GHQ Models Forums

The quality of print has never been very good in my opinion until now.
I ended up getting a Saturn printer. It’s now affordable allows me to print a lot of vehicles at one time.
The printer arrive I got the resin but still kind of hesitant to start. The person that I commission vehicles from is willing to help me if I run into problems.
Some of the details others have printed is darn I say it better then GHQ.
Don’t get me wrong I don’t think I’m going to ever stop buying from GHQ but would like to have vehicles or upgrades that I wouldn’t be able to do. Still kills me that a truck/ keeps/ cost as much as a tank from GHQ.
I’ll update once I get it setup.

I'm very happy with the detail and quality of resin printing we've done. A lot depends on the quality of the stl file. Once you get past the initial investment, things settle down a bit. My son is a microbiologist accustoned to working with hazardous materials. He is quite careful about handling and curing the resin. Nitrile gloves.

Like you, I have gnashed my teeth over tanks costing the same as trucks, but I suppose the economics are different from the real thing and I'm grateful I don't have to figure it out in either case. I don't want the price of tanks to go up just to create a difference, however.

Check yeggi.com and thingiverse.com for free files. Look particularly for the words "for micro armor" and "microarmor.". Also useful is a site that tells you how to convert from different scales. Watch out, though. Some scales provide the model in several pieces. Do you really want to put all the wheels on a hundred 5ton trucks?

Look on Thingiverse for Daritus, cpangracs or Bob_Mack.
Both of them have great files available & then search their 'likes' for other creators.
Have fun going down the rabbit hole.
I'll still buy GHQ, but there are things available to print that will never be commercially available.

Yep. GHQ can't be beat, IF they make it.

How hard is it to develop your own stl files? Do you a need a background in coding or programming?

Gotta start with CAD, I think.

Made my 1st print last nt. will need to fine tune but so far so good. Will post pic when I can. Plan are to upgrade all my M1 tanks to better face the Chirsdom nation....lol

I have a resin 3d printer and have printed up several versions of workshops to go on the back of the GHQ Einheits Diesel.

I also have printed up a scale Strabokran for my maintenance battalion.

Planning a Genset for the battalion also.

Pics to follow if anyone is interested. Oh, and GHQ is the best

Learning to do 3D sculpting is like any software - you just need to put the time in. I have friends who enjoy designing stuff for it's own sake. At Little Wars a few years back there was a 3D shop in the vendor's hall. they offered a class at their shop in Ohio.

I'm painting some 3D printed trucks right now. They are the cheap print so you can see a few layers up close. But at 12" they look a lot better than some of the lumps I own from the 1980s. And I paid a guy $0.40 each. So basically 1/6 the price of GHQ. If I need 5, I'll buy GHQ for sure. But my Soviet tank regiment needs a few hundred trucks, and for those I'll definitely look at 3D printed!

Here are some pics
Just about to print 50 tanks in a little over three hours.
I don’t know right now I’m just amazed. People doing a 3-D are so generous with Sharing of their files.
It seems like they literally make everything. From what I could tell most of it is free.
https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/rC ... Fr8EpElJZB

As enthusiastic as I am about 3D printing for the items GHQ does not make, we all must keep in mind that, if we DON'T buy from GHQ the quality items they make for us, they won't be around to make them very long. There are many items GHQ produces that are not availale as stl files, buying from 3D producers like Shapeways is EXPENSIVE, the product is brittle, and will not stand up to multi-year game use and associated transport, etc. If you do your own printing, you must take the learning curve, including toxic and hazardous waste, handling, venting, in some cases, fire hazard. To produce your own stuff, there are CAD skills to learn or commissioning costs. You may have to re-scale the stl file.

The individual I contacted to commission a product wants $65, which I consider very reasonable. I can't sell the products or otherwise distribute them. He's in another country, I have to make payment arrangements through a system with which I am not familiar.

Getting 3D going can be a lot more complicated and expensive than just calling up GHQ to get the stuff they make.

GHQ is just not going to make ARSV, MBT70, XM803, XM723, or the GM version of XM1. It doesn't look like they will make the M800 series 5ton, M37b1, or GOERs. Davy Crockett? Nope. So I'm on my own in all that, and if I want it in 1/285 scale, 3D is my only recourse. These items are for the direction my niche of the hobby has taken me, and it's a very small niche, one that GHQ cannot economically satisfy.

