Jessie's Prints - Episode 35 - 3 Goblins in a Trenchcoat

This week, I are mostly been printing... 3 Goblins in a Trenchcoat!!

3 Goblins in a Trenchcoat - MZ2450 Patreon 

Our Friday game at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club has seen us sucked through a portal onto one of the levels of hell called Las Infernalis.  Basically this is Disneyland for Demons and I'm sure is going to full of weird and deadly rides, games and equally weird characters.  

Having recently joined the MZ2450 Patreon, imagine my surprise when I stumbled on a recent post containing an STL for this guy!!

This is exactly the sort of mini that floats my boat and so I quickly printed and painted him and sent a photo off to Alex the DM.  He's a very amenable sort of chap and we share a love of weird cinema.  His reaction was classic and I expect to bump into this trio of ne'rdowells in the very near future.

 

Miguel also does a version with 5 Wyrmlings in a Trenchcoat which is totally not Tiamat!

Three Halflings in a Trencoat (D&D 5e)

A very creative Reddit user put up a statblock for the 3 Halflings in a Trenchcoat for D&D 5e games.  It would be a very challenging encounter and seems rather overpowered to me.  It is written more as monster statblock and perhaps something that occurs as a consequence of donning a cursed magical trenchcoat which must be filled with 3 of something... Mwahahaha  

Origins of the Totem Pole Trenchcoat Trope

This is one of those prints that irrespective of age we all seem to instinctively have a memory of it from our childhood.  According to TV Tropes this is known as the Totem Pole Trenchcoat but there is no reference to a historical origin.  I seem to remember an episode of Wacky Races or The Perils of Penelope Pitstop where the Ant Hill Mob used this technique.  

 

Fun Fact, the names of the members of the Ant Hill Mob are different in each show.  In Wacky Races they are: Clyde, Ring-a-Ding, Mac, Danny, Rug-Rug-Benny, Willy and Kirby.  Their car is number 7 The Bulletproof Bomb.

  

 Whereas in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop they are called, Clyde, Dum-Dum, Softy, Yak-Yak, Snoozy, Zippy and Pockets.  Their car, Chug-a-Boom, is much more of a character in its own right in some episodes of this series,  It gets the classic headlight eyes and is voiced by the late great Mel Blanc  

If you know of any earlier uses of this trope, please feel free to comment in the box below.

Can you buy good modelling accessories from AliExpress in 2024?

I have been playing Wish and AliExpress bingo for a while now.  It can be a dangerous game, but if you've got a few quid that are burning a hole in your pocket, there are worse ways to spaff it up the wall. 

Now this isn't one of those exercises.  I genuinely needed some specific items and thought I would put each store to the test.

HobbyMio Sci-Fi Decals (maybe a bit of a Gundam theme here) - £1.83 - 4/5

You may have seen my recent print of Trix Robot Rider on these pages.  I'm really happy how she came out but the robot hand is crying out for some decals.  I had a look on AliExpress and was stunned by the sheer volume of waterslide decals that are available at some extremely good prices.  Most of these are replacements for specific Gundam kits but there are some which are just generic.  

I chose the HobbyMio Model Decal Vol 1 set and I'm really impressed with the diversity of symbols warning signs numbers which come in the set.  They are a mix of black, white, red and yellow with plenty of variety to sticker up your robot.  I'll update this post when I've used some to let you know how they come out and how easy they are to lay down.

12Pc Set 21x15cm Leopard Print Grafitti Stencils - £4.21 - 3/5

When I painted the wings of my Ulimate Radical Centrist B'lakor Demon, I used an old orange bag as stencil mask to get a diamond pattern.  It was okay, but very fiddly and I had seen some of the AFV modellers on YouTube using some splatter masks so thought I'd try one.  

I think I ordered the wrong thing as these are considerably larger than I expected.  With 12 different patterns to choose from these are still very useable for bigger models.  In the set are a:

• Leopard Spots - each spot ranges from 1 to 2cm 
• Waves - 11 different wave patterns should look good for water effects or Chris Foss inspired shampoo bottle spaceship patterns
• Bubbles - well I don't know how to describe this stacked bubble design.
• Large Tiger Stripes - again very useable if you are doing a tiger striped camo theme on a vehicle.
• Voronoi - small holes measuring 1 to 1.3cm across.  Very useable for dragon hide or interior wing patterns.
• Square Cells - an irregular collection of 4 sided holes with rounded corners.  This is going to be an absolute must for that cracked earth look.
• Large Zebra Stripes - same as the Tiger stripes
• Lizard Skin - a tighter mesh of diagonal holes.  Great for any large lizard (wink, wink)
• Squished Lizard Skin - a mesh of varying sized organic shaped diamonds large on the edge to tiny in the middle.  this is going to get a lot of use I can tell.
  
• Rust Splatter - that collection of irregular shapes which the AFV guys go wild for 
• Swoopy Curves - this is less useable in my opinion and will probably see action when I just want to define a swooping curve in much the same way you might use a french curve.
• Large Irregular Cells - again this is likely to see use in large base texture shading.

