Shapeway's Anti Spam

So Shapeway's anti spam system is blocking me verytime i try to share links. Yeah great.

Shoulder pads set 1

http://www.shapeways.com/product/UKNKEEH6Q/deathwatch-tartaros-set-1?key=fa17fccdd77a1b33fc599ec779688609

Shoulder pads set 2

http://www.shapeways.com/product/TX4KNPPQA/deathwatch-tartaros-set-2?key=9da7c5350556d16275cf46d20e0b9bdc

Shoulder pads set 3

http://www.shapeways.com/product/VXVYRFXNL/deathwatch-tartaros-set-3?key=10db04f882845e9ecebf7aa5abc1a20a

Well a lot has happened and I've gotten a bunch a accomplished in spite of it.
I'm sad to say I had a pair of funerals over the course of August and September and am just now recovering from it.  It's hard losing a grandparent and a friend of 20 years but they are in a better place.

Continuing my work projects I've updated several models to both add sprues and improve older designs.  Some of these where very plane and simple models but several I had to reconstruct. Back in 2012 I had a hard drive die which lost me a lot of master models. Several of these models were initially made back then and I've had to download the shapeways stl file and rebuilt the master model from it. This is a tedious and time consuming process only slightly faster than scratch building the models.

Models updated generally have their handles replaced with more detailed designs. As well as a general up-scaling to be more in keeping with modern 28mm wargames. I wonder when GW will just start calling their models 32mm.  Anyway there are a lot of updates so here they are.

New
This is a blade I designed some years ago and just never uploaded for some reason. I cleaned it up and added it to my products list. Nothing fancy just a sort of Warmahords weapon design.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/ATAW329NB/blade1-001a-mk2

New Shoulder Pad patterns.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/NH72U85SK/rimless-chinese-narrow-plate-001a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/7TH2WLRJY/rimmed-chinese-narrow-plate-001a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/5AQLDFWNT/rimless-chinese-four-plates-001a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/3DY72U5W2/rimmed-chinese-four-plates-001a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/E5QBTE9AW/rimmed-chinese-wide-plate-001a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/WWXTQALL2/rimless-chinese-wide-plate-001a

Updated
Updated my Dadao
https://www.shapeways.com/product/E2VZEUZ8K/dadao-sword-1stl
updated Falcata (SM scout size)
https://www.shapeways.com/product/7R965UC6R/techno-falcata-x5
updated falcata slightly larger (full SM size)
https://www.shapeways.com/product/QD4ZQTQN8/techno-falcata-scaled-125-02a
Updated Kopis (SM scout size
https://www.shapeways.com/product/JZXWYHCX3/techno-kopis-x5
Kopis slightly larger (full SM size)
https://www.shapeways.com/product/K4QZ5EVJW/techno-kopis-scaled-125-02a
techno Kukri
https://www.shapeways.com/product/E4R4VG2CV/techno-kukri-x10
Techno Gladius, designed for custodes conversions, these are basically in scale with standard marines.  I had to completely scratch build a new master because the originals were destroyed.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/VGT6G5LGS/techno-gladius-x5
The guardian spear was originally described as a laser so I made this laser design. I really like it but its expensive being roughly 90mm long.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/R3X45JGD5/guardian-spear-x5
Spear 1 was designed as a rough rider type weapon for a friends IG he ordered 1 set and never again LOL. The spears are super long, 80 to 90mm, so I might shrink them later but I like their designs as is for now.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/HCAY4RK72/techno-spear-001a-x5
Spear 2, the dragon slayer... designed after a description of Finn MacCool's weapon.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/HFLEBR4YN/techno-spear-002a-x5
Spear 3, I briefly had the idea to make a custom army called the golden legion which would use some fantasy bits. These comet bladed spears would have been a weapon for them. Still cool.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/4FPMBFZ3W/techno-spear-003a-x5
Spear 4, a flambrige style power spear. I designed this a long time ago and wasn't able to completely rebuild the master.  I might scratch build it with a new design later.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/89ZJAZ9AT/spear-004b-x5
Tai Chi sword
https://www.shapeways.com/product/WN35M3VTS/tai-chi-sword-1stl
power tai chi sword
https://www.shapeways.com/product/E3LDY4TJ8/techno-tai-chi-sword-5up
Power Dao
https://www.shapeways.com/product/7QCA9R62L/techno-dao-5up
Power Guan Dao
https://www.shapeways.com/product/BFPQDV4WC/techno-guan-dao-5up
Corrected the katana
https://www.shapeways.com/product/HPAVWQQ2Q/techno-katana-1-mk2
Katana set uploaded.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/GGQ9HHP2L/mk1-techno-katana-set
Pole scimitar, designed for an emperor's children player I know. Could work for white scars but I've designed better things for them since.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/5D5QJLQXM/pole-scimitar-001a
Scimitar to go with the pole scimitar above.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/A8JVCTALD/scimitar-001a
Bitchslap of the Empra
https://www.shapeways.com/product/FDH6GNP6L/hand-of-da-empra
Chain talwar, designed for white scars
https://www.shapeways.com/product/8DHTY8YAX/techno-chain-talwar-5up
Power talwar, also for white scars
https://www.shapeways.com/product/C8NNU4R2U/techno-talwar-5up
Macuahuitl
https://www.shapeways.com/product/WAFHCPEW7/techno-macuahuitl-x5
Updated Techno Power Wrench Thing with more detail and thicker design.  I need to revisit my angry marines versions of these.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/93QY4V5HV/techno-wrench-x5
Update of my chaos double bited power axe.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/WZPMJQ73V/techno-power-axe-of-corn-x5
Updated version of the double chain axe, super proud of the new version's new design.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/APKRUZUXZ/techno-chain-axe-of-corn-002a-x5
Updated clean Kopesh
https://www.shapeways.com/product/32CTSA34M/techno-kopesh-x5
Updated version of my Evil Kopesh
https://www.shapeways.com/product/EGWSTX3Q7/techno-kopesh-evil-002a-mk2-x5

