What a month!

Wow that was hard…

Due to rota escalations, de-escalations and a few minor cock-ups Der H has just finished 18 consecutive days working. (Brother Handro: “What’s my excuse!?”)

Hobby has occurred, but less than usual.

What have we been up to?

The ZM campaign progress continues, Brother Handro has pushed on with his Imperial Fists:

Whilst Der H has broken the back of the building for his Breacher Bonanza of Iron Warriors:

A little 3D printing later has a squad of Heavy Destroyers from the Mournival Events book magnetised to be regular terminators:

Zone Mortalis doors, a long coveted item, have also been sourced - HB-3D skills FTW:

The prints need tidying up, but they work!

Changes to Astartes

Previously, Der H made some 3D parts for the Retributors from the independent animation “Astartes”. For those that haven’t seen it, (Der H: “…and why not!”) please go and check it out. This is a great move toward GW embracing the fans who flesh out the world, and potentially a move away from “mobilise the legal team” (Brother Handro: “give em hell!”). Also that Iron Warrior looks awesome!

Weapons available here and the Sphere available here. These were both quite popular, with 144 and 41 downloads respectively.

Since the change from Independent to being part of the Warhammer Communtiy page here Der H received a message on thingiverse asking for some new parts:

Do you have any other Retributors models from the Astartes shorts?

I'm planning a Retributors Kill Team/Combat Patrol squad and there are still a few parts that I can find for it. Like the Knife, Helmet variant, Backpack and the Storage Pack that the spikes that are stabbed into the orb are stored in.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

Its a Glorious day....

Some time ago, Der H started work on a Gloriana class for BFG. The project went on a bit, was very large and (Brother Handro: “…as is tradition…”) didn’t get finished….

…until today.

This is my take WIP on the Gloriana class from 30k lore. I’ve made two hull versions, two engine versions, and a range of prows - some specific to certain legions, others are generic.

Weapon systems are all currently imperial; Batteries, cannons, launch bays and lances.

I do have a WIP of a hull with launch bays along its dorsal ridge.

I chose the armaments based on the rules available on Facebook by J Mckenzie - a really nice ruleset for the Gloriana class.

This is very much a beta for these models - lots of conversion so lots of opportunity for mesh errors - please comment and leave feedback!

Hull VS and Prow VS are for the Vengeful spirit and fit better together! Engines should work for both - please let me know if there are alignment issues!

Thanks to MK Hand and Italian moose for parts as always, and please do give feedback - it will help make this into a fully fledged model.

Thingiverse files

Cults3D files

What would people like to see:

• Chaos weapon systems?

• Mechanicum prows/parts?

• Cargo parts - mass conveyor style?

• Custom prows?

Digital Kitbashing, AKA Procrastination with 3D Builder

A big part of Hobby Butterflies 3D (Brother Handro “Buy now to avoid disappointment”) is digital kitbashing. Ive used this term before, but today I’ll show my latest examples, what it is useful for, and things it isn’t useful for…I’ll even go through the process…

For this round I will use a recent request from Alpharius Omegon (on instagram) he has recently printed a 300% version of the Karnath Class Grand Cruiser (Brother Handro “wait…3up BFG is a thing?!”). He writes:

The three in question have no models on cults 3D or Thingiverse at present, so why not! The process starts with finding similar design features on other files available - in this case, there are a range of excellent STL files from Kybynn, Mkhand and Italian Moose - FYI the latter are generally the best source of STL files for BFG, as their stuff is well designed, and prints beautifully.

The files I used were the Idolator Raider, Infidel Raider, Chaos destroyer and the Chaos raiding ships; the latter provided the majority of parts!

The end result is quite effective. Clearly the angle of the prow isn’t perfect, but my skills don’t lie in creating curved shapes. These files are up for download on either Cults 3D or Thingiverse, and the individual links can be found below:

How to do it!

Of course…I forgot to use any of them for a worked example…so I figured I’d make something completely new - a chaos transport ship!

The Idolator serves as a very nice base for the model. The split tool is nearly always the first step!

The Split tool starts with a 0 degree angle in each dimension, meaning it cuts horizontally. A quick 90 degree turn will let us cut out the middle section…in default “keep top” or “keep bottom” mode we’d lose half the model. Instead, we move to keep both…

Positioning is key, usually this can be by eye, but we can adjust it by mm (and fractions of!) if needed, as we shall see later.

Often after cutting a part will become invalid - 3D builder is pretty good at repairs!

One more snip and we have removed the gun decks!

One of my favourite files is a Transport builder - it isn’t really a builder, but it is a repository of parts for escort-sized transport ships. I love it because I can build any transport combination i want pretty quickly, export and print to my desires! It also includes my re-imagining of the old OOP Forgeworld Imperial Transports (Der H: “See…I do make some of my own stuff!”)

Whilst lining up I spot a fault with my cutting…no matter. Using the split tool again, we can drag it to the rear most part of that single part (The prow in this case!). This gives us how many mm from the middle of that part…

Here the subtle adjustment from 9.14mm from centre to 9.1mm is enough to cut the residual piece off.

The first draft

Here we have the first draft. Its a good opportunity to take a look at the model and see what looks good, and what doesn’t!

For me, the cargo portion is too tall, and the towers too tall and too even. Many Chaos ships have alternating high/low antennae…two easy fixes. First the underside, and the return of the split tool!

The lower part can now be re-scaled - without maintaining aspect ratio - to squash it down (up?)

Next is the antennae. They now look even taller! This uses the split tool, then the ungroup tool. The upper portion that is split counts as one part. Ungrouping allows manipulation of just the 2nd and 4th spire.

At this point a group and merge of the parts that make up the cargo section is vital - this section is now 6 parts, with internal surfaces!