I will give them a whirl on my next 3D printed mega project which is currently staring at me with it's five fearsome heads.

Hobby MS Small Wet Pallette Set - £3.59 4/5

I've always wanted to try out a wet palette, but they are kind of intimidating and come in at around £20 or so.  I thought I'd try out one of these little travel palettes to see how I get on.

The box measures 21cm x 7cm and has two compartments, one for the palette and the other I am guessing is a water supply section.  Included are 10 sheets of "baking paper", two absorbent blotters, a thick white foam pad and a strange square metal grill.

I will have to learn how all of this goes together and how to use it as it did not come with instructions, but I did find this video on how to use it.

I'll report back with my findings...

Postage Not Included

The total I paid for all three items was only £15.83 so that was £6.20 for flat rate shipping and delivery took just shy of 8 calendar days.

Given that a pint in a london pub in 2024 is about £10 these days I think I'll try this again.  Tune in again soon for a review of some Wish.com model making goodies.

Even More Starblazer Comicbooks

Some say I should not be left alone with eBay, but I say let's read more Starblazer...

Starblazer #171 - Star Knight - Released from a million year imprisonment, the most evil being in the galaxy unleashed eons of hate and unimaginable fury on the race he blamed - the inhabitants of Earth.  But he had to pit his evil skills against Earth ace troubleshooter - STAR KNIGHT.

This strip is a unabashed mashup of the origin story of superman and the plot of Alien.  The protaganist Rorta, is an alien cyborg warrior with dreams of intergalactic conquest imprisoned in a stasis egg by the benevolent Syran elders as punishment for his treachery.  

A million years later he is accidentally released by some space archeologists looking for alien artifacts.  Rorta goes on to capture an experimental space weapon and only the brave Star Knight, Li Opurney, can save the Earth from destruction.

This story suffers from a serious case of the deus ex machina, as both Rorta and Star Knight overcome adversity with ease deploying numerous unheard of technologies.  A hordroid; las shields, laser lances densitrax mining ships, nullgrav beams, it's all here waiting to implant itself in a young furtile imagination.  There are some weird looking spaceships that look like they jumped out of the pages of a Terran Trade Authority Handbook. (I must get around to writting a blog post about them someday). 

Starblazer #172 - Nightraider - They made the Mafia look like a charity organisation.  He was the only person who could stop them.  They had unlimited credits, men and mchines.  He had one craft and three helpers.  They were the Kratos... He was Nightraider.

Let's face it Nightraider is a cool pseudonym, but when your real name is Garry Clark you need all the help in the universe you can get in order to strike fear in your space mafia adversaries. Fighting at his side are Ursa, the blind Triton navigator who can "see" using his Neuroweb helmet.  Samuro the Cygnan samurai armoured weaponmaster and Typhon the sensor operator and all round fifth wheel.

This is a fun little galaxy hopping story chasing down mafioso whilst dealing with the thorny subject of xenophobia.  The plot takes a twist about a third of the way through when it is revealed that Nightraider's own built-in arm weapon, a deadly neutron beamer, exposes him to fatal Q radiation.  The helpers must get Nightraider back home or he will die, 

I love how the writer borrows the then new fangeled "microwave cooker" technology and turns it into a deadly weapon.  I won't spoil the ending for you but it caught me by surprise.

Starblazer #179 - Mandroid - He was a cop. A good cop! Too good for his fellow enforcement officers, some said.  Some others said he wasn't even human - and they were right.  He was Carter, and Carter was a Mandroid.  Half man, half android and whilly mean.

This is my first Carter story and it's a corker.  High stakes action on every page and it was a gripping read.  Carter definitely has shades of Judge Dredd and Robocop in his character and this story really lets that shine through.  The art by Enrique Alcatena is fantastic, very dynamic and full of inventive costume design.  I felt it was reminiscent of my favourite Dredd artist Ron Smith.

The story starts out as a murder investigation on a remote mining planet but quickly evolves into a tale of robot revolution.  Carter is the perfect protagonist for this story, being half robot himself means he straddles both sides of the conflict.  A classic Starblazer issue and one that comes highly rated.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next Carter storyline in issue #191 Carter's Law

Starblazer #181 - Death Trek - Sergeant Wilse T Force was surly, bad tempered and hated the war.  He owanted out, and the only way he could do that was to obey orders, no matter how difficult they were.  His job was complicated by two things... a bunch of recruits he had to wetnurse through the Badlands, and an enemy commander who wanted him dead - for personal reasons.

This story feels like it is ripped straight from the pages of Commando, another very popular "War Story" title from Starblazer Publisher DC Thompson.  Our hero is trapped behind enemy lines and orders come through to evaccuate the planet.  He just has to get his men to the safety of the rendezvous point in time or be left behind.

Sgt Force and his men have to survive encounters with the strange alien life on the planet whilst being chased by the Carthan enemy soldiers.  The powered armour troopers are equipped with a host of wepons and gadgets to help them survive, but being green recruits they need a veteran like Force to keep them alive.

Solid adventure story stuff and a great read.