Halo Stuff
Halo battle rifle
https://www.shapeways.com/product/4M7L2HG4Y/rifle-001a
Halo pistol
https://www.shapeways.com/product/QW5GTDH83/halo-pistol-001a
Halo Shotgun
https://www.shapeways.com/product/F69MUPMHC/shotgun-001a
Covenant Plasma Pistol
https://www.shapeways.com/product/4TGXNN7JG/plasma-pistol-001a
Covenant plasma rifle
https://www.shapeways.com/product/Y5GAFY769/plasma-rifle-001a
Covenant Shard rifle
https://www.shapeways.com/product/JS8MR22K5/shard-rifle-001a

Uploading New Models

In the process of adding sprues to my models I've designed several new templates for components and updated old models for better functionality.

Banners
After a few prints of my angry marines banners I've worked out a few better processes for making banners. The surface has less polygons and the folds of the banners are less pronounced. In exchange a better relief on the surface. This lets me stack addon icons to make more detailed surfaces to aid painting.  I've made a total of 10 banner templates, here are two blank banners. I'll upload the others as I finish surface addons for them.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/DKCT2J666/blank-banner-v4-banner-02-mk4
https://www.shapeways.com/product/7RH8G6JN3/blank-banner-v6-banner-02-mk4

Storm Shields
Some time ago I designed some round storm sheilds for a few people. The consensus was that they were to small.  This was mostly caused by me using incorrect measurements based on very old metal terminators from the early 90s.  I've updated those measurements and made new templates for round storm shields. When I get time I also want to make the Greek cross shaped shields I really love and probably variants of the tower shields equipped by sigmarines.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/8HM5H57EB/blank-shield-002a


Shoulders
My collection of shoulder pad templates has grown extensively lately. I went from 5 templates with various addon parts to roughly 30 designs.  Shoulder pads below are a broad sampling.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/666MTLHWZ/blank-mk1-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/4HNFQSHWJ/blank-mk2-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/SWW4RPMWQ/blank-mk3-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/R9KGKXJWZ/blank-mk4-rivited-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/7XTLP8JLG/blank-mk6-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/3J8C2A7SX/blank-mk7-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/3BCRDXK7A/blank-mk10-basic-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/6U9MZG6TK/blank-mk16-damocles-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/G76DY5PNY/blank-champion-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/5BK93FLUF/blank-chevron-rimless-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/53Q6UQDND/blank-chevron-rimmed-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/PQ9NZD3AT/blank-arch-rimmed-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/UECUPY9J9/blank-sons-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/BFUELWBET/blank-evil-rimmed-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/9QNANV5S7/blank-evil-rivet-rimmed-shoulders-rebuilt-008a

Terminators
After literally 15000 points of Blood Angels I've decided I'd like to do something smaller with models I can't field otherwise.  So I'm planning an Alpha Legion army. Well not really Alpha Legion exactly. I'm intending to build them as loyalists so it will be a bit weird.  A few classic marines, likely Mk3 because they are the best in my opinion.  A bunch of Reivers and Scouts with a landspeeder storm converted from really old landspeeders. A group of berserkers as Legion of the damned. A small group of terminators, in the cataphtractii and tartaros patterns and a set of Centurions converted as Exo Armor Terminators.  Anyway, to that end here are shoulders for all those terminators.

