April - Monthly Round Up

Before we get into the usual updates, here's one I'd like everyone to know before continuing.

Patreon Alternative

As I'm sure some already know, recently Patreon has carried out a few activities that I find grossly inappropriate on a moral level. Recently, they "purged" several creators, banning them due to their individual political/social views that they expressed outside of the Patreon platform. Of the cases I'm aware of, none had actually broken the terms of use set down by Patreon, and in one case they had not even posted a single piece of content to Patreon itself.

I don't take an all or nothing view on politics. Issues are complex and often personal, so while I may or may not agree with some or all of the opinions of others, I recognise their right to hold them, voice them, and engage in reasoned, healthy debate. The cutting off of services to those that Patreon deems arbitrarily "inappropriate", doesn't sit right with me.

As a result, I am currently setting up an alternative to Patreon that will be integrated into my own website. There are other options, of course, like Subscribe Star. However, I do not wish to hand over a service fee for what is (like Patreon) simply a paywalled blog with a payment processor attached. It doesn't represent value for money. I will most likely make use of My Mini Factory Tribes when it opens up. But apparently, right now they're only open to small creators (y'know, like Archvillain and such /s). 

Currently, the membership system I'm using is shaping up to be ok. There will be some slight jank in terms of styling mismatches and the like. It should end up with:

• tiered memberships - Should also be a bit cheaper as I won't have to hand over 8% to Patreon for providing dick all.
• Access to a members-only collection where you will get the monthly model for free.
• Automatic discount on products - no more having to retrieve discount codes.
• Automatic gifting of the monthly current monthly model and welcome pack for new sign-ups. I'm looking into a way to make it automatic for subsequent billings but as it stands you will have to manually claim your reward by taking it through the checkout (for free) after the first month of sign up. You will then receive an Itch.io link via email.
• Mailing list - I will make a Members blog, similar to what I do here on Patreon to announce releases, you will be notified by email when a post is made/reward released.

The membership solution does have an API, so I'm sure it'll be possible to make it do other things and streamline things once it's all set up. 

Anyway, enough of that. Let's get on with the rest of the update.

March Content Links - Now Expired

The links for March's content have now expired. Tuya will be available on my website today for anyone who missed her. My Mini Factory emails will be sent out over the next couple of days (depending on how long it takes them to publish the upload).

LINKS TO DECEMBER/JANUARY CONTENT ARE NOW INVALID - NEW ONES FOR APRIL WILL BE POSTED ON THE 3RD OF APRIL.

Next Models/Next theme - The Inquisitors

So, with the end of polls and with all of the poll options now complete this is going to be interesting. As I mentioned previously, I am planning on doing more overarching "themes" that cover 2 or 3 months of models much as I did with Death's Champions in 2020 (Mortaya, Shryka, Magdalena). The idea behind this is to have 3 models that stand on their own but upon completion of all 3 sculpts an alternative base will be made available so they can be combined into a larger diorama. You won't have to wait 3 months for them, each model will be completed each month, but the final month's release will have the diorama base to bring them all together. With that explained, I'll set out what I have in mind.

The Far West is a plague-ravaged land where the dead refuse to stay dead thanks to the machinations of a crazed alchemist dabbling with forces he thinks he understands. How wrong he was. Aleric the Craven, a once-respected Coven Alchemist, has fallen to madness and corruption. With dreams of curing death, he has subverted the natural cycle and succeeded in bringing about a local apocalypse. He flees across the desert to an ancient cathedral dedicated to the memory of a long-dead god. The Inquisitors follow. Coven sanctioned hunters of those deemed a danger to the Faith and the world at large, Inquisitors are the enforcers of the Coven, carrying out justice with the aid of blessed six-shooting irons, holy blades, and the power of the Divine.

The full diorama will feature two Inquisitors, Jericho and Anya, facing down the monstrous form of Aleric the Craven. To give a feel of the aesthetic I'm aiming for think Weird West meets Gothic Horror. Vampire Hunter D meets The Gunslnger. Inspired heavily by the image below by Artem Demura. (Check out his work, seriously awesome stuff)

Model of the Month: Johnny Silverhand and Rogue

This is my own interpretation of Johnny and Rogue from the Cyberpunk 2020 Tabletop RPG game. Johnny, an ex-soldier turned Rockerboy, is a legend in Night City. Frontman of the band Samurai, anarchist revolutionary, anti-corporate rebel, and infamous terrorist, Johnny has a mixed reputation. However, none can doubt his conviction and iron adherence to his values of freedom and individualism in the face of an ever more controlled and corporate world where the individual is but an easily replaceable cog in the machine. For me, he also represents a warning against letting those beliefs go too far and turn into unfocused and rage-filled violence. Aided by the fixer, Rogue, and many of Night City's famous and elite edgerunners, Johnny led an assault on the Arasaka Corporation tower after staging a concert that turned into a riot outside to distract security. The revolutionaries detonated a mini-nuke inside the tower, bringing about the Time of the Red in Night City. It is rumoured he died in the blast fighting the ruthless cyberpsycho, Adam Smasher. Ultimately, nothing much changed as a result.

The full release of Johnny and Rogue on April 3rd will include:

• 1:10 scale statue diorama of Johnny Silverhand and Rogue with:  
  • 2 head options each - Bald and with hair for both Johnny and Rogue
  • Standard and Topless variants each - Standard and topless options for both Johnny and Rogue
  • Whole and multi-piece base - For those with a smaller print volume (though whole should fit most standard printers)
  • Combined, Multi-part and Pre-supported STLs
• Painting practice texture swatch
• 1:1 Scale Malorian Arms 3516 Pistol
• 1:1 Scale Johnny's Dog Tag
• 1:1 Scale Johnny's Guitar