Rock Troll #4 (and last, probably)

 

Yet another 3d printed Rock Troll, this time painted red.

This will probably be the last one, unless I develop a pressing need for more, which is unlikely.

Front

Rear

 

Stirrings

 

A few years ago, in 2021, I bought a set of PoD reprints of the core AD&D2e books from DriveThruRPG.

Many, many years ago, when it first came out, I bought copies of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. I introduced some bits and pieces from them into our existing AD&D campaign, but we never ever played a "pure" 2e campaign. We ended up with a sort of AD&D1.5e mish-mash.

Now I'm getting those old familiar stirrings again, to run another AD&D game, and I was thinking why not do a completely 2e campaign? I've got the books after all, and it would be good to get some use out of them. And I'm kind of curious to see how far the changes they made to AD&D back in those far distant days alters the feel of the game. Not that much, I suspect.

I might even go as far as using the ridiculous descending AC system. We'll see. 

Rock Troll #3

 

Yet another 3d printed Rock Troll.

Same deal as the last couple, except I painted this one blue instead of green.

Front

Rear

 

Rock Troll #2

 

Another 3d printed Rock Troll, from the same creator as that in the last post.

The FDM printer is incapable of resolving the detail of its fangs properly, but never mind — it's just a TTRPG gaming toy after all. 

Front

Rear

 

Rock Troll

 

This 3d printed rock troll I made in response to events in our ongoing D&D campaign, and as usual, mostly too late. Never mind, maybe next time.

I don't remember who designed the model, nor where I got it from. The internet is big.

It's about 65mm from the soles of its feet to the top of its hump. That would make it about 12' tall in 28mm world.  I printed it on my elderly Ender 3 FDM printer.

Front

Rear, with Sergeant Measuresby.

 

More Flat Paper Anglo-Saxons

 

Here are some more of Peter Dennis' Paperboys paper flats, this time some mounted Saxons. I haven't done any horsemen before in this style. 

Like the infantry, they look best from directly in front or behind, but unlike the infantry, these horsemen have a much smaller angle of acceptability — the horses are depicted in a three-quarter view, but when turned to the side it soon becomes apparent that they have no actual length. Most of the time, on the wargames table, they'd be viewed pretty much square on though, and they are after all just gaming markers, so it's not a huge deal.

These figures will be of fairly limited usefulness on the tabletop, as the Saxons were really mounted infantry rather than cavalry, and almost always dismounted to fight.

Now I just have some missile troops to do, and then I'll have the basis of a 28mm 9th - 11th century Saxon army to build on.

 Next Day...

Here are the first few bases of archers completed, freshly mounted and still with their PVA boots wet.

I initially place the figures with superglue for rapid adhesion, but alone that glue isn't strong enough to stand up to repeated handling. So, for strength and durability, I encapsulate the feet of the figures with PVA. When that dries clear, it's pretty well invisible. 

 Next Next Day...

I've finished 12 bases of archers and one of slingers, which should be enough archers for just about any Anglo-Saxon army based for Hail Caesar. As for the slingers, I don't know... I probably should actually check the army lists.

I've also redesigned my movement trays to make them more compact and easier to pick up. 

Making Tracks

 

PzIII J-N running gear

This project has been on my back-burner for quite some time now.

I decided to make a set of decently detailed running gear for a 15mm (1:100 scale) Panzer III.

The hull is from an old PzIII model by Zac Kuvalich.

I haven't yet done a test print, because it's currently winter in New Zealand, and my workroom, where the printers are, is bloody freezing. 

PzIII E-F running gear

PzIII G-H running gear

The style of both the sprocket wheel and idler changed as the Panzer III was developed. I've done a couple of running gear modules that reflect those changes.

To a certain extent, it's possible to use an earlier style of running gear on later models, as existing vehicles were upgraded to later specifications. 

Somua S-35

 

 

 

The French Somua S-35 is widely regarded as one of the best tanks in the world in 1940, when the Germans invaded.

It was well armed, well armoured, and with decent mobility. Its only major flaw was common to almost all French tanks of the time in that it had only a one-man turret, meaning that the tank commander also had to act as loader, and was thus overworked. While he was attending to the gun, he wasn't looking at the battlefield for dangers or targets.

