Nov.18, 2014 | By Alec

If there's one problem with table top miniature gaming, it's that terrain can be a bit dull. Just ask any player of Warhammer, 40k or any similar game system: nothing quite diminishes the thrill of two armies clashing like the same old, generic store-bought houses or rock formations that you have to fight around. Or even worse, pieces of badly painted cardboard or paper!

However, constructing terrain requires different skills than painting miniatures, and before you know it you've made some expensive and time-wasting mistakes. But have you ever thought of 3D printing some terrain? That's exactly what the father and son team behind 18charlie have done.

As you can see on their website, the pair have built a lot of terrain from scratch already. 'Because what the big companies sell are expensive, and what we make ourselves is cooler anyway. We've learned a lot, making things ranging from a bizarre transparent jungle, to a crystal laden field, or from a standard bunker to a menacing tomb.' Though 3D printing is a production technique they seem to hardly use.

Now they've created something you won't quickly find in your local gaming store: futuristic, multipurpose and stackable 'crystals' that could be used in both a 40k and in a fantasy setting. 'We designed these crystals to be very simple to make and easy to manipulate.' And obviously, they're multi-functional. Paint them green and spread them around haphazardly, and you've got the surface of an alien planet. Paint them grey and line them up neatly, and you've got a necromancer's tomb. Cool, or what?

And as they explained, it's very easy to make loads of them using 3D printing. As 3D printing every single piece will take a while (and cost a bit), they instead designed and 3D printed a master mold of the crystals. This was used to cast objects in a common and inexpensive clear casting resin, which is quite easy to manipulate (add some texture!) and paint. However, they have already experimented with plaster as well, which produced some nice results too and left the mold intact.

This 3D printed mold is thus a great way to quickly create a load of cool and diversifiable terrain options to spice up your gaming nights. 'The possibilities are endless with stackable pieces like this.' And just imagine what other terrain features you could make with a regular desktop 3D printer.


Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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SeenseeFan wrote at 4/3/2019 11:22:22 AM:

where did necrons find tiberium?

Bjorni wrote at 11/19/2014 9:41:40 PM:

;) First i Think same. But then i start build terrains and dioramas old classic way, and for me is faster, then first make it in cad, then wait for printing ( error and mistakes happen), clean up model. Brush it. And final paint it with color. With classic way, no limits for build. (bigger...) With 3D printer limits by material( resolution) Printing bed dimension. And of course, cost of tools and material is another story. 3D printer vs knife, minidrill, styrenecutter. ABS, PLA 1kg spool vs 1 piece styrene and scrach what you can find. Maybe in future with cheap SLA printer will be great, but now, for me, classic old fashion skills win.



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