FAQ

Archives are and have been very commonly used across all computing for over 20 years since the days of floppy discs, including in 3D printing for sharing and transporting files. They are an accepted format for uploading by almost all services and have the benefit of compressing the size of the file within. To extract your .stl file from a single archive simply right-click the archive and click 'extract here' or other similar option. Windows by default includes the Winzip program to do this, or you can use the superior Winrar (https://www.win-rar.com/download.html) or 7zip (https://www.7-zip.org/download.html). If you are using a Mac you will need to download The Unarchiver (https://theunarchiver.com/) from the app store in order to effectively work with archives, or Keka which is a similar alternative (https://www.keka.io/en/)

Miniatures

Being digital models making them smaller or larger doesn't affect them at all. As I usually mention in the description you can change the scale from 32mm to something else quite easily. For example if you wanted to change a miniature which is 36.2mm tall at 32mm scale to 28mm scale, you would times 36.2 by 0.875 (28 divided by 32) to get the new height of 31.6mm. Reverse the division if scaling up. Typically you would make that change in the slicer before printing but you can also save the model at that specific size for the future. Also keep in mind that I only work with true scale, so while they may be 32mm scale the large stuff can be very large indeed! They are not intended to be printed that large (for example the Riftworm from Gears OT is 11 metres long!) but only to serve as reference for its size. As I begin my project to print every one of my miniatures myself I will develop a sliding formula to adjust too large sizes to a usable tabletop approximation while retaining some differentiation and share the resulting sizes I use for those miniatures.

Life Size Props

You may have noticed that all of my life size pieces such as weapons and armour are provided at just that, their game accurate life size. They may come life sized but you don't need to use them that way, you can use them any way you like, a half-size display prop? Sure. A custom piece for a collectible figure? Absolutely. A tiny attachment for a miniature? Go for it. They're not just for cosplay or display. Like above, these are digital models, making them smaller doesn't affect them at all, although if scaling them all the way down to figure/miniature sizes you may want to increase their thickness, particularly swords so the blade isn’t too fragile.

Easy method to change the size of models for those who aren't printing the models themselves. Download and install the free software Chitubox, this is a slicer software. Simply import the model, press the big button on the left labelled 'Scale', you can change the size either using percentages or by the size of an axis, you can see which axis is which direction on the model by looking at the bottom left, they're colour coded. Once the size is changed hit the menu button, go to 'Save As' (not save project) and 'save selected model' to save it at that size.

The following information is derived from my own custom sliding scale formula to keep all models under 200mm for tabletop purposes while retaining the size relations between eachother. Provided is the % scale I recommend scaling down the model to, any model not named should remain at 100% or if it's new hasn't been added yet. To be clear this is not the percentage to reduce by, but to reduce to, so if it says 75% that means reduce by 25% to 75%. I will update it semi-regularly.

This is the link to the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10EtumvxgKeNeVSLHqwlO54P7ec8J0xNsFR7JdFIv9PQ/

None of my models are pre-split into pieces unless otherwise specifically stated for a certain reason such as the Bloodborne Saw Cleaver being foldable. For miniatures/statues I mostly always print them in one piece myself and do not have split versions. For life size props if I’ve had a reason to make a split version for printing such as printing it myself or for someone else then it will either be included in the files or will be stated in the description that the split version can be requested. After purchasing a model it is possible for me to split it into parts for you if needed however it is not a free service as it is time consuming to do, so I always recommend that you learn yourself as it is a useful skill to have and will save you money. There are plenty of youtube videos and other resources out there on how to do it using free software such as Blender, or even 3D Builder which is included with Windows. The latest PrusaSlicer 2.6 also has some useful splitting tools with automatic pins. I recommend including a pin on one side and a hole on the other of each split that you make for alignment and strength in assembly, for large FDM printed props I prefer holes on both sides so dowels can be inserted in each join as well as a central hole through the entire length for a rod to be inserted and provide strength for the whole thing.

I haven't been able to find a perfect video but this one is close! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moPDPB4MY2U), for props just use straight flat cuts and cylinders for dowel holes.

None of my models are pre-supported. There are many reasons for this, first is that I cannot test print everything at this time. Second is that even professional supporting groups who support models for successful Patreons etc get complaints about the supports and I'm certainly not at their level. Third is that I don't make even a fraction of close to enough sales to justify the time/expense of providing this. Sorry for any inconvenience if you prefer pre-supported! If I do have a pre-supported version of a model (probably the based version) as a result of myself printing it then it will be stated in the description and can be requested.

