Does or can mini painting discussion go in here?

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thedungeondelver

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It spreads out broadly across many hobbies: TT Wargaming, TTRPGs, and unto itself as a hobby, agnostic of any actual game.
 
Please ask away if you want... I been painting miniatures for a variety of themes over the past 30+ years or so. Hopefully, we will be able to discuss the topic of terrain creations via Hirst Art Molds and other methods as well...
 
I've seen some folks doing interesting things with 3d printing for dungeon terrain, as well.
 
I've seen some folks doing interesting things with 3d printing for dungeon terrain, as well.
I looked into 3d printers for quite some time now (actually 5 years) however the cost of the printer that I need for the games I host and future games is going to cost in excess of over 50,000.00 and that is still considered low end. LOL I find it faster to simply make my own via Hirst Art molds and that satisfies both my mold itch, terrain painting itch, and my gaming needs.
 
3d Printers are ... well, you get what you pay for. A $399 Dremel Makerbot is going to crank out coaster-sized plastic doohickeys at a rate of 1-2 a day.

I remember years ago when it was like everyone in the computer biz was releasing these $99 color laser printers. $99 for color laser! You'd have to be nuts not to buy one of those!

Except, predictably, they were all shit and fell to one-to-two star or egg ratings depending on whether you got one off of Amazon or Newegg. There's a reason that color laser printers had a price cliff that went from $2000 to $99. I would wager a $2k model bought back then is still in use, and many, many of the $99 models ended up clogging up e-waste mountain sized landfills in China.

But to the issue at hand: I really appreciate HA molds. As I have said before, I "stood on the precipice" so to speak back in 2000/2001 as to what kind of "dungeon terrain" I wanted. I looked at cardstock - not too many people were doing it. I picked up three sets of it from TSR (a late 2e product) and found punching out and assembling it all to be repetitive and frustrating. Even when some options that you could print came along...well, whatever cost + $40 for toner carts + cardstock + so much print time. No thanks.
Then along came Hirst Arts, or, rather, I discovered Hirst Arts and seriously considered it over Dwarven Forge. The economics seemed right, but where I kind of decided to go the other way was just based on me: I knew, if I went out and spent a ton on a bunch of molds and plaster, that the supplies would sit for years, unused, and I'd be kicking myself. So I gaged the value of my time over how much I wanted to play, and decided that Dwarven Forge was "less costly" (I won't say cheaper! :smile: ) and here I am. But with all that said, I have mad respect for people who do their own stuff! If I knew someone who had a shitton of molds and was local I would pay them to knock out a few pieces for me...

Hirst is cool, Dwarven Forge is cool...it's all good.
 
I invested in Dwarven Forge products for three years and amassed over 1200 lbs of the stuff. Yes, DF is great stuff and it really satisfies a certain itch but I can only use that DF product for 2nd edition AD&D and below for miniature use based on the ruleset which is the complete opposite for later D20 game product where 1" = 5'. The DF product did not comply with the rules for D20 rules so I had to find another substitute and that was Hirst Arts. Well, HA is a drug that I cannot stop. I produce so much terrain that I am practically at wits ends trying to figure out what to do with it when I am done with it. LOL I use hydrostone so the stuff is not light at all. When it came to costs. HA was the key since a 50lb bag of hydrostone can last a good 6 months and it only costs 30.00 a bag. Painting the terrain was no big deal either.

As I stated before, when I looked into the 3d printers, they were so pathetically slow and printing out 1-2 pieces a day was simply not going to work besides I did not feel like acting like a babysitter and checking on the machine every so often to ensure the nozzles were not clogged or any other permanent issues that would make the wall piece not usable.
 
I've heard people express that feeling about scale in Dwarven Forge before; I get it, but for me it's really about the visual appeal. If a mini is a little bigger or a little smaller than it "should be" it's not a huge deal to me. Like, with a 20mm base, you can't put 3 minis abreast in Dwarven Forge hallways. But, I just say "Okay, so you 3 guys are all in the front rank" even if it's just the minis bunched up near the front. So it's all good.
 
I invested in Dwarven Forge products for three years and amassed over 1200 lbs of the stuff. Yes, DF is great stuff and it really satisfies a certain itch but I can only use that DF product for 2nd edition AD&D and below for miniature use based on the ruleset which is the complete opposite for later D20 game product where 1" = 5'. The DF product did not comply with the rules for D20 rules so I had to find another substitute and that was Hirst Arts. Well, HA is a drug that I cannot stop. I produce so much terrain that I am practically at wits ends trying to figure out what to do with it when I am done with it. LOL I use hydrostone so the stuff is not light at all. When it came to costs. HA was the key since a 50lb bag of hydrostone can last a good 6 months and it only costs 30.00 a bag. Painting the terrain was no big deal either.

As I stated before, when I looked into the 3d printers, they were so pathetically slow and printing out 1-2 pieces a day was simply not going to work besides I did not feel like acting like a babysitter and checking on the machine every so often to ensure the nozzles were not clogged or any other permanent issues that would make the wall piece not usable.
Do you make your own molds from the hirst stuff? I debated doing that for long hallway or wall/ floor areas but I haven't quite bit the bullet.

I purchased number of molds in 2004-2007 but only played around with in in plaster of Paris. Now along with painting minis it's something I'm looking at getting back into. Probably because with kids solitaire hobbies are easier to pull off.
 
Just got my reward for the "Triumph of Death" Renaissance Skeleton Army Kickstarter, based on woodcuts and manuscript illustrations from the time period. I went all in at $200 for an entire army, and getting a massive box of skeletons was like Christmas. Overall, one of the best KS experiences I ever had - completely according to schedule, very communicative and friendly with backers the whole time, and a fantastic deal.
 
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