot Squad at least once a week.  Some Judges volunteer for Riot Squad duty but the Psyche Squad are always on hand with their evaluation surveys to root out those bad apples that like the detail just that little too much.  You never can be too careful.

The standard loadout for a Riot Squad is augmented with the MkIV extra long daystick, a stumm gas mortar and a riot foam thrower for when things get a little too heated.

Wally Squad

The undercover Judges of the Justice Department (colloquially known as Wally Squad) are indistinguishable from your everyday citizen.