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

Home-made Wine: Hobby Fuel

The COVID-19 pandemic has us all stuck inside. Some people have said this would be a good time to pick up some new skills (even if they did it in an unpleasant manner). To that end, I though I would learn how to make wine in my Instant Pot. I used this recipe to get me started.

First thing you need is yeast. I knew bread yeast was not going to cut it so I got this Red Star wine yeast. I did not realize that all wine yeast is not created equal and this appears to be white wine yeast. That would explain the sour and tart flavors I got at the end. In retrospect, a variety pack like this would have been a smarter purchace.

Before I get too ahead of myself like annoying food blogs do, here is the recipe as I did it with notes on how I would do it differently in the future:

On The Table - Orc Abomination

I have wanted to paint an albino big monster for probably 2 years now but have not seen a technique that I liked or believed. GW has a recipe in their painting app for Pale Flesh (that looks more like parchment than skin) and Varicose Flesh (that looked a little too pink for me. Initially I wanted to try the Pale Flesh variant as I was trying to paint pale... flesh but it called for being shaded with Reikland Fleshshade. At the last moment I decided that is going to look too natural and I wanted something more pink. Varicose Flesh starts with Rakarth Flesh and to be washed with Carroburg Crimson. I was still skeptical but through I could always strip it if it looked stupid.

After washing I did think I looked stupid but pressed on anyway.

The recipe then called for Flayed One Flesh followed by Pallid Wytch Flesh. I did a test patch and didn't hate it so pressed on.

The more I painted the more I liked it. It has good depth, shading and tone. It is also surprisingly hard to mess up. Everything that is not streaky paint looks great. It fades and feathers nice. Even stippling does not look out of place. I aint even done the next stage of highlights.

If I had to do things over, I might go easier on the red shade. This is going to be my go to when I get around to doing my Ork Warboss.

Update:

I finished the Albino-Abomination and it turned out great. Next time I am going to go a little easier on the shading as it is overly dark for me.

I am especially proud of the eyes. I used solid Wazdakka Red for the pupils.

Further Update:

I tried the "pale flesh" recipe on a spare Abomination for Black Plague and it makes me glad I chose the other style. All told it is pretty solid slightly pale caucazoid flesh. It really lacked a variety in tone so I had to use some Carroburg Crimson in the deep parts. It might be good for speed painting lots of bare chests or bare arms, but it is no good for large patches of bare skin or faces.

It comes off pale but not albino. Now I have this pasty, naked mole rat of an Abomination in my box but at least I know now.

Finished - Ossunilur Broadpike (D&D mini)

My regular D&D group of years is on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic but I finished the mini for it. Blogging should be up but it is not. It is hard to stay motivated on lockdown. Despite that, lots has been finished since the last entry. Just have to write about it.

For modeling, I swapped the dagger in the left hand for a hammer from WFB and shaved off some of the Chaos icons. The belt scabbard was empty, presumably with the dagger that was in the left hand, so I replaced it with a cut down hilt from a plastic weapon. I built the base up with some shale flakes and sand.

Painting was pretty standard. Black, gold and silver were painted in my standard "base, wash, touch-up, highlight" style. I did an extra blue wash on the hammer to make it look magical. I washed some of the gold with Agrax Earthshade rather than Gryphonne Sepia to make it look older.

Buckle up for some "let me tell you about my character" below.

I started with the idea of a character whose actions were at odds with his stereotypical racial background. I dismissed the idea of a demi-human passing for human (especially the very trite surface-Drow that is done to death) as that would require lots of racial intolerance to be built into the GM's world. Most D&D games function in a race-blind world where gnomes, half-orcs, elves and humans all get along for the most part and are subject to much prejudice. The "go along to get along" mentality is high.

ON The Table - Death Watch Bucket And Visor Installation

Well the dark grey is sanded with 400 grit and triple coated. There are still little drip marks and imperfections but I think only I would notice them. I masked off the areas that are to painted blue in the picture. The babushka is to cut down on tape.

The masking went great and there are only a couple of little errors where the blue paint got under the tape. Again, not noticeable.

The only other major painting left to do on it is the light grey or silver on the cheeks and this bad boy is done. I will likely do some weathering but that is a project for later.

The next step is visor installation. I am working off this guide on the MMCC boards but was not able get precisely the things they listed. I am glad I went to my local hardware store and got help because the things I was going to order would not have worked.

I ended up getting some vinyl spacers and rubber washers to go with the short screws and t-nuts. I have the visor on order, so we'll will see how installation goes.

There is also padding that goes in the helmet that should be here this week. I know that I'll eventually put speakers, a mic and fans in there, but that is for later.



$10 Spray paint: Blue, Dark Grey
$20 Various hardware for mounting visor
$20 Visor
$12 Padding

Total $128

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.