 

 

The model is 1:100 scale (15mm), FDM printed  on my elderly Ender 3, from a design by M. Bergman. I've done some structural tinkering to get it to print more reliably, but I haven't added any extra detail this time around.

[EDIT] 

I forgot that I'd printed a Beutepanzer version of this machine way back in 2019.

The Germans gave it a new commander's cupola, but otherwise didn't alter it at all. 

Inheritance

 

I inherited some minis from my friend Belle.

They're mostly GW medievalish types: peasants, artisans, criminals, and a bishop (who might well be classed with the criminals).

There are two sets of three Grenadier figures: one of prisoners, and one of royal court types. They're smaller than the GW figures, being from the 25mm days. They're dated 1987-88.

There are a few 15mm figures from Tabletop Games (who I think are now defunct, though their ranges may still be available from other manufacturers). One is a mounted Mongol/Hun standard bearer, there are four medieval 100-Years-War types, and a bunch of others in long robes that I cannot make out without high magnification.

And last (and also least) there are a bunch of toy soldiers, cast in Zamak or similar, that I vaguely recall came in Kinder Surprise eggs. I think. They're very stiffly sculpted and not much use for anything except as game markers. 

Easy Tracks in Blender

 

There's an add-on for Blender called BagaPie, which adds a whole lot of functionality in various arenas (scattering etc.). The one that is most useful for me, as a WWII tank modeller designing for 3d printing, is its Array On An Object feature.

All I have to do is create an object the shape of the track run, and create one track link.

I put the track link at some point on the surface I want to array it along, shift-click the track-run profile shape, and hit J to invoke the Bagapie  menu and select Array On An Object.

Then it's just a case of adjusting the spacing and number of iterations, and bingo! A track run. Then I just hide the profile object.

Now, all this could have been achieved in native Blender by arraying along a curve object. But that inevitably involves faffing about with object origins and rotation, and often introduces distortion into the iterations going around curves. The Bagapie version is just simpler and easier.

The only thing this method doesn't do (as far as I know) is automatically count the number of iterations required to go completely around the profile, and it doesn't adjust the scaling of the link object for a seamless start/stop connection. However, in the small scale I'm modelling in (1:100) I can usually live with an overlap of the first and last iterations — I just put it somewhere inconspicuous.

Because it's all non-destructive and updated in real time, I can modify the profile object and/or the track link object after the fact, and have everything update automatically. 

This is (or will be) a set of running gear for a Panzer III, which will be useful for any number of WWII German vehicles.

FDM Bergman PzII

 

Carrying on with my plan to paint up a whole lot of old stuff that I printed ages — sometimes years — ago, I've whacked out this early-model Panzer II for my 15mm Afrika Korps.

This is an FDM print, and though it's serviceable enough as a gaming piece, it's pretty crude in detail. It was printed flat on the printer platen, and the layer lines on the sloping plates are pretty apparent if you look too closely. 

Being an early model vehicle, it doesn't have the turret bustle (Rommelkette, I think) that became ubiquitous on German tanks up until the Panther/Tiger II era.

T-26 Beutepanzer

 

This is my 1:100 scale model of one of the myriad WWII German conversions of captured equipment, in this case marrying the Soviet T-26 light tank hull with a French 75mm gun, the PaK 97/38 in German service.

The STL is available at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/t-26-with-pak-97-38 

Not a great many of these were ever made. The project went as far as active troop trials, but it was never accepted for full-scale serial production.

There is a driver figure printed in the model (not visible here), but I need to find a couple more crewmen for it. I'm sure I have something suitable in the lead pile.

Dropper Palette

 

I had a desire for a small paint palette with quite small recesses, for inks and pin-washes and the like, something that could be cleaned out, and wouldn't take up too much space on my modelling desk.

I could not find anything suitable ready-made, so I whipped one up out of oven-bake polymer clay.

The 19mm ball-bearing headed stylus I used to press out the paint recesses came from a cheap paper quilling set that I saw for about ten bucks, and grabbed because I thought they might come in handy. As they have.

I would have preferred pure white polymer clay, but this pale pink was the closest I could come without shopping around further, and laziness triumphed.

Tiger 1 (late production)

 

I've finished painting my 3d printed 1:100 (15mm) late production Tiger 1.