Starblazer #183 - The Cyborg Chaser - It was 2086AD, and the Earth was in the grip of a drought.  Only androids and cyborgs could work in the intense heat while humans stayed in their controlled areas.  The companies that manufactured cyborgs grew more powerful, until they all but ruled the world.  Faced by secrecy, World intelligence decided to penetrate the largest firm, Cyborg Corporation, and they sent in Britt the Commando, a one man army, a CYBORG CHASER.

The cover illustration brings together two great cinematic images, Max Von Sydow's Ming the Merciless as Arrigon the Head of a Andro Corp and Sean Connery's James Bond as Britt the Commando.

This is an interesting story of global domination being foiled by a super spy and perfectly fits into the Starblazer mould like a hand in a glove.  Being an anthology comic, you never knew exactly what you were getting every other week.  Unlike 2000AD or Star Lord, there was no stable of regular characters who appeared every week.  What was guaranteed were solid adventure story lines with action on every page.  

In the 80s we used to judge our action movies by their kill count, perhaps we should do the same with our Starblazer issues?

Essential Starblazer Links

The Starblazer Checklist is a fantastic resource if you are collecting or want to know who wrote and illustrated each issue.

Many thanks to the chaps who run the Starblazer Covers archive, this is immensely useful resource when looking at ebay joblot listings.

Retro Sanctuary has a great article covering his top 20 Starblazer Issues which is worth a look and I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing some of these classics in the very near future.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 34 - Teenage Mutant Sorceror Tortle

This week, I are mostly been printing... A Tortle!!

Epics N Stuff Tortle Sorceror - MyMiniFactory - 109539  

This week saw us return to The Rivenlands D&D Campaign at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.  My clubmate and fellow founder Paul needed a mini to represent his Tortle Sorceror so he commissioned me to print and paint a supplied STL. 

He's a chunky boy and basically pyramidal in shape.  The mini came both pre-supported and unsupported, as is common these days.  However, he also came as a pair of pre-hollowed out variants for those wishing to not waste resin or just wanting a slightly lighter mini.  

This is the first time I've seen this done on a 35mm single piece character mini, so I printed a hollow one for shits and giggles.  The only issue I had is that the wall thickness just wasn't thick enough to prevent the odd hole appearing when I removed the supports. 

Painting

The customary zenithal priming was done and mounted to my base of choice (a two pence piece).  I said he was chunky and barely any base was visible under his girthy feet.

Paul supplied me with a photo of a make by Empire of Minis so I didn't even have to make any colour choice decisions. 

Base colours were a mix of Vallejo Acrylics, with midtones dry brushed on before picking out the highlights.

Serious Skin Problems

I really struggled with the skin on this model, in fact it was practically the last thing that got painted.  The sculpt had no texture and yet he is supposed to be a tortoise like humanoid.  Last time I looked they had pretty scaly lizard like skin and his was as smooth as a baby's bottom.  I have a small collection of greens and they were covering really horribly over the zenithal, particularly where areas of shadow were converned.

 

I persevered though and resorted to mixing in a bit of some Crafter's Choice acrylic that I found in a Wallington "Arkwrights" shop.  

G.. G.. G.. Granville! Fetch me that tube of G... G.. G... Green Paint!

This stuff is so random it doesn't even have a paint name, just a number (PNTA-134) but it's made by Royal & Langnickel and it did the job where my specialist miniature paints could not.  

 

This just goes to show that when you are painting don't just dismiss your art materials because they aren't Vallejo or Games Workshop.  Try out lots of different paints and you just might hit on some secret sauce.

6 Essential Resin 3D Printer Accsessories

I have been resin 3D printing for almost 2 years now and here are a few of the bits of kit which I have found to be invaluable.

Plastic Razor Blade Scrapers 

Nothing gets a blob of resin off your LCD screen better than a plastic scraper.  They don't damage the surface and they are cheaper than actual razor blades.  You can also use them to pry your prints off the build plate and they are disposable so no need to clean them.

Once you have these, you will find they have a multitude of uses around the house for all those DIY projects that they were actually designed for.

Spare FEP film

You never want your printing to be sidelined by a dodgy FEP, so having a spare film is essential for when the inevitable happens.  Changing out your FEP is just one of those skills you will need to master.  Some say that you can tune your FEP for optimal performance, but I just use the German specification gudentight.    I recommend buying from 3DJake.

Fun Fact: FEP is an acronym for Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene.

Silicone Baking Tray

Resin 3D printing is a messy affair, particularly when you are extracting your prints from the build plate.  It is hard to not drip uncured resin onto your table, so I use a silicone baking sheet as a table protector.  

Nothing sticks to silicone and these mats are super easy to clean and so cheap that you can cover an entire table in the things and still have change from a tenner (£10).

PTFE Lubricant (GT85)

Every now and then you will suffer from a print that just wants to stick to the FEP rather than where it is supposed to stick, the build plate.  The best thing I have found to combat this is to give your FEP a good spray with GT85 and a gentle rub down.  This creates a microscopic PTFE layer on the surface of your FEP guaranteeing that the print will release when the build plate rises.

