Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 3: Downloading Models
So, you've got your 3D printer set up and understand the basics of preparing a file to print, so now you just need some thing to print. If you're like me, you're pretty intimidated by the idea of buying a bunch (like the 30-100 needed to run a tabletop campaign) of $3-$20 miniatures and then promptly ruining them with a terrible paint job. That's why I 3D print - so that I can ruin a $0.50 piece of plastic that I can just print again!
So, how do you get your model to print? Well, there's a few options. I'd recommend starting with Hero Forge, which has a nice interface that allows you to build your own hero from a huge library of parts. It's really fun to play around with, looking at the options and seeing how nicely everything fits together. I just have two complaints: the models can be challenging to print and they're expensive.
The models that you make on Hero Forge look gorgeous, but it's up to us and our creativity to figure out how to print them (unless I want to spend the extra to have it professionally printed, but that's the sort of thing that drove me away from miniatures in the first place!). All of those fine details and protruding bits are challenging, to say the least. Fortunately, there is a strong community devoted to 3D printed minis on reddit, so there's help available. In parts 5 & 6 of this series, I'll write about what I've learned, too!
My other complaint is the price of the models. Downloading a model costs $10 (at least, as of this writing), which adds up quick when you're looking at printing a bunch of NPCs for a game. Fortunately, there are other options.
The first other option is Desktop Hero 3D. Desktop Hero is a free, open source, community driven equivalent to Hero Forge, and it comes across as a free, open source, community driven equivalent to Hero Forge. The models aren't always spectacular and the parts don't always line up right and it's not always easy to find the parts that you really want... basically, I haven't had a lot of success with it to date. Of course, since the community is constantly working on improving it, it's very possible that it'll become an awesome solution in the future!
There's another good option, though: download models from Thingiverse or Shapeways. These sites are repositories of 3D models that people have made publically available, generally under some form of Creative Commons license. Specifically, there's a guy named Miguel Zavala (he uses mz4250 as his handle) who is both a DM and a 3D modeller. He's been modelling all of the monsters from various D&D books so that he can use them in his campaigns. Then, he's good enough to upload them so that we can all benefit from his hard work! He has literally hundreds (if not thousands) of models that he's uploaded to the two sites (WoTC asked him to only put their trademarked monsters on Shapeways, for whatever reason).
So, if you're getting started with 3D printing miniatures, I'd suggest browsing through Miguel's work and using it as a launchpad. Some of the models print really well as is, and others need all sorts of support material or cutting tricks to print successfully (which is a great opportunity to learn some finer points of 3D printing). After you've gotten a handle on the finer details of printing miniatures, it might be worth buying a Hero Forge model or even making something yourself!
Articles in this series (to be updated with links as the posts are written):
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 1: Modeling Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 2: Printing Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 3: Downloading Models
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 4: Cutting Basics
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 5: Cutting and Supporting a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 6: Slicing a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 7: Finishing and Painting a 3D Print
So, how do you get your model to print? Well, there's a few options. I'd recommend starting with Hero Forge, which has a nice interface that allows you to build your own hero from a huge library of parts. It's really fun to play around with, looking at the options and seeing how nicely everything fits together. I just have two complaints: the models can be challenging to print and they're expensive.
The models that you make on Hero Forge look gorgeous, but it's up to us and our creativity to figure out how to print them (unless I want to spend the extra to have it professionally printed, but that's the sort of thing that drove me away from miniatures in the first place!). All of those fine details and protruding bits are challenging, to say the least. Fortunately, there is a strong community devoted to 3D printed minis on reddit, so there's help available. In parts 5 & 6 of this series, I'll write about what I've learned, too!
My other complaint is the price of the models. Downloading a model costs $10 (at least, as of this writing), which adds up quick when you're looking at printing a bunch of NPCs for a game. Fortunately, there are other options.
The first other option is Desktop Hero 3D. Desktop Hero is a free, open source, community driven equivalent to Hero Forge, and it comes across as a free, open source, community driven equivalent to Hero Forge. The models aren't always spectacular and the parts don't always line up right and it's not always easy to find the parts that you really want... basically, I haven't had a lot of success with it to date. Of course, since the community is constantly working on improving it, it's very possible that it'll become an awesome solution in the future!
There's another good option, though: download models from Thingiverse or Shapeways. These sites are repositories of 3D models that people have made publically available, generally under some form of Creative Commons license. Specifically, there's a guy named Miguel Zavala (he uses mz4250 as his handle) who is both a DM and a 3D modeller. He's been modelling all of the monsters from various D&D books so that he can use them in his campaigns. Then, he's good enough to upload them so that we can all benefit from his hard work! He has literally hundreds (if not thousands) of models that he's uploaded to the two sites (WoTC asked him to only put their trademarked monsters on Shapeways, for whatever reason).
So, if you're getting started with 3D printing miniatures, I'd suggest browsing through Miguel's work and using it as a launchpad. Some of the models print really well as is, and others need all sorts of support material or cutting tricks to print successfully (which is a great opportunity to learn some finer points of 3D printing). After you've gotten a handle on the finer details of printing miniatures, it might be worth buying a Hero Forge model or even making something yourself!
Articles in this series (to be updated with links as the posts are written):
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 1: Modeling Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 2: Printing Software
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 3: Downloading Models
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 4: Cutting Basics
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 5: Cutting and Supporting a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 6: Slicing a Mini
Getting Started with 3D Printed Minis, Part 7: Finishing and Painting a 3D Print
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