The airbrushing caused me to make some sweary noises — I'm getting a bit frustrated with Vallejo ModelAir, but it's pretty much all I have access to locally.

 This would be a vehicle of 1944-45, the type of Tiger that would most likely be encountered during and after the Normandy landings, or during Bagration. Except that apparently those late vehicles didn't use the smoke launchers, so I've deleted them from the current version of the model.

The STLs are available at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/mojobob_hoochyman_tiger_1_late_production_

D&D SRD 5.2

I downloaded the D&D5e SRD v.5.2, but really only out of long-entrenched habit. I'm becoming less and less interested in that fantasy superhero game, though I have to admit that if you want to play wuxia fantasy superheroes it does a decent job.

I think that one of the things that I am most disenchanted with is the underpinning idea that the Underdark is supposedly malevolent, terrifying and dangerous, while simultaneously making sure that none of the things that make it so are at all relevant to player characters of almost any level.

GM: "The darkness enfolds you, cloying, suffocating, claustrophobic....."

Player: "Oh, I have darkvision. Also, I can fly. And make delicious food at will from thin air. And light."

Tiger Time Again

After I'd finished off my Afrika Korps Tiger 1, I thought it might be handy to have some running gear for the later production vehicles, with the corrugated steel wheels. So I made some in 1:100 scale.

 The later production turrets changed a bit too, with a new low-profile commander's cupola like that used on the Panther and Tiger II. I don't know precisely when they first appeared, but I have seen a photograph of a Tiger with this turret in Tunisia, dated 1943. Anyway, I thought I'd better make one of those too. In fact, I made three, since I like to add crew figures where possible, as I think they add life and a sense of scale to the model.

I wouldn't be surprised if this cupola and those for the Panther and King Tiger all came off the same production line. Maybe not though; the Germans did seem to quite keen on bespoke re-engineering of elements for new vehicles.

 

And of course the hull of the beast changed as well, since the Feifel air cleaning system disappeared. So I had to make a new body as well. And now I have a whole new late-production Tiger 1 to print and paint and send into the Normandy bocage.

Test printing on my elderly Mars Pro confirms that everything prints and assembles as expected, which is always a relief.

The STLs for this model can be purchased at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/mojobob_hoochyman_tiger_1_late_production_, all proceeds going to fund my modelling/3d printing/roleplaying/wargaming hobbies.

 2025-04-26

I've added some separate track armour modules. They can be printed separately and be glued in place, or else they can be added in the slicer and be printed in place.

This Way In

 

"The Sacred Well of Garlo is an intriguing archaeological site located near the village of Garlo in Pernik District, Bulgaria. Constructed between the 12th and 11th centuries BC, this ancient structure is nestled in a small valley rich with natural springs. The well's design and function bear striking similarities to sacred wells found within the remains of the Nuragic Civilization (1600–730 BC) on the island of Sardinia, Italy."

Also, it is clearly the entrance to an underdark dungeon of immense scope. It's obvious.

Afrika Korps Tiger 1 - WiP

 

Next project: a 15mm Tiger 1 for my Afrika Korps.

I'm 3d printing an Afrika model, with the Feifel air cleaners, from TigerAce1945. It's the one in the middle, with an old Battlefront resin & metal model on the left, and a PSC plastic kit on the right.

I've given it new, more detailed running gear, and added a commander's head and some spare track on the hull front. Looking at it now though, I can see a few other places where it could benefit from some tarting up — it's missing the prominent seam around the turret top, and also the seams between the individual side skirt panels. Maybe if I do any more I'll take care of those details.

 Later...

I've added those details, and I think it looks a lot better.

When I'll get around to reprinting it I don't know, but it's ready for me when I do.

Later later...

Got the initial airbrushing done. Next will be to do a bit of dry-brushing and pick out some surface detail — tools, tyres and so forth — before gloss-varnishing for some decals and oil-wash.

The 2 pounder portee is there to remind me to pull finger and get it finished; it's one of those projects that has been hanging fire for far too long.

Later later later...

 I've finished it off now, and in spite of my hatred of waterslide decals, I'm pretty pleased with the way it's turned out.

Blogger Reply Login Woes

 To reply to a comment on any of my posts, Blogger demands that I log in.

