I know I repeat myself, but I'm really enthusiastic about my Mighty 8k!
This time, I run a 32 hours 3d printing marathon to obtain the first sample of some incoming releases: the Little Summoner (above) and two Orc characters (the Orc Captain and the Orc Bounty Hunter!).
This attempt went out almost perfectly, except for the Beetle familiar's main body, who failed.
Thanks to the help of a mighty Durginian, Rowena (may Holy Flonzo's blessing be with you!), I figured out the reason: too much suction. I then asked my 3d guardian angel, Atlas3Dss, to empty the original stl. file and create two holes, reducing the vat suction. In the meantime, my brand new assistant, Andrea, decided to jump on my desk and try to remove the supports. Apparently, cats are not extremely efficient in this specific task, and I found two broken parts on the ground: the Captain's mighty sword and the Hunter's rifle. At this point, I guess that my cat is a pacifist!
I then set a new run, this time only 27 hours, and the result was flawless: hooray!
I then started to clean the many parts, starting from the dynamic duo that has the priority on the other guys: I want to open soon the preorders of this new kit (and don't forget about Ofelia!), so I needed to take proper pics of them!
As I mentioned in the previous posts, being able to have in my hands a physical sample of a new release is priceless, and as happened with Ofelia's prototype, this time also I spotted a couple of minor flaws to fix before going with the final production (nothing dramatic, just a couple of parts that are a bit too thin and need more volume).
Same thing for what concern the two Orcs, but I will dedicate a proper post to them in the next days.
This is crucial, it allows me to improve as much as possible the sculpt from many sides: both technical (fixing those issues that may compromise the resin production) and aesthetic (making the sculpt easier to paint/assemble, removing too small details, etc).
The first thing I noticed about this kit was...oh my god, this beetle is gorgeous!
First of all, it's adorably bulky, with its chibi-style proportions!
It's surprisingly big, about 5cm in height from the base to the top of the horn!
I set this sculpture to be minimalistic, and now that I have it in my hands I can confirm that this is the way: I think that there is a good balance between clean surfaces and details, and it will be such fun to paint!
I think that this is the starting point of a future range of Elves, soon after having assembled this guy I thought "damn, I HAVE to make a whole range of Elves and bugs: the clan Mushi!"
Imagine a gang of bug familiars: little chubby scarabs to form a line with spears and bows, fairy guardians of the woods summoned by the sneaky Elves of the clan Mushi!
A towering Hercules beetle, clad in lacquered armor, challenges the intruders to advance and face their fate, while a bulky Stag Beetle uses its arms as cannons, to throw pill-bugs bullets!
I definitely think that I have to find some space in my pipeline for these guys, do you agree with me?!
An unexpected, yet gladly welcomed, side-effect of 3d printing that I noticed recently, is that I'm enjoying a lot more the designing process and the months (years?) that separate the beginning of a project and the final result. Usually, I start to design new kits and only after a couple of years, I'm finally able to get them in my hands, generally when a new project has already begun! I confess that this way, there is a kind of weird sense of "fatigue" between me and my creations: paradoxically when I'm finally able to paint a new kit, the only thing I want is to skip to another subject!
This was mainly due to the long and exhausting pipeline of production and all the stress involved in a KS campaign.
Thanks to my Mighty 8k, on the contrary, I'm finally able to assemble and paint my creations when I'm fresh and still motivated and focused on the current project, way before the endless efforts of creating and delivering a KS campaign!
Soon after I see the complete sculpture, I can print it and paint it: believe me, it's a game-changing factor!
I know that it may sound a bit silly, but this is the reason why I painted only a few kits of mine, despite loving them exactly as my own children (well, not all of them...): ironically, the moment I get them on my desk coincides often with the moment when I'm just overwhelmed by all the time and stress spent on creating them, and I just want to move over!
Said so, luckily this is the past: from now on, I can enjoy my projects in a new way, and I think that it will reflect positively in many different ways.