Finished - Skyrim Dragon Priest Mask Volsung

 Been a while. Again, am busy despite not blogging about it. Don't play much 40k anymore or paint any. Considering selling off the massive backlog. 

Started brewing and distilling so maybe I'll write about that here too. 

I've also gotten back into making props. Working on my finishing techniques and am getting pretty good. 

I finished this dragon priest mask from Skyrim. It printed in 4 parts and glued up pretty well. After lots of sanding and dremeling, I got rid of most of the layer lines. Learned some cool things too. Noteable is that dremels are speed tools not torque tools. Was running it low and slow but that causes chipping and jumping. Once I turned the speed up, things got smoother. 

I even made a wall mount for it too. Planning
on doing more cool props like this. Up next is a giant Deathclaw skull from Fallout. 

Finished - Krieg Bust

 

I'm into busts lately and other non-playable minis. 

Had fun with this even though it will never see play on a table but that goes for most of my armies too. 

Tried to learn some new things from this but I did pretty much standard for my colors. 

I will say that at larger scales, it makes you think more about light and shade but also gives a wider margin for errors. 

People really seemed to like it. Maybe I'll do more busts in the future if I can find good ones. 

Finished - Void Dragon

This mini cost $90 from GW or you can print it for a few dollars if you have the files and know how. Imma let you guess which one I did. 

No idea the rules for this bad boy. Never seen a Codex with rules for it and know almost nothing about him. I had to print this mini. It was challenging. I used presupported files and that was a mistake. I don't claim to be an expert at supports but I find if I put them on then the tend to be easier to take off. After printing it was pretty tricky to paint and assemble this beast. The mini is basically supported in a web of delicate lightning bolts. 

I painted the mini in the same theme as my Necrons. I kinda phoned in on the skin. With the other C'tan, I tried to give them colored metallic skin but this guy just got some Agrax over Iron Hands Steel and a dry brush of Runefang Steel. The body really isn't what draws the eye. I could have tried some OSL or at least some glowing effects in places but didn't. 

It has been so long sing I painted and posted about a mini that I've forgotten how to do a TMM CV post. The point of it was to document what I had invested in 40k and minis incase of fire or robbery to that they could be replaced. I am unsure how to value printed minis so let's just use retail which is $90 for this bad boy. The paint job was maybe 10 hours and I'd value it at about $70. 

On The Table - Ender 3 Enclosure

 Part of raising the new baby that is a 3d printer is building it a crib. This will reduce cold drafts, give more consistent temperatures, improve buildplate adhesion by reducing curl, massively reduce dust build up, reduce noise. Lots of advantages but the main two are improved printing in ABS and being able to move the electronics outside the enclosure.

I'll get to some of the details in a bit but if I had to do things over again I would have gotten this or ideally this enclosure and not build my own. Then, if I had to build my own, I would have not tried to cut corners and just done the Ikea Lack enclosure that everyone else does. In the end, I am still satisfied with how it came out because, despite the setbacks, I could build it precisely how I wanted to (with a few compromises).

The damage for the materials alone was over $100 which is more than enough to get a premade enclosure or a couple of Lacks.

1x1 for frame $11
Acrylic plastic for windows $56
1/4" plywood for lid, floor and back $20
Adhesive vinyl tile for lid and floor $11
Screws, bits and bobs $15

On The Table - Death Watch Armor: Bucket

Not the Deathwatch you were expecting?

In addition to picking up 3D printing as a hobby, I have also started down the long, long and very expensive road of apply to the Mandalorian Mercenaries Costume Club. I've always wanted to get into costuming and have been interested in the weirdos I see at cons dressed like Boba Fett had a litter with the Power Rangers. I've looked into it before and was put off by the effort and price. Not that I have more time and a little more money, I have devoted myself to it at least part-time.

Thus far, I have introduced myself on the boards and scoured them for information. I have not madea  WIP post because I just don't have that much to say or that much to show off.

This bucket is a Death Watch helmet printed in 14 parts that took about 8-10 hours each. After a week of printing and a few days of burning my eyes with glue fumes, I had the helmet assembled.

Finished - 3D Printed Dice Case

 Well, hello there.

Long time, old friend. It is not that I have not been busy but I have not been blogging in over a year. Lots of things have happened.

I have fallen out of that 40k scene starting in the Summer of 2008. Since moving from Seattle to the boonies, I have met some awesome gamers but for the most part the quality of opponents was pretty poor. I don't think this is a function of my location but rather a comment on 40k in general. Back in 2008 in North Carolina, the few people that played were... frustrating to play against to say the least. I found the amount and quality of players in Seattle better but still really only played against a few people. Even before we left, I found that I played less and less and continued to enjoy the hobby aspects.