Thursday, December 11, 2014

3mm Military Cargo Trucks WIP

Having already produced a fair amount of 3mm sci-fi (at current count, 2 tracked, 3 anti-grav, 2 GEV, 1 wheeled, and 1 mechanized factions, plus various air support elements), I figured it was time to give them all something to fight over.  Below are the first attempts at a number of 3mm sci-fi military cargo trucks.  I made the basic body for each and then mated it to wheels, tracks, GEV hoverskirts, and anti-gravity repulsor lifts.  I think they turned out fairly decently, and now I need to decide which I'll go on to make printable and upload to Shapeways.  I'm thinking I'll probably do three or four different packs grouped by mobility types -- a pack of wheeled and half-tracked, a pack of GEV, and a pack of anti-grav.

I'll probably be making a few smaller vehicles for use as field ambulances and whatnot, too.  I'm not sure what else to include, besides maybe a wrecker or recovery vehicle.

So, without further ado...

Body style 1, with bows and canvas bed cover:


Body style 1, with open bed:



Body style 1, with fuel pods:


Body style 2 (armored transport), with CONEX-style shipping container:



Body style 2, with rigid sci-fi-looking container body:



Body style 2, with smooth-sided body:


Body style 3 (haven't yet made GEV skirts or a grav version for this one):

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

15mm Sci-Fi Antitank Gun WIP

Giving in once again to my GADD (Gamer's ADD) disorder, I spent a few hours this weekend making up a sci-fi homage to the vaunted German 88mm AA/AT gun (known variously as Flak 41, Pak 18, or "Oh, crap!  It's a --").  I've always loved the predatory look of the 88, especially when mounted on the cruciform mount rather than a wheeled carriage.  To that end, here is a sci-fi version with choice of six different barrels.  I don't know what each of them shoots, but I'm sure it's some combination of particles, kinetics, plasmas, rayses, and quantums.

Components overview:


As you can see above, the parts list consists of the six barrels, the fire-direction radar dish, the main body, the ground mount, and three outrigger legs.  I thought about making the frag shield a separate piece;  might still do that, depending on feedback.


Here is Barrel A:



Here you can see the gunner's control terminal:



Barrel B, because nothing screams "sci-fi" like a ribbed gun tube:




Barrel C;  this is one of my favorites, and was heavily inspired by the deck guns seen during the final attack on the first Death Star:


Barrel D;  meant to be a plasma-gun-looking-thing, I think it turned out to be less than stellar.  For some reason, it just doesn't seem to feel right.




Barrel E:




Barrel F;  another favorite of mine, with its large, Barrett M82-inspired muzzle brake:





I'm still pondering what other barrels or accessories I might whip up for this thing.  Maybe some kind of microwave weapon or something.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

6mm DeathBot WIP: Aeonic Orb

By popular request over on the TacComms forum, I put together a rough sketch of an Aeonic Orb to go with my other DeathBot offerings.  This is still very much at the chrysalis stage, so be gentle!






Update:  Here are two more variants that I put together last night.




Here are the four different styles of outriggers:




Monday, November 17, 2014

An Experiment in Open-Licensing: 15mm Sculptor's Packs

A while back, I got a wild hare (wild hair?) and decided to design a bunch of 15mm sci-fi small arms (a few dozen, to be precise).  I shopped them around to a couple possible producers with hopes that someone would cast them in metal for general consumption, but nothing panned out.  Since kitbashing with 15mm weapons is somewhat tricky given the scale, and a single pack of a dozen weapons on Shapeways can cost as much as a few packs of ready-made minis, I've decided to try something a little different.


Um... no.  Sorry, John;  I said something a little different.  Sheesh.  

So here's the value proposition.  I'm putting those weapons up on Shapeways in packs of 12, and adding an unholy markup (okay, $20, which is unholy compared to my usual markup of a buck or two on any given product).  In return, anyone who buys them has my express permission to use them when creating their own masters for casting, even if they intend to sell the minis as part of a retail operation.  Think of it as "open-licensing" meets "3D printing" meets "thinly disguised ploy to make money".

This doesn't mean I'm okay with someone simply printing, molding, and casting sprues full of my weapons for resale.  I'm not okay with that.  Neither can I stop it, though, so I'm going to depend on the good character and honesty of those few folks out there who might decide to buy these packs to do the right thing:  use them only for equipping or decorating their own minis.

In short, someone who buys any of my "Sculptor's Packs" may:
  • Use them to equip their infantry greens
  • Decorate vehicles, terrain pieces, or scenics (such as an arms rack or space-corridor tiles)
  • Decorate bases, either as standalone one-offs or for molding and casting
  • Decorate piles of rubble or scatter
  • Profit!

Is there a risk to this?  Of course.  Someone could conceivably take my product and duplicate it en masse until the cows come home (although what use cows would have for 15mm sci-fi weapons escapes me;  maybe I could ask Dana Lyons).  On the other hand, I'm doing this for fun, not profit, and I would just be excited to see my little guns in the hands of cool new infantry hitting the market.  The $20 markup will go towards my New Laptop Fund, so it's a win-win, I hope. 

Here are some of the weapons that are going up onto my Shapeways store under the heading of "Sculptor's Packs":

The M-71 Powergun:

The G-66:

The AK-X, which includes 8 rifles and 4 rifle/grenade launcher combos: 

The A-7 Bullpup:

The CZ-91 Sub-Machine Gun:


The Mk. 5 Light Infantry Laser: 

The H-31 Energy Rifle:


The M6A, which includes six rifles and two each of rifle/grenade launchers, rifles with affixed bayonets, and scoped rifles:

The Heavy Anti-Materiel Rifle (HAMR):

The IRG-90 Infantry Railgun:

The XM2 Flamer Unit:

So that's it for starters.  I'll probably be adding a few packs here and there as time goes on.  I may even try my hand at making 15mm helmets and body armor, but that's a stretch for my humble skills, I'm afraid.