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Author Topic: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures  (Read 2523 times)

mudbanks

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Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« on: May 13, 2022, 01:54:32 AM »
Has anyone used these? I really like the artwork. My only two gripes are that the scaling of large creatures (eg ogres) seem smaller than expected, and that the plastic isn't cut to fit the figures. Other than that, they seem like the best option for someone who wants miniatures by the bulk.



http://arcknight.squarespace.com/

dbm

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2022, 06:32:12 AM »
I bought some of these for using with Savage Worlds Last Parsec as they have sets with the ‘official’ aliens etc. I’ve attached  a pic comparing them to Star Wars minis and a Reaper Bones mini.

They are ok; the art is the same both sides, so they only have a ‘front’ image.

If you want fantasy standees then I would say that GeekTankGames has the edge - I got a load of their stuff in a Kickstarter and it is a higher quality product with both front and back art. The later sets have a more ‘cartoon’ art style, but the earlier ones are more conventional and work well alongside minis, too.

Godsmonkey

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2022, 06:52:37 AM »
What I use for NPCs is heroforge.com Since my players use that to design their characters for me to print, I've started using the photo booth feature to do a full body front ,and a full body back, and print to cardstock. It's cheap, and super customizable. The drawback is you cant do many non humanoids.

mudbanks

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2022, 10:22:58 AM »
Thanks for the recommendations! Yeah GTG isn't really my cup of tea. Their designs come from Paper Forge Minis and Trash Mob Minis if I'm not mistaken. Some are not bad, but the majority are too cartoonish for me (especially Trash Mob).

Using Heroforge is a great idea for producing paper minis. I might try that for my humanoid PCs and NPCs, thanks!

Godsmonkey

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2022, 10:26:26 AM »
Thanks for the recommendations! Yeah GTG isn't really my cup of tea. Their designs come from Paper Forge Minis and Trash Mob Minis if I'm not mistaken. Some are not bad, but the majority are too cartoonish for me (especially Trash Mob).

Using Heroforge is a great idea for producing paper minis. I might try that for my humanoid PCs and NPCs, thanks!

Use this template in your favorite photo editor.


Godsmonkey

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2022, 10:29:49 AM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

GeekyBugle

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #6 on: May 13, 2022, 04:49:47 PM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought about!

How would you go about having a front and back images?
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

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GeekyBugle

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #7 on: May 13, 2022, 04:53:43 PM »
What I use is plain cardboard and these: https://printableheroes.com/

You could combine them with Shrinky Dink: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Creativo-paquete-10-hojas-cristal-transparentes/dp/B0103B04RO?th=1
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

― George Orwell

Godsmonkey

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2022, 07:05:30 PM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought about!

How would you go about having a front and back images?


You would have to render images of the front and back. I've only used some basic Blender functions to kit bash some STL miniatures so I am far from an expert. I've not worked with color in Blender yet, but I'm sure it can be done.

Here are simple instructions to export to .png format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6UrNz6Pvz0

You may want to check the tutorial for setting up the camera as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pggu1asGdVc

as far as getting front and back, it is a 3D application. You just need to rotate the model you imported to get a front and back view, render them as separate images with transparency, import into the template I attached earlier, scale to fit, rotate one image 180degrees and you should be good to go.

When I figure out how to get a color version output to png, I'll post my findings.

GeekyBugle

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #9 on: May 13, 2022, 07:35:46 PM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought about!

How would you go about having a front and back images?


You would have to render images of the front and back. I've only used some basic Blender functions to kit bash some STL miniatures so I am far from an expert. I've not worked with color in Blender yet, but I'm sure it can be done.

Here are simple instructions to export to .png format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6UrNz6Pvz0

You may want to check the tutorial for setting up the camera as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pggu1asGdVc

as far as getting front and back, it is a 3D application. You just need to rotate the model you imported to get a front and back view, render them as separate images with transparency, import into the template I attached earlier, scale to fit, rotate one image 180degrees and you should be good to go.

When I figure out how to get a color version output to png, I'll post my findings.