The Second Draft

I still wasn’t happy - the even number of spires meant it didn’t sit right to my eye! No matter! I quick duplication and cut (I know, I just merged the central section!) allowed the addition of an additional short tower section to the front.

A quick movement, ensuring the front snaps to alignment, allows an overlap of the parts to give a nice clean finish…

The finished article

After I’m happy, we select all, hit merge and save the STL for uploading/testing. This ship was knocked together pretty quickly, so isn’t built from anything…just my imagination! It is available here, and might get some friends if I feel so inclined!

Next up I want to make some terrain, perhaps minefields, stations, gun batteries, and perhaps a set of system ships! Watch this space!

HB-3D: Escort madness!

Der H: “An hour to kill on a Saturday….guess Ill make some escorts!”

There was a comment on one of the BFG facebook groups recently about the lack of Chaos transports…This can not continue!

honestly, anything that's cool/modular but not a ship itself - or even the smaller system ships/ships we rarely see. Lots and lots of escorts and Cruisers have already been built/rebuilt. What we need are chaotic system ships, chaotic fireships, Eldar mines, Eldar transports, etc. Less of the "Standards".

My Transport Builder has been online for a little while now, and it gives a range of parts for various ships, but I hadn’t realised the Q-Ships, Armed Freighters, escort carriers and similar did not yet have dedicated models. Eldar transport have two beautiful option here and here.

On Monday ill be posting a blog post to describe the process of 3D Kitbashing, but for now take a look at the range of new creations for BFG on Cults3d or Thingiverse.

Of particular note are the Chaos transports: there are two versions of each of standard and fuel Transport and Heavy transport, Troop & Heavy Troop and armed freighter.

In addition there is a Q-Ship, a Fireship, an escort carrier and an armed freighter!

I plan on working on some mines, some Chaos Fireships, a Chaos escort carrier - different from the Insanity Class - and perhaps some small system ships….but lets see what happens…

…oh….and this is a thing….

Patreon Review: Grimdark Terrain

Its no secret that Der H loves a good Patreon (Brother Handro: “Dont get him started on Kickstarter!”) and we thought we’d share his most recent indulgence…

Der H recently found his way back into Titanicus (Der H: “I wonder why…”) and as such began trawling for information. Der H also enjoys podcasts, and the Eye of Horus: Engine Kill is no different. Episode 13 dropped on Monday, and included a nice chat with a German chap called Rudolf! AKA Bronco Fish AKA GrimDark Terrain

First off; check our the Instagram pages via the links above - some gorgeous work by Rudolf, and the EoH guys for that matter!

Secondly; check out the awesomeness of the Patreon…

The content so far is amazing! Der H signed up and has just printed the wagons (Der H: “5 so far!”) and has trains, pylons and more on the way.

For our needs, Brother Handro put it best…

…and the Siege of Grandia, with agri-fields, torn up by trenches, craters, broken pylons and the ruined Grandia Grain Train line will make an excellent board for our Legios to battle over.

Please check out GrimDark Terrain:

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HB-3D

“Yea, so we make 3D stuff now…”

Back in March of 2020 (Brother Handro: “As if that is nearly a year ago…”) Der H bought a 3D printer….this is clearly not in line with the plan to paint things, rather than build things. What printer?…

…an Elegoo Mars of course (Just like everyone else!)

This thing is a beauty; easy to use, and affordable. Since then there have been two updates, namely the Mars Pro and the Mars 2. Lots of quality of life features but a very similar user experience!

Everyone starts with the rook! There is one hell of a learning curve though - hence the sub-par cleaning here! Over the next month or so I will be doing a few guides, reviews, or thoughts on 3D printing to help those new to the art, and direct your attentions to far more knowledgeable people than us!

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This post isn’t going to cover ‘how to do it’, (Der H “That might follow!”) but instead is here to introduce our (Brother Handro: “well, your…”) latest attempts to avoid painting: The Hobby Butterflies 3D, or HB-3D for short!

Our creations are available on Thingiverse or on Cults 3D, all for free (Der H “For now….Bwahahah!”) and all files should be on each site - for your convenience! Although I’m not a great digital sculptor, I have a knack for 3D kitbashing (Der H: “note that down for a future article!!”) and making things that perhaps don’t exist anymore, with a few golden oldies below!

Below is a teaser of what we offer, between a few categories!

Battlefleet Gothic/Battlefleet Heresy

BFG (and now BFH) is the thing that got my back into playing tabletop wargames (Brother Handro: “Wasn’t it technically Space Hulk…” Der H “Don’t say its name! It can hear you….”) and was the topic of a few early posts. Over on Facebook there a few groups and a particular document call the Additional Ships Compendium v2.0 (ASC v2.0) by the great Evan…stoked to see some gorgeous ships that didn’t yet exists I thought….I can make those…the result was the Tempest Class Strike Frigate and the Governor Class Grand Cruiser. Since then I’ve made a number for BFG ships, and even some old OOP FW models…

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40k and 30K

Our main game is of course 30k, with some 40k dalliances, and so I have started making a few parts to suit those lines…not much yet, but more to come!

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Other Stuff - AKA Blood and Plunder!

Some stuff just doesn’t fit into any one box…mostly because its for pirate games! This sculpt is the distraction/decoy made by Captain Aubrey in the film Master and Commander. No rules in game (Der H “But seriously check out Blood and Plunder….it’s amazing!) but we'll find a use for it!

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Out of print - Back from the dead!

Some of my designs are my take on OOP designs from a certain large company. These are across a few systems, but are there to try and support our hobby and fill the gap left by their loss. I’m hoping to get more designs in this category going forward!

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