activation email

[Fenris08]

Hey everyone, I just posted in the introduction page as well but figured I should save these questions for here.

I am brand new and have some ideas that I am asking your opinion on. I will try and break it up in to sections so it isn't a wall of text:

Armor Material: biggest question in 3d printed resin vs metal - I want something hard for the armor and helmet.
- I assume metal is a bit heavier but more resilient?
- Any difference in trying to paint the material?
- Metal will also be much harder to modify I suppose?
Any other things to consider?

Paint Scheme:
- My initial thought and excitement was to paint the helmet with an animal skull or face on it - similar to some hockey masks. Has anyone had any luck pulling this off? I have seen the "executioner" style helmet that looks great with a humanoid skull, but wouldn't work so well for canine or lizard with a longer snout. Please share if you have done this however, curious to see!
- One of my either ideas I am curious about - has anyone done a "marbled" effect on armor? I have seen it work beautifully on a smaller scale but curious if it will either be too busy or too bland, but not quite right.
- Final paint question - is shading worth it? I am used to painting miniatures in which shading to bring out depth is very important, is this also true for this full scale armor?

Any other thoughts to consider for a first-timer? I am very excited to get going but want to make sure my ideas aren't too crazy.
Thanks much!

[A Foundling]

From experience, metal isn't too much harder to modify. I haven't done it myself, but a lot of people have had animal faces on their buckets, or you could just make the bucket the actual skull of the animal and make it an early crusader helmet. . Full scale armour is full scale, so generally people will just leave it because it  just shows up without extra work. Up to you though. Other things would be to check the tutorials board, and read through the CRLs. Things like Modifying Nerf Guns (If that's the route you go) can be really helpful from the tutorial boards, and check the CRLs so you know you aren't doing anything that's not approvable.

[Ori Dart]

You'll probably have more issues modifying an already printed bit of armour vs. metal armour. There's a few here who sell metal armour and it's essentially the same as from a car hood or door panel - 22 gauge steel - and it bends just fine. My previous (almost) kit was all metal and it wasn't too bad. If you go metal, just make sure your flak vest is made from heavier material to prevent the plates from sagging.

To paint it, just give it a good sanding to rough up the surface using high-grit paper.

[Zul Veyrde]

Hey Fenris,

Sorry I haven't posted until now.
I am also from DE and I'm coming back from a long hiatus. We have a small group of  DE (mostly lower state) recruits who are currently in varied states of activity. I've sort of been serving as de facto "leader" or guide of the group over the past couple of years or so.

As per your questions. I'll try to help answer as best I can:

Armor Material: biggest question in 3d printed resin vs metal - I want something hard for the armor and helmet.
- I assume metal is a bit heavier but more resilient?
- Any difference in trying to paint the material?
- Metal will also be much harder to modify I suppose?
Any other things to consider?

I think Ori Dart is pretty on point with this answer:

You'll probably have more issues modifying an already printed bit of armour vs. metal armour. There's a few here who sell metal armour and it's essentially the same as from a car hood or door panel - 22 gauge steel - and it bends just fine. My previous (almost) kit was all metal and it wasn't too bad. If you go metal, just make sure your flak vest is made from heavier material to prevent the plates from sagging.

I have a medium-coverage kit that is ALL metal (chest, diamonds, ab, shoulders, backplate, collar, cod, thighs, knees, shins, and boot plates). The maker is K'raam Xraati here on the boards. I've had this kit for over 7 years and it has been beat to heck! Many of the parts, like the  collar, diamond and backplate have all been modified and had greeblies and bits securely added on over the years. (Some bits have lasted more than others but the ARMOR Plates themselves have never failed )

Paint Scheme:
- My initial thought and excitement was to paint the helmet with an animal skull or face on it - similar to some hockey masks. Has anyone had any luck pulling this off? I have seen the "executioner" style helmet that looks great with a humanoid skull, but wouldn't work so well for canine or lizard with a longer snout. Please share if you have done this however, curious to see!
- One of my either ideas I am curious about - has anyone done a "marbled" effect on armor? I have seen it work beautifully on a smaller scale but curious if it will either be too busy or too bland, but not quite right.
- Final paint question - is shading worth it? I am used to painting miniatures in which shading to bring out depth is very important, is this also true for this full scale armor?

Any other thoughts to consider for a first-timer? I am very excited to get going but want to make sure my ideas aren't too crazy.
Thanks much!

Awwww maaan... this one's tough!
I say do your research on a variety of paint techniques and options. See what works/doesn't.
Take your time.
Have fun!

Feel free to find me on FB here:

https://www.facebook.com/zul.veyrde

and I can add you to our FB Group.

See ya around!

[Kurshi BeJahaal]

Armor material is entirely up to you. I have 3mm Sintra for all of my armor (except knees) and it's held up for 50+ troops with no problems. 6mm is a bit more durable though. I'd stay away from 3D printing your collar and chest plates though. Shaping and trimming will be really difficult unless you can get both of those things right straight from the printer.

Things like gauntlets and knees do well being printed though. Same with helmets. I think resin or 3D print would do just fine for your bucket. Sintra, ABS and metal are typically what we see being used for a majority of the armor, though.

I don't have much suggestions on the animal skull paint, but I will suggest skipping the shading on your actual armor. Being a large, moving, 3D object, you're going to have natural shading depending on your lighting. To artificially add it might be weird.

However, I highly recommend adding depth to your weathering!

Also, the marbling idea sounds neat but I'm not sure how that would look on a large scale. If you could do a practice or a test piece, that might help for us to get a visual!