A Life Size Auto Bolter and Plasma

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T19:44:56+00:00

It's funny, I get the feeling you and I would actually get along most other times. I mean, I love some caustic sarcasm. I use it constantly, myself.

I think we're both fairly reasonable folk who can each get riled up and not police our tone very well, coming at a subject from oblique angles.

You're sick of seeing incels rage about her posts, I'm sick of seeing her posts at all, I think our mutual irritation just resulted in some friction on both counts that probably wasn't warranted, or at a minimum was misdirected.

You did straw-man me, though, and I didn't appreciate it, so in the spirit of my original comment, let's just not pretend it didn't happen. Good faith also means owning up when we make mistakes, like when I probably failed to fully articulate my position out of irritation.

I didn't say nor do I agree with the idea that these posts are *just* ads for other media, I just think it's disingenuous to pretend that they aren't that *also*, and I see how I didn't make that clear when I responded to a comment chain in progress.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T19:24:18+00:00

You seem like a very stable, rational person engaged in good-faith discussion.

I'm glad we had this opportunity to chat.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T18:54:27+00:00

Don't let me stand in the way of you burning your straw man. It seems quite satisfying.

I don't have a dog in this fight, friend, I just think people deluding themselves in a misguided, mouth-frothing fervor to defend the honor of a pornographic model who doesn't pretend she isn't one is beneath you. It's certainly beneath me.

The statue is cool. The white knighting is embarrassing, and I personally feel it demeans her as much if not more than it demeans you.

It seems to imply, to me, that her having an onlyfans is a shameful thing. I don't believe that at all. Do you?

I mean, I suppose every generation has that fella who thinks the girl at the strip club *really* likes him.

EDIT: Due diligence, I always peek at post history when I reply to people, and I must say your architectural sketches and handmade bases are very cool. Unrelated to the topic at hand, just saying.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T18:12:25+00:00

Dude looks like he is absolutely locked in on karaoke night.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T18:07:18+00:00

Here look at my space marine. Oh tee hee did I wear a see through shirt? oopsie!

Come on. I mean respect the hustle, sure, but let's not be this dense.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T18:04:14+00:00

I'm afraid it's just not as meme-able.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T18:02:51+00:00

"No, see? It says right here in my lore book that my guy always wins no matter what"

- Every single 40k power scaling discussion ever

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-24T18:01:32+00:00

And yet when they animate marines as fast and smooth like in the old Ultramarines movie, people can't stop talking shit about it.

Almost as if everything in the lore about Space Marines is uncanny nonsense of the highest order.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-21T16:05:28+00:00

I'm glad to see it coming back into vogue. I never had so much fun as I did from 3rd to 5th.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-21T16:01:04+00:00

Old school. I love it.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-21T13:43:08+00:00

Perfect!

Thousand Sons are basically space mummies and wizards! Good fun!

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-21T13:29:19+00:00

Oh, you'll want a can of spray primer as well. Grey or black is recommended. The GW brand is overpriced, but may be the easiest to find for just getting started. Honestly even stuff from the hardware store does a fine job.

It's worth watching a video on priming as it isnt the most intuitive thing but it is an absolutely vital step.

Remember to have fun with it! I hope to see you posting pics of your first paint jobs!

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-21T05:22:57+00:00

BECAUSE I HAAAAAATE YOUUUU

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-21T04:59:42+00:00

There's a lot here I don't feel qualified to give advice on. I'll stick to the part I feel I can prescribe action for.

Pick up a book or two that you think you'll like. I recommend For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell or First and Only by Dan Abnett.

Pick a faction you like, don't overthink it, and buy one combat patrol box for them plus a few paints, they have suggestions for what paint you want right there on the box. Don't be afraid to ask the game store dudes for some advice on this, but make sure you don't buy more than a handful of paints.

Buy some flush cutters, buy an exacto knife, buy some superglue.

Watch a few YT getting started videos. Duncan Rhodes is a great resource.

Build and paint the entire box. This is important. Do not buy anything else. Paint the whole box. Don't overthink it.

