Friday, 7 May 2021

“Why, It's A Man! A Man Made Out Of Tin!”

“Where do you want to be oiled first?”

This 40mm scale resin print of a Tin Construct is produced by "Rocket Pig Games", but actually 3D printed by “FullyCycled” over on “Etsy”. The model is one of several test prints I recently bought in order to see just how well such figures can currently be manufactured, and for a homemade project pitting the forces of a Clockwork Mage against those of the Natural World.

The figure comes on a pre-printed base, which is arguably the only place where the tell-tale striation signs of a 3D print were visible. This part also wasn’t terrible flat, so I had the option of either removing the mechanical man from its some large boulder-covered stand, or super-gluing it onto a 50mm circular base by “Games Workshop”.

"Before they are unleashed, their helmets are filled with blood..."

Considering just how brittle I found the miniature to be when I inadvertently snipped off the handle to its head, having mistaken it for a support strut, I quickly decided to simply attach it to the base and apply a coat of “Vallejo” Gloss Black over the entire model. I then treated the figure to a layer of “Scale 75” Decayed Metal, a hearty dry-brush of “Scale 75” Thrash Metal, and a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

I next dabbed the Tin Construct’s various joints, its boiler and its damaged axe-head with some "Mig Productions" Extreme Rust Wash, and applied a second dry-brush of “Scale 75” Thrash Metal over the entire ensemble to help blend it all in. As a final touch on the metallic work, I also added some “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade sporadically over the model in an effort to weather it some more, and where appropriate, gave some of these areas an additional dry-brush of “Scale 75” Thrash Metal.

"...And then thrust roughly onto their head."

Lastly, I treated the lumbering construct’s axe-shaft to a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Sienna and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade, and his eyes to a dab of “Vallejo” Dark Vermillion. Ordinarily, I’d usually leave the figure alone at this point to be varnished and flocked. But as the miniature has some splendidly sculpted stones on its base, I decided to ‘embellish’ them a little using some “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and a dash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

With my first ever 3D printed miniature completed, I have also managed to fully pigment another 28mm Uruk-hai Bezerker by "Games Workshop" for my 500-point Isengard force. As memory serves this old metal sculpt was bought at a wargaming show over a decade ago , and was painted along the exact same lines to those used for my previously-painted "Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game" super-strong Orcs.

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