While the STL files for November's fighter, the SF-135 Drachen, did release at the end of November, the full official box art and ortho illo release is going to be dropping soon this month (working on that in-between freelance work for Palladium Books). The full release will include a pre-supported mini version of the Drachen fighter, and you can see the first two test prints (along with 3 Stiletto minis as well) in the photo with the "garage kit" size version of the Drachen. I've also includ...
2022-12-11 21:30:32 +0000 UTC
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Post header say it all, I hope everyone's having a Happy Thanksgiving!
Enjoy the holiday weekend!
2022-11-25 01:55:07 +0000 UTC
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This is one of the first few test prints I've run of the new SF-135 Drachen fighter. The fighter has been printing pretty nicely overall but I've been tweaking and adjusting the supports with each subsequent print to weed out some mild shifting and droop. Zero failures (not that I have them occur frequently at this point anyway), it's printing with no issue. It's still the potential candidate for November's official release. I have a painted print underway and will be posting photos of that s...
2022-11-14 01:26:46 +0000 UTC
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A couple of new Sharurä painted prints to share. We have a dark spotted camo red tip paint (quite happy with this one, it's a variation of what the pending Navaja 121% tutorial paint looks like) and a tan aqua marsh camo paint.
Dark spotted camo red tip Sharurä: Tamiya Gray Green (IJN) base coat with AK pigment faded green for the top coat and dark earth for the dark camo. The red wing tip markings is an old can of Testors flat red (happened to have it so I used it)...
2022-10-19 01:46:18 +0000 UTC
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Quick update:
As the header states, I've ordered the replacement LCD for the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono, along with some more resin (Elegoo gray), and some Kapton tape to seal the screen after I install it. It'll likely arrive no later than Saturday but I could see it arriving even sooner. Either way the replacement is on the way. Once it's installed, barring unforeseen issues, I should be back to printing/testing prints, so I can get things back in gear with the 3D end of things. As I noted i...
2022-10-04 01:14:43 +0000 UTC
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So, it appears the LCD might have caused a print to catastrophically fail to the point it punctured the FEP, or the reverse; the print failed causing the FEP to leak and that resulted in the LCD issue. This was likely one of those scenarios. It wasn't a huge FEP puncture but enough to leak resin onto the screen (first time I've had this happen in the entire year I've been printing. Common enough potential problem though). So, some minor to problematic print issues I began to see, leading up t...
2022-09-17 12:27:03 +0000 UTC
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The most recent SF-123 B Möwe painted print that has been making the rounds on various social media platforms to promote the prints. This one was painted with Tamiya Light Blue (Luftwaffe) base coat spray with AK pigment Sienna Soil and Dark Earth (for the camo) and Burnt Umber, Black, and Dark Steel for weathering and tints, and White Ash, for the markings.
The painting tutorial, I keep mentioning, is coming. I just didn't want to rush it, so I've been painting the featured Navaja pr...
2022-09-11 00:13:48 +0000 UTC
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It's looking like the sleek looking SF-106 A Sidewinder will be September's primary STL release. This fighter is a revisit of an older Zbrush model build, from last year, that I had already made a pair of initial test prints from, only those were smaller prints than this new, and updated version. The current...
2022-08-25 14:23:08 +0000 UTC
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Here's a collection of photos of the initial test print for August's pending STL release; the SF-123B Möwe. This is a very quick, and dirty, paint on this print. I realized the (supported version) test print was smaller, in size, than it should have been so, while I wanted to do a paint, I also didn't want to spend too much time on it. This was just to get a feel for how the print would look painted, the two prints that follow are larger and getting much nic...
2022-08-06 16:02:57 +0000 UTC
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These are the two new fighters I noted in a prior post. For now I'm just dropping a collection of quick Zbrush renders but there are indeed 3D prints of both of them now with photos to follow.
The fighters are as follows (the names and model numbers are potentially temporary though the Möwe is set as the name for the first one);
SF-123B Möwe Space and atmospheric strike fighter. Möwe is German for Gull and that naming convention should be obvious considering the ...