Note: Cataphractii and Tartaros shoulder pads have a distinct front so they've been separated into left and right.  I might go back and convert them into sets with 5 left and 5 rights but it is easier in my workflow to do them all as sets of 10 identical shoulders.  Gravis shoulders likewise have a front direction so when I get to them I will set them up the same.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/UF62HB4S9/blank-cataphractii-shoulders-left-side-rebuilt-0
https://www.shapeways.com/product/NLW3ZCXN4/blank-cataphractii-shoulders-right-side-rebuilt
https://www.shapeways.com/product/WNZDCEQQ7/blank-tartaros-shoulders-right-side-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/3TELR3HL8/blank-tartaros-shoulders-left-side-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/8FWJKG2S3/blank-termi-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/UXMWFCBJ3/blank-centurion-shoulders-rebuilt-008a
https://www.shapeways.com/product/MP3HEQBJR/blank-evil-termi-shoulders-rebuilt-008a

I've also been working on reviving some very old projects which I've had to rebuild from scratch.

The Mk16 Damocles armor created by DakkaDakka fans for the Dornian Heresy alternate history campaign. It's a nicely advanced design I've always loved and wanted to see on the table. I've started building it a long long time ago. Here it is about 45% complete. It needs some more detailing and I need to build new hands and feet for it then segment it for manual posing and reassembling after printing.

 The original terminator armor. Before things had marks and such the Exo Armor is one of the coolest designs in retro 40k to me.  It's basic design clearly inspired the contemptor and similar dreadnoughts as well as the Tartaros terminators. A long time ago I built a basic model of it and was in the process of testing it when I simultaneously got a banhammer and suffered a hard drive crash.  Here is my in progress rebuilt version. It will have much more detail when completed as well as a lot more departure from the original design to make it feel more in line with the forgeworld updated figures.  Yes these guys will be count's as Centurians in my Alpha Legion.

 And of course the reason I started modeling. One of them anyway.  Female space marines.  Here is a female marine designed in Mark 6 armor.  Yes I know it's got breasts for no reason other than the aesthetics of making it look female.  I understand the impracticality and don't care. The figure will be much narrower than traditional marines.  Roughly 20mm at the shoulders rather than 28mm for an official figure. I'm hoping these print better than my original designs.  Most of my original female marines were likewise destroyed in that hard drive crash so this is a scratch build too.  Eventually I'd like to make all the armor marks. Maybe even primaris, but that's a long time off.  I'm tempted to try rigging the figures so I can pose them easier, though frankly that's way more work than I want.  I have never successfully rigged a figure and hate the process in every application I've ever tried.  Maybe one day. Till then manually posing is more practical.

Updating Old Models

Last week I had two very interesting conversations with some people who purchase my 3d models. It made me think about some designs I hadn't considered in a long time.

See I've been designing miniatures bits since around 2010, so going on 8 years.  My early designs were mostly experiments. You know messing with the software to see what I could do and maybe making something interesting.  It took a lot of time for me to get good enough to actually make something a person would want to buy.

This was also around the time shapeways was starting out and before the explosion of other printing services and sales services.  Before amazon got into the market, that sort of thing. Back then there were no real rules for model production.  You could make just about everything and each new model made gave some new insight to the shapeways engineers. That's how the design rules got made. Back then the wall thickness lottery was about the biggest hurdle. Well that and how slow the site was. It's still slow but the rules are clear and its easier to follow and correct issues thanks to the tools they've built. The automated thickness checker is fantastic.

Anyway what this has to do with anything.  Well basically a lot of my old designs are very simple.  To me back then it was great if a I could make a sword with a cylinder and tapered plate. This results in a lot of shitty looking weapon models being on my account.  I really wanted to make cool things but it took a lot of trial and error.  While I eventually became known for my shoulder pads I really have a huge number of weapons on my account that are... passable.

The conversations I had with a couple of people highlighted somethings of importance about my store.  All those models are sitting there and they haven't really been replaced or updated.  While I upload random Darth Vader helmets that show up in the stream of product releases but then my store shows countless poor quality models and the few dozen modern models I have done and made visible over the last few years.  While I have a huge amount of things not visible it doesn't really help my reputation that I have a lot of junk shown off.

So what's wrong with these models exactly?  Well there are 3 basic problems and one that's a bit more complicated.

The first problem is sizing. My early models were made before the establishment of wall thickness restrictions.  Thus many are very thin.  This is exacerbated by the fact that back then I worked on models transferring them between 4 or 5 programs to make them work.  I'd build something in sketchup, then output it to meshlab and/or netfabb, and then use some githhub application to check it. This often resulted in unit scaling issues.  It started the right size but then shrunk or grew as I exported it between programs.  A lot of these models are right at the limit of the shapeways printer tolerances.  If I was told it had to be 1 mm thick it was exactly 1mm.  Or at least it was intended to be.  The tolerance of the printer was of greater concern to me than the design of a miniature. So a sword handle being 1 mm thick was perfectly acceptable. Even if that looked odd on a miniature. But worse than oddly thin weapons is the breakage rate.  Many of them would break because they were so thin.