Everytime I change resin, change my FEP or just engage in a spot of cleaning, I give my FEP a liberal coat and then buff it dry.  GT85 will change your success rate instantly, no more failed prints, bits stuck to the FEB or layer peeling.

Plastic Funnels & Conical Paint Filters

Trying to pour your unused resin back into the bottle is a nightmare task made tolerable with the use of a funnel.  Get some conical paint filters to strain out any bits of cured resin and your life will be so much easier and less messy.

The pound store is your best bet for funnels.  You can get a bunch of filters for pennies at the usual online retailers like eBay or Amazon.  A big shout out to Jayo3D who pack 2 or 3 filters in with their 1Kg bottles of resin.

Two Wash & Cure Station Tanks 

It wasn't long into my resin 3D printing journey before my wash tank looked like a winter's morning.  This occurs when the uncured resin suspended in your IPA cures and fall to the bottom of the tank making an amorphous plastic blancmange.  Honestly, this stuff is horrendous to deal with, so having a second wash tank that you can decant into and clean your IPA is a must.  I have found that running a few curing cycles on an empty tank can work wonders. 

Vallejo Shifters - It's all Dust Baby!

In 2023 I managed to snag an absolute bargain of an eBay joblot. I got a metric ton of airbrush paints including this trio of Vallejo Shifters sets.

I've used them on a few models so far but my main gripe is that the supplied swatches don't at all marry up to my experience.  I decided to make my own swatches and to test if it using a gloss black undercoat made any difference to the effect. 

Before anyone shouts "You should have used spoons!", I probably should but my main objective was to have something I could tuck into the box as a handy reference and not have to dig out my cutlery drawer.  Some of these paints don't look anything like what is in the bottle and their names are no help either.

Galaxy Dust

• 77.002 Light Violet Green - A minty coldish green which flips to a greyish purple at about 20 degrees.
  
  
• 77.008 Green Gold Cold Blue - A nice verdant green which flips to a dark blue.
  
  
• 77.009 Turquoise Violet - A really nice 70s blue flake flipping to a solid purple with flecks of irridescent blue. This is the standout colour of the set.
  
  
• 77.010 Emerald Green Mauve - a darker more blueish green flipping to purple.
  
  
• 77.017 Green Silver Blue -almost identical to 002 but a bit more opaque to begin with before flipping to a much greyer colour.
  
  
• 77.018 Dark Green Tin -a really nice warm green which flips toward yellow.
  

Magic Dust

• 77.001 Violet Old Copper - nah, this is definitely a purple to blue shift and it's really quite good doing multiple flips the further away from 0 degrees you get.  Nice.
  
  
• 77.006 Gold Pale Blue - this was way too subtle for me.  It's a greeny gold to begin with and it pretty much stays there.
  
  
• 77.007 Pearl Violet - Purple to a dark grey.
  
  
• 77.011 Old Silver Pale Violet - Another super subtle shift which just goes black to my eyes.  I will chalk this up to a faile in application even though this was the most successful swatch of the three.
  
  
• 77.012 Silver Pink - Is it? just looks Greeney Purple to me.
  
  
• 77.015 Gold Yellow Burnt Orange - Green to a very nice Gold.  Just pipped into second place by 001.  I used this on the cockpit glass of my Swordfish II model and it looks great even if it has a propensity for spiderwebbing.
  

Space Dust

• 77.003 Orange Violet - This is the colour I chose to use on B'lakor's wings and over a curved surface it works quite well.  However, this doesn't cover great and will need multiple coats to get a really pronounced effect.
  
  
• 77.004 Electric Blue Intense Violet - Blue to a sort of purple, just not as successful as 001.
  
  
• 77.005 Green Blue Velvet - I think I might have messed this one up, I'm not getting an effect at all but it is a really nice metallic green.
  
  
• 77.013 Bright Gold Brown - Very subtle but a transition from green to an orangey brown is there.  Perhaps on a larger curved surface this will work quite well
  
  
• 77.014 Old Gold Grey Violet -  I'm just not getting the gold here.  It's another green to purple transition.
  
  
• 77.016 Red Gold - this is definitely a green to gold transition but it is green for a long time..
  

To Gloss or Not to Gloss, That is THE Question. 

I have to say I can't see any difference myself.  However, airbrushing the paint onto a gloss surface made a huge difference when you are actually spraying.  The gloss is a barrier and makes the paint much more likely to pool or to spiderweb.  There is a lot of acrylic medium in the mix which is what suspends the metallic particles, but this takes an age to dry and if you are like me patience is something I have yet to learn...

Overall Opinion

There are a lot of colours which basically look green.  I imagine that there is some perfectly reasonable physics paper which explains how the light refraction effect works.  I will continue to use them and these swatches are going to help a lot in the choices I make.  However, it really does depend on the miniature you are painting and the exact curves on the model to achieve the best results.  

Space marines or any character wearing pauldrons or other similarly curved armour pieces is going to look great using shifters.  Large Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) with flat panels I'm guessing less so, but I am intrigued to see what it looks like on a windscreen of a car.