At this time I do offer FDM prints of my life size prop models, contact me or visit my Etsy store where they are listed. I have no plans to offer resin printed miniatures, other than possibly a small private selection in the future which are not available digitally.

As it states in the descriptions these files are prepared for miniature use. They absolutely can be scaled up to statue sizes (try it with the free one!) and will look great with a nice paint job, however if you’re looking to print one of these at a large size and want just that extra little bump of subtle detail in the unoptimized model you may be able to request it by contacting me. Keeping in mind that these files have not been fully prepared, they are unscaled and often do not have a baseless version. A direct comparison of the unoptimized vs optimized model can be seen here.

Please contact me and let me know! As you can see I have a large body of work and I work fast, it is entirely possible at any point of the process for something to slip through the cracks, unexpected issues or issues which have escaped my notice are entirely possible despite my best efforts, the software can be unpredictable and things like that are just a part of life. Notify me and I will check the model and if I find something wrong I will fix it and make sure you get the fixed model. Most will do this calmly and helpfully, and I appreciate it! However if you feel like you need to send a message attacking me and my work then don't expect any help at all, I'm not some unfortunate teen retail worker you can take out your insecurities on, I don't have a boss with an illogical 'customer is always right' corporate agenda I'm forced to answer to so I don't have to take it and I won't. Ask me, a consumer-level resin printing expert and experienced 3D print prepared digital sculptor using professional industry standard software, about it first, because no offense but chances are you are neither of those things. Yes, believe it, there are people who read one glossed over lazy beginner's guide after a google search when they first get their printer and assume they know better than me, it is as infuriating and ridiculous as it sounds. If your perceived issue is auto-analysis related please read below, an explainer as to why I do not accept auto-analysis results as an issue and neither should you.

The Failings of Auto-Analysis

It is rare because most people have a decent amount of experience before deciding to spend money on .stl files, but sometimes I will get reviews or messages citing auto-analysis results as there being something wrong with the file, or even describing it as unusable as a result. Let me be clear, in my professional opinion analysis tools are useless and full of false positives, I don't believe they should ever be used even by beginners, they're typically recommended in lesser beginner's guides but often that just turns into a bad habit of blindly relying on the results rather than ever understanding anything. One with experience would look at the .stl in the slicer with their own eyes and take 15 seconds to scroll through the layers to know if there are any actual issues. Every miniature file I sell has been tediously checked in expensive professional software by a highly experienced expert in consumer-level resin printing, the exported files from that software showing false positives due to the unique way it processes geometry is a known factor, it does not mean there is anything actually wrong with it and certainly nothing which would affect an actual print. I just can't wrap my head around someone seeing some minor errors in an auto analysis and thinking 'welp guess it's completely unusable' despite being able to see the model right there in the same window, that is not how any of this works.

I intend to personally print every single one of my miniature models and include a photo in each of their listings everywhere they are available. This will remove any confusion regarding the printability of the file or the quality of the results before it is ever purchased. Plus I'll get an awesome collection out of it! :D

All of my models are boolean meshes! What does this mean? It means no interior geometry, one single unified mesh, ie one single surface which makes up the entire model. This is how all models intended to be 3D printed (Resin or FDM) should be prepared, simple as that. I have had some FDM users confused by this, in their slicer it somehow looks hollow, however a boolean mesh is completely solid, for something to be hollow it must have walls, which these do not. In the digital space everything is a surface and doesn't have physical density, therefore if you slice it open there isn't anything inside to see like a real object, just the other side of the outside surface. It all makes sense once you wrap your head around that idea.

It is a little flattering that I've had multiple customers wanting to print my models as their first prints. But there is just so so much to learn about resin printing! I simply couldn't explain it all if I wanted to. Thankfully I don't have to, a fellow Aussie printer who I have worked with (and honestly asked for advice myself) has done it already. If you're looking for a guide, or info etc on how to use your printer whether a beginner or not check out their very comprehensive FAQ style guide which is one of the best in the world, with actual tested information that doesn’t rely on common lazy assumptions or misinformation: https://adonaelresinprinting.weebly.com/

All models are sold under a personal use only non-commercial license. The purpose of the models is being 3D printed therefore the license obviously and specifically encompasses their resulting 3D prints. You can not sell any form of the model whether modified, printed or otherwise manufactured without having an official signed agreement in place with myself, to do so is stealing and a breach of the sale license. Such agreements are subject to my approval and standards, and the fee for the agreement is a percentage of the price of each sale.