2022-07-29 12:22:28 +0000 UTC
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The weather's been stupid hot much of the last week so I haven't really been printing as much as I planned. What I have gotten to is doing more painted prints and I'm also working on a tutorial, on how I have been approaching my painted promotional prints. The tutorial will likely go up at some point soon but I'm not going to rush painting the print I chose to feature in the tutorial (the larger 121% Navaja print I made awhile back).
For today: The TE-52 Ballista C-2
This one wa...
2022-07-22 20:35:09 +0000 UTC
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Just a short and quick update; as the header states, up for next month will be the TE-46 Javelin D variant of the very first fighter release, the original TE-46 Javelin. Initially my plan was to possibly release the Ballista C-2 and the Javelin D as bonus fighter releases in addition to whatever fighter was slated for the official month's releases but too many thing...
2022-06-22 21:42:09 +0000 UTC
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Here's a collection of photos of a new painted print of the Sharurä A.I. gunship. This is, of course, somewhat similar to the Sharurä box art, though a bit different as well, with white wing and tail markings and just the bit of yellow on the nose (very Messerschmitt BF109).
This one was painted with a Tamiya Light Blue (Luftwaffe) rattle can basecoat and AK pigment faded green pigment top coat. Because the green is a powder based pigment to make the spotted camo al...
2022-05-27 17:43:18 +0000 UTC
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But may be delayed a few days later than the usual prior early month releases, because...
I, apparently, got the Covids.
On Monday, I went to a close friends wedding and, while I have the shots and all that Jazz, it appears I caught it, along with another friend of mine (how I found out before it hit like a truck). The last couple of days were, like a weirdly surreal nasty cold and as I type this it seems to be subsiding significantly so, hopefully it's on it's way out. Naturall...
2022-05-07 05:57:18 +0000 UTC
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I'm pretty sure this one's going to be the release for May. Unfortunately, the weather here in Michigan has been all over the place and has continued to be cold (that warm spell I noted a few posts back didn't last and it went right back to Ice Station Zebra winter cold nonsense again... in bloody April) up until the last few days so this has been mucking up plans for a return to regular printing. I've had a string of print failures (damn prints peeling off the build plate which, unfortunatel...
2022-05-01 02:07:19 +0000 UTC
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Coming sometime early in the month (as with prior releases) will be the U.A.P. alien fighter. The end of March was rather hectic so I didn't get a chance to drop an end of the month post announcing April's fighter. The U.A.P. release is just waiting on wrapping the art package but it should drop soon. No April Fool's nonsense, just wanted to give a heads up that the next fighter is coming.
Additionally the anime screencap illustration series (featuring the 3D printable fighters) will o...
2022-04-01 22:32:44 +0000 UTC
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Surprise stealth reveal of two brand new variant designs of the original Javelin and Ballista fighters. Obviously they have resulted in successful prints so they both will get released soon. Now that the weather is warming up I can actually print, test, and potentially release a great deal more. I'll have a pile of more photos later but here's a peek at the new prints now.
These were both built off the original Zbrush models iterating new details and aesthetic cues. The notion is prett...
2022-03-18 20:10:00 +0000 UTC
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I can haz test print?
indeed I can.
Not a lot to say about this one and that's a good thing. This first test print, produced on the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono, went without a hitch. I've now produced enough of these fighters that I feel I have a reasonable handle on setting up how to support them quickly and effectively in order to avoid failures and issues (though you'll never completely be free of their likelihood with resin printing). I literally set everything up and ran the test la...
2022-03-11 19:42:43 +0000 UTC
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Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, or in old school terms: UFO. This is the first true enemy antagonist fighter to potentially join the 3D fighter print series. An alien enemy to the fighters that have been featured so far and, a true unknown to the human colonies military (the manufacturers of the TE fighters) when this alien aggressor makes its presence known.
Modeled in Zbrush project primitive.
I'm running a test print of this thing right now on the Elegoo Mars 2 Mono as I type...
2022-03-10 23:27:10 +0000 UTC
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Working on the art package for the TE-62 Navaja fighter so it can drop sometime in early March. The Navja has, like the Stiletto, consistently resulted in fantastic prints for me so it should be a hassle free release. Unless anything changes, the Navaja will definitely be next month's fighter release. While I've continued to work on material for Palladium Books, I've also been working on artwork related to the 3D printed fighters so... that will will begin to drop on the Patreon soon. It will...
