Friday 21 August 2020

Some 40mm basing to do & more thoughts on digital sculpts.

As my wife and I are currently down with heavy cold/flu symptoms (non Covid) it's been a struggle to get anything done this week as we have both been knocked out. This morning, after my usual dog walk, I came back and sank onto the sofa where I'm sure I'll spend most of the day, annoyingly as I'm losing valuable hobby time. Between snoozes we have been binge watching BBC's Line of Duty together as we missed it first time round save the last series and really enjoying it, more twist and turns than an acrobat! 

 With Tony Barr's laser cutter back in working order he swiftly sent me my order for more bases, these included the bases for the Polish Lancers, the rocket troop and the two RHA guns. I have a backlog of basing to do on the 40mm figures painted since returning from Spain in late December. For the 40mm's I double up the 2mm MDF to 4mm, this allows for easy handling of these very weighty bases. What I now need to do is to match the shade of light earth that have used throughout the collection so Ill mix up enough to finish all of these bases. I use a filler/PVA/paint mix which I find keeps well for a couple of weeks if kept sealed in a tupperware container so need to do them all at once.

You can see that I decided on the final composition of the rocket base below with everything glued in position. The scratch built ladder was too wide for scale so I dismantled it and reduced the rung size and the support legs, I feel it now looks more in scale. I used the wheels and axle set from the Warlord metal bombardment set, plus the bucket and fuse box, discarding the frame itself as too obviously underscale. Essentially £15 for a set of wheels and a bucket! But the wheels make a big difference to the overall look and scale up pretty well. After a year or more in the planning I'm pleased with it. 

I continue to ponder the possibility of commissioning some 40mm Portuguese line infantry. I think that Ian (Smith) and I have learned some valuable lessons from our RHA project, and he has now produced a wonderful set of 40mm sailors for his 'Hornblower' project, digitally rendered, 3D resin mastered and put into moulds for metal castings. Ian's observations about the process of producing masters in resin for metal production are interesting, there is no doubt that some fine detail is lost in the process, and that the 3D renders require some details to be slightly exaggerated - buttons, fingers, fine lace, facial features, hair, swords - in order to produce a 3D resin master for metal production. That said the end result of the sailors is pretty damn good to my eyes and I am perfectly happy to use resin prints for my RHA gun crews. It's a learning process anyway.



The two officers below are the converted poses from the pointing officer file above. I do like this pose. Digital conversions means no chopping, filing or soldering, and at 20 Euros per file from the original 75 Euro 3D render represents good value for something unique.


Cacadores by Fightin' 40's were painted back in January (I think).


The Sash & Sabre Royal Marines are among my favourite 40mm units.






6 comments:

  1. Lovely figures and very interesting to follow your learning curve on 3D renders and production. I would have thought the whole process would have been a lot more expensive, it strikes me that many of us could have a go at commissioning a small vanity piece or small range.
    The doubling up of base thickness is a great idea, with the accuracy of laser pre-cuts it is a one shot solution.

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    1. Hi Norm. I consider Dan to be an excellent military 3D designer, I have no idea how the uniform details are imported onto the basic figure but really can't fault him. Being picky the pelisse cord fastening should have been under the right arm not around the neck, but such a small detail and both Ian and I missed it anyway. I think with slightly exaggerated fine detail the resin print would be improved. Been a great learning curve and as you say at the price for a bespoke figure well worth giving it a shot.

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  2. I think the rocket kit looks just perfect now, a fantastic and unique set.

    Great when you discovers a box set you haven't seen before, Line of Duty is excellent. Strangely we've only just discovered Game of Thrones and I'm completely hooked although it's giving me bad dreams!

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    1. Thanks Ian, the rocket base looks even better now its textured, I'm happy with it.

      Line of Duty - we are hooked! Only saw the last series previously so starting from series 1 has been good. Not seen Game of Thrones but seems everyone is talking about it.

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  3. It's always a pleasure to gaze at your completed (or in-progress) figures and read about what you're up to. TV bingeing and time on the sofa sound like just the thing. Hope you're feeling up to snuff again soon.

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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    1. Many thanks for your kind words Stokes. Feeling much better now but still a little tired and my wife has a nasty cough.

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