Dead Sexy, Zombie Pin-up Girl.

New green of Dead Sexy. This is not only one of my favorite minis for Zombie Plague but one of my favorite minis EVER.

Mud & Gutz Bases for Zombie Plague

Just a quick post to show the new terrain bases for Zombie Plague. These will be sent out as part of the stretch goals from the ZP Kickstarter and will then be made available for general release. They will be cast in resin.

Trash Bash 2013 Final Results

It is with great pleasure that I announce the winners in this year's Trash Bash! As always the level of creativity and craft is astounding and every entry has some inspiration that can be taken from it. Thanks to all of the entrants, the judges (who helped me to make some very difficult decisions), and our generous sponsors. And congratulations to the winners!

First Place: Diego Diz~ ATHT (All Terrain Half Track)

Again the first place prizes go to Spanish modeler Diego Diz. His weird war vehicle gained points by clever use of the mouse and overall cohesion of design and excellent finish. Diego has a great ability to find the right bit for the job and his skill in scale modeling is formidable.

"...It was the one that showed the most innovative use of the parts and the end result is a striking vehicle with a primitive-tech character - nice."

"Very well done. Also nice paint work."

( Check out some more "behind the scenes" pictures here.)

Second Place: Thomas Kelley ~ Nu-Mars Colonial Militia LRPT

This is Thomas's first year participating in Trash Bash and he has made a great showing with this cool piece for 15mm. Besides the excellent finish of his models he's also done a huge amount of modeling to create the vehicle stowage and sensors. Lots of great ideas in this one.

" This model demonstrated a high degree of imagination, forethought, artistic talent, and craftsmanship. The attention to detail was considerable yet not overdone, and this model stands out all the more for it."

"I really like the fact I don't see a computer mouse when I see this vehicle."

Third Place: William Burke ~ Red Star Mining Security: ADNOH Hover Darter 

Trash Bash veteran William Burke delivers another fun entry for this year's contest. Judges liked the overall feel of this model, like something you'd see in a Gerry Anderson show.

"The model has a campy, retro 60s style to it, adding to its overall appeal in the context of the figures and terrain with which it was presented."

 "The little hover is a very pleasing design and I liked this a lot - it's so cute!"

Honorable Mentions:

It was exceedingly difficult to choose only three winners for this contest so I'd like to also recognize the other contestants and their entries. Every single one is inspirational in its use of trash bashing techniques and overall creativity. (The following are listed in no particular order.)

Clark Payne~ SCARAB Defense Pod

Alex Hoover~ Self-Contained Quantum/Underwater/Ionospheric Device (SQUID) 

Adam Smillie ~ General Engineering and National Technologies  G.E.N.T. Deep Strike Walker

James Holloway~ Scrapdevil

Duane Gilbert~ The Anuran Prospecting Mech

Trash Bash 2013 Contest Rules.

Trash Bash 2013 Contest Rules:

What is This?

In the spirit of Rick Priestley’s classic grav-attack build, this contest challenges converters, hobbyists, and scratchbuilders to create a model to be used for tabletop wargaming using random bits of stuff and a lot of creativity. Many of the skills of being a strong miniature hobbyist will be needed to do well in this contest, not only construction and painting but also photography, concept creation,miniature painting, and terrain set-up.

What to Enter:

Contestants will construct and paint a vehicle or structure that is primarily used for long range-deep strike purposes. It can be for military, scientific, or civil usage. Unlike the observation vehicles of last contest I'd like to see things made that can go deep into hostile territory for long periods, fight back hard when threatened, and still survive. Although this sounds like a purely military theme I think that there is plenty of room for things like hunting parties, scientific explorers, or caravans.

The required bit is a computer mouse. Any shape or type is valid but merely painting a mouse shaped like a vehicle will not gain you many points. Track balls are valid as well.

Sorry old boys, time to put you out to pasture.

Each entry must contain at least one computer mouse as part of the construction. All other parts can be from any model kits, toys, throw-away plastic items etc or scratchbuilt from other materials. Judges will be looking for clever repurposing of items and skill in making them unrecognizable on the final model.

Other materials such as plasticard, putty, wire, etc are acceptable but fully covered over and sculpted entries will not score well.

