2011 ~ Top Topics

Only five days left on the Kickstarter project!

7:47 AM

A huge THANK YOU! to all the project supporters.

You can see the project HERE

I sent the files off to have the masters made last week, so we could try to get a head start.

We only have five days left on the project, if you would like to participate, your support is greatly appreciated. Although the project is funded, roughly $2000.00 will still be coming from my personal funds. I would need to reach roughly $7700 in total project pledges to be completely in the black.

Thank you for looking and for your support!

Mark Mondragon

Some changes to the production miniatures.

2:13 PM

Looking around the web, the most common suggestions, complaints, what have you, is that the figure appears top heavy. Rightfully so, this is caused by the legs not being true to scale and the shoulders being too wide.

The arms and shoulders need to clear the chest projections so that you can pose the figure, I can however make some changes to the arms and changes to the legs so that the figure has a much more “correct” form.

After polling my project supporters, there was a strong consensus that we use the more “correctly” scaled miniature for the final production models.

I would like to extend a heart-felt thank you to all the supporters that have graciously given to make this project a reality.

Although we have met and exceeded to project goal, I would like to encourage you to take part in the project. The cost to manufacture the prototypes and make the molds has still not been fully paid for. The project will need to reach roughly $7300.00 to be in the black and completely self-supporting.

If you have been on the fence, I hope you view the new more correctly scaled miniatures with favor and help fully fund the project.

Thank you for looking and for your support!

I hope you enjoy the changes.
All the best!
Mark-

New plastic minis!

Metal minis

Eisenkern Trooper Kickstarter Project and actual prototypes!

2:00 PM

Well folks, I need your help. If you enjoy my models and would like to see this product line launch, please head on over to Kickstarter and add your support to the project.

If you're not familiar with the Kickstarter model, the way it works is you receive a reward for an accompanying pledge in support of my project. The more you pledge the better the rewards and the greater contribution you will make to this and future projects. Your positive participation will help a small independent company to grow and thrive and you gain the satisfaction of knowing you made this happen.

And what you have been waiting for....Here are a few shots of the actual prototypes for the Kriegsmarine and Sturmtruppen soldiers.

NEW PLASTIC STORMTROOPERS

New plastic figures proportion change and scale change (above) nothing went untouched for the new plastic line, the size scale and proportions were refined on every component!

These will be produced as lead free pewter miniatures.

Project rewards you say? You betcha!

A closer look at some of the rewards.

Although they did not make it into the Kickstater project... here is a tease of the accessory packs that will be available separately.

I hope to see you there and thank you for your support!

A question of scale “True-32”

1:38 PM

Indulge me in a slight rant.

Please be aware the new plastic line is 31 mm to the eye of a FULLY ERECT figure, posed, they range from 28-29.75mm to the center of the eye. As the bases are thinner than most, the figures are roughly the same height as most of the major manufacturers.

-Example of scale comp-

The subject of scale is one that many sculptors wrestle with, I am no acceptation. The use of digital technology to sculpt a miniature provides a certain amount of freedom, the miniature looks the same to me at 15mm or 50mm scale, I can make last minute adjustments on the fly and scale the miniature to my heart’s content.

Ultimately, gamers want miniatures that look right with their other minis from manufacturer A, B or C. This is not as easy as it sounds. Place a true scale 28mm mini next to many manufacturers product and it will look small and emaciated by comparison. The whole 28mm scale convention is garbage if you ask me. Scale creep has made it useless and “heroic” scale doubly so.
I like my miniatures to be fairly well proportioned, at least looking like they could actually be humans in armor. With this in mind, I settled on 32mm scale (A man standing upright is 32mm to the eyes). I jokingly called my miniature 3B scale, “3 Bears Scale”, not too large, not too small… just right :) A nod to Goldilockss and the three bears

I call them True-32. This may be a slight misnomer, as some proportions such as shoulder width have been slightly bumped but the vast majority of the figure is a reasonable approximation of true human proportions.

“WHAT? 32mm scale? But that’s too large to work with my other minis!”

Yes and no… They are very slightly taller 33.5 total height from foot to top of head, but the proportions work well with most miniature lines and when they are in a pose that is not completely erect; they scale very well by comparison.

Here is one example of a 32mm Strumtruppen next to a “heroic” scale. You can see the arm and leg length look comparable and the body mass works well. Will this be true when compared to true 28mm scale figs? Sadly no… they will be too tall and slightly too thick by comparison. If I was making miniatures for the historic gamer, I would take a VERY different approach. As many of the Sci-fi games have opted for 32mm true scale or “28 heroic scale, I.e. 32mm with 34mm heads, hands and feet” I needed to make my decision based on what the customers overwhelmingly demand. I choose 32mm true scale. It satisfies my need for some sense of proportion while allowing the miniature to be used alongside the vast majority of Sci-fi and Weird Wars games.

New plasic minis!

One moment please…. We are experiencing technical difficulty….

12:48 PM

As a Dakkite pointed out, I had the legs on the cannon backwards. I was thinking about the old wheeled gun carriage when I put the single leg to the rear. These are aimed turned by turning the complete carriage.

As this is a pintle mount it would have fallen over when shot with this configuration :- P It’s always good to have another set of eyes on these things…

Here you can see the revised model and gunner position.

Fleshing out the unit choices

6:44 PM

Now that the basic troopers are completed, I will turn to fleshing out the other troop choices.

The basic unit org. will have:
·         Riflemen (done)
·         Support weapons (SAW) (done)
·         Grenadier (done)
·         Weapons specialist (Sniper) (done)
·         Medic
·         Communications
·         Forward observer
·         Command (officers)

Here we have a heavy support AT weapon (PAC38 Short) with a coaxial MG53

Here you can see the mods for Support (SAW) and Grenadier.

Making a good miniature even better

2:52 PM

Mark over at Dropship Horizon once said, “To hell with your fluff, tell me a story with your miniature” That stuck with me. Having built my fair share of 1:35 scale dioramas, I completely agree with the statement.

Here we have a Sturmtruppen but how can I tell a story with a miniature?

Options!, lots of poses and accessories to make each miniature unique. Let’s start with how the miniature breaks down. Having separate heads arms and chest will allow you a great deal of freedom when posing each model.

Here are six leg poses, I can mirror many of these and easily come up with ten different leg poses.

Here are some weapon options, some hip fired some shoulder fired and some are both.

Here is an accessory pack, LOADS of options to customize your unit. Arm raised in halt, throwing a grenade, pointing, double gunning with pistols or SMG’s. Hand replacement options for knife fights, carrying rifles, ammo boxes, etc. Items such as pistol holsters, combat knifes, ammo pouches and med-packs.

All of this will cost a fair amount of cash….I will be going to print with a few samples and starting a Kickstarter project to help funding
Kickstarter is a tool for creative types to get start-up funding; almost like a crowd sourced venture capital system, a great way to get a little cash infusion for a starting venture. You, as a participant will receive a discount on the miniatures, but more importantly, you will be supporting a small indie company to succeed.

When I have a master in hand I will announce the project and provide a link. I hope to see you there and I look forward to your support. When will all this happen? ASAP! I will be sending out to have a single Strumtruppen and Kriegsmarine printed, so that I have something to show you the quality of the actual miniature. Unlike the Leviathan, these will be white metal and should be very quick to turn around from a master model to production metal minis.

All the best!

Mark-