If you see any prints etc being sold which you believe to be my model and the seller is not listed below please report it to me.

The officially licensed currently active sellers are listed:

Conjurer of Creation on Etsy - Miniatures
SellSwordSmith on Etsy - Props
MyEasyPrint3D on Etsy - Miniatures

To explain licenses further here is an excerpt directly from the .stl specific site Cults3D:

"WHAT LICENSES CAN I APPLY TO THE 3D MODELS I UPLOADED?

The 3D models available on Cults are subject to licenses and are not all free of copyright. These licenses define what you can and cannot do with a 3D model. You can check out the full documentation about licencing to have a better understanding on how they work.

By default, the Cults - Private Use license is applied. This means that the 3D models under this licence are reserved exclusively for private use:

You can print them at home for your personal use;

You may not modify or adapt the digital files of the 3D models and share them;

You may not sell the digital files of the 3D models;

You may not sell the 3D prints of the designs or any 3D prints derived from the designs for economic or financial gain.

Only 3D models licensed for commercial use may be licensed for sale. For free designs, you can refer to the free licenses for commercial use. For paid designs, you can refer to the Cults licenses for commercial use.

If you are not sure on what you are allowed to do, the best thing is to ask your questions directly to the designer(s). You can use the comment section under each design or click on “Message” when you are on a Cults profile to communicate with them."

I try to keep things consistent, however the biggest reason for this is simply my own skills improving over time and with experience. My newest models will tend to be better than my oldest both in a technical sense and a detail one. That doesn't mean I wasn't proud of what I achieved at the time, but I have come a long way during the few hundred models I have created and I'm still discovering new techniques regularly! The second reason is source reference, if what I'm looking it is from an old game then the final model is going to reflect that time period, I'm not completely re-imagining these models, my goal is to capture them how they were and how we remember them. While I would love to go back and remake some models which aren't quite up to my current standard, the difference would be too negligible to justify doing that rather than working on something new.

I’m self-taught with a non-traditional style so definitely no expert and in no position to be teaching others lol but I have been asked this multiple times. Alas most people would start with Blender because it’s free and good but I skipped that so I don’t know how to use it. What I can share is this, the core idea of all sculpting: make a basic shape then add detail to it. Here’s a visual example using a Vong Miid Roik ship I made (click for image). More complexity in design = more shapes, when you’re speed sculpting like me you don’t bother with actual shapes for a lot of it though you simply use brushes to approximate them. I highly recommend FlippedNormal’s youtube channel for tutorial videos.

People starting out often seek a general tutorial to sculpt minis specifically from start to finish, but that isn’t how it works. Everything sculpted is the same core idea of shapes and detail so all tutorials for the tools used are relevant. Search for what action you’re specifically trying to do, not what your goal is to create. Want to create a greathammer for a character? A cuboid for the head, a cylinder for the handle, edit those shapes how you like and then add details to them, bam you have a greathammer.

For 3D printing specifically exaggerate the hell out of the detail, anything too subtle simply won’t show when printed, and ensure you make the final model boolean as is proper preparation for printing.

Recently and unfortunately I was attacked by a troll accusing my work of being models ripped from video games. I accept that your average person does not understand how video games work, I certainly didn't when I was just a gamer, and that is why my first response to such allegations or questions about video game rips is always with information so that they can understand. The problem is that these trolls will continue to mindlessly attack rather than admit they are hilariously clueless and wrong, with an entire planet and multi-billion dollar industry of evidence which proves it. Provide to them the resources to learn about these things and they will refuse, there is nothing to do about it, they are not worth my or anyone else's time. So when it becomes clear they are this person I will ignore them. It is not my job to teach a college degree worth of information to some random person, let alone one that is trolling me and would refuse all of it anyway. I trust in the intelligence of people who are not trolls to understand and learn what they do not already know via the incredible amount of resources at our fingertips. The models look like what is in the game because that is the entire point of fan art! These people are basically accusing them of looking too good and complimenting me by doing so.

