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From Print Bed to Delta Quadrant: Painting the Voyager Crew

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A little while ago, I posted about my attempts to turn Drakonius’ excellent Star Trek: Voyager models into gaming-scale miniatures using my Bambu Lab A1 Mini. At the time they were still very much inhabitants of the grey plastic universe, but I’m pleased to say that has now changed. The crew of the USS Voyager are finally painted! As I mentioned in the original post, these models weren’t really designed with miniature gaming in mind. The originals are large display pieces, around 18 to 20 centimetres tall, so reducing them all the way down to roughly 28mm/32mm territory was always going to involve a few compromises. Despite that, I was really pleased with the prints. The natural poses survived the reduction particularly well, and there was still enough recognisable detail to make the individual members of the crew immediately identifiable. Of course, printing them was only half the challenge. The next job was getting some paint onto them. Painting FDM miniatures presents its own set o...
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Who Needs a TARDIS When You Have a 3D Printer?

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As my recent posts will attest, I’ve been doing rather a lot of Star Trek 3D printing lately. However, Trek isn’t the only thing that has been keeping my printer busy. While browsing MakerWorld, I came across a creator called JAV-3D, who has produced a huge selection of models based on various Doctor Who characters. Naturally, this immediately caught my attention. I decided to take a gamble and downloaded the files for the Thirteenth Doctor and her "fam" . Although I already had a Thirteenth Doctor miniature, I’d never managed to find suitable miniatures for her companions, so this looked like a good opportunity to finally put the whole team together. There was, of course, a slight problem. Much like the Star Trek models I’ve been experimenting with, these weren’t designed with tabletop gaming in mind. They are primarily display pieces, standing somewhere around 18 to 20 centimetres tall when printed at their intended size. Getting them to fit alongside the rest of my 28mm ...
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Location: Southampton, UK
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There’s Coffee in That Printer: A Voyager Miniatures Project

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Continuing my journey into the world of FDM-printed miniatures, this time I've turned my attention to the bridge crew of Star Trek: Voyager , using the excellent models created by Drakonius and available on MakerWorld. Whenever officially licensed Star Trek miniatures are released, the focus almost invariably falls on The Original Series or The Next Generation. While those shows are undoubtedly popular, it often leaves the rest of the franchise somewhat overlooked. Even within the unofficial miniature community, characters from Voyager have traditionally been less common, perhaps due to concerns about attracting unwanted attention from Paramount's legal department. The original Drakonius models were designed primarily as display pieces, standing approximately 18 to 20 centimetres tall. As a result, they required significant downscaling to bring them into line with the miniature collections I already own. As with many of my previous projects, scaling presented an interesting ...
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Location: Southampton, UK
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Boldly Printing Where My A1 Mini Hasn't Gone Before!

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As several recent blog entries will testify, I've been spending quite a bit of time learning the art of printing miniatures on my Bambu Lab A1 Mini. Up until now, most of my experiments have involved models sourced from MakerWorld, which makes sense given that many of those designs have been specifically created, tested, and optimised for Bambu FDM printers. While that has been an excellent way to learn the basics, it only answers part of the question. The real challenge, and the next step in my 3D-printing education, is whether a standard FDM printer can successfully handle commercial STL files that were originally designed with resin printing in mind. Resin printers are, after all, the preferred choice for miniature enthusiasts. Their ability to reproduce incredibly fine details, sharp edges, and delicate features makes them ideal for character models. FDM printers have traditionally struggled in this area, particularly when it comes to faces, weapons, thin limbs, and other small...
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Location: Southampton, UK
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Star Trek at 60 and Printing the Final Frontier

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Today, September 8th, marks the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast of Star Trek . It therefore seemed only fitting that today's blog entry should be Star Trek themed. Ever since I bought my 3D printer, one of my hobby goals has been to crack the challenge of printing decent gaming miniatures using an FDM printer. While resin printers are generally considered the gold standard for miniature production, I've been determined to see just how far an FDM printer can be pushed with the right settings, profiles, and a healthy dose of patience. Fortunately, the Bambu Lab community is incredibly active, with users sharing a huge range of files and designs through MakerWorld. One creator I've been particularly impressed with is Drakonius , who has produced a growing collection of models based on the bridge crews of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager . The original models are designed primarily as display pieces and stand around 18 to 20 centimetres tall. That...
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Location: Southampton, UK
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The Great Hobby Detour: Learning to Print Miniatures on an A1 Mini

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Wow, it's been over a month since my last blog entry! There are quite a few reasons for that. The UK summer holidays inevitably led to less gaming, with people away at different times and everyone juggling family commitments, holidays, and other real-life distractions. On top of that, we're currently having some work done around the house, which means most of my gaming collection has been packed away and safely stored until the dust settles and normal service can resume. Oddly enough, I've found the break quite refreshing. The enforced pause has turned into something of a digital detox. I've spent less time doom-scrolling through hobby websites and forums and, perhaps most surprisingly, I've even stopped regularly checking Lead Adventure Forum. After years of making it part of my daily routine, it has been nice to step away for a while and focus on other things. One hobby-related item that hasn't been packed away is my 3D printer. In fact, what started as a use...
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Location: Southampton, UK
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A Whole Lot of Printing Going On!

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August has traditionally been the peak holiday month in the UK. With schools breaking up in late July and not returning until early September, much of the country takes the opportunity to head off in search of a change of scenery and a well-earned break. Unsurprisingly, that annual migration tends to result in a noticeable lull in gaming activity, with fewer opportunities to get regular games to the table. The quieter gaming calendar does, however, create time for other hobby pursuits. The seemingly endless run of heatwaves we've experienced this summer hasn't exactly been ideal for painting miniatures. While the hot, dry weather has been perfect for undercoating and varnishing, sitting down for extended painting sessions has been far less enjoyable. Instead, I've found myself investing more time in my newest hobby: 3D printing. It feels as though I've owned my 3D printer for much longer than I actually have, but in reality it's only been a couple of months. My Bamb...
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Location: Southampton, UK
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