Something A Bit Different To What I Usually Paint, But I Saw This Model And I Just Really Wanted To Paint

Something a bit different to what I usually paint, but I saw this model and I just really wanted to paint it! Its just such a neat little model, especially that spherical cockpit.

The model is printed in resin on my Mars 2 Pro, and the stand was done on my Prusa in a copper silk filament. I love that copper silk for decorative things, it just looks so good.

It is a bit messy in some points, mostly because painting the cockpit wrecked me, it wasn't until I actually started painting it until I realised how fiddly it was to do. My metallic covers way better than my yellow does, so every little mistake took quite a few careful coats to fix.

That said, I really like how it turned out all the same! Most of my messy points fade away once its a on a shelf rather than right up in my face at painting distance.

The model is Red Stinger by Heriberto Valle Martínez.

I painted this wyvern like two weeks ago, but my brain didn't let me take pictures of it until today for some reason ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Which is weird, because I'm pretty happy with how it turned out in the end. Painting a well detailed sculpt like this is a lot of fun, because I can mostly just dry brush all those scales to get a really nice result. Of course, knowing that made me decide to paint this up as a 'quick' project on a sunday night. Which it was, until I realised I also had to paint all those spines. With my bone white that doesn't cover very well. Yeeeaaah, I didn't get this done in one night.

Anyway, despite my questionable project timing decisions, this is done now and I have a sweet wyvern for my collection!

This print is Wyvern by Lord Of The Print.

I got asked about how I did my resin sharks, and I've had an octopus sitting on my shelf for ages waiting for the same resin treatment, so I figured I'd kill to birds with one stone, and take some pictures explaining the process!

Here I've got the octopus I'll be casting in resin, and a thick cylinder with the same diamater to the base we're using.

I 3d print my bases, so getting this cylinder was simple for me. I just 3d printed a thicker version of the base and called it good. If you're using a store bought base, you can probably just stack a few of them on top of one another and tape them together to make a cylinder. You only need about 2-3cm of thickness.

I've also put just a teeny bit of blutack on the cyilnder, to keep the base from shifting around while I do the next step.

Step 1:

Put the cylinder on the base, and tape them together like so. Make sure that the tape forms a tight seal around the top of the base. This is to stop any leaking resin from getting between the base and the cylinder and sticking them together. If enough gets in there and sets, they won't be coming apart.

(Also, be sure that any basing material or bits of the mini don't extend out over the side of the base, that will also cause problems with making a tight seal).

Step 2:

Now we're going to need a laminating pouch. I use A3 sized pouches, but for something this size you could get away with A4 easily enough. You should be able to find packs these from any office supply store for fairly cheap.

Cut the pouch were it joins together, so you have two sheets of plastic.

There should be a glossy and matte side, take note of which is which. The glossy side needs to end up on the inside of the dam we're making, so that the resin turns out smooth and see through. Be careful while handling these sheets, as any creases or dents will show up in the final product.

Determine how deep you want your resin to be, and mark that depth on the sheet. Don't forget to factor in the depth of the cylinder attatched to the base of the mini for this.

Here, I want this octopus to be the same size as my sharks, so I'm using one as a reference.

Make a quick mark at the height you want (on the non-glossy side of the laminating pouch), then cut the sheet about 1-2 centimetres higher than that. It doesn't have to be particularly neat.

This is the sort of thing we're going for.

(Apologies for the background, its kinda hard to get a good picture of something transparent :p ).

Note that we've got a neat, straight edge along the bottom, unlike the top where it was cut. So long as you have one edge that is neat and straight, you're all good to continue.

Step 3:

Take a small strip of tape, and attatch it to the matte side of the sheet. Then take the base and cylinder, and line the bottom of the base up along the long, straight edge of the sheet.

Carefully roll the base onto the tape, so that the bottom of the cylinder and sheet are flush with one another.

Be careful where you do this on the base, as there will be a small seam in the resin along the edge of the sheet going up from here. I've put mine at the back of my octopus, so it doesn't get in the way of looking at it front-on.

Step 4:

The sheet is long enough to wrap around the base with quite a bit of overlap, which we don't want. So before continuing, quickly wrap the sheet around the base, and find where it will overlap. Cut the sheet so there is only about a centimetre of overlap when it is wrapped around the base.

Then carefully wrap the sheet around the base, keeping the edge of the sheet flush with the bottom of the base. Make sure the sheet is wrapped firmly around the base, and is forming a straight tube, not a funnel. Use a small strip of tape to fix it in place.

Double check now that the glossy side of the laminating sheet is on the interior of this tube. If it isn't, undo all this and start over.