Any scale supported by existing miniature ranges is acceptable. This will be necessary for the final picture of your entry unless you wish to sculpt your own troops as well. 

I'll never need more computer than this!

Contest Requirements:

A 200 word or less description of your model should be included with each entry. Explain what type of vehicle or building you have constructed, where it is usually found, what its capabilities are, etc. The scale of your model should be given in this description.

A total of five images must be submitted to be eligible for judging:

• 3 pictures of the final painted vehicle or building on a neutral background showing the three views that best show the construction and finishing of the entry.

• 1 picture of the unpainted vehicle or building along with a list of what materials were used in the construction. If you don’t remember what a particular bit is don’t put it on the list.

• 1 picture of the final painted vehicle or building set in a gaming environment along with painted miniatures of the troops associated with it. This will be a showpiece image and a great chance to really sell your concept. Use of terrain and foliage is expected for this final shot.

No retouching or special effects other than basic photo correction will be allowed on submitted images. Any images showing added effects will be disqualified.

Good, clear photography is expected and will be considered in final judgement. Images should be high quality jpegs no larger than 1 MB per image. Each image should be titled as follows: your_name1.jpeg, your_name2.jpeg, etc. And anyone sending me files that are actually titled “your_name.jpg” will be an automatic ninny-hammer. Please include 200 word description and parts list with the same email.

Limit one entry per person. Only entries that have not appeared elsewhere will be accepted. Please wait to post "work in progress" articles until after the winners have been announced.

Our panel of judges will choose a first place, second place, and third place winner. All decisions of the judges are absolutely final.

How to Enter:

Send an email containing images, model description, your name and country to hellbox45@hotmail.com beginning May 1, 2013. Entries will be accepted until June 1, 2013. Winners will be announced on June 5, 2013.

Judges include:

Brian Roe of Roebeast’s Magical House of Sunshine, Gaming legend Rick Priestley, Illustrator and concept artist Des Hanley, Carlos Fernandez of The Game Preserve, Bryan Steele of Ravage Magazine, Jeff Wilhelm of Dragon Forge Design, Jeff Rodman of Fortress Figures, and Diabolical Super Genius of Kitbashing Leland Erickson of Metal Express.

Prizes:

Prizes will be given for First, Second, and Third places. 

We have prize support from Dragon Forge Design, Secret Weapon Miniatures, Cool Mini or Not, Kromlech, Blood and Skulls Industry, Ars Minima, Micro Art Studio, Metal Express, Forge of Ice, and Tobsen 77. 

Other prizes may be added through the course of the contest. Winners will be responsible for all shipping and handling costs unless otherwise stated by retailer.

This contest is put forth in a spirit of fair play and mutual respect. Any entries that contain offensive material will not be considered for entry. Be cool and creative but don’t build anything you wouldn’t show your mom. Any entry can be refused for any reason especially for not adhering to the basic spirit of fair play.

Please contact Brian Roe at hellbox45@hotmail.com for any further information.

Sponsors:

Thoughts on 3D Printing and Gaming Miniature Production.

From the first time I heard of 3D printing, rapid prototyping, or whatever you want to call it I have had a dubious wonder about it. The first time I heard it mentioned was in the early 1990s when rumor had it that Steve Jackson Games was considering using an early form of the process to create new OGRE miniatures. Since by this time I had become friends with Jeff Wilhelm, one of the best mechanical sculptors in the miniature business, I was unimpressed by this idea. How could anything sculpted in this new format match anything that I'd seen Jeff create from razor thin pieces of sheet styrene? It sounded like the eternally sought for Philosopher's Stone, a magical device that allows absolutely anyone to create whatever object is currently swimming around nebulously in their imagination without the requirement of time and practice. Like I said, I was dubious.

As the technology progressed however, I have had to reconsider my overall opinion about the process. It's obvious that some creators have embraced this new form of sculpting and are doing amazing work with it. Stunning, beautiful work. The problem that I see is not that such work is being created. It's that it seems effortless to those who don't understand the process.