Blue Monday

I wasn't planning on making a post today, but when I find something on the interwebs that I think is amazing, I tend just jot it down in here and share it with everyone.

Blue Maps Monday

Tim Hartin has been making his Old School Blue Maps available every Monday since 2022.

What is an Old School Blue Map

Old School D&D modules were famous for their gatefold covers and the ubiquitous blue maps which were found inside.  Fun Fact! this is a well known anti-copy technique using a particular shade of blue called "non-photo blue".  It is also widely used by traditional illustrators to make their initial sketches as the blue will not be picked up in any subsequent scanning or photography stage.

Back in November 2011 I wrote about the various free software options you could use (at the time) to make maps at the "Dungeon" scale maps and included a fun little level editor Tiled 

Sadly the tileset I created is lost to the mists of time, but I will rebuild it and make it better than ever...

Mwahahaha

Scavengers Reign - An Exploration of Xenomorphology

I saw this trailed last year and, as a big fan of the art of the great french comic book illustrator Moebius aka Jean Giraud, I was gobsmacked with how similar in style it looked to many of his amazing strips.

It immediately brought back memories of watching Les Maîtres du temps (The Masters of Time) and I knew I would have to give it a watch.

More than just a Robinson Crusoe Rehash

The story revolves around the lives of three groups of survivors who landed their escape pods on a lush and verdant planet in very different circumstances.  Many of their shipmates have not been so lucky and did not survive to reach the surface, although it is not long before you start to realise that maybe its the dead who are lucky.

The 12 episodes are a busmans guide on how to create a planet full of interesting and diverse flaura and fauna which spends all of its time trying to eat you.  Wrapped around this core survival trope are evolving backstories which explore why each of the very differnt characters chose to thrust themselves out into the great void.

Beautifully animated and biologically complex, the writers have crafted a world which has so much natural diversity and complexity in their life cycles and symbiotic relationships with each other.  This goes well beyond the simple and makes Gieger's Xenomorph look like a children's story book.  

In the same way, the individual backstories of each character are explored in detail from the venal and pathetic Kamen to the strange relationship between Azi and her robot companion Levi.  These are as complex and interesting as their surroundings.  However, sometimes I feel this is designed to lull you into a false sense of security.  Needless to say in these more tender moments their next brush with the disaster is only around the corner.

Traveller Eat Your Heart Out.

This is exactly how I remember early Traveller scenarios going back in the day.  Every scenario was an exercise in exploration and discovering new and deadly lifeforms.  I remember playing those classic double adventures like Shadows or the Chamax Plague and loving them.   

Justifiers - Out of The Mists	Traveller - Shadows

It also brought back memories of running my favourite long dead sci-fi exploration RPG Justifiers.  With only a little modification each of these episodes would make for an entertaining set of encounters for any party.

Is Scavengers Reign Worth Watching?

If you enjoy carefully crafted and beautiful landscapes filled with interesting biology then yes, absolutely.  If you want fast paced action then this is not the animation for you.  If you can imagine watching a 6 hour long Studio Ghibli masterpiece where your own mortality is repeatedly rammed down your throat in the most violent but interesting ways.  Only then are you getting somewhere close to the gorgeous grotesqueness of this show. 

It is rare for a show like this to ever get greenlit or make it past a 30 minute long short so we have to reward the creative geniuses behind the scenes and watch their show.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 33 - The Girl with the Robot Hand

This week, I are mostly been printing... A girl riding a robot hand!!

Trix Robot Rider - Cults 3D 

I found this on EthanTSavage's Cults 3D page and thought it was an awesome sculpt.

The aesthetic is undeniably Anime, and for me is reminiscent of the fabulous Tank Girl comic of the 80s.  Whilst the movie ranks as one of the worst in history, I am a big fan.

I love Giant Robot anime, my favourite being Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still.  If you haven't watched it you should it's just the right shade of bonkers to make a strange sort of sense and is a blend of diesel punk / magical superhero anime which is incredibly rare.

This was a very quick model to make taking me only a few days to complete.  I used a skull base which I had originally intended for my huge demon model and slathered on the old poundland polyfilla to form a crust over the skulls. 

This is my homage to the famous scene in Terminator 2 where the T800s are walking across the field of human remains crushing skulls underfoot.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 32 - Cowboy Bebop Spike Spiegel Swordfish II

This week, I are mostly been printing... The Swordfish II

Cowboy Bebop Swordfish II - Thingiverse: Thing 3082811

Anime fans will instantly recognise Spike Spiegel's red starfighter the Swordfish II.

This is an older file designed for FDM printing and is therefore a abit on the low-poly end of the spectrum  but it is very well put together all the same.

Meet the Parts

I opted to print this on my Resin SLA printer and I was mindful of the large size of the model.  The main core of the ship needed to be split in two using meshmixer and I took the opportunity to learn how to use the hollow functions. 