The second problem is basically model corruption.  Back before I was, you know, good, at modeling I used external software to seal models to make them water tight.  I think I used Caddspan a lot back then. There are a lot of those services but they all do the same basic thing. Take a model and wrap it in geometry as tightly as possible to make it sealed.  Shrink wrapping.  This results in a lot of lost detail and can make some really screwy geometry.  If its a shitty service it also leaves behind the old geometry resulting in weird internal shells. While the model is technically printable this results in a couple of really bad effects. First the preview is often corrupt in webgl. This is usually a symptom of the old geometry just under the surface.  Second the model often has some odd printing peculiarities. In my own models this seems mostly to manifest as scaling issues but I've also had components just not print even though they are in the STL file.  Worst perhaps is that the model is mostly impossible to recover with any quality if you lose the original model.  With a newer STL I can load the STL file and cut it apart or modify the surface to make changes as needed.  The old ones get all janky.  I also think that some of the models are corrupted when shapeways transfers servers or performs backups due to this bad model design. Cleaner models are always better I guess.

The third problem is sprues.  See when I started designing 3d models it was always intended to end up as a physical product as I understood them from my miniatures collection. It seemed natural to have sprues because my 40k miniatures came on sprues.  So I put a lot of my early models on sprue.  But the sprues would break during manufacture so I was told by shapeways to stop using sprues on my models.  So I stopped.  But then I started talking to a customer and he told me about shapeway's labor pricing was based at least partially on the number of shells in a model.  So basically shapeways tells me not to use sprues and then directly monetarily profits from me not doing so.  I think on my shoulder pads shapeways makes a good 6 bucks extra off the printing because I didn't sprue them.  Not that sprues are free but the labor policy is also pricey so its a bit of a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario.  What shapeways should really have said was "use thicker sprues" making sprues close to tolerance makes them more likely to break so think about the sprues as though you were going to cast them.

So what does all this mean?

Basically that I am going back and redoing all my old weapon models to do 3 things.  Make them thicker (particularly grips and polearms), make them water right without external software (this might not always be possible), and put them on thicker sprues (roughly 3mm thick).  Price wise this will likely be a wash as the increased thickness of some models will break even with the old labor costs.  However for some models the price may go down, a handful up, though I want to avoid that.

This also gives me a chance to fix something that annoys the fuck out of my about shapeways.  Every time they introduce a new material it just automatically turns on.  So I have a lot of models that are for sale in weird materials that are pointless for my purposes.  Note I'm not going to rescale anything for the new marines or anything like that.  I will correct errors where the model was intended to be larger but shrunk in process but otherwise nothing will grow but what is necessary to improve print-ability.


https://www.shapeways.com/product/9SW3GWZTG/mk2a-techno-tonfa-x10
     Note:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/MDVGSCV76/mk2-chain-tonfa-x10
     Note:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/T2S4LXMF2/mk2-techno-hammer-x5  
     Note:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/24JZ4RJT6/mk2-demon-hammer-x5
     Note: change sprue to allow higher detail printing
https://www.shapeways.com/product/YME7HJRTJ/mk2-techno-slicer-x5
     Note: change sprue to lower price
https://www.shapeways.com/product/PR4YVXVZW/mk1-techno-saw-x5
     Note:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/V7VUCJA6A/mk2-techno-nodachi-x5
     Note: change sprue to allow higher detail printing

https://www.shapeways.com/product/VDDM7Q5Q9/mk2-techno-mace-x5

     Note: double check head's wallthickness

https://www.shapeways.com/product/CUNTBQKV7/mk2-techno-kricket-bat-x5

     Note: 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/84RCS3CD9/mk2-techno-bats-x5

     Note: 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/3BW7CRW5F/mk1-techno-cleaver-x5

     Note: 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/2KF7YZJ7Y/mk2-techno-chopper-x5

     Note: 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/HPAVWQQ2Q/techno-katana-1-mk2

     Note: fix to be a 5up model

https://www.shapeways.com/product/RZZMFABY5/techno-katar-1-mk2

     Note: 

