Intergalactic Council - Idea Discusssion
about 4 years ago – Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 05:18:24 PM

Happy Saturday! The upcoming stretch goal "Intergalactic Council" is a fun one that has some cool minis I'm excited about. I wanted to try something though - Usually the stretch goals are made by me ideating a bunch of ideas, and interweaving general backer feedback (like from the survey). But I wanted to have a brainstorm feedback post and see if you wonderful backers had any interesting ideas to add to what I have planned already. The stretch goal has a few 'noble-esque' aliens and a set of guards, and I imagined a chamber where your enterprising crew would get called into discuss (to get a mission, a warning, do diplomacy... who knows!). 

Every scifi world has it's jedi council, galactic senate, etc. Without giving away too much of what I had planned, I want to see if this sparks any ideas for cool stuff you might want to see, and I'll see if I can make it happen! So throw out your ideas for what models for an "Intergalactic Council" might mean to you in the comments below!

*Quick Edit* - I have the minis for this stretch goal done already as noted above, I'm particularly thinking about ideas for scenery, but if you have interesting mini ideas it certainly doesn't hurt to get em out there! ;-)

Spider Robot + Paint Bundle Add-on
about 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 05:06:49 AM

Spider Bot / Paint Contest

If you participated in the paint contest, you should have received an email from me last night including a link to the early-access mini - the Spider Bot. This mini will be added to the campaign in the 'Minis' category, but if you entered the contest you can print/paint it now! If you entered, but didn't receive the email, please check your spam folder (it will be from [email protected])

Discounted Paint Set

Most of the painted photos in this campaign were done by my friend Ryan @ Cephalopod Studios, who has an amazing boutique line of paints and washes that he developed himself, and ran a past Kickstarter for. They're perfect for 3d printed files, and we curated a set just for The Ignis Quadrant that you can get as a discounted add-on!

It's a $39 add-on, excluding shipping and gets you all of the above including paints, washes, metallics, and a brush. If you live in the USA, shipping is < $5, but it gets move expