STL’s…. Arrrrggghhh

Tonight I fought the laptop to a standstill. It was being what is technically called an absolute ‘b*stard’! It kept on crashing the software then it wouldn’t find the external hard drive where all of the STL’s are stored. Eventually after much swearing and threatening the use of a hammer then I got it working.

I found that the STL’s were as a block so don’t fit on the plate. This means an annoying amount of work sorting them out into individual miniatures. To be honest they do look huge, so maybe they have got bigger somehow. I will have to measure them to see. I reckon I will get two or three to the plate. Luckily my mate doesn’t want them tomorrow!

After taking this photo the bloody thing then decided to run out of battery. I will fight with it again tomorrow.

I do have this lot to print for myself…

The savage nomads are evidently cannibals as can be seen by their meat store. There are some really nice bits and bobs amongst them. The elves are modular.

Diorama, Paints and Superglue

I decided to get the diorama finished tonight. I went for some blood in the end, I think it looks okay. Not much, but a bit of red to give a bit more to the story.

I also got some paint put onto some more of the 3D printed stuff. I needed the superglue to repair a few miniatures too.

We had a bit of excitement in school today as a pod of Orca came into the bay. We went for a look, but by time we got out they were motoring away…

You can just about see them in the photo…

We took the kids for a walk down to the pier, it was a nice morning for it…

Diorama… Nearly There

Today I managed to get some more of the wolves done. They, like the rhino, need some Matt varnish. I haven’t quite decided on how everything will look in the end. So this is a starter for ten.

So this is where we have got to in the build. Part of me thinks that the wolves are a bit dark for this, but it is how they are in reality. I may have a play around with them and see how I get on.

Next question is blood on the calf or not….? I think not, but maybe I should.

Rhino, Wolves and Blizzards

So after yesterday’s torrential rain and gales, today we had blizzards. Driving snow and more wind. Thankfully it didn’t stay around long. Shetland is known for having four seasons in a day, so two in two days isn’t too bad really.

It is my son’s 10th birthday today, so fish and chips and cake for tea followed by a film of his choice… Home Alone… so whilst watching this I managed to get some work done on the rhino and the wolves…

As you can tell from the photos they are still a bit wet with the darker colours. I dry brushed the sand with a white coat and then added the Contrast paints over the top.

Tomorrow I hope to get these finished and then get them onto the base.

Diorama Update

Well this is taking a while to dry, the ground cover stuff is still cold to the touch so is still not dry (the joys of not living in a centrally heated house). Anyway I shoved some beasties on to see what it looked like and to be honest I am rather pleased with how it is beginning to come together.

I reckon it will look better when I have some colours on both the ground and the animals 🥴.

I did splash some paint around this evening, I got some more on some wolves and started making the cattle less white…

Hopefully I will carry on with this lot tomorrow.

Maids, Goats and the Witch King II

Tonight was another one where I had to force myself to paint anything. I had based up the goats earlier in the day, but really, really had to push myself to pick up the brush, needless to say I didn’t really get that much done overall.

For the first time ever I actually had to stir up a Contrast paint. The Apothecary White was a lump on the bottom of the pot, it took forever to unlump it (or should that be delump). Anyway you can tell the before and after effect in the photo above. The lady in the blue is the before and the lady in green the after.

So the bases on the goats were done today. I kind of think the bright green grass looks a bit out of place, but otherwise I am happy with them.

The strong wind totally knackered the old caravan, popped one of the windows and shoved in the side, ear the door. We have been meaning to take the thing down for about a year and a half so I think next weekend it really must come down (if it doesn’t come down itself that is).

So back to work tomorrow, I am going to have to remember to phone to get a hire car for Tuesday, otherwise my wife won’t be going into work for her meeting. One of ours is getting some work done for its MOT, so we are down to one car. It wouldn’t be so bad, but the nearest bus stop is 2 miles in either direction and we work in opposite directions too.

Goats, Gatling’s and a Hairy Rhino (again)

Today I got my two new rhino off the build plate, I went for a turning one and as I said a a calf that is either dead or sleeping… I also located my MDF board and set up and idea of where the miniatures could go (one day I might actually make something).

I also printed off some Gatling gun thingies for one of the lads at the club, unfortunately the barrel of one went weird and I lost one too…

He just reminded me he only needed the barrels and not the magazines… whoops.

And finally, I slapped some paint on the goats…

Not a lot, but I think that is the first painting this week…

Little Done

Tonight I was a bit pooped so I cleaned up the rhino and calf I printed this morning and then set to work printing off the dead calf and adult that is turning to the right.

Ooh look another wolf!

Having an early night tonight, so will get the print off tomorrow morning, but I will leave you with a conundrum that I received in an email today, it was to do with staff training…

If any staff have expired due to Covid, please reassure them that they can continue in 2021. Now I could be wrong, but I think that I would have to shout really loudly to reassure anyone who had expired.

Wolf Pack

Tonight I remembered to take the wolves off the print plate. They were finished at 23.00 last night and only came of at 19.00 this evening. They don’t seem to have come to any harm though.

So I ended up with five wolves and they are in three different poses…

So this was going to be my rough plan, then Eloth suggested that I used the one turning and this came about…

I think I like the composition of the two adults trying to protect the youngster, however there is a dead, sleeping calf in the set, I might see about getting that printed.

The next thing I will need to do is get some kind of base board sorted to see how big it will need to be to fit things on.

Diorama Ideas

Tonight I started printing a pack of wolves for the diorama idea. I will print off the rhino tomorrow, but basically it is going to have about four or five wolves and a pair of rhino, with one being a calf.

I kind of mocked it up a bit using some bits and pieces I had lying around…

Voila…. finished

It is not going to be a snowy scene, but further into the summer as the calf has been born. I will have them near a water hole and Mum is trying to protect the calf from the wolves….

High quality artistry here!

I have a couple of options for the adult rhino. One is the above one, other option is the first one I ever printed with the head turning, there is also a ‘leaping’ one which I don’t think would work. I want more of a stand off than a charge.

I have mirrored and fiddled with the size of the wolf that looks like it is slinking, this will allow them to circle the pair in the middle.

I will see how I get on with this idea as I have bucket loads to paint and make, but I do like building terrain so it might just be fun.

I managed to finish the rhino tonight and had a fiddle with a Wolf’s colouring…