The Wargaming World of Nozza

As recent blog posts will attest, I've spent a lot of my hobby time experimenting with FDM-printed miniatures using standard PLA filament. Most of my projects so far have involved resizing models from MakerWorld, but that raised an interesting question: how well would my printer handle figures originally designed for resin printing? Anyone researching FDM miniatures will quickly discover a hobby full of conflicting advice. Settings that produce excellent results for one person can fail completely for another. While FDM still can't quite match the ultra-fine detail of a good resin printer, the gap is far smaller than many people realise. For me, the lower costs, simpler workflow and lack of resin-related mess more than make up for the compromise. After plenty of trial and error, I invested in the Fat Dragon Games miniature printing profiles for my Bambu Lab A1 Mini. Combined with a low-temperature build plate, they transformed the experience, providing a solid foundation from wh...

The good news is that the work on the house is finally complete, which means my paints, brushes and other hobby supplies have emerged from their boxes. Normal service has resumed, and the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew have finally made it onto the painting table. One thing I've discovered is that painting makes a considerable difference to FDM miniatures. When they're bare PLA, it's very easy to concentrate on layer lines and printing imperfections. Once painted in the familiar Starfleet red, gold and blue, your eye starts seeing the characters rather than the printing process and at normal tabletop distances, I'm really pleased with how they look. Crusher & Picard I also still love the natural poses of these figures. They actually look like the crew of the Enterprise rather than an away team where everyone has drawn a phaser. Worf even manages to appear without the obligatory bat'leth! Troi & Riker Geordi La Forge presented one of the biggest challen...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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...