Quicklinks: Paint Process, In Process Photos, Final Photos, Where to find STLs, Conclusion
Of all the things to paint first from the Fantasy Props Kickstarter project I did not expect that the first completed would be the Siege Equipment. This Kickstarter came with two siege equipment pieces one a Battering Ram and the other a Catapult. I did see that a trebuchet is added to the list of equipment by STL Miniatures in their most recent Kickstarter Firwood which is on my wishlist but alas I have too many buildings to print as is at the moment.
The one thing about the siege equipment that I loved is the modularity and having to assemble the set. I don’t know what it is but I love to build and assemble miniatures, terrain and buildings. So this definitely scratched the itch. While assembling I realized that painting these pieces would be really difficult to do so I was motivated to paint while assembling.
Paint Process
Painting was overall pretty straight forward with two primary components: Metal and Wood. You could of course weather these models with dirt and grime but that is currently beyond my skill set. This was also an interesting experiment because metal and wood are areas that I really want to focus on for improvement. I still do not quite understand the process of “True Metallic” painting and am frustrated painting all my wood pieces the same. Both of these pieces are deserving of a deep dive focus in my painting hobby.
Wood Paint Process
As a partial test to growing my methods of painting I decided to loosely use the Hist Arts Painting Wood guide. The wood paint process was relatively simple:
- Prime Black
- Earth Tone dry brush
- Dry brush a bit with light gray (attempted this but did not do the whole model since it didn’t quite fit the look i was going for)
The painting technique from Hist Arts was definitely designed with large quantities of terrain to do and not requiring a lot of steps, which definitely fits their brand of creating molds for terrain.
Other things I tried was:
- A wash for the battering ram I put a dark wash on the top but did not like the glossy finish so did not do the rest of the models.
- The catapult I added a grey edge highlight to the model to try to get some of sculpt of metal components to pop. I am torn as to if I liked this method so did not do it on the battering ram.
Metal Paint Process
The metal component paint process was significantly simpler. I merely used a grey undercoat followed by a metallic paint top coat proceeded by a black wash. I let the wash go over everything which gave it a grimely look and since the sculpt had several dents built into the model it worked.
Overall however I felt like I could have done more or understood metal painting more. Its on the list but there are never enough hours in the day.
In Progress Photos
Photographs of pieces and some assembly.
The siege equipment was primed with a mixture of brown and grey Krylon rattle can primer. Although later I did paint most of the brown to black to follow the Hist Arts guide listed above.
Battering Ram
Catapult
Where to Find the STLs
Currently the files for the Fantasy Props kickstarter are not sold separately. These will be bundled with the entire Fantasy Props Kickstarter late backing. The sculpts and designs are now by the newly branded (November 2020) group on Patreon STL Miniatures.
STL Miniatures: Website
STL Miniatures: Patreon
Online Store: MyMiniFactory (only for past Patreon months currently)
Original Source of Files: 3D Printable Fantasy Props by Rafael Moreno Dominguez
Conclusion
Overall this was a fun project. This is also the perfect example of something I never would have made and painted without my goal of 100% printing the kickstarters I have backed. While I am working on a fully modular and functioning castle terrain build these would not have been made unless I had a campaign or tabletop game that needed them. So glad to have them in my collection and can’t wait to see what else I come up with. I finished painting these models January 30th, 2021.
Have you ever made something or painted something that is normally out of your wheel house or not something you originally intended? Let me know in the comments below.