Stubborn as a Maultier

 I've uploaded some 1:100 (15mm) models of variants of the German WWII half-tracked lorries they called "Maultier" (Mule). These ones are all based on the Opel Blitz truck.

Here's the base model, with a canvas tilt cover.

The files include an open-backed version as well, plus STLs for a cargo of fuel drums or two strips of seated passengers.

These are all available at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/opel-maultier-15mm/

Open-topped cargo bay

With fuel drum cargo module

With passenger modules

There are two other versions available:

Office body front

Office body rear

The plywood "office" body. This was used as a command and/or radio vehicle, or for various other purposes.

This one is at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/opel-maultier-15mm-office-body/

Ambulance front - closed up

Ambulance rear - doors open, steps down

A variant on the "office" body was the ambulance version, which included a roof extension with windows for light and ventilation, and a wide set of fold-down steps at the back for stretcher access.

You can get the ambulance at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/opel-maultier-15mm-ambulance/

My 15mm WWII(-ish) Collections

First up, my desert WWII Brits and Commonwealth (or Empire, as I guess it still was back then).

Next are my Brits painted up for Europe, BEF or Italy mostly.

The French. Not many of these, and no infantry at all. I do have a set of French infantry STLs that could be printed, but to be honest a French army is a pretty low priority for me at the moment.

Germans. Lots and lots of Germans, from right through WWII.

More Germans, pre-1943 stuff this time except for the Maus and some armoured trains.

This is my Interwar kit. Mostly British. Alas, I seem to be the only person in this city with any interest at all in wargaming the INterwar period, which effectively means I don't wargame the Interwar period. I still like the equipment though — so rivetty.

Italians. I do like the WWII Italians, mainly because their tanks are so shitty. They were obsolete before they ever left the factory. They did have some very good equipment, such as the Autoblinda armoured cars at the far left, and some very good guns, and their propensity for surrender has been very much overstated by the victors.

The Soviets. Mostly still unpainted, mainly because Soviet armour is pretty boring to paint. I dislike production-line painting in any case.

Churchill Mk.VII (again)

 

The state of the track sponsons nagged and nagged at me, so I girded my loins and redid them.

I also took the opportunity to separate the sponsons from the hull, both to ease modelling (so I could just do one and then mirror it), and also so that they could be printed separately from the hull, which often gives better results than printing everything in one piece.

Then, in a spasm of enthusiasm, I did another turret with the hatches open, for those who might want to add their own crew figures. And then another one with a couple of crewmen already in place, for those who don't.

Because all these modifications are on top of Bergman's original work, this is a freebie. I've put it up on Thingiverse at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6733584

Steam Battle Tricycle

 

Here's another Steampunk/VSF piece, this time the nimble Steam Battle Tricycle, with its new-fangled Maxim Gun, the new and modern answer to high-speed reconnaissance on the Victorian battlefield.

It's online now at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/steam-battle-tricycle/.

Steam Tank

 

I've put my 28mm Steam Tank model online at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/steam-tank/

I'll be curious to see if it gets any traction there. I don't believe anyone ever bought it from Shapeways, but then even in 15mm it was big enough to be horrendously expensive when printed by them.

Does my boiler look big in this?

Gatlings galore!

Churchill Mk.VII (-ish)

 

I've been tinkering with the estimable Mr. Bergman's 1:100 scale (15mm) Churchill Mk.IV model to make a Mk.VII.... almost.

The front end of the track sponsons could do with some more work, but I think this will be good enough for tabletop use, especially as the amount of remodelling of the mesh that would be required is fairly substantial.

If challenged, I could always claim that it's an earlier model that had been upgraded to Mk.VII standards. A lot of them were.

Aichi D3 "Val"

 

I've been working for the last little while on a 1:144 scale digital model of the Japanese Aichi D3 "Val" dive bomber of WWII. They were extensively used by the Imperial Japanese Navy, both from carriers and from land, against both naval and land targets.

Now that it's finished, and test printing has successfully completed, it's up online at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/aichi-d3-val-dive-bomber/

This is a model intended for wargaming, so panel detail is minimal, and underneath it is entirely absent. I've put a socket in the bottom of the fuselage for a flight stand.

