In my Advanced Dungeons &Â Dragons days I had maybe a couple dozen miniatures. Characters were represented by the closest miniature facsimile we could find, and those Lord of the Rings “Elan Merch” sculpt orcs represented most of our foes.
Nowadays the number and availability of miniatures (available from sources such as Reaper Miniatures, Games Workshop, and many others) is staggering, their quality breathtaking. The range of options is also legion: unpainted metal, unpainted resins that need assembly, unpainted polymer like Reaper Bones, and pre-painted plastic like Wizkids miniatures with D&D and Pathfinder specific lines. However, even with all of these options, a player is still either trying to find a miniature that somewhat matches his mind’s-eye view of his character, or modeling the character after a miniature that is found first, thus stifling individual creativity.
Enter custom 3D printed miniatures. Mounted Heroes, Customizable 3D Printed Miniatures is currently running a Kickstarter that allows customers to model their characters by picking stance, armor, weapon, and other equipment, as well as the option to pick a steed. One could create the same character posed in battle on the ground, as well as a matching mounted version of the figure. An early version of their online customization tool is available for immediate use to see where they are going with it.
Another company, Hero Forge Custom Miniatures, with a tool developed from an earlier successful Kickstarter is completed and currently providing customized miniatures. This existing tool is also available for use right now. Hero Forge currently has more options for character customization than the demo tool from “Mounted Heroes,” and has slightly cheaper miniatures, but currently no option for a steed. The two sites also generate models that have different artistic styles.
There is one significant disadvantage to these custom 3D printed miniatures: expense.
My primary use for miniatures is in role playing games. In tabletop RPGs there are just a couple main needs. The gamemaster needs many mooks, of many different types. A dozen goblins, an army of orcs, and swarms of rats, for instance. For these, the gamemaster needs a cheap source. Duplicate figures is not a problem for this need. Another gamemaster need is the climactic-battle-big-bad such as the evil lich king, ancient red dragon, or demon lord. But even for these unique creatures the gamemaster does not want to spend a fortune as, unless it’s going to be a recurring villain, the mini is likely to be eliminated by the heroes in just a few rounds of play. Traditional miniatures, and especially pre-painted plastic miniatures, satisfy these needs very well and cheaply. Well, as cheap as it gets in the land of miniatures!
On the other hand, there is the player. A player may have the same character for an entire campaign spanning years. The player’s character is very personal, and he or she has an image of what the character looks like. With traditional miniatures players are stuck with what exists, or what can be modified with great patience and skill. This is where these custom 3D prints come in.
One can create any of millions of different combinations of characters, varying race, gender, equipment, stance, and even the stand it is on. A player could even purchase new versions of the character in new equipment as the character progresses in power. Or, as is the case with the current Mounted Heroes Kickstarter, on and off a mount.
Each custom miniature ranges from three-times to many-times the cost of a traditional miniatures. But again, for a piece that is going to be used for dozens if not hundreds of hours of play, this is not such a bad deal.
There are currently two primary materials used in the printing process. One is a strong and flexible plastic, a low-detail, but durable material, and the other is Frosted Extreme Detail (or FXD), a high-detail but fragile material. I own some FXD, high detail, Hero Forge prints, and I can attest to their being brittle. For display the FXD high-detail is perfect. If players are careful the FXD is also acceptable for table-top play. Though with books, dice, or arm-sweeping removal of figures from the table, breakage is possible. The breaks are “clean” and easily glued, but still a hassle. My kids often play with my plastic pre-painted miniatures. These fragile figures are not appropriate for that. I do not currently own any of the lower-detail, high-durability miniatures, but that’s because, from what I have seen online, I prefer the look and the detail of the high-quality material.
The Custom 3D printed miniature market is in its infancy, and projects like this Kickstarter are trailblazing our way into the future. Check it out; right now the Mounted Heroes Customizable 3D Printed Miniatures Kickstarter is the only reasonably accessible way of generating just the character you want both mounted and on foot. But also continue to watch this industry; prices will drop, and companies like Reaper Miniatures will likely get involved in custom figures. Any sculptor with eyes to the future is likely expanding their skill set to incorporate digital tools. Soon buyers will be able to buy the digital files and print their character at home, and more and more tools will be created for designing those files. It’s a brave new world in the miniatures industry.
Are there any sources of character models which offer you the STL to print your own, in addition to the choice to have them print?
Sure, they would lose some money on people printing their own, but most models are complicated enough that you need a very well set up printer in order to pull it off. So there is a good chance many people still purchase the primary art piece from them.
But having my own trio of printers, I would happily print out my own army of underlings/NPCs (and on my SLA I would even print my main characters, since those come out amazing every time)
@JacobTurner: Not yet, or at least none that I know of. Though I am sure this will become available in the future. If not from these companies, from others.
From the Hero Forge FAQ: (https://www.heroforge.com/FAQ/)
Q: Do you offer or sell downloadable 3D files of these models, in .stl or .obj for example?
A: This is not a feature we currently offer, though we have received a lot of requests for it! Much like user-submitted parts, this is a big undertaking that we may implement in the future, though we don’t have any immediate plans to do so in the immediate future.
Heroforge now DOES allow digital downloads of .stl files for $10. In fact, the FAQ you link to is now update to reflect this.
In addition to .stl files, HeroForge also now has mounted figures.
thingiverse has some character stl files you can download and print.them on a 3d printer. Some are over 100mm tall, so tney need to be shrunk for 25mm game play. There are also forts, casle arts, etc. But I can see the time is in the hours for the dungeon walls. Cura software is free and it shows the object, how much filament it uses, and how long it wil ltake to print using the 3d printer you have.
Yes! You can certainly download models and could even manipulate them in something like Blender. Tons of great files out their for your use! But, I do not know of any current software for STL files that will allow you to build a character “easily” like Hero Forge or Mounted Heroes does.