Monday 17 March 2014

Shapeways Deathbot Vehicles

These arrived today from Shapeways - a bunch of vehicles for a Deathbot army. Based on ideas like those in the Terminator, Battlestar Galactica, and I-Robot sci-fi movies, these will be used for armies like Necrons in Epic. In other words, robots with a hatred for non-robot life-forms, or at least serious angst about the tribulations of robotic existence, leading to antisocial behaviour...

This is my second Shapeways order, having previously ordered some starfighters for Battlefleet Gothic. Those were in a material called "Black Detail Plastic", whereas this order is in "Frosted Detail". Frosted Detail is a considerably more expensive material but also capable of greater detail and has a smooth texture, rather than the slightly granular and porous finish of Black Detail Plastic. I had some store credit saved up somehow, so put it towards these. I imagine the cost will come down as 3D printing technology improves and market forces come into play, but right now it is still quite expensive compared to other options.

From left to right we have:
The Death Ray is on a 40mm round base, and below that is a 40mm strip base, and to the left of that a 25mm circular base from Troublemaker Games. It's a bit tricky to work out the details in the photos given the white colour! The Frosted Detail material is also slightly flexible, enough so that I'm not worried anymore about the fine details breaking off. I also prefer this plastic material to metal, mainly because of the saving in weight, but also they won't break if accidentally dropped.


Here's an overview of everything I ordered from Shapeways! The rightmost Deathbot Pyramid is still in three pieces to show how it comes. The hollow construction saves considerably on the cost.

For infantry I have metal Edenites from Exodus Wars, and Andrayada from Dark Realm Miniatures.

Update: Here are some further models from Shapeways that suit this sort of range. Cosmic Pharaoh Large and Small Frigates.

7 comments:

  1. Great looking vehicles for your upcoming army - like it. I am just a bit confused about the size of the Death Rays. I always thought they should be larger in size. At least larger than a War pyramid...
    How much did it cost and which material did you chose?

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  2. Hi, I went with frosted detail and if you clink the links above you can see prices for that. Yes the death rays are a bit smaller than expected but I'm happy with them, and apparently the fluff has them coming in a range of sizes now. I think the sculptor is making a bigger version though so you could wait or give him an e-mail to ask. His e-mail link is on the Shapeways store from his products. I also think the obelisks are probably too big, but they are from a separate designer.

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  3. It's me again - got myself a Deathbot force as well and would like to ask you for some recommendations concerning cleaning, assembling and painting the models. I went or Frosted Detail and found an oily liquid on the miniatures. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations on how to proceed?

    Best,
    G.

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    1. Hi again, I rinsed them in hot soapy water (dishwashing liquid). And some of them I also washed in something we call Simple Green. http://simplegreen.com/products/all-purpose-cleaner/
      Not sure how necessary this was, especially the Simple Green, but it was something we used to do with plastic figures years ago. Some of them also had some flash that I cleaned up as best I could. Then I just sprayed them black and painted them, and I was quite please with how they turned out. Cheers.

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    2. Thanks for the quick reply. I wasn't sure how the material would react to cleaning and paint, but now I am way more confident with how to proceed :)

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    3. No problem, glad to help! Good luck.

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  4. You must have paid a fortune for that...

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