If you are interested in understanding then read on. First thing out of the way, look at this image (https://i.imgur.com/GlIkOgg). The subject is the Burnt Ivory King from Dark Souls II, on the left is the fan model a client commissioned me to make, on the right is the model ripped from the game, you can download it yourself here (https://www.models-resource.com/pc_computer/darksoulsii/model/46956/) where I got it for this example, a site which specifically shares ripped video game models. Notice a difference? Well that is explained in the game rip section of this popular resin printing guide (https://adonaelresinprinting.weebly.com/)*, which goes into some detail about how video games work and why what you're seeing is not at all what's in the files. There is no such thing as a high detail model sitting there in the game waiting to be plucked out and thrown on a printer, if that were the case then there would be no fan art like my models and such ripped models would be everywhere. Anyone who has worked in video game development, or knows about video game development or real-time assets knows this, anyone who has researched it knows this, anyone who has seen someone ask about it in 3D printing communities and read the answers knows this, anyone who has ripped any models from video games knows this. My point is that it is common knowledge among those with these interests.

So no, my models are not and cannot be rips from a game, to suggest it is not only insulting to myself but also to the artists at these studios who created all the forms of art which went into the originals including the original sculpts which are far far better than mine will ever hope to be. My work is but a humble tribute, aka fan art. The years of effort, learning, improving, the thousands of hours spent working on my models, the pride, the pain in my hand when I spend too many hours doing it, the appreciation expressed to me from hundreds of customers and clients, all the times I've been too busy with it to do something with my spouse, at times the stress, and reaching the point where I do almost only commission work for people who genuinely desire what I can do, none of these things give a flying F*** about what some ignorant troll who refuses to educate themselves and does nothing but wastes oxygen thinks!

*full excerpt from the guide pasted below

[I Want To Print A Model Ripped From A Video Game?

Not gonna lie to you, it's technically possible yes, but it's tough with a lot of work involved and results nowhere near as good as what you're probably expecting. Why is that? Because video games are essentially optical illusions and what you're seeing is not the reality, there isn't some amazing model of that character in there which looks like it came straight out of a collector's edition box like some imagine. Not even close. Let's skip over the actual ripping part because every game is different, it's not easy and I don't know all that much about it. Assume you already have the models or got them from someone. Those models will look like crap, like they came straight off a Playstation 1. The game engine renders them in such a way which makes them look smooth and like they have depth etc, but in reality they're extremely simple and blocky. All the detail you see in the game are textures, which are images mapped onto the model and rendered in different ways making it look like it's not an image mapped onto a blocky model like a projector screen. So you have this blocky model with no detail, fine you can work with that you'll paint on the detail after it's printed, just smooth it out a bit so it's not so blocky and export it right? Well, not unless you want to print a T-pose or it's an object, so now you have to pose it, which means either rigging it with a skeleton so that you can then move parts of it, or using another method to manually move and rotate parts of it until it's posed, but then you can export it right? Not right actually, because they are nowhere near a printable state, those clothes you see, the hair/fur, anything which hangs or dangles, probably not 3D objects. 2D planes with a partially transparent image mapped to them. All that matters is how you, the player, will see the model in the game, and not see, those arms? They're cut off just inside the sleeve of the shirt, the sleeve which may be a single sided 2D plane. So you've got to do everything that's in the 'How To Make a 3D Model Printable?' section, everything needs to be a solid 3D model, it all needs to intersect, and then be made boolean. Great, you've done that, now you export right? Sure, now you can export one single very low detail basic posed model. Not saying it couldn't be worth it to the right person, and there are some small but dedicated communities which do this for the sake of miniature tabletop games, but it sure is a lot to do for little in the way of results, might be better to just learn how to model/sculpt yourself and be able to re-create anything you like exactly how you want it.

Here is a link to an example image of how game models are made (https://imgur.com/a/GM0YYua), as you can see in the top half, that wireframe is the polygons, that's how blocky a game model is and what it looks like (without the colour) when it is extracted because 3D printing uses only raw geometry, as you can see all the detail you see in the game is actually half a dozen layers of textures with different functions projected on top of that. That is how real-time assets work, the image on the bottom left is how the model up top looks rendered in-engine with all those layers shown on the right enabled.

Finally here is a direct comparison (https://imgur.com/nUO37sm) on the left is a Locust Drone in Gears of War 3 as it appears in the game, and the right is the raw model of it I found ripped from the game. Yeah.]