2022-02-22 22:53:19 +0000 UTC
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The more I work with resin prints the more I see similar things you learn with making the 3D models themselves; namely painting the prints is not too dissimilar to changing the material on your 3D model so you can see the details and potential errors better. I'm becoming less and less enamored with the unpainted resin prints, the resins (that I've used so far) simply tend to just suck up too much light when you photograph them, and just as much when you're simply looking at the prints to chec...
2022-02-10 16:23:18 +0000 UTC
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Today I have some quick and dirty photos of the first (and utterly successful) test print of the newest fighter to the Military Spacecraft Series; The TE-65A Sharurä A.I. gunship. The only hiccup is I can see I'll need to beef up some supports on the rear fuselage (there was a slight dip in the print but no failure). The name is a mutated naming convention based off of Sumerian mythological weapon of 2022-02-09 23:36:48 +0000 UTC
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Military Spacecraft Series .03 will be the TE-60 Stiletto fighter (this is the updated Zbrush model that now prints perfectly so it has a slightly different nose than the original Zbrush model the link, otherwise same fighter). Preview of the box art above along with some promo photos of the prints. I still need to complete the ortho...
2022-01-28 02:29:28 +0000 UTC
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Well, I can't say 2021 was a swell year, nor was the year prior, a mess of a global pandemic kind of changes things and now, for better or worse, we seem to have a new normal. That said, with a positive outlook, you forge ahead to make the things happen that you want to happen.
This year I started something, I honestly hadn't seen myself doing a few years prior; making my own little garage kit replicas. Literally having learned about resin printing a month before the Black Friday sales...
2022-01-01 01:46:50 +0000 UTC
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It's been some time coming but it's finally officially live. The first STL files are now available and the fighter this month, as noted in the prior post, will be: The TE-46 Javelin. Next month will likely be the TE-52 Ballista fighter (which it appears a lot...
2021-12-02 16:11:30 +0000 UTC
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So, finally, here we are: The Javelin will be the first printable fighter to be available for download. The Javelin will be number .01 and the first fighter to kick off: Small Scale Resin Printed Replica Spacecraft Series. All of the TE (Tri Engine) fighters printed so far (with potentially other designs like the SFI-19 Arhvazna) are going to be part of this series. I also have some peeks at new TE fighter paints above to close out the month.
The fighters featured in the photos;
2021-12-01 00:02:54 +0000 UTC
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As noted in the last upload post, while I still produced work, 2020 wasn't remotely as productive as I would have liked it to be. I will be far busier this year, including more pending freelance (so I will be doing the best I can to juggle contract work with Patreon posts). Since pretty much switching to Clip Paint I've found myself making Photoshop and Clip Paint versions of various pieces because the two programs (to a large degree) don't seem to fully play nice with one another (PS filters...
2021-03-25 01:52:17 +0000 UTC
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Yes, after a good year of random, off and on, blue screen issues, with a relatively new PC (just over a year now) it seems the source of the issue is resolved.
Apparently it was a bad stick of RAM.
While this seems straight forward enough, pinning it down was not (it passed memory tests early on but I suspect the RAM was faulty right from day one when the PC arrived from Amazon). While I did note this issue in a
2020-09-02 03:18:16 +0000 UTC
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Apologies for the late attention for the page for April, it's been quite the 2020 so far... not the 2020 we all hoped for or expected. And for God's sake... toilet paper? Really? I would have never guessed that would be the thing in the "apocalypse", this isn't V8 shiny.
It's been a pretty frustrating month as far as producing art. I had been having random blue screen issues with my somewhat new rig (well a year old now) and, oh yeah... the fact we're in the middle of a pandemic ...
2020-04-30 15:53:05 +0000 UTC
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As we roll into 2020 the last year has been a bit of trial and error as to finding an approach here that feels right for me and helps grow Patreon as an eventually successful endeavor.
My original I.P. work with TKP work has brought freelance clients to me throughout the years so hiding it all behind a paywall isn't something I ever planned to do (and it was the TKP work that, earlier this year, led Animal Logic to invite me to assist them with some concept work for an animated featur...
2020-01-01 02:47:35 +0000 UTC
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