More Fun with 3D Printing

I have the printer up and running well now. I had a few false starts that turned out to be a setup issue. A youTube video set me straight and off I went.

My first prints after the owls were failures. The print head got jammed on a big blob of PLA. Then after fixing the settings, I managed to print out a ship wreck. One slight issue was that the PLA broke part way through the print. That was a bummer. I fixed it rather quickly but it still looks like someone sliced up the ship with a laser at some point. The second attempt was flawless.

The next two prints were a three part Trading Post and a rowboat. Both came out great. The rowboat has a small issue in that the rudder handle did not print. For 15mm it was just too small of a part, I think.

This gives me some prizes for the game on November 11th at Gigabytes.

I have queued up several more items to print today. One is a palisade wall to use for my Romans. I found a nice one on Thingiverse that I am working with. More to come.

Painting Progress

Last week was weak in terms of painting. I managed to paint... rocks. Yep, two 3d printed rock formations that I bought from the fine folks at Sea Dog Studios. Honestly, they look great. Much better than my simple paint job.

To get ready for my Nov 11th Pirates game, I need to paint some more figures. Among them are a few gun crewmen, four oarsmen and two sets of seated troops. I can't get myself in gear to paint. Have been a little preoccupied with a book launch. I won't bore you with the details but if you are interested, check out my other blog.

Also, I am enamoured with my new 3d printer. I am thinking of making a few items for the game. In particular, I am thinking of making a prize for the game. I bought some appropriate model files online. They have an excellent ship wreck that I am going to make. I think that will be the give away.

3D Printing

My first print job came off of the printer and looks great. Went with the default item, a pair of owls.

The printer fits perfectly under my shelves. I am printing part of a palisade wall next.

Santa Clause and Secret Santa & Terrain Stuff

Santa Clause and Secret Santa

It is that time of year again. The Santa Clause emails have all gone out. I hope everyone is busy plotting and planning. I am not sure if I posted anything for my wish list. I can't remember.

I pretty much only game in 15mm at this point. My current interests are east Front WWII, Pirates and Early Imperial Romans.

3D Printing

I just got in my 3d printer. Bought a Anycubic i3 Mega printer. I managed to get it set up and am working on a test print. Rather than go straight for terrain or miniatures from Thingiverse, I decided to go with the test owl print. I think that was a good choice since I have no clue what I am doing. I managed to open Cure - the slicer software and save a scaled palisade wall on it. That will be print number 2. I will try to get some picture of it at some point. Right now, I am happy as it was churning away.

I need to get this set up as I have not only the immense amount of stuff availible on Thingiverse to play with, I have 2 kickstarters I should get soon. One for Normandy terrain and the other for East Front Terrain. Still 4 days to go with this one if you want to jump in. So far it looks to be an excellent value.

Terrain Ideas

Took the family on a trip to North Georgia today to go apple picking. On the way we passed New Echota, the brief Capitol of the Cherokee Nation from 1821 to 1838. They had a sample farmstead that would work as a frontier farm in the south from the FIW to the ACW. I will post some pictures later.

Painting Progress

It has been a slow week. I managed to get three seated Spanish militia done and a chicken coop. The chickens are not painted that well but they will do. They are too small for me to see enough details on them to paint them any better. The picture of the seated militia is just horrible. But at arms distance, they look pretty good.

Anyway, I am left with just a few more figures to paint for my Pirate game on Nov 11th. I need to get at least two more gun crew done. Also, I'd like to get at least one more set of rowers done. That should be doable.

As for terrain, I have a smoke house on the table now. Also some dog houses and a rabbit hutch. After those, I have a small barn and a corn crib to work on. That should liven up the table a bit. Most of that will be used for either the ACW or Eastern Front.

3d Printers

I have taken the plunge on two different kickstarters for 3d printer files. My issue is that I do not have a 3d printer. So, in order to print 15mm or 1/100 scale terrain, what is the printer to get? I am looking for something budget friendly. I would appreciate any suggestions.

What kickstarters? Well these two: Russian Terrain and Normandy Terrain.

They seem like really nice models. I am looking forward to these but I need a printer. Someone recommended a Wanhao Duplicator i3 Printer. That is $329.99 from Amazon. Any other suggestions?

Annual Birthday Sale

Well another year has passed and I feel much older. So to celebrate, I am doing a sale on my availible books. Everything is half off through the month of October. In the Name of Roma is on sale now for $5.50.

The Coming Thunder is on sale now for $5.00.

The Falcon and the Gladiator is on sale now for $5.00.

Air War in the Western Desert June 41 to Nov 42 is on sale now for $1.00.

Action At Ustilug is on sale now for $1.00.

Campaign for Kharkov - October 1941 is on sale now for $3.00.

Or, if you want all of them (plus some bonus scenarios that I will throw in), they can be yours for only $20.00.

In addition, you post about the sale on your blog or on a wargaming forum and send me the link, you can take another $1 off of your total order. Just email me the link with your order.

To take advantage of this offer, please Paypal me directly at cstoesen@corecard.com. Do not use the direct purchase buttons as they are still at full price. I'm too lazy/challenged to update them for the month.