Models that need updated. mostly sprue requests. some correction for new models.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/GGQ9HHP2L/mk1-techno-katana-set

https://www.shapeways.com/product/PXTJDZAZE/angry-marines-power-kricket-bat

https://www.shapeways.com/product/W7YQRJTUN/angry-marines-power-bat-x5

https://www.shapeways.com/product/E2VZEUZ8K/dadao-sword-1stl

https://www.shapeways.com/product/BFPQDV4WC/techno-guan-dao-5up

https://www.shapeways.com/product/7QCA9R62L/techno-dao-5up

https://www.shapeways.com/product/8DHTY8YAX/techno-chain-talwar-5up

https://www.shapeways.com/product/C8NNU4R2U/techno-talwar-5up

https://www.shapeways.com/product/238FBCRBP/kung-fu-chinese-narrow-plate-rimmless-001a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/G9U68EKWG/kung-fu-chinese-narrow-plate-rimmed-001a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/NLRZYEPJ5/kung-fu-chinese-wide-plate-rimless-001a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/XE966K7X8/kung-fu-chinese-wide-plate-rimmed-001a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/ST6BT493K/kung-fu-shoulders-heavy-001a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/LYEG2XQJN/kung-fu-shoulders-male-rimless-001a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/EBCAQ8KXN/kung-fu-shoulders-male-rimmed-002a

https://www.shapeways.com/product/H2GZPDJCP/kung-fu-001a-chinese-two-plates-rimmed-001a

How do Reiver and Eternals measure up

So i'm going to keep focused my measurement obsession for a bit.  Life has kept me from modeling for a while so measuring some purchased models is about all I can do.  I managed to pick up two things while I was out of town at my sister in law's wedding.  Specifically a box of Primaris Reivers and some clearance stormcast eternals.

Lets start with the Reivers.

These are the easy build reivers. I haven't seen the non-easy build on the shelf even if they are out.  My blood angels have a significant scout section so I'm not quite sold on the reivers yet but I like the models so I wanted to paint a few. While I generally hate the easy build crap marines I'll tolerate them here because these reivers are more going to be test beds for painting and they were only 11 dollars at my local flags. 

Primaris Space Marine Reivers

Head = W 7mm x L 8mm x H 7.2mm (head only) 8.5mm (with neck)

Notes: the necks are wierd, they have a flare at the base which makes them able to tern a bit, though this didn't work once primed so millage may vary.

Torso = W 11mm (shoulders) W 9mm (waist) x D 12mm (chest) D 13.5mm (with pack mount) x H 12mm (waist to neck) - collar 0.5mm

Notes: the body is missing the noticeable collars which I sort of like. I'd rather have had high collars on the sides and low on the front with this design but that's ok.

Legs  = Thigh W 6mm (w/o holster) x D 6.5mm x H 9mm (hip to knee)

-  Lower Leg W 6mm x D 6mm (calf) or 4.1mm x 4.1mm (ankle) x H 9mm (knee to ankle) [mk 10 legs]

-  Foot W 5mm x D 11mm x H 5mm

Notes: the legs are not the best cast on the crap marines. The calf plates have noticeable mold lines and the static pose is clearly done only to make the mold easier for the poorer quality plastic in use.  I hope the multi part models are better.

Arms = Upper W 4.5mm x D 4.5mm x H 7.5mm (Shoulder to elbow)

-  Lower W 4.5mm x D 4.5mm x H 5.5mm (elbow to wrist)

-  hand W 3.8mm x D 2mm x L 3.5mm (from wrist)

-  Fingers L 4.5mm W 1.2 mm

Notes: what's with the stupid hose on the sergeant's arm computer? the model's arm armor is virtually identical to standard marines and they have computers without cables.

Backpack = W 18mm x D 7mm to 4mm x H 16mm

Shoulder Pad - Left Only = W 9.2mm x D 6.5mm x H 10mm

thickness 2mm border 1.1mm Cuttout H 3.2mm x D 2mm

Heavy Bolt Pistol =  W 3mm x L 14mm x H 8mm

Bolt Carbine= W 3.5mm x L 23mm x H 11mm

Combat Knife=  W 4mm x D 2mm x L 24mm blade L 18mm W 4mm

I'm guessing the size of the bolt carbine a bit but think it will be similar to this. Generally a slightly shorter bolt riffle closer in dimensions to the classic bolter.  I'm very interested in equipping these guys with sniper rifles or carbines personally. I love my shotgun scouts, these could be just as interesting in my angels army if they get decent specs.

The shoulder pad only on the left side is interesting. I somewhat hate the asymmetry of that but also like it a bit. I personally would have loved the left shoulder pad to have a cloak or something drape down giving them a bit more visual interest.  I might convert the reivers this way with some greenstuff.

Stormcast Eternals

I picked up two boxes of these guys as well as some loose preassembled figures. The preassembled figures are crap marines, easy build versions of the Liberators and Retributors.  The boxes are Liberators and Judicators.  The crap marines are specifically to paint as I actually like the design of the stormcast eternals, particularly the liberators with their double hammers.  I want to paint them up as display figures with a white marble pattern with gold trim.  Maybe I'll paint the duplicates with a different pattern. Not sure.