I couldn't believe how easy this was and it's definitely something I will be using in the future when I make larger objects as I reckon it saved a metric ton of resin and didn't lead to those peeling and splitting issues I experienced when printing my 3D Printed Akira - Kaneda Bike.

Sub Assembly

Once I had worked out what parts I needed and got them all printed to my satisfaction, I began gluing up the sub assemblies.

The core body and nose were split in meshmixer so needed to be joined back together.  Despite a really good print whenever I use mesh mixer I need to putty the seams.  The hollowed out core and nose also needed the drain holes filled and sanded.  I then doubled pinned the wings to this main assembly.  In hindsight I should have spent more time on this as there was a little bit of an alignment issue between the wing root and the wing itself.

The back half of the model was an utter nightmare of badly fitting airfoils and I bodged as best I could.

The cannon barrel, cockpit and reversing gear were painted using various colour shift paints and left until final assembly   

This was all given a solid black primer with my go-to rattle can matt black car paint from Poundland.

Panel Scribing and Underpainting

I knew I was going to want to try out the underpainting technique I've seen a lot of AFV modellers use to create their panel lines, but this model didn't really have any.  I dug out a ruler and scribed the aileron's and the folding wing joins with the back of an x-acto blade.  The rivet detail was simply drilled with a pin vice and a few other panel lines added.  This was all recoated in black ready for underpainting.

I used a Daler Rowney FW artists white ink straight out of the bottle through the airbrush.  I'm a pretty novice airbrusher and I have always struggled with thinning and getting the right consistency of paint and prerssure to prevent spidering.  

However, this ink added the new complication of fisheyes.  I'm not sure if it is the ink or the undercoat, but it was a real pain.  Several coats went on and some had to be wiped off.  I persevered and finally it was time to add the red coat. 

Weathering and Paint Chipping

The Swordfish is an old ship and given the meagre budget that the crew of the Bebop operate with, there is only the money to do basic maintenance.  A scuffed up worn out appearance was a must.

I use the sponge chipping method lightly dabbing some black on all the leading edges that would take the most punishment on re-entry.  This was then highlighted with some bright silver from Army Painter.

A simple but effective method to weathering whilst maintaining a clean look and not taking an age to dry.

Spike Spiegel - MyMinifactory

No model of the Swordfish II would be complete without it's pilot and the main hero of the show, Spike Spiegel.

I found a lovely model of Spike on MyMiniFactory which was a breeze to print and paint.  I think it makes a great addition to the model.  Shout out to sculptor EthanTSavage whose work is prertty amazing and scales up really nicely. 

The Base

I considered lighting this model but to be honest it was a bit of a pain once assembled.  I had a plan for routing the LEDs to the engine and the two spotlights on the nose, but I was not confident that the effect would be worth it given the low-poly detail of this model.  

I did want a modern looking base and found the perfect match in a box style frame in a thrift store.  Removing the glass and gluing the mdf backer in place proved a sturdy enough platform for a coathanger to be glued in place supported by a generous volcano of milliput on the underside.

I also took the liberty of drilling an extra hole in the corner for Spike to be glued in place.

The Swordfish II Plaque - Thingiverse: Thing 6455107

One of the more iconic graphical elements to the show is the logo.  I love the big kanji script but wanted the center to bear the name of the ship.  I found a suitable image online and modified it with GIMP.  I then converted the JPG to an SVG using Convertio and imported this into Tinkercad.  I added a simple solid back to the object and exported as an STL.  

From start to finish this took no more than 10 minutes.  You can download the STL file for free using the Thingiverse link above.

Many Thanks to...

A big shout out to Lou Dalmaso aka Aztek Dummy on YouTube.  I've thoroughly enjoyed his forays into 3D printed models and it was his channel that inspired me to give it a go myself.  

Big thanks also to the rest of the Youtube modelmaking community for giving me hours of enjoyable content over the years. Plasmo, Mr E Models, SpruVerse, World of Wayne, TrekWorks, Interstellar Modeler, Boylei Hobby Time, Luke Towan, MSPaints, Squidmar, Ground Affected, Midwinter Minis and so many more...

Jessie's Prints - Episode 31 - The Ultimate Radical Centrist Demon Dude

This week, I are mostly been printing... A bloody great big Demon Bloke!!

Before anyone asks, my opinion on the Warhammer 40K and Games Workshop IP issue is, that I don't believe in direct recasts of currently available models. However, if you can sculpt something that is an homage to an existing IP or if the original miniature is out of production then I say it's fair game.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.

The Ultimate Radical Centrist - Cults 3D

I can't remember how I managed to find this model but I'm bloody glad I did.  I don't play WH40K or typically use many demons in my own RPGs, but this was a love at first sight sort of thing.

Printing the body parts on my relatively small Photon Mono X was easy.  However, his wings were a challenge and I had to once again turn to meshmixer in order to slice them in half and even then they only just fit onto the print bed.  Even though the flat mating surfaces were printed flat on the build plate a good deal of sanding was required to join them together.  the discrepencies were filled with milliput original to make them seamless and whole again.