Blender Viewport Settings

 

I've been experimenting with the Blender viewport settings to see if I can come up with something a bit more attractive to work in than my usual.

This one uses Flat shading with Shadow and Cavity, with the object colour set to Random. I've reset the viewport background colour to a pale blue, which could perhaps be a bit less saturated to make it a bit less overpowering.

This one uses a pale grey MatCap shading with a slight sheen, but otherwise all the Shadow and Cavity settings are pretty much the same. The viewport background is set to a dark blue, which I think is a bit easier to look at. The colours are overall not as bright as the Flat shading model, and the geometry is displayed a bit better I think.

Note: I'm pretty sure that the Random object colour is just an overlay, so the underlying colour of a MatCap will affect it quite substantially. The pale grey alters the overlay colour very little, but you can see that other MatCap colours look quite different.

These screen-caps have been taken against my usual default dark grey viewport background.

You can click on any of the images to see them larger, and I've left the settings flyout open so that the individual settings are visible. They've been screen-capped from my 1920x1200px monitor, though the three comparison screens to the left have been resized to make them a bit more manageable.

Mitsubishi Zero - WiP

 

Inspired by a guy I know (digitally) I dug out an STL of a Mitsubishi Zero, tidied it up and printed it.

I don't know who designed the original STL, but I suspect, from its characteristics, that it might have been CaptainAhab for his 1:300 range of aircraft. I disassembled it and smoothed out all the facets.

The white one was printed in FDM on my Ender 3, the grey one in resin on my Mars Pro. There's not realy that much to choose between them; the resin print is a bit smoother, but as often happens, its wings warped slightly in printing — probably not noticeably on the tabletop. They both took about the same time to print.

CaptainAhab (if it is indeed he) designs his aircraft at 1:100 scale, for the user to rescale to their preferred size. I use 1:144 scale aircraft for my 15mm WWII gaming, so I rescaled the STL to 1:112. Of course. I cocked it up.

In truth, it probably doesn't matter all that much, as the models are really just aircraft markers for my Battlegroup all-arms games, and generally aren't in direct visual comparison with other aircraft. However, if I ever want to use it for a dogfight game with any of my existing models I will have to reprint it at the right scale.

Crocodile

 

When I was working on some Churchills recently, I realised that although I have a couple of examples of the Funnies (fascine, bridgelayer, AVRE) I didn't have a Crocodile. 

So I went hunting, and found that WindhamGraves had produced a nice 1:100 STL and placed it online on Thingiverse, so I nabbed it. He includes the actual Crocodile hull, but I decided to just print the trailer so that I can attach it to the back of any old Churchill to indicate that it's a flamethrower.

Bonus: I can also attach it to the back of one of my Sherman V and voila! I have a Sherman Crocodile as well.

The tank in this picture is a PSC plastic Churchill VII.

Edit: When I based this trailer, I canted it forward so that its beam would fit beneath the petrol tank on the back of the tank hull. In retrospect, I think that was an error of judgement. I could rebase this one, but all in all I think it would be easier just to print and paint another one.

Edit: I just remembered that the AVRE vehicles I have are all Centurions, for the Cold War NORTHAG game. Doh! I guess that just means I'll have to get on to doing some Churchill-based ones. 

 This is the FDM version of WindhamGraves Crocodile model. It prints up pretty well, with no supports required, but assembly requires a bit of care as there are no locating lugs or anything. My one will need a touch of filling here and there, as some of the pieces warped slightly coming off the warm print bed into the freezing air of my workroom.

Churchill NA75 - finished

 I've finally finished off one of my 3d printed 1:100 scale Churchill NA75 with some oil washes and a properly painted commander.

The other two are essentially the same except that they have different figures in their turrets.

I've painted them in SCC 2 Service Brown, for the Italian campaign. The NA in the name stands for North Africa, because that's where they were originally conceived and designed, using 75mm M3 guns taken from wrecked Shermans, and about 200 were eventually converted. However, I don't think they actually saw service until Italy.

Matilda 1 Update

 

An update to my 15mm Matilda 1 A11 at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/a11-matilda-1/

I’ve added files for separate hull and running gear, which should make printing a bit easier. There are two different track modules, one with link detail right round, and one with the bottom track detail flattened out, again to ease printing. The track modules are for the port side only, and will need to be mirrored in your slicer.