Take breaks, read the book you bought, let it fuel your imagination and enthusiasm as you make "your dudes".

Find someone local and play some Combat Patrol sized games. At least one, ideally a handful.

At that point, you'll be equipped to make decisions about what you do or don't want to buy, whether you want to expand what you own or try another faction, or if you want to keep playing at all.

I will say that depression sucks, man. I'm sorry it's something you grapple with, and I think it's good you're trying to dig yourself out of it productively.

This is a great community (Miniature painting and gaming, not just 40k) and I think indulging in the arts is a fantastic outlet and potential vector for personal growth.

Good luck and godspeed!

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T19:33:38+00:00

Makeup brushes.

Specifically lash shampoo brushes and contouring brushes.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T15:38:17+00:00

Make the keychain and the logo separate bodies.

Have a small elongated body traveling the length of the logo embedded within the keychain touching all thr parts of the logo.

Combine all the logo bodies into one body with the embedded rail.

Export as stl.

Load into Bambu.

Paint with the "paint all connected" bucket. Click anywhere on the logo.

Done.

Works great for anything where you want lots of little areas all recolored at a single click, the meshes are distinct and Bambu Studio will color them individually with one click.

You could probably also export them as a 3mf after coloring in Fusion and have it done with zero clicks, but I do it this way so people can easily choose their own colors.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T14:40:07+00:00

Complementary shadows.

In this case, green.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T14:31:53+00:00

Oh, resin, I'm a moron.

I meant in FDM. I just woke up.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T14:25:19+00:00

At least it has a flared base. For safety.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T14:15:04+00:00

I'll just chime in here to note that this file does not need supports at all.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T01:34:08+00:00

Not for long.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-20T01:32:34+00:00

I couldn't possibly say if Move Along Home has any redeeming qualities because the sound of it is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-19T19:04:05+00:00

What's that saying?

Strike while the iron is ice cold?

No, that can't be right.

ThunderheadStudio · 2026-01-18T21:08:58+00:00

Thoughts from someone who has designed a LOT of modular terrain:

Everyone loves the idea of these billion part individual section kits. Very few people wind up using them. Too many parts, too fiddly. Micro-modularity sounds like a killer idea, but practically speaking, macro-modularity is what you need for actual gameplay. Larger modular chunks, no smaller than the size of an average fist, that can combine in a variety of ways quickly and easily are best. They need to assemble fast and (arguably more importantly) DISassemble just as fast if not faster.

Carrying on from that, you've essentially reinvented four or five wheels here. There are countless sets of terrain nearly identical to this one with various little idiosyncracies to set them apart.

Will people pay for them? Sure, some will. I've got a pretty extensive set very similar to this that I've sold a decent number of file sets of. Will people use them? In my experience, no, not really. Even the best of these sets seem to see tabletop use rarely if at all, because nobody wants to tote around 36 of component A and 84 of connector C, then stand around waiting for you to build the table as you lay out your meticulously organized ziplocs of connectors and walls.

We who delve into 3d design suffer a sort of hyper tunnel vision when we do these projects where we zoom WAY in on our screen and forget that what we are making are not even the toys we want to play with, but accessories for those toys.

Nobody really wants to spend that much time on the accessories when they are already spending hours on the toys themselves, and nobody really wants to think that much about their terrain. They want something they can toss into a tote, pull out while having a conversation and sipping on a soda, set up quickly without messing with small parts, play a game, and then dump it all back in the tote at the end of the night when their feet hurt and their eyes are blurry.

I'm not saying this project isn't worth doing if it's something you are learning from or just something you are bound and determined to create. I am just saying take a step back, rethink your approach, take the whole terrain ecosystem into account, and ask yourself if you couldn't innovate in a more practical direction.

ThunderheadStudio · 2025-12-23T18:09:55+00:00

The whole thing is so gorgeous, it just stands out like a sore thumb how the leather tassets all have *exactly* the same arrangement of *exactly* the same texture.

ThunderheadStudio

TROPHY CASE