The boxes will become a project for my blood angels army. The intent is that they will be converted and replace or supplement my honor guard, maybe proxy as sanguinary guard if I can find properly cool jump packs for them.  I'll need to 3d print some small bits including belt buckles and shoulder pads for them.

Ultimately I also just simply wondered what the difference in size was.  Everyone calls them "Sigmarines" I wondered how different they were.

Storm Cast Eternals

 Head = W 4.5mm (w/o halo) 7.2mm (w halo) x L 6mm x H 6.5mm (head only) 8.2mm (w neck) 12mm (w halo)

Notes: heads are slightly narrower than space marine or IG heads but look ok thanks to the halo. 

Torso = W  11.3mm (shoulders) W 9.3mm (waist) x D 12mm (chest) x H 12mm (waist to neck) - collar 0.5mm

Notes: no backpack mounts, the reliquaries add a lot to the hips.

Legs  = Thigh W 6.5mm x D 6.5mm x H 9mm (hip to knee)

-  Lower Leg W 7mm x D 6mm (calf) or 5mm x 5mm (ankle) x H 9mm (knee to ankle)

-  Foot W 5mm x D 10mm x H 5mm

Arms = Upper W 5mm x D 5mm x H 7mm (Shoulder to elbow)

-  Lower W 5mm x D 4mm x H 5.5mm (elbow to wrist)

-  hand W 4mm x D 2mm x L 3.5mm (from wrist)

-  Fingers L 4.5mm W 1.2 mm

Notes: the bracers on the lower arm add a 1mm thick pad on the lower arm.  The shoulders have a weird flat plate that goes over the shoulder making the addon shoulder pad rest on it, this plate is roughly 10mm wide making it bigger than space marine shoulders.

Backpack = W 18mm x D 7mm to 4mm x H 16mm

Shoulder Pad = W 12.5mm x D 9mm x H 6mm

thickness 2mm border 2mm Cuttout H 1mm x D 6mm

Sword = W 5.3mm x D 1.5mm x L 39mm hilt W 11.5mm D 2.5mm L 12mm

Short Sword = W 5mm x D 1.5mm x L 30mm hilt W 7mm D 2.5mm L 11mm

Shield =  W 15mm x L 37mm x H 6.5mm

Hammer =  W 11mm x D 5mm x L 23mm pole W 2.5mm L 15mm

Two-handed Hammer =  W 20mm x D 6.5mm x L 44mm pole W 2.5mm L 33mm

Crossbow = W 4.2mm x L 35mm x H 9mm [just the base, not including the bow arms]

Over all we see a trend here.  For the most part the stormcast eternals are actually just slightly smaller than the primaris marines.  That surprised me but also doesn't.  They have a strange visually wider stance than classic and new space marines making them look bigger but they are a bit shorter with some thinner arms than new marines.  Their design over all is a bit thicker but this is concealed with the curved edges of the models.

The biggest annoyance is the fact that the shoulders and torsos are a bit to different from marines but can be modified during conversions.  Their weapons are a bit larger, more in keeping with the grey knights weapons than other marine chapters.

I was disappointed to discover the judicator crossbow things are a bit bigger than bolters. I was hoping i'd be able to do a quick swap of a bolter into the waiting hands but it will take more than that to get the exchange done. All in all though the basic stormcast eternals will be pretty easy to modify for 40k.

On "True Scale" Primaris Marines

Ok, I've complained enough lets dive in.

So how different in size are the Primaris marines.  Well, in order to 3d model bits I've done a lot of random measurements on marines over the years. I do this with a drafting caliper and micrometer.  Generally I round these to usable measurements in my modeling software.  I'm nerdy enough to have done this on all the marks of armor and types of armor from various generations of 40k miniatures.  But here I'll isolate my measurements to the most common marine armor (in my collection at least) Mk 6.

So here are my measurements from Mk 6.  These are from newer 40k models, specifically the blood angels release from 7th edition.  Older models are mostly the same with a bit thinner upper legs and arms.

Traditional Space Marine

Head = W 8.5mm x D 8mm x H 7mm (head only) 9.1mm (with neck)

Torso = W 12mm (shoulders) W 9mm (waist) x D 10mm (chest) D 11.5 (with pack mount) x H 10mm (waist to neck) - collar 3mm

Legs  = Thigh W 4.5mm x D 5mm x H 8mm (hip to knee)

-  Lower W 6mm x D 7mm x H 8mm (knee to ankle) [mk 6 legs]

-  Foot W 5mm x D 9.5mm x H 4mm

Arms = Upper W 4.5mm x D 4.5mm x H 7.5mm (Shoulder to elbow)

-  Lower W 4mm x D 4mm x H 5mm (elbow to wrist)

-  hand W 3.5mm x T 2mm x L 3.5mm (from wrist)

