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Post by Meph on Feb 13, 2016 20:09:21 GMT
Thanks Stroezie, that might actually satisfy my want for the Dwarven Forge city builder stuff. I was looking at it this morning and it's even more expensive than the dungeon tiles if you want to layout a large area. This has a good selection of buildings for a good price. I am going to back it I think at the $33 level. Not sure if I want to up it to $45 or $66 to get the castle walls and tower although it is tempting. The graveyard addon and even the ruined buildings addon sound nice. They also offer a free download which I will be printing right away, its a gallows pole. vialudibunda.com/samples/Gallows.zip
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Post by sgtslag on Feb 13, 2016 22:01:58 GMT
This 3D printing thing is already changing the face of gaming. It is amazing to watch it unfold so quickly... I really think Dwarven Forge has a limited life expectancy, thanks to the 3D printers, and all of the files for them being produced. Amazing...
I still prefer my reinforced card stock buildings, however. Mine are strong enough, being glued to backboard (1-2 mm thick, solid cardboard), and they are printed in color, so no painting required -- just assembly, which is their downside. The only other advantage the cardstock buildings have, is their weight is much lighter. I really hope the 3D print stuff won't kill off the cardstock hobby. Cheers!
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Post by Meph on Feb 13, 2016 22:29:34 GMT
I don't think it will ever replace cardstock buildings. I also don't think it will kill Dwarven Forge, or at least hope it doesn't. There are so many creative DF tiles out there that aren't being replicated yet. It's hard to deny that Dwarven Forge is the inspiration for most of these 3d tile creators, so I hope they keep producing new tiles.
I think its kinds like any other hobby too, the "purists" will turn their noses up. Hardcore arcade collectors snub their noses at innovation. If it's not original to 1980, they don't want it. Many D&D gamers have refused to try any newer editions over the years because they weren't what "Gary intended" in their minds. There will always be a market for Dwarven Forge and I think the "purists" will definitely snub their noses at printed tiles.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Feb 14, 2016 15:45:42 GMT
there will always be people to buy your stuff instead of DIY it.
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Post by Meph on Feb 14, 2016 16:34:51 GMT
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Post by baylorogrebane on Feb 14, 2016 19:38:44 GMT
Did I miss where you are getting you 3D files from? Are you making them, or going on other sites like thingyverse? Usually I make my bits from scratch, but don't have much luck printing them as I am always re-calibrating the printer. Only just got it back from warranty repair.
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Post by Meph on Feb 14, 2016 19:43:02 GMT
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Post by DnDPaladin on Feb 15, 2016 4:07:36 GMT
Side Note, jennifer says the tiles are skewed on the printer she uses, and that she had to recalculate the tile size on the printer in order for them to be correct. so your problems with dragonlock tiles amay have came from that skewed scaling.
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Post by Meph on Feb 15, 2016 4:34:07 GMT
No, the were all proportionally skewed. My connector fit perfectly when I finally got it separated from the raft. THe problem with the dragonlock tiles is poor design. They take too long to print and the quality is crap. I will be sticking with Openforge for most of my tiles. I will probably use the stairs from the Dragonlock set. That's all I can think of right now.
As for the size discrepancy...it's very miniscule. I will correct it on future tiles but they are so close now that my current tiles will work just fine. Not worth throwing out 30+ tiles over it.
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Post by baylorogrebane on Feb 15, 2016 18:38:29 GMT
I downloaded the open forge dungeons, have to get my printer calibrated, was thinking of making a plug decor to go between each wall. A; to hold them together and b; to stop the dungeon from being a little bland.
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Post by Meph on Feb 15, 2016 18:41:40 GMT
Have an example of what you mean?
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Post by baylorogrebane on Feb 16, 2016 17:16:39 GMT
not yet, will be doing it this weekend.