Churchill NA75 — under way at last

 

Here's a project I started quite some time ago, and then just left to gather dust on my painting desk -- a troop of 15mm Churchill NA75 for Italy.

I printed the models from a design by the prolific Mr Bergman, and opened up the top hatch and added some commanders. One of them I built in Blender and 3d printed, the other two are plastics from Battlefront.

The primer coat is a useful dark brown I mixed up from Vallejo surface primers German Red Brown and US Olive Drab. It makes a good base colour for almost anything.

I've panel-shaded that base dark brown with VMA 71.035 Camo Pale Brown, which makes a decent match for SCC2 Service Brown.

It's good to have these under way, after neglecting them for so long.

I've added some basic markings, and given them a light dry-brush to begin to bring out the detail.

Interestingly, the period photographs I've seen of this vehicle from Italy show minimal markings, at least from the front. There's this famous picture of one advancing through an Italian town, and about the only marking that can be clearly seen is the T number on the hull front; I can't make out any tactical markings at all, though that might just be a contrast issue — there might be something on the turret sides, but it's quite indistinct.

I've included the tactical markings simply because I think that British tanks look a bit naked without them.

2024-06-10

I've started the weathering by spraying and sponging on some light dust and mud — these tanks are not going to be excessively filthy — but I'm a bit stumped about how I'm going to handle the tracks. They're not very detailed, so there's only so far it's worth going.

Matilda 1 (15mm)

 

I've finally finished my 1:100 (15mm) A11 Matilda 1.

I abandoned it for a long time, but came back to finish it over the last couple of days.

It's online now at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/a11-matilda-1/

Air/Rafts

 

I found an STL for a 1977 Traveller version of an Air/Raft on Thingiverse, so I re-scaled it to more or less 15mm to fit with my elderly RAFM Traveller minis and printed a couple. The one on the left is resin from my Mars Pro, the barely distinguishable black one on the right is FDM from my Ender 3.

The blue one at the back is one that I clobbered together ages ago from a Hot Wheels toy.

The resin version took about 50% longer to print than the FDM one, but comes out smoother. The FDM print is fine, but the supports in under the dashboard are a bit of a nightmare to remove, and if I was going to do it again I'd probably fill in that space since it's not really necessary for a gaming model.

When Marc Millar invented this thing back in '77, I assume that either (a) he was envisaging some kind of force field to protect the passengers, or (b) he had never sat in an open-topped vehicle traveling at 250 kp/h.

Also, why the slash in Air/Raft? I've always found that incomprehensibly dumb, and if the slash character was closer to the hyphen on the keyboard I'd assume it was just a typo.

PHB Statue Remix

 

Some years ago, when he was just starting out on his mission to sculpt everything D&D, Miguel Zavala did a model of the demon statue from the front cover of the AD&D Player's Handbook.

Compared with his more recent work, the modeling was pretty low-rez, but the shapes were basically sound.

I took that old, old STL and remixed it, smoothing out the faceting and giving the surfaces a bit of stone texture. I also separated the brazier bowl and flames to their own objects.

I haven't printed this one yet. I think I'll probably have to make the surface texture a lot more exaggerated to get it to show up in an FDM print.

I printed and painted the original version of this model back in 2018, and put up a post about it then.

Interwar Micros

I've been revisiting a bunch of my interwar vehicle models, rescaling them to 1:285 for micro gaming, and I've put them up on wargaming3d.com in packs of six to eight models.

This first one is British: a Birch Gun SPG, a Peerless armoured car, a Lanchester Mk.II, a Burford-Kegresse half-track MG carrier/APC, a Lancia armoured lorry, and a Carden-Loyd Carrier Mk.VI.

It's available at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/british-interwar-micro-pack-other/

The next one is also British, but it's tanks this time.

There's the A1E1 Independent, the Vickers Medium C, The Vickers Medium Mk.III, The Vickers Medium Mk.II and II*, and the Medium Mk.II Hornet.

It's at https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/british-interwar-micro-pack-other/

 The third is a bunch of Soviets.