-  Fingers L 3.5mm W 1mm

Backpack = W 18mm x D 6.5mm to 4mm x H 15mm

Shoulder Pad = W 10mm x D 6mm x H 8mm thickness 2mm border 1mm

Powerfist = W 9mm x T 5.5mm x L 9mm

        -  Fingers L 7mm W 1.8mm

Bolter = W 3.5mm x L 18mm x H 11mm

Plasmagun = W 4mm x L 22mm x H 8mm

Meltagun = W 3.5mm x L 24mm x H 8mm

Bolt Pistol =  W 3.5mm x L 12mm x H 8.5mm

Sword = W 4.5mm x D 1.5mm x L 31mm hilt W 6.5mm D 2.5mm L 10mm

Axe =  W 12mm x D 3mm x L 28mm pole W 2.5mm L 17mm

Hammer =  W 18mm x D 3mm x L 32mm pole W 2.5mm L 24mm

Spear = W 7mm x D 4mm x L 51mm pole W 2.5mm L 30mm

Note: limb measurements are done from Joint center to joint center

So here is my measurements for the new primaris marines. These are from the Dark Imperium set, when GW releases stand alone kits there might be some variations.  Wherever possible I compared multiple figures to get the measurements averaged.  Some items not in the kit are estimated based on general size comparisons of existing parts but I'll talk about that later.

Primaris Space Marine (MK 10 Default armor mostly)

Head = W 8mm x L 8mm x H 7.2mm (head only) 8.5mm (with neck)

Torso = W 11mm (shoulders) W 9mm (waist) x D 13mm (chest) D 14.5mm (with pack mount) x H 12mm (waist to neck) - collar 2mm

Gravis W 13mm (shoulders) W 18mm (waist) x D 22mm (chest) D 18mm (with pack mount) x H 13mm (waist to neck) - collar 3mm

Legs  = Thigh W 6mm x D 6.5mm x H 9mm (hip to knee)

-  Lower Leg W 7.2mm x D 7.2mm x H 9mm (knee to ankle) [mk 10 legs]

-  Foot W 5.3mm x D 11mm x H 5mm

Gravis W 7mm x D 7mm

Arms = Upper W 4.5mm x D 4.5mm x H 7.5mm (Shoulder to elbow)

-  Lower W 4.5mm x D 4.5mm x H 5.5mm (elbow to wrist)

-  hand W 3.8mm x D 2mm x L 3.5mm (from wrist)

-  Fingers L 4.5mm W 1.2 mm

Gravis W 5.5mm x D 5.5mm

Backpack = W 19mm x D 7mm to 4mm x H 16mm

Shoulder Pad = W 11mm x D 6.5mm x H 8.5mm thickness 2.2mm border 1mm

Gravis Shoulder W 11.5mm x D 6.5mm x H 8mm thickness 2.5mm Chevron 2mm border 1.5mm

Powerfist = W 9mm x T 6mm x L 9mm

        -  Fingers L 7mm W 1.8mm

Bolt Rifle = W 3.5mm x L 23mm x H 11mm [extended 3.5mm @ front]

Plasmagun = W 4mm x L 31mm x H 14mm

Meltagun = W ~3.5mm x L ~28mm x H ~11mm

Bolt Pistol =  W 3.5mm x L 12.5mm x H 8mm

Sword = W 4.5mm x D 1.5mm x L 38mm hilt W 6.5mm D 2.5mm L 12mm

Axe =  W ~14mm x D ~3mm x L ~32mm pole W 2.5mm L ~20mm

Hammer =  W ~21mm x D ~4mm x L ~36mm pole W 2.5mm L ~28mm

Spear = W ~8mm x D ~4mm x L ~60mm pole W 2.5mm L ~38mm

Note: limb measurements are done from Joint center to joint center

Thoughts

So generally the Primaris limb parts are scaled on average by 122% this varies from 112% to 133%. Usually this works out as 133% to the length while 112% to the width.  But this really isn't applied uniformly.  The scaling is really done to make the marine feel bigger without it being scaled to much.  If the marine was uniformly scaled you'd end up with it feeling the same unless it was sitting next to a classic marine.

The torsos are roughly the same, just taller and ever so slightly thicker.  The chest and back are bulked out a tiny bit. Cut the belt off of a classic torso and add a spacer to add height. Then a thin layer of plasticard between the halves could easily make a classic torso thicker to fit Primaris if you wanted.

Arms are roughly the same length so you won't get a lot of problem using the old arms. If you have to change them a tiny bit of length is added to the lower arm. You can do this by adding a spacer to the wrist or maybe just extending the upper arm below the shoulder pad seat.

There are minor tweaks to the shoulder pad size.  This strikes me as odd, the shoulders, particularly on Gravis armor and Inceptor squads, are a bit flatter than classic models but otherwise unchanged.  What I could make out and measure, in spite of the way these crap marines are molded, is that the seat for the shoulder pads look roughly the same. If anything they might be slightly smaller than old marine arms by a few nanometers. We'll see more when GW makes proper Primaris rather than crap marines.  