When I first wanted to learn how to sculpt miniatures, I dreamed of working for Citadel Miniatures and cranking out space marines until my fingers fell off. I had all these great ideas! Ideas are important right? Sure! And then I mixed my first batch of green stuff and started prodding it and pushing it with a dental tool that I'd been given by miniature master Steve Lortz ( I think he said it was a +2 dental tool). Then suddenly my dreams of miniature sculpting fame fell away like the waxen wings of Icarus. Sculpting was bloody difficult! There was no quick way to build up a miniature and it seemed glacially slow compared to the speed of my fevered eighteen year old imagination. I kept at it on and off over the years but never really devoted the time to learning to sculpt that I needed to to become truly proficient.

Early sculpting. Although it's embarrassing to look back on these they remind me of how much better I've become through practice. 

If you can afford to have miniatures that you've sculpted cast you'll learn a ton about what works and what doesn't. There is a difference between the original model and the final castings that's important to see.

3D printing gets past a lot of this drudgery by seeming to be instantaneous. Of course it's not and sculpting a great piece in ZBrush can take just as long as sculpting a green from epoxy but perception is the thing here. And unfortunately in the expanding world of digital miniature sculpting perception, or a lack of it, can cause frustration and failure. In photography there is the term "parallax". This is the visual difference that exists between what the lens of the camera sees and what the eye of the photographer sees. In 3D printing there exists a form of parallax caused by the differences between what the 3D program renders and what is actually printed.

Take a look at the digital render of Crissy Hot-rod from my first attempt to create new Zombie Plague miniatures.

Even though the sculpting is not that great at least there seems to be a good amount of detail on the face. This is what it looks like once it was printed and cast in metal.

The detail pretty much disappears. And although the detail has been softened the strata caused by the printing process is still visible. The loss of detail is not because the casting process can't hold onto detail but it's because of the visual difference between what the rendering program shows and the reality of the actual digital information.

This is effectively explained by Jeff Rodman of Fortress Figures. Jeff has been working with 3D printed miniatures since they became a reality and has seen time and again the problems that can arise from digital parallax. 

"The problem is the traditional sculptor is sculpting in the scale the figure is in so he can adjust in real time so to speak.  The digital sculptor is sculpting much larger than the actual figure will be and has to imagine what it will look like at the ultimate size.  The renders are also a problem.  A render engine will add shadow to accent detail even if the detail is very shallow.  The renders are very deceptive and will not look like the ultimate castings.  

A lot of the problem is the natural inclination to use the default focal shift of the brushes.  Zbrush tries very hard to smooth your deformations into the current mesh.  Problem is, you don't want it smoothed in.  You want it to stand out.  This problem can be mitigated somewhat by using less focal shift on your brush or just making separate sub tools and sharpen the edges.  

This is the typical rivet added by a 3D sculptor:

It is smooth and the edges are blended into the larger mesh.  If it weren't all a shadow color, you could hardly see it. 

 
This is more like what you want if you want it to stand out:

This has hard edges but also notice it is taller and also notice the draft.  

If you need a round top, you still want to add sides:

These rivets will not just disappear in the prints.  

Here is an example of how most belts and bands are added by most 3D sculptors:

Notice the tapered edges just blend into the mesh.  

You want distinct hard defined edges for your objects more like this:

  

Try to leave no ambiguity as to where one object ends and another begins.  Remember that miniatures are by their very nature distorted caricatures of what they are depicting.  If you do them true to scale, heads, hands and weapons are very tiny and much of your detail is just too fine to see let alone cast."

So many of the problems that arise from digital to physical come from the rendering program's attempt to smooth the visual image of the render in a way that is actually detrimental to the final physical form. This problem must by compensated for by the digital sculptor if they hope to have miniatures that look anywhere close to their renders.

As this new form of miniature sculpting evolves it is necessary for beginning creators to understand that they are not using a magical device to create miniatures but are instead bound by even more circumstances that can determine if a project succeeds or fails. Basically before you launch a Kickstarter based on some cool 2D artwork that you want to have rendered in 3D and then printed and physically cast learn the process and know what you're up against. There seems to be an overly optimistic sense of what can be down digitally by people who are not yet aware of it's limitations. And all of the positive thinking in the world won't help you if you can't produce good looking miniatures in a reasonable amount of time. Stay inspired and creative but learn as much as you can before you start asking for other people's time and money.

For another take on some of these same issues check out The Eclectic Artists Resource Page by master eclecticist Kevin Contos:

About Startups, Crowdfunding, and ZBrush: A Gaming Miniature Perspective