#3D PRINT TERRAIN SERIES#

I will through this series focus on techniques that makes painting simple and quick. I’m no expert painter and when I paint terrain I am quite impatient and don’t think about the details much. You print terrain on your home 3D printer and want it to look ok on the game board. Out of convenience 28mm is the default found in commercially available models, but there is nothing stopping you from resizing everything and working in larger scales such as 72mm.This painting series is for people with limited or no painting skills. GMs have a harder choice ahead as there are no rules on size, just convention that may not apply. Most, if not all, the printable models are already scaled to this size.

Wargamers will want to print to the same scale as their game allows. You will be pleased to note that there are conversion clips available to link the different systems together. They both operate in the same way, with a small plastic clip that secures the tiles together. There has been a drive to standardize dungeons tiles with two competing options available for linkage of tiles: OpenLock and DragonLock. With 3D printing, there is a good variety of tiles available for both dungeons and building use, not to mention the aforementioned scenery that could be used for outdoor encounters. Games masters will already be familiar with some of this through the use of 2D dungeons tiles. RELATED: D&D Beyond Reveals Digital Dice, With Half Of Proceeds Going to BLM After all, why should every town or world look the same? Allowing for this localization is not possible using off the shelf kits without heavy modification. There is nothing stopping you from mixing and matching models from different designers as well. There is a good selection available that you can print cheaply such as boxes, and crates and drums, and in a variety of different styles. Add to that the reusable multi-part models that can be rebuilt (think Lego) into different structures giving you near-infinite combinations.

Whereas buying an injection molded kit gives you a great looking centerpiece, 3D printing not only provides this but also lets you work with small run kits that would not ordinarily be possible as well as models that are impossible to manufacture unless they were 3D printed. This is where the power of 3D printing comes in. You may also find that after a few games you (and your opponent) know the model inside and out, and the advantageous shooting spot now leaves you wide open for elimination. Single print models always look amazing, but if used too much you and your players could get bored with them fairly quickly. You will also find a wide selection of colors to choose from for your prints, and some printers are able to use more than one color, although for the best results you will want to paint the parts to look more natural.įor wargamers, the choice may seem obvious… Gothic looking structures for sci-fi wargaming, as an example.

An important point here as well is that typically when you print, the model will not be solid as part of the slicing processing you choose an infill value (10%-20% being typical), this not only saves money but also time. You can even find bigger print areas if needed, but most models can be cut into smaller chunks and glued together later. A typical machine will have a print volume similar to a sheet of A4/letter paper. Another advantage is the print area or volume. PLA will be the cheapest and is also the easiest to print. Expect to pay $20+ for a 1KG roll depending upon plastic type. RELATED: D&D Pro-Tip: Use Tenser’s Floating Disk As A Budget Magic CarpetįDM printing is typically cheaper as the filament is a lot cheaper than resin to manufacture. For terrain printing, you can use either SLA or FDM, but this writer recommends FDM printing for a variety of reasons. In our introduction, we took a look at what 3D printing is and the two main methods used by hobby/home 3D printing. Have you ever sat opposite your foe as you line up your Warhammer armies to do battle and thought, “I wish I had some buildings to make the battlefield look more interesting?” Fret no more, for today we look at how 3D printing terrain can improve your games.

3d print terrain