I manage to finish painting up the two Type 92 Tankettes I received from Nate. These models are 28mm scale and were designed by Nate via on the computer and then 3D printed. I must say that they were a joy to paint and I'm a big believer that this technology will have a big impact on our hobby.
A close up of one tank - you can see the layering effect caused by the printing process on flat surfaces, such as the turret side. It's invisible anywhere there is detail - the engine grill vent in the back. I think the effect looks great. I'm not sure what material Nate used (there are lots of options) but it holds up well. The only issue is the long heavy machine gun barrel droops a bit but that can be easily fixed with a bit of thin brass rod.
The second tank looks that same but I needed to replace the medium machine gun in the turret with some brass rod. Remember these are just Tankettes (a little more than two inches long) so there very small. The tanks are perfectly scaled in 28mm but have roughly the same physical size as a 15mm Sherman tank.
The brittleness of the material is about the same as a resin model.
Overall, I'm am very happy with how they came out. You can follow more 3D printing adventures over on the WWPD forum
here.
I agree that 3D printing is changing the hobby. I am seeing it with my naval miniatures.
ReplyDeleteSuperb work. The 3D printing thing is really incredible.
ReplyDeleteWow - besides your usual brushwork, I am very impressed with the 3D models. I can't really make out the laying effect on the turret in the photo. I'm assuming at arms length on the game table, the trait would be minimal. Nice. Dean
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice comments
ReplyDeleteAs for as the striation, you really have to be up close to see them (inches away) and they don't look bad at all.
The ability to have custom made mini's is really intriguing