2019 Pogre's Miniatures and Models - Printable Scenery Winterdale Water Mill

[Olaf the Stout]

Nice work as always Pogre. I look forward to seeing more.

 

[pogre]

First up is a Kuo Toa Priest by Reaper that I painted up for this week's D&D game.

Next is another Sebecki Crocodile warrior from Gods of Aegyptus.

The next "miniature" is a little unusual - it is the Hellraiser puzzle box. I had a friend 3d print it for me. I have plans for an epic adventure to use it as a prop. It's a fun little piece that comes apart and ha hidden compartment in the middle.

Finally, a piece I made out of Hirst Arts and some green stuff to compliment my Dwarven Forge cavern pieces.

Models completed in 2019: 160

 

[pogre]

First up is my $1000 tree!

An explanation of the $1000 tree: My wife gave me an early Christmas present - a 3D printer. The tree is from a file from printable scenery. It's the first thing I have printed and painted.

Next up is a Glabrezu Reaper Bones figure - it's a big figure and hard to get a decent picture.

Models completed in 2019: 162

 

[Nebulous]

What model is your $1000 printer? Actually, tell me everything. How much is the plastics, how long did it take to build/print, how difficult was it to set up, etc. I kinda want a 3D printer to build terrain and such, I want my games to head more 3 dimensional. But I don't know if it is worth the price.

 

[pogre]

What model is your $1000 printer? Actually, tell me everything. How much is the plastics, how long did it take to build/print, how difficult was it to set up, etc. I kinda want a 3D printer to build terrain and such, I want my games to head more 3 dimensional. But I don't know if it is worth the price.

Sindoh 3DWOX DP200 3D Printer
On sale at Amazon for $839.00.

Positives
===========
I am not looking for a new hobby. I want a printer that is reliable and easy. This printer is both. I was printing very quickly after taking it out of the box. I have printed for several dozen hours on it with no issues. I have a friend who has this printer and has used it for seven months with no printing errors at all. My wife bought it on his recommendation.

The machine is not silent, but is very quiet compared to other filament printers I have heard.

Negatives
===========
It is expensive. You pay a premium for an idiot-proof printer. It is worth it to me - as I said I was not looking to get into the "hobby" of 3D printing. I want a machine that I press a button and a piece of terrain comes out a few hours later.

The plastic is expensive and it is proprietary. You have to use their stuff: Sindoh 3DWOX Refill Filament PLA. It runs $30 per kilogram - roughly 40% more than other filaments available. However, the filament canister has a built in chip that signals when it is near the end. Switching in new reels is a breeze and can even done in the middle of print. The PLA is very solid quality. Again, you pay a premium for an idiot proof system.

I will get around 15 complete trees out of kilogram of PLA.

Like all filament printers it is not a great choice for smaller miniatures, I am very satisfied with my prints and the prints my friend has made using his Sindoh for terrain.

It takes a while to print things. The trunk for that tree took about 4 hours to print. It does have a large print bed that you can set-up to print multiple items. For example my printer is currently printing several tree canopies right now - it is a 23-hour print. Due to the reliability of the printer I have been able to set up big print jobs and basically ignore the printer until they are finished.

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When people see me running games, particularly at conventions and they see all of my terrain - stuff from Dwarven Forge, created from Hirst Arts, Miniature Building Authority, Sculpted foam and card, etc. - they often ask for advice on how to get started and how much. First thing I say is I have been doing this for 35 years and I have no idea how much money I have spent. Second, if I were starting today I would go with a 3d printer - and that was before I owned one.

FINAL THOUGHTS: If you are willing to invest more time and embark on a learning curve you can get into 3D printing far cheaper than I have. A lot of public libraries have 3D printers you can try, Having a friend who was deeply into 3D printing has been an invaluable resource for me.

 

[Nebulous]

Thanks so much. I think I'm kinda lazy and if the printer caused me problems or too much hassle then I would get disinterested, so having one mostly problem free is great. Yeah, that's pretty expensive though. How does it do with say a Medium size miniature, or is best with Large- Huge + ?

 

[Nebulous]

I have a very small amount of 3D terrain so far. But then I think of how much $1000+ could buy me immediately. I mean, without a 3D printer. But it can't buy me custom monsters, and that's something I would love to do.

 

[pogre]

I have a very small amount of 3D terrain so far. But then I think of how much $1000+ could buy me immediately. I mean, without a 3D printer. But it can't buy me custom monsters, and that's something I would love to do.

I would not want to even attempt to do anything but huge monsters. The quality is just not there. It's great for terrain, not so great for monsters. I agree it is expensive.

 

[pogre]

My collection of trees I have printed thus far. There are 10 trees pictured. Combined with my railroad trees I can make a fairly dense forest in a 4' x 4' area. They are sufficient for a smaller wood. Running some experiments with my 3d printer - I'll let you know how they turn out - good or bad.

Models completed in 2019: 171

 

[pogre]

I promised to share some of my experiences - successes and failures - with my 3D printer. I grabbed a free owlbear stl file from The Lost Adventures kickstarter by Manuel Boria. I have been spoiled by the stl files I have used thus far and not used supports. The result was a failed print. I hope you can see it in this photo - the beak did not fully form:

Then I printed it with supports and it turned out pretty decent. I did a speed paint on the figure:

It isn't fantastic and my speed paint is pretty mediocre. However, I did learn if I want to print a larger monster with texture I can use the printer to make a very acceptable tabletop monster.

Models completed in 2019: 172