This is the Komintern heavy tractor, the T24 medium tank, the Austin-Kegresse half-track armoured car, the Garford-Putilov SPG lorry, the Benz-Mgebrov armoured car, the T27 tankette, the SU18 SPG, and the T18 light tank.

You can get this pack from https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/interwar-soviet-micro-pack/

Flowify - Blender add-on

I've recently been introduced to the Flowify add-on for Blender, by Artisans of Vaul on Youtube. It's an add-on designed to ease the process of applying geometry to the surface of another mesh, and it truly is excellent at that task.

It's quite possible to do this using only native Blender, but its is a job that can be a bit excruciating and time-consuming, and being able to have all of the hard work done for me behind the scenes is just great.

It's one of the more expensive add-ons I've installed at fifteen yankeebucks, but I think it's well worth the money.

Artisans of Vaul just put out a video on how to use Flowify to create a name plate for a miniature base, so I whipped one up for the figure of my puny but beauteous barbarian, Aedan Comarren that I created in HeroForge.

Later that day...

I printed the base and glued to it the mini of Aedan that I'd printed and painted some time ago.

I learned from this that for lettering in this scale, I'd be best off using a very regular font such as Futura, and it would probably be best in all caps.

More (Mostly Pointless) Messing About

 

I thought I would try an experiment: I re-scaled one of Bergman's 1:100 Char B-I (bis) models to 1:200 and printed it on my Mars Pro. It's the yellow one in the middle.

The one at the back is a 1:100 Flames of War model from Battlefront that I painted many years ago, and the teensy one in front is (I think) from GHQ, or possibly C-in-C, which would make it 1:285, also painted many years ago.

The re-scaled model printed pretty well, and should paint up fine.

I'm attracted by the compactness of 1:200 as a wargaming scale, but I am very very heavily invested in 15mm (and 6mm, though I seldom even look at them these days due to my increasingly crappy eyesight) and building a couple of armies in a whole new scale would be a considerable effort — I'd have to do a whole lot of new terrain as well. And I'd have to do at least two armies, because I know nobody local who plays in 1:200.

Not that I actually do any wargaming these days anyway — my gaming is pretty much purely theoretical since COVID Times put a stop to it. I probably should make more of an effort to get down to the club once in a while.

A bit later on...

I've got it painted up now.

It does take a bit less painting than a 1:100 scale model, but not all that much less really.

Steampunk in GURPS-ish Style

 

Quite a few years ago, I printed a PDF of GURPS Steampunk, as I had some idea about running a late Victorian 1890s campaign involving an alien invasion, weird scientification, and the rescue of Queen Victoria. I did run that campaign, but I used the Hero System, not GURPS.

Until now, that printout has just been sitting in a rather bulky plastic sheet display book, and since I have the capability, I thought I might as well turn it into a proper book.

The bookcloth is some stuff that I made a few days ago; some printed cotton impregnated with a paste/acrylic medium mix. It works pretty well.

I used Affinity Photo to cobble together a vaguely Steampunky illustration for the front cover, using bits and pieces snarfed off the internet. I laminated the result and glued it in place, along with a spine title cartouche.

I used a retro poster on heavyish matte paper for the endpapers. The illustrations have nothing whatever to do with the book's subject matter, but they're bold and colourful, which is mainly what I wanted.

The pages were edge-glued in a double-fan, but I also drilled and cross-stitched the spine for extra strength. That means the book will never lay completely flat, but since I'll probably never be using it as a reference book at the games table, I don't care too much about that.

It doesn't show in this photo, but the original printout was single-sided, so each printed spread is followed by a blank one. That means that the book is twice as thick as it really needs to be. I suppose I could have reprinted it double-sided, but I really couldn't be bothered.

The cover boards have an issue: the piece of 2mm grey board that I cut them from had its grain running the wrong way. That means that with all the moisture from the gluing, they bow horizontally instead of vertically, making the book look distinctly tubby.

The condition has been somewhat ameliorated as it dries properly, and with ruthless pressing, but it will never be permanently 100% flat — it's likely to show itself again with changes in ambient humidity. However, since it's unlikely to spend very much time out of the bookshelf, I doubt that it's going to be a major problem.