Logging in to Blogger has no effect at all, and I'm just directed to log in again.

The upshot of this is that effectively I can't reply to any comments. If you're expecting a reply, sorry about that. I don't know what I can do about it.

Army Painter Speedpaints

 

At long last I've got my hands on some of these new-fangled SpeedPaint colour glazes from Army Painter.

The figures are a pair of 3d printed 32mm barbarians by Fat Dragon Games; they print in FDM without supports.  I've primed one in a sandy colour (left), and the other in white (right).

The SpeedPaints went on without any issues, and they do a decent job of staining the underlying colour and darkening recesses. If you can sort out the right colours, they would certainly make painting figures quite speedy.

However, actually finding the right colours is going to be largely a matter of trial and error, as the labels on the bottles give only a very general impression of what the paint will end up looking like, and in common with almost all hobby paint ranges, the paint names are of very limited usefulness.

Being glazes, the underlying colour is very important in determining the final outcome. They recommend either white or grey, which is fair enough. The sand colour worked okay with these two colours, though the final contrast levels are a lot lower than the pure white underlay. It would be worth while to do some tests on a variety of primer colours to see how they react.

The paints would be very useful for production-line painting of mooks, but I think they'd be of more limited usefulness when it comes to fine painting. I'd happily use them for pumping out masses of wargaming figures — assuming I can figure out which colours I actually need for historicals.

Fantasy Hero Grimoires

 

Just arrived this morning, a couple of PoD Fantasy Hero books from Hero Games.

These are full of spells and potions and what-not — magical shenanigans for a Fantasy Hero game.

There's nothing in either of them that any half-way competent GM or player couldn't come up with themselves, but it's handy having all the maths already done for you. The spells are designed for their Turakian Age setting, which is their bog-standard high fantasy roleplaying milieu, but there's nothing completely setting-specific there and they could be slotted into pretty much any fantasy campaign.

In truth, I have no particular need for these books, since I haven't run a Fantasy Hero campaign for many years, and to be honest it's not that likely that I will again. But they weren't very expensive, even with the swingeing postage the USPS charges these days, and they add more bulk to my Roleplaying Bookshelf of Doom. 

The Hero Games webstore for the 5th Edition stuff is at https://www.herogames.com/store/category/3-hero-system-5th-edition/

15mm Afrika Korps paint test

Collage of various internet stuff

I'm not great at painting 15mm figures, but I do like them to look at least half-way believable.

So, I occasionally force myself to do some research.

Fortunately, these days the internet provides plenty of material to look at — though it can be of variable reliability, since it is subject to reenactment fads and AI bullshit.

Looks like an Osprey illustration to me

This is the method I've settled on that seems to work for me:

Primed with Green Brown surface primer

Then 914 Green Ochre for the uniform base coat.

Just Buff for the trousers. I'll use Iraqi Sand for the helmets and other painted metal.

After lightly dry-brushing with Bone White for highlights, and washing overall with Agrax Earthshade, another wash on just the jacket with Athonian Camoshade greens it up a bit without making it too bright.

Bison II

 

Apparently this self-propelled gun ended up being called "Bison II" due to a model-maker's error, and like many nicknames given to German WWII vehicles, it was never used by the Germans themselves.

Its proper name is 15cm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf), which is a hell of a mouthful. I'm just going to keep calling it Bison.

The base model I built this up from was by Bergman, though all that's left is (most of) the  hull. I replaced the running gear and gun, rebuilt the engine grills, and cobbled together a couple of crewmen from some figures by someone whose name I've forgotten.

As usual, when I've decided to do some paint chipping, I've gone completely overboard. This looks more like shrapnel damage than normal wear and tear. 

Scale is 1:100 (15mm)

PzJg38(t) Hetzer

 Continuing with my plan of painting all the stuff I printed ages ago and then forgot about — this time it's a 15mm (1:100) Hetzer, or to be pedantic, a PzJg38(t).

 I don't recall who designed the 3d model originally, nor how much fiddling around with it I did. There's an error with the track guides, which should be running either side of the road wheels and not down the centre of the track links, as they are here — I think that's probably my mistake.

I quite like the Hetzer. It's a very compact little bug-like thing. Apparently the ergonomics and survivability of the thing were appalling though, so I'm glad I never had to fight in one.