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Post by Meph on Feb 18, 2016 17:03:35 GMT
I took most of the last week off from crafting due to the flooding issues I had and the fact that I was out of PLA to print with. The PLA finally arrived last night and I have been experimenting with a few things this morning. I printed a couple of the www.printablescenery.com/ Cavern tiles to see how I liked them. I printed just a 2x2 floor tile to start and the first thing I noticed was the print time. It was just under 30 minutes I believe to print it vs 52 minutes to print the Openforge dungeon tiles. There is good reason for that though. Openforge was made to match up exactly with Dwarven Forge tiles. They didn't make the same considerations when they created these tiles. They are super thin. When it first printed I gotta say I was a little put off at how thin it was, but honestly after printing a couple I don't care at all. They are plenty durable and no amount of dropping them would break them. They may be thin but they are strong. Of course if you stepped on one I am sure it would break, but so would the thicker openforge, or dwarven forge, or hirst arts...these are just as durable as any tiles out there, probably more so than the commercial products using hydrostone or resin. As for the thin base and matching them up to the dungeon tiles? Some of you might care but I don't. It's a transition between cut stone and natural caverns. If I really get concerned I might just get some thin foam as a base under the cavern tiles to raise them level with the others. So I am very happy with them. There are 34 different pieces available so the possibilites are endless. As I stated with all the other tiles, this isn't a quick process. It will take months of printing to build a large collection. I have been playing for 30 years so far without this stuff, what's another 6 months. Honestly in a weeks time you can easily print enough for a small cavern complex. I also decided to see how this PLA would take craft paint without priming. I brushed on a dark brown base coat and then dry brushed 2 other coats of brown and some grey. The whole painting process literally took me about 5 minutes minus drying time. I wont be wasting my time with a spray primer in the future. These took paint amazingly well. After I do a large selection and see them as a whole, I might add some green to them. We'll see. Actually after posting this and viewing the product pics, I will probably order some brown PLA to print these tiles and skip the first layer all together and just drybrush.
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Post by jennifer on Feb 18, 2016 18:02:42 GMT
The cavern tiles look really nice! The transition from the dungeon the cavern in your photo looks so very cool. It looks fine, the tiles being lower .. even more natural perhaps
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Post by Meph on Feb 18, 2016 18:10:56 GMT
I am noticing that my tiles are looking faded in these pics, only a week after painting them. I know gloss acrylic sealer will protect them better but give it a lot of shine. I have a matte sealer also but I am reading that matte sealers don't do much to seal them. I think it I hit it with a light coat of gloss for protection and then a good coat a matte it should do the trick. Any opinions?
Honestly, it's not even about the protection, it's about how dull they look in those pics.
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Post by jennifer on Feb 18, 2016 18:52:10 GMT
I am noticing that my tiles are looking faded in these pics, only a week after painting them. I know gloss acrylic sealer will protect them better but give it a lot of shine. I have a matte sealer also but I am reading that matte sealers don't do much to seal them. I think it I hit it with a light coat of gloss for protection and then a good coat a matte it should do the trick. Any opinions? Honestly, it's not even about the protection, it's about how dull they look in those pics. a semi gloss on the cavern tiles should look pretty good no? at worst it is an awesome damp cavern?
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Post by jennifer on Feb 18, 2016 22:01:19 GMT
Hey wouldn't that set also look awesome in clear PLA? for crystal caverns..
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Post by Meph on Feb 18, 2016 22:40:57 GMT
I know you are all about printing with clear but you gotta realize it's not going to work out how you think for most of the stuff we are printing. It's great for the main part of that portal we saw. It was designed to be printed in clear. If you print dungeon tiles in clear you are going to see all the honeycomb infill. Now as for crystal caverns, this is the route I am planning to go. Print it white and then paint appropriately. I couple lengths of led light strips and a low profile light box, and my players will be wowed. Just backlight it and really make it shine. I think with a good mix of Red/Orange/Yellow you can do the same effect with lava. Just be sure to go dark and black out the areas you don't want illuminated. I think it's a better solution than printing clear. I might be wrong. I think there are some great situations for clear PLA but they are limited. www.dwarvenforge.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4746&start=20
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Post by Meph on Feb 19, 2016 3:10:52 GMT
My group is about to face some Hill Giants soon and I don't have any so I printed my first one today. Didn't come out too bad. I painted him like the one displayed on Shapeways, then I had to change him up some because he looked too damn plain.
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Post by jennifer on Feb 19, 2016 6:00:34 GMT
Printed that same corner cavern piece and painted it as an ice cavern. It's really glossy -- used modge podge glossy -- but you can't see the gloss from the way the light is hitting it from the top in the photo (bounced flash off ceiling) Based with American Calypso Blue. Then did several passes of dry brushing with Americana Snow White. I stipple dry brushed over spots that shows the print lines from my normal light dry brush passes -- it pretty much erased them. Also found a few coats of some sort of base paints help fill in those very subtle print lines. Btw, I haven't been priming any of my PLA work -- seems to be fine without primer just as Reaper Bones minis are fine without primer.
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