Given all that, however, I have30 battalions of various kinds, tank, mech, arty, engineer, ADA, etc, and, as Brigade Commander can attest, buying ALL the vehicles for a unit of an kind is VERY EXPENSIVE! For a wargamer who buys for gaming, all GHQ is a very good deal, but he isn't buying EVERY vehicle. For a guy like me, who models TOE units, 3D printing means I have a chance at depicting every vehicle in the unit, which I simply won't do otherwise. I will buy the principle vehicles, but print others. It costs more to buy the metal combat support and service support vehicles for a tank battalion than it does the tanks. BUT...

While we wax ecstatic about 3D, let's not forget about the GHQ foundation upon whuch all this rests. Their models are the standard against which all others are measured.

At the moment, 3D printing is a bit of a hobby of it's own. But as it spreads, and becomes more plug and play, it will completely upend the traditional miniatures market. I have easy access through my gaming club to a dozen 3D printers, both filament and resin. So if I want I can get printing done for just the cost of the resin and maybe a beer. Currently looking at that route just for a few specific items for my tank regiment. I imagine as they spread the need to have your own will decline quite a lot.

Many sculptors, for example, will be able to make money by selling STL files. Probably not for things like StuGs, but for evil rat pirates, face eating aliens and busty sword maidens. So if I *really* want that special Conan dude, I'll lay out, say $3,99 for the STL and then print it in resin for $1.00. So instead of paying WG $19.99 I'll DIY it for far less. Plus I gain the ability to customize.

As 3D printers become more "plug and play" and end up being like color printers, the stress on traditional companies will only increase. Getting the STL files will be a challenge for some models. But I'm guessing it will apply to the same kinds of things GHQ won't make. The real damage will come from gamers choosing to 3D the main money makers. Whether that's grunts for my goblin horde, PzIVs, or masses of hoplites, the real danger is not from the odd ball but from gamers being able to cut costs.

Incidentally, I commissioned a set of custom dice printed in filament,. The printer included a freebie. It was a rabid giraffe printed in resin. The print was completely smooth - as good as any metal casting, and with absolutely NO clean up required - no mold lines anywhere. I know 2D6 and Brigade make their masters via 3D print too. So very quickly the quality edge of GHQ will be gone.

But like the smart buggy whip makers, companies will find a way to modify their business model and thrive, others will just pack it in.

Yes I agree GHQ is still gold standard but can’t get around the fact that the 3-D printing is here and now at a quality cat that can almost compete with GHQ.

It’s like you’re a little convenience store and Walmart maybe that’s not a good example but no matter how much you like that little convenience store and how much you try to support it once Wallmark is in town the little convenience store will disappear one day.
I still earmark 1 to 2k a year for ghq models. Waiting for the Leo A7 to come out. Initial plans would be 50 packs. Yes I have a problem I’m a ghq hoarder. I’m embarrassed to say I probably have 500 unopened packs sitting in bins.
I asked my wife what would she do with all of my stuff if I pass before her she told me she was going to dump it all. I said no find some of my friends and they will help sell them on eBay for you. She told me we don’t need the money so why don’t you just give them to your friends and they can do what they want with it. I said I guess that works too.
Oh back to 3-D printing. So far I find it pretty easy with the help of a friend on Facebook. Takes about an hour and a half to print 50 vehicles add a cost of two dollars in resin.
So far I have purchased know files for any of the print since there are free online. Oh that reminds me for the ones that I do print I plan to PayPal a gift to the designers. I have seen people selling the files for as low as a few dollars. You can print as much as you want for yourself but if you plan to sell any then you can work out a commission with the designer.
I heard at H&R has hired a 3D designer I think GHQ should really do the same thing. GHQ can offer to either sale the metalcasting or resin only. Maybe that’s how they should do it offered only in resin first but if enough people are willing to pay for metal ones then they can make a metal casting.
I think 3-D printing is perfect for miniatures but I don’t see why people would print these large figures that takes a lot of recent and 10 hours to print and it might not even come out right.
Sorry I’m old and I ramble now.

The Commonwealth of Chrisdom welcomes Nashorn, their army.
We do welcome the opportunity to smash another enemy of state.

And whose state is it that you intend to smash, CofC? Nashorn's? 50 packs of Leo 7s alone is 250 tanks. And he still has $1200 to go, just for this year. How many might he already have? He might have a bigger army than you. You might bite off more than you can chew...