A couple of packages arrived today, both furthering my goals to play more samurai games.
First, a resin house, a well, and some accessory odds and ends picked up from Oshiro Model Terrain. I did a lot of thinking and weighing options for Feudal Japanese terrain, and I decided that, at least for smaller buildings, I like the Oshiro Japanese houses best, plus they've got the best line of accessory bits.
The roof comes off the house and it has a plain, though accessible, interior. I'll be adding a base to it, much like I did with the MDF temple kit. The plan, such as it is, is to ultimately add a few more of these houses to my collection over time so I can put a small village, or at least the outskirts of one, on the table.
The other thing that arrived today is a 3D print of Itto Ogami and his son Daigoro, the titular characters of the "Lone Wolf and Cub" franchise. Lone Wolf and Cub ran as a manga series from 1970 to 1976, and has been adapted to television, film and even the stage, the story following Itto, the shogun's official executioner, as he is framed and disgraced, forced to become an assassin with his young son in tow, and ultimately strives for vengeance (consistently described as "The Road to Hell" in the manga) on those who framed him. More recently, Disney's "The Mandalorian" is basically a retread of this with a Star Wars gloss applied.
The print came from a vendor I found on eBay, and came in three pieces - Itto Ogami himself, the baby cart, and little Daigoro. I've had a lot of disappointment from 3D prints this year to the point where I'd basically written off the entire medium, but I took a chance on this and was really pleasantly surprised. It's a really nice, crisp print, it was delivered to me almost totally free of any supports or excess bits of material, and without any odor. This last one's been a big deal for me! Almost every other 3D printed figure I've gotten this year has been inproperly cured, resulting in a powerful resin stink and in some cases the figure still being sticky.
Scale-wise, it's about on par with my Bad Squiddo samurai for size, and a little smaller than my Clan Wars figures. Once painted and on the table I don't think it'll be too noticeable.
The resin house has already been accounted for in my tracker, but I'll add the Lone Wolf and Cub, counting them and the baby carriage as three figures.
Miniatures Acquired: 207
Miniatures Painted: 210
Terrain Acquired: 3
Terrain Painted: 9
Scatter Acquired: 8
Scatter Painted: 12
Can't wait to see the terrain printed up. I was interested read about your thoughts regarding 3D prints. I have purchased a lot, but did pick up some tanks last year. They seemed as if they were continuing to melt, certainly sticky and that odour was definitely there. I contacted the seller to enquire about the process and they were extremely apologetic, explaining that due diligence hadn't been done when it came to washing etc and immediately packed up some more for me.
ReplyDeleteLucky you! I had a seller tell me "put them out in the sun, that'll fix it." I've never had anybody offer me replacements, and this is across probably 5-6 sellers. Even sellers I'd previously had good luck with suddenly turned shoddy this year.
DeleteThat certainly sounds like a worrying trend. I have to confess that the initial response to my polite enquiry was also, 'pop in the sun', to which I said I was happy to oblige, but when I asked if I would then need to seek medical advice for the potential toxic chemicals that were on my hands their approach became very much more caring. 🤣
DeleteMy worry for 3-D prints isn't the exploding, tackiness, or odor. It is the fragility. They are simply too easy to break, IMO. It will be the rare miniature that I purchase in 3-D. Now, for buildings, it is the polar opposite. I have signed off of MDF and wholly embraced 3-D printed buildings and other scatter terrain.
ReplyDeleteI definitely like 3D printed buildings - see how often the doughnut shop and TeeVeeShak show up on my modern tables! - but I couldn't find Japanese building STLs that I liked the look of. My 3D printing guy has been out of commission for a bit so I'm waiting on some furniture and such from him. He prints anything I want for free, so I can't complain!
DeleteI actually really like the smell of lasercut MDF though, and for me there's a real relaxation factor in prepping kits for painting. Gina just ordered a couple for me last night that are going to be combined to make a post office that I've been planning for a while.