Waffling on Miniatures 2

Hi there! 

Welcome to another installment of the Miniatures Waffle Series: where we take a break from critical thinking and abstract waffling, and waffle instead on miniatures!

After all the emails, I can finally share an update on the tabletop figures front.

To Right: A Naga Monk Forms...

How do you feel about the accuracy of this piece? I'm impressed with the detail and accuracy to the comics depiction. I look forward to revealing the sculptor and where you can get the minis once the project is completed, so stay tuned!

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this piece and on the generic lizard mutant figures as they come (they'll be similar scale, and either pewter or resin...).

Now I've shared the good news first,

 onto the less good news:

there are some technical and quality problems with the translucent minis projects I have on the back burner: these are the 'holocronicular dice', the thrown lightstick, irregularly shaped lightsticks and lightwhips, double ended lightstick and jetpack contrails... the 'objective marker' set/customising components set.

The materials thickness and resolution for clear printing is not at a fidelity that you or I might like for our customising efforts... there is also a problem with the glues we can use with these plastics: its not entirely ABS or whatever that spool is, so with the pieces I've got as prototypes, regular glues like araldyte and tarzans' grip are melting the mini and warping the surfaces/making the mini turn brown...

Have you had similar experiences when using 3d Printer printed extruded plastics? Have you had problems when adhesing pieces of clear detail plastic: to other plastics, to other surfaces such as MDF or Acrylic?

I have a feeling these 'plastic problems' will spill over to the vehicle projects...

Hopefully they can be resolved swiftly, I feel they can be worked around or overcome.

Moving to the Chodak minifigs... 

there's 3 variants at this time. I feel its a  dynamic concept, and you could do a lot with the figures.

the internal splines and curves for transparent plastic are too small for most 3D printing at the moment;

we could upscale (not an option)

we could change the profile and shape (not a preferred option)

we can make the components separately, as the cavity in the 'mech suit' does pass the bar... whereas the suit plus an internal translucent mollusc do not. (my preferred option).

we can sacrifice the translucentness of the internal mollusc (I don't want to compromise finish).

Also, the same gluing problem arises, and these things are more brittle than resin (so, extra precautions will need to be taken in shipping).

What do you feel about these? Have your say via comments or emails.

Its full steam ahead otherwise!

So, for the vehicle projects,

it looks like the Dagger and the Dianoga will be up next:

I want the endprice manifold to be around the same as a papercraft version of these figures: I want it to be great detail for dirt cheap, and a solid base that customisers can then tinker with as they like, so we can have more 1/48th scale vehicle options.

You can still send in your suggestions for vehicle and miniature figures concepts or requests here or at bloomilk. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, which might be the case here.

Bear in mind the key selection criteria (must have a 'what the?!' factor, and be something we can't get elsewhere and are unlikely to ever see elsewhere).

A small sketch or series of sketches helps to envisage the concept: maybe you link to existing images, or you make a rough sketch yourself...

I look forward to seeing your suggestions!

And now, to ramble on collecting the Arts!

Time to change topics for a moment, from waffling to other things;
the arts, and in this case, miniature tabletop Fallout gaming. 

I like the arts; I like tabletop games, like Chess. I'm addicted to many variants of Fallout rpg atm, very fun and can be used as scenario tools for people to visualise, if they are paranoid and prefer to not use computers (yes, there are still Y2K people out there... *shudders*)
 I acquire many different mixed media miniatures from all around the world: New Caledonia, Germany/Spain, USA, Russia, China, Argentina, UK and Japan. and Norway, can't forget Norway! It's like a win-win: penfriends, and you get a figure too!
There are so many talented people out there, that have so many skills. For example, some whittle out of wood... some use mixed glues and clay polymers... others a type of papier mache. Some of the rarest figures in my collection are napoleonic mixed media tin soldiers, along with some from circa 1920-1940s germany (they made rare mixed media toy soldiers, with hideous bodies but porcelain heads; they're worth a mint, and my favorite minis). I even have some Ivory minis from long ago: back when whaling and ivory were cool, and thought to keep the populations of animals down. I certainly hope they don't make those today... but as they're heirlooms, I enjoy keeping them.

I prefer 1/48th-1/52scale for most things; its just a nice scale, has a lot of utility and lets you trade across a bigger spectrum. My partner collects ATC's, artists Mixed Media Trading Cards. These things are one of the coolest aspects of secret womens (and increasingly, all kinds of artist) business;
they're made from a huge range of mixed media from jewellery (pressed and embossed metal) through to fabrics and translucent materials. They're cool, and if you're into trading cards, these might just be the best thing!

So here's a new acquisition for my collection;
Below, a naga monk custom made for my fallout campaign that will be set in Harlan Ellisons Middle-East-Asia. He's a statue come to life, turned pirate. The toothpicks will be replaced with maces and axes at a later stage, (and armor and an eyepatch, he's a pirate afterall)... This baddie lurks around Angkor Wat or Wat Arun, Wat Pho or any of the other Wats they're building over there: its all concrete, to replace the wooden ones...

When he's not bumming around the temples, he'll be on his own custom boat, surfing and plundering the high seas. The Fallout probably mutated him, or I'd like to think it was an animatronic statue in a Wat that came to life. I was tempted to have another made with many guns, but don't we see enough of those already?

So, once this figure is done, I'll have to see if other naga monks and pirates can be made to tag along... I'm looking forward to painting this when i receive it.

I'll be sure to keep you posted, and I'll have to give a shout out once this is done,
cheers!

Q's for the Reader:
Do you collect anything? any numismatists out there (coin collectors)? What about stamps, crystals/minerals? Tektites? Skulls... (only a few people I've met have come up to me and said: "hi there! Do you want to see my Human Skull collection?" Cool collectables for sure).
Are you into tabletop gaming or RPGing with people, face to face?
Do you collect ATC's?

What do you think of the Naga Monk? Should the face be a little different?
I feel its reminiscent of one from a Wat I've been to, and if I can find the photo I'll have to put it up.
Should the mace be mid-air posed - like Heroclix action poses they have now (they've really set the bar in terms of all my other 1/48th scale stuff now)? or should the mace be flat on the ground, being dragged behind this roboslug?

I'm also hoping to have some objective markers made, to match a bunch of the stat-cards that are on the forums.

EDIT: PROGRESS!

We can see above, with a WOTC mini for scale (no coins or tapemeasure to hand in the lab).
The maker is making the mini, and they're doing a great job! This space pirate Naga Monk will be up in no time making an appearance at the LGS or at RPG outing. If the arms are right, and the weapons look generically sci-fi, I could probably also use it as a Fallout Mutant for asianic campaigns.
I'm told there could be many generic insect variants etc... and that there might be female versions as well... I'll be sure to keep you updated on the wheres and whens as they unfurl.