 |
Two 3D-printed pieces of scatter terrain -- a Sci-Fi truck and an "Arcane Energy Collector"
|
I have to confess that I am not incredibly happy with how these two turned out. Am I so displeased that I will repaint them? Definitely not! Will I use them in my Sci-Fi games? Absolutely. I am just sitting back and Monday morning quarterbacking my choice of colors and decisions on painting up these 3D-printed items from Diabolical Terrain and RRB Minis & More.
 |
Closeup of the models and my attempt to make "glowing" panels with Turquoise & White metallic
|
The
Arcane Energy Collector I picked up as part of my purchases from Rich Brown of
RRB Minis & More at ATC 2024. It comes in two pieces, if I remember correctly, and assembles easily. Mine was printed in a black-colored material, which is actually something I would like to see more of in miniatures terrain and scatter. I know it makes it harder to see the details when you're shopping, but having a "pre-printed" black prime could come in handy if you missed a spot in your priming or if there is a scratch. The black will be less visible and blend in. I did my usual spray acrylic black primer followed by a 50/50 mix of black paint and water over it. I did have to be careful in the second step to make sure the holes in the hexagon platform stayed open and weren't sealed over by paint.
 |
This closeup shows the two-tone Gunmetal Gray & Pewter metallics on the collector's platform
|
I painted the dish or platform part first, beginning with gun metal gray and doing a Pewter highlight only on the top part. I left the underneath the darker metallic color to represent it being in shadow. I decided to go with my dark blue metallic for the main body, with "glowing" Turquoise panels. The Turquoise does not show up that well, one of my disappointments. I even painted a strip of metallic white in the center of the Turquoise, hoping that would aid the "glow." The trim of the piece were my biggest gripe about how this turned out. The 14K Gold Metallic I chose is not "coppery" enough to look industrial, in my opinion. I also don't like how the blue and gold combo turned out. I should have used my Iron Wind Metals Copper metallic paint, which I do think looks more industrial.
 |
No - it is NOT Tesla's next truck! Instead, it is a futuristic take on a truck for my Sci-Fi games
|
I bought the
Sci-Fi truck from Ron Weaver of
Diabolical Terrain at ATC 2024, as well. It's a nice little model - nothing fancy, but definitely futuristic looking. It is called a "Pickup Runabout" from their Lunar Kolony range. It costs just $6 printed in 32mm. I decided to go with Ancient Bronze as its body color, with fixtures and accents in Gunmetal Gray. I was excited that it had so many windows because I wanted to finally trying out my bottle of Full Spectrum color shift paint. From the title, and the sticker on the bottle cap, I assumed it produce a glittery mirror-like surface. What a disappointment! It produced a black surface with a few tiny specks of glitter here and there. It looked terrible. So, I decided to just paint the window black and turn them glossy at the end. Once again, somewhat of a disappointment -- not because of the model, but because of paint choices.
 |
A final look at the Arcane Energy Collector and the Runabout Pickup Sci-Fi scatter pieces
|
The models themselves were nice and inexpensive, so I definitely recommend them to others looking for scatter for their Sci-Fi games. Maybe use my examples as how NOT to paint them...ha, ha! What's up next? Well, I am only working on one scatter terrain piece. It is Miniature Building Authority's "Refugee Car," comically piled high with everything but the kitchen sink. There's a LOT of detail to paint on it, so it will take awhile. I've also begun another group of four apocalypse survivors or modern figures. These will likely be the final things I finish in 2024. Which means I also need to do a retrospective post, too, looking back on the year in modeling and gaming. Look for that, too!
Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024
- Miniatures acquired in 2024: 227
- Miniatures painted in 2024: 254
I think you are being a bit hard on yourself, they both look grand to me and should work well on the table, handy little pieces to have in the collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, Donnie. Okay, maybe I am being a little too critical...
DeleteAgreed, I think they'll both look fine on the tabletop. I think the blue and gold looks appropriately sci-fi-y, as well!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate it, Bill! I guess I was just comparing it to ones I felt turned out better. Not everything can be a masterpiece, I guess...ha, ha!
DeleteI've never found a method of painting glowing energy that I am happy with. The truck looks good and the blue and gold scheme is very sci-fi.
ReplyDeleteCool, I'm glad you think so, Jason. I appreciate it. I've seen some painters do it before, but I think they use "reflections" on the area around the glowing part, too. That's tough to do.
Delete