Thanks! As for the color, I would use either Gimp or Krita for that. Import the .png and color fill an area (fill similar colors) in a different (Fuck me, how do you say capa?)
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

― George Orwell

Shawn Driscoll

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2022, 08:00:57 PM »
Has anyone used these? I really like the artwork. My only two gripes are that the scaling of large creatures (eg ogres) seem smaller than expected, and that the plastic isn't cut to fit the figures. Other than that, they seem like the best option for someone who wants miniatures by the bulk.
I've never used them. They look better though than using the paper ones with white backgrounds.

mudbanks

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2022, 08:11:22 AM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought about!

How would you go about having a front and back images?

An annoying problem I ran into while playing around with Heroforge is that there is no shortcut to rotate the model exactly 180 degrees on the x- and y-axis. That means it will be quite difficult to get an exact matching front-and-back shot of the model. I'm quite perfectionist in that regard, so it triggers me :P

I've never used them. They look better though than using the paper ones with white backgrounds.

I've got a good trick for the paper ones with white backgrounds. If you outline them with a permanent black marker, then cut them out as much as possible, they actually look pretty good on the table. Best if they're printed on gloss paper too (or sprayed with gloss sealant).

Godsmonkey

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2022, 10:36:44 AM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought about!

How would you go about having a front and back images?

An annoying problem I ran into while playing around with Heroforge is that there is no shortcut to rotate the model exactly 180 degrees on the x- and y-axis. That means it will be quite difficult to get an exact matching front-and-back shot of the model. I'm quite perfectionist in that regard, so it triggers me :P

I've never used them. They look better though than using the paper ones with white backgrounds.

I've got a good trick for the paper ones with white backgrounds. If you outline them with a permanent black marker, then cut them out as much as possible, they actually look pretty good on the table. Best if they're printed on gloss paper too (or sprayed with gloss sealant).

True, getting it to line up exactly is a pain, and if you're doing the outline and cutout trick you mention, it's even more important to line them up.

I suspect heroforge would not be interested in adding that feature as it could potentially reduce a revenue stream since they are mainly in the mini printing business. Maybe as part of their premium membership they might be interested.

GeekyBugle

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2022, 11:54:13 AM »
Another option is to find minis on thingiverse.com open the stl files in Blender, and export images to use.

If you are unfamiliar with either, thingiverse is a site for free 3d models, Blender is a free, powerful 3d editing software.

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought about!

How would you go about having a front and back images?

An annoying problem I ran into while playing around with Heroforge is that there is no shortcut to rotate the model exactly 180 degrees on the x- and y-axis. That means it will be quite difficult to get an exact matching front-and-back shot of the model. I'm quite perfectionist in that regard, so it triggers me :P

I've never used them. They look better though than using the paper ones with white backgrounds.

I've got a good trick for the paper ones with white backgrounds. If you outline them with a permanent black marker, then cut them out as much as possible, they actually look pretty good on the table. Best if they're printed on gloss paper too (or sprayed with gloss sealant).

Providing you're printing them yourself, I've got a better trick:

Open the image in your favourite image processor software. Photoshop, Gimp, Krita, etc

Create a new layer

Copy the image to the new layer and fill it with black (only the copy on the new layer)

Color select that now black image

Hit grow and give it as many pixels as you want

Now go to fill and fill the selection with black.

Move this layer below the original one.

Now create a new transparent layer above the black figure

Change to the original image layer

Select the white background and cut it (if it's a png if not you need to copy to a transparent layer before being able to do so.)

Now copy and paste that image in the layer below

while still selected fill that with white. Any holes you see that were created by cutting out the white have to be filled by hand.

Once the white is finished you can proceed to export your image, now it has a thick black outline.
Quote from: Rhedyn

Here is why this forum tends to be so stupid. Many people here think Joe Biden is "The Left", when he is actually Far Right and every US republican is just an idiot.

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

― George Orwell

mudbanks

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Re: Arcknight Flat Plastic Miniatures
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2022, 10:25:03 PM »
That's a pretty good idea, thanks! I'll try that with Heroforge stuff.