Facility D20 is a miniature hobbyist YouTube channel where Troy—the owner, aims to always make cool stuff like unique terrain for D&D, Warhammer 40K, and more stunning dioramas, with his crafting skills.
In this video, he shared his experience printing what he called the most important minis of his life, all with the Sonic Mighty 4K and Aqua-Gray 4K.
But you might be asking, how could these be the most important miniatures of his life?
Before he explained further, Troy started by printing out the miniatures he’d been talking about: the Deepwars - Sunken Citadel’s Fortune Hunters and Dark Mariners Warband by AntiMatter Games.
But why are they even that important?
Troy said that he has always dreamed of having something that he made get featured in a rulebook. With the Antimatter Games about to launch their very own rulebook for their new collections, this is his shot at making it happen. If he manages to 3D print and paint these models well., he’ll finally get to make his dreams come true.
Preparing and Printing the Models
Since these models are yet to be released to the public, most of them come without support. It means Troy will need to do the support part by himself.
He started by throwing his models into the CHITUBOX Pro and started working on arranging them and adding support. Then, he made sure that everything was put on a 10 to 15-degree angle before he added auto-support. He added some extra manual supports on the base when necessary. He also checked through each layer and occasionally added manual support whenever he found a floating island.
Once he got all of his models supported and ready to go, he transferred them into a USB stick and ramped up his Sonic Mighty 4K. He loves how this printer is always giving him top-notch results consistently, making taking out models from the printer one of his favorite things ever.
After four and a half hours, he was welcomed with perfect prints, thanks to his support skills and an excellent 3D printer.
Troy continues to load more models into his printer, including the other Warband, Argonaut - a Fortune Hunter Submersible, and the Beast of Kronos. With each print, he loves how this printer can produce some really really detailed prints that are attached nicely to the build plate.
Slapchop Painting, More Than Just Speed Painting Techniques
Troy planned to match the colors of these models with his Sunken Citadel’s diorama aesthetic.
First things first, he primed all of the models with a flat black spray and started painting with his Army Painter.
Although it might be deemed controversial for such a high-stake mini, Troy decided to start with the slapchop method—a quick miniature painting technique often used for speed painting. The focus is to enhance details by dry-brushing a black-primered model and adding a second coat of white dry brush before finishing the piece with its intended colors.
Next, he did a quick airbrush painting with a diluted 50:50 water paint mix to bring colors to these models, resulting in a greenish-blue beast, a yellow miniature sub, and a purple fortune hunter. He also added another layer of dry brushing to give extra color highlights to the models and added the final finishing details like metallic dry brushing and a watered-down strong tone for weathered underwater effects.
With all of the models completed, finger-crossed that the AntiMatter Games would like them enough to have Troy’s work featured in their rulebook.
If you want to see more of Troy’s printing and painting process, make sure to watch the video below. Also, share with us which of his painted miniatures is your favorite in the comment section!