Step 5:

Now take a long strip of tape, and wrap it all the way around the base. Line the top edge of the tape up with the top of the base (not the sand on the base, just the top of the actual base). Keep tension in the tape while you wrap, the goal here is to hold the sheet close to the base, to form a seal that will keep resin in the tube, rather than leaking down the base.

Step 6:

Now put another strip of tape along the outside seam of the sheet. Don't be too woried about getting a really good seal here, the weight of the resin should keep the inner flap of the sheet pressed against the outer one anyway. This is just to stop sheet from moving when resin is poured in, so it stays as a tube, rather than turning into a funnel.

Step 7:

Finally, take a rubber band and wrap it around the base of the mini. Try and line it up with the top of the base (like with the tape from step 5). This just adds a little extra pressure to try and stop resin leaking out.

And thats done! We've now got a cylindrical resin dam ready to pour resin into!

I hope this helps anyone curious about my process for doing this!

I've hit the 10 image limit on this post, so I'll make another one soon showing my resin pours and the finished mini.

Update: post showing the resin pouring process here.

So I got a resin printer this weekend (Elegoo Mars 2 Pro), and the upgrade in quality just has me gobsmacked.

I reprinted Mars, my Elf barbarian in the game I'm playing in at the moment. Which is fortunate because she recently grew Antlers due to the somewhat questionable decision to eat some Fae moss found in a wizards basement.

Here are some comparisons between my new mars, and the original printed in FDM:

It was actually because of the resin I noticed that what I'd originally painted as shorts was actually her leg and the top of her boot.

I used to think I wasn't missing out on too much with just an my FDM printer, aside from having to steer away from some minis with lots of thin details, but even sections where I thought my FDM machine was handling quite well are just so much nicer in the Resin print.

I still think you can get decent table ready minis with just an FDM machine, but my new preference is definitely for Resin minis.

I keep just spending time turning this model around looking closely, because the quality is such an improvement. I'd never manage to get the antlers so crisp and clean with an FDM print. I also don't have to struggle with thin paint wikking away into layer lines, which makes the painting process much easier.

My Mars mini is Sony Jona from Artisan Guild, with some edits made in Blender to turn her from a Sorceress into a Barbarian. My limited Blender skill means I decided she just really likes apples, since I needed to put something round in that hand.

This is the third beholder I've painted.

I might have a problem :T

I just really like them. Maybe its because each gets to be unique and different.

Maybe it's because they're such iconic monsters.

Maybe it's because, unlike regular minis, the eyes aren't tiny little specks that require perfect pinpoint precision to paint.

Anyway, I really like how this one came out. I played around a bit with the airbrush on this one, and tried out doing a little bit of purple undershading in which I think turned out quite well, though it could've been maybe just a touch lighter in retrospect.

I printed the support piece separate from the mini and base, so I could do it in transparent resin and give it a purple stain. My thought is it's meant to be a sort of psionic pillar of anti-gravity or something. (because psionics are purple, as we all know).

I also had a go at making a glow effect on the base around the support, something I've been nervous to experiment with so far. I'm always worried about ruining a paint job I spent hours on, but since this base is a simple and quick paint job it was the perfect bit of low-stakes practice.

This model is Beholder by Lord Of The Print.

BOO! Spooked yah, right? Don't worry, these ghosts aren't real, just miniatures. :P

I mentioned in a previous post that I found I could dye clear resin prints colours with alchohol inks, and these ghosts are actually what I figured that out on!

I did these quite a while back, but then I left them for a few weeks until I made some bases, and then I left them sitting in my light box for a couple more weeks before actually taking these photos, because for some reason I really just didn't want to. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

the transparent ghostly effect is cool, but I also really like the bases I did for them too. This was me trying out adding little extra bits to them, going for a bit of a haunted manor theme. I'm pretty happy with it on the whole, although I think the beer mug and the pot are just a bit too big and attention grabbing. I really want the focus to be on the mini, with the base elements blending in more. I am quite happy with how the kitchen tile bases came out too. I started out trying to freehand sculpt them out of greenstuff, then when I figured out that I am not by any means a compenent enough sculptor to make that work, I quickly designed and printed a little tile impression jig to make clean, straight tiles for me. I made and printed it fast enough that I didn't waste my greenstuff, so thats pretty cool I think.

On the whole, I'm happy to have these translucent spooky ghosts in my collection.

Miniatures in this post are made by:

Townfolks ghost male and Townfolks ghost female by Titan Forge Miniatures.

Ghost by Great Grimoire.

Base in this post are made by:

Gothic Tombstones by Medusa Miniatures.

Table Scatter, Extra Dining Items, Books, Piles & Rows by Darkest Desire.

Candle Holders by Pellinor.