Legs are trickier.  Pretty much every part is longer.  Adding spacers to the thighs is easy enough on most older legs.  The lower legs tends to be more problematic with the knee pads and decorative elements like eagles and such. The feet are also taller which is interesting. You actually see more of the foot than with old marines. I'd probably cut off the foot and add a plasticard plate on top.  This is mostly in keeping with how true scaling is normally done. Though if i was trying to convert something into primaris marines my goal would be to preserve the lower leg armor so I'd avoid the traditional lower leg spacer.  Instead I'd focus on adding to  the feet and a longer spacer in the thighs.

The new bolters are effectively the same as the old but stretched out by 133%.  you could easily add a 3.5mm spacer right before the barrel.  The plasmagun, sorry hellblaster?, its much longer and has a lot more detail but mostly just seems like the back of a melta gun bolted to a plasmagun. Bolt pistols are identically sized but new sculpts which is cool. Swords are slightly longer but the difference won't be really noticeable. I've estimated a bunch of other weapon sizes.  Mostly they've all grown 30% larger in length and width but their heft and hilts are the same.

Over all modifying primaris is going to be harder because they have a lot of greeblies added by default. They all have holsters, pouches, and crap added on. This is a bit of a disservice to the otherwise good armor design.  Though I will admit they do look more like active military with those addons.

I don't care for the Inceptor armor's added power cables on the legs and arms. It seems out of keeping with the otherwise cleaner design of the new armors.  I'll likely just remove them, because they are stupid.  Please, no one try and justify them to me. The armor the Inceptors are in is significantly bulkier than the normal Mk 10.  there is plenty of room to put the stupid cables between the 2 plates of the normal Mk 10 and the added armor.

Ages Gone

It's been ages since I've been on here.  I've been dealing with a lot of health issues.  They've taken a tole on both my ability to model and my disposable income to support hobbies.  They are slowly resolving and I recently hit a point where I could get back into 40k again.

Yeah 40k.

So. I have to get something off my chest.

A friend got me a copy of the Dark Imperium boxed set and I've been looking forward  to it for a while.  First let me say I like 40k's plot advancing. I even sort of like the new Primaris crap they are doing.  I'm not a fan of "True Scale" marines but then I've never thought of my little figures as anything but little figures.  If I bitched that a space marine was the same height as an imperial guardsman I'd have to complain that no space marine could fit through the side door of a rhino.

I'm disappointed in the dark imperium boxed set. I like the rule book and the quality of packaging.  But these models piss me off.

GW tells us, Oh Primaris can work for any chapter. Except the Primaris kits in Dark Imperium lack possibility. You can't swap shoulder pads, you can't even swap weapons easily.  These are 7th generation Crap Marines. Not familiar with crap marines?

I've long used this term to describe marines from the old starter boxes. It started with the marines that had a gun just snap to their chest. Over the years the crap marines have gotten prettier but they are still crap.

I got into 40k to build my army not theirs.  A few months from now the real Primaris kits will come out I'm sure.  Hopefully they come with changeable torsos, shoulders, arms etc.  This molding shoulder pads to arms and affixing half the torso to the legs pisses me off.  Its hard enough to do after market bits for my chapter without this shit.

I wanted to get into age of sigmar but the same shit pissed me off.  The storm cast eternals are built the same way. you get 6 poses and that's it.  Fucking idiots. customization is one of the few things GW's models have always had going for them. They aren't the best quality anymore.  And while 8th edition rules seem better on paper time will tell if they will be crap like most other editions ended up.

Anyway, assuming the primaris shoulders are the same interior size as the old shoulders I'll make some new shoulders for them when they get real kits not crap marine kits.  I want me some blood angel intercisor sqauds.

Of note, the Intercisor shoulders are larger and flatter than traditional shoulders and the Gravis shoulder is even larger and flatter.  I think Gravis shoulders are actually wider than terminator shoulders.  My poor beleaguered termi's will sit on the shelf longer now.  I miss autocannon fire :(

Anyway the list of things that piss me off today...

* Two part leg design
* shoulder pads built into arms
* torso backs built into legs
* backpacks not being the same size as old backpacks
* the extra little peg on the bottom of the new heads
* bolt "Riffles" - so the old bolters didn't have riffled barrels to prevent their rocket propelled rounds from drifting off target? Cause you know, that's why riffles are called riffles right GW? Right?
* 300 different base sizes.
* any soldier in a brand new army being called an "Ancient" its supposed to feel new guys. Even just call them veterans would be tolerable.
* power swords being 4mm longer. they didn't need to get bigger.