I wanted the wings to be detachable for transport and so I pinned them with coathanger wire.  Unfortunately they were so heavy and unbalanced that one pin made them rotate so a second finer pin was added.  If I were to do this again I would seriously consider adding some mini magnets.

The included base was insufficient for this quite top heavy model and so I printed a circular one on my FDM printer.  A square socket was carved out and the original base epoxied into place.  This was then covered in my go-to basing medium poundland wall filler.

Painting 

Painting was a game of two halves.  The body got the traditional zenithal, airbrush base colours, washes, highlights and dry brushes treatment.  For the wings I wanted something "Draconic" so I primed in black and then a layer of gloss varnish on the outside of the wings.

The outside surface is curves and I managed to stretch an old orange bag (the plastic mesh netting type) and used this as a mask.  This is the same technique that the Kustom car painters use when they paint the roofs of lowriders using lace table cloths.  I decided to go with the orange to violet colour shift paint from the Valleho "Space Dust" set.  

This was a great base but needed a silver highlight at the top edge to pick out the scales.  In hindsight using the gloss layer was a mistake.  It was a nightmare task to pick out the top edges of the colourshift in some parts of the model due to the reflected light 

The inside wings got a more muted leathery treatment with progressively lighter shades of brown through the airbrush and the finger spines were left darker.

Playtime 

Since printing him, he has debuted as the big bad in a game of Dark Heresy RPG at Hobbits Hole Roleplay Club.  I'm sure that he will also make an appearance towering over the streets of Mega City One in a prog in the not too distant future...

Mat Irvine, What a Modelmaking Legend

Whilst bimbling around on the YouTubes I came across a little documentary about the history of model kits.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mat Irvine at the Model Engineers Exhibition some time in the mid 90s. He was a gent and whilst I knew him from his sci-fi TV work, I was stunned by his impressive collection of car models.

Also in attendance at the show were a TV company looking for engineering contestants to enter into something called "Robot Wars"... Whatever happened to that?

The star for me was the Fantastic display for the upcoming movie Judge Dredd. Alongside the Hammersteinesque ABC warrior anamatronic puppet they had a Land Rover City Cab.

I think this is still one of the greatest futuristic vehicle designs ever to have made it onto the silver screen and, given my love of Judge Dredd, one model I would love to create in miniature for my 15mm Judge Dredd RPG Vehicle Fleet.  If anyone knows of a good STL pop it in the comments below.

Goodbye 2023... You will not be missed... mostly

All in all 2023 was a pretty fucked up year but there were a few highlights for me.

My Collection

I added a few RPG things to my collection this year including:

• Caravans (Al Qadim) - One of the missing campaign box sets for my favourite D&D setting and getting rarer as every day passes.
  
  
• Citi-Block Floorplans for Judge Dredd - Completing my Games Workshop Judge Dredd collection has been a long awaited event.  Now Sector 55 can grow upwards.
  
  
• Flotsam: Adrift amongst the stars - A little indie RPG by Joshua Fox which has quite a cool refugees in space vibe going on.
  
  
• Cairn RPG - An interesting mini RPG which should be perfect for those inbetween sessions when the regular DM can't make it.  I also picked up the Cairn Bestiary to populate the forest with some pretty cool old school monsters.
  
  
• The White Box RPG - An OSR inspired mini RPG which looks like it might be a great first introduction to OSR roleplay.  
  
  
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master - I've been a long time follower of Professor Dungeon Master who highly recommended this tome of DMing Shortcuts, Tips and Tricks.
  
  
• Cthulhu's Vault - Not an RPG per se but a story telling card game of two halves where one player gets to become an Elder God and fight the other players to the death.  A lot of fun. 
  

Kickstarters Backed in 2023

• Ultracryl Paints - I just liked the look of these paints and  wanted to check out the ultra pigmented neon colours. 
  
  
• Tiny Epic Cthulhu - I have been a big fan of the Tiny Epic series of games since I first played Tiny Epic Galaxies back in the day.  I backed this without hesitation as there is definitely a space in life for another 

Movies I Enjoyed

Whilst Hollywood imploded upon itself this year, I got to see a few absolute gems: 

• The Dungeons & Dragons movie was a pretty good experience all round and whilst it is a shame that it didn't do more business than it did, I firmly expect this to be granted cult status and have a long life on streaming sites.
  
  
• Sisu - A goldminer makes a big score in Lapland and all he has to do is get from the mine to the bank in one piece.  In his way are a bunch of Nazis who are hellbent on capturing his horde.  Bloody good fun if you like a Tarantino style revenge movie or are a fan of Scandinavian movies.  Axsel Hennie doesn't dissapoint as the evil SS captain 
  
  
• Renfield - Who could pass up the combination of Nick Cage and Nicholas Hoult.  A popcorn movie which sheds a new light on Dracula and his man servant.
  
  
• Blood and Gold - If you enjoyed Sisu then you will love Blood and Gold which has a similar premise.
  
  
• They Cloned Tyrone - John Boyega stars in this made for Netflix sci-fi movie.  Done in the best possible low budget blackploitation style it's a really good story with an epic twist.  I really hope to see a sequel.
  
  
• Day Shift - Jamie Foxx lives a double life as a gardner come vampire hunter in modern day LA.  Good fun and a welcome antidote to the likes of The Walking Dead.
  
  
• Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire - I'm not a Zack Snyder fanboy but I thoroughly enjoyed this sci-fi version of The Seven Samurai.  Very watchable and I can't wait for part two where hopefully the world building will continue and we will get much more of Jimmy the robot.
  
  
• Glorious - If you enjoy strange tales of with strange premise you will love Glorious.  Effectively a one room play if your room is an out of the way roadside rest stop with a glory hole.  Full of twists and turns and epic bait and switch, so don't be afraid, watch it today.
  

Games I Played at Dragons Keep Roleplay Club

2023 saw the club continue to grow with a steady influx of new players and our future is looking very secure indeed.

• The Rivenlands - 2023 saw the culmination of this homebrew D&D 5e campaign which was an epic adventure for all.  The fun will resume in part 2 where we descend into Hell to retrieve our fallen comrade Derek.
  
  
• Delta Green - I haven't played this modern interpretation of Cthulhu in years and Mark did not dissappoint.  Some weird AF, X-Files inspired alien shenanigans occurred and I set the club record for having two characters die in the same session!!
  
  
• Where the Monsters Come From - A change of pace was in order as I joined our younger roleplayers band of misfits as Freddo the Frogling. Whilst we have not yet completed our epic quest to prevent the Arch mage from destroying everything to summon his demonic master, it has been a riot. 

Sadly I was unable to attend the Manic Tournament this year but well done to Josh who picked up the trophy.

The Nadir of RPG

As I get older I get more and more immune to being triggered by the manufactured "panic" which seems to be the currency of social media.  However, even I could not ignore some events.

The OSR Scandal which consumed social media in early 2023 until WotC realised they had just alienated their audience of both players and publishers. The jury is still out on whether WotC are going to see a resurgence in good fortune when they release the next edition of D&D and players buy into the new online experience.  I have it on good authority that the VTT is very IRL play inspired but as I do all my play IRL can I be bothered to subscribe to play the new version of D&D when 5e works well enough?  

I'm old enough to have gone through a few edition wars in my lifetime and know that whatever happens I will still be able to play great fantasy roleplaying games.

The Hasbro Lay-offs left a sour taste in the mouth with just 2 weeks to go before Christmas but I am sure that the talent will rise to the top and we will see a raft of new RPG projects and imprints as a result.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 30 - Mr.Blobby

This week, I are mostly been printing...  Blobby Blobby Blobby

Mr Blobby - Digital Taxidermy

As soon as I saw this model I had to have it.  For those of a certain age growing up in the UK our childhoods were indellibly etched with the presence of Mr Blobby.  Spawned by a creative monster he graced (or rather bumbled) onto Noel Edmond's House Party on Saturday evenings circa 1996.  This was a time before streaming and there wasn't even channel 5!!  Options were limited and most people flocked to the most popular variety program of the day.  

Sadly Blobby could not be contained in just a 1 hour TV slot and soon there were comic books cartoons a pop song and Blobby took over the UK.  Of course this stratospheric rise to fame took its toll and overexposure led to a meteoric collapse in Blobby's popularity.  

Needless to say this makes him ripe for a Judge Dredd appearance.  I imagine that the residents of the Noel Edmond's Annex of Thatcher Block (Sector 55) are itching for a House Party with those Smurfs from the Jean Claude Van Damme block.

These are multipart minis with lots of options for arms and weapons.  I printed some test pieces at 15mm and realised that I was going to have a hella fiddly time gluing individual arms on the blobby bodies.  I resorted to loading the files up into meshmixer and created 10 different poses which I could then print en masse at 15mm scale.  Meshmixer For The Win!! 

Zorg Industries Wall Art - Thingiverse:4815231 

To further embellish my Mega City One Miniature Storage Block I thought I would add a couple of signs which can be magnetically attached to the side or top of the case.  This wall art was perfect when scaled down for miniature use.

Mulder & Scully - Maco3D

A commissioned print for my Dragon's Keep Roleplay Club chum Kat.  We are currently playing in a Delta Green (Cthulhu meets the X-Files) game as special agents and being the world's biggest Gillian Anderson fan there was only going to be one FBI agent she wanted to play.  

I was a little dissapointed that these models came as rar files and when opened I could see that they were designed in a statuette scale for multipart printing.  They are both very nicely sculpted and I managed to support the files easily enough.  Mulder also came as a one piece print and Scully came as a two part print with options for skirt or trousers which was also very nice.  I would have preferred a complete model in both skirted and trousered versions making it easier for 28mm printing but this is a minor gripe.

However, the biggest problem with scaling statuesque prints down for tabletop games is that they are anthropomorphically correct.  This means that they have spindly ankles, wrists and gun barrels which snap off at the slightest glance.  To try to combat this I made them 5% bigger in the X and Y dimension in the hope of fattening and strengthening them up.   

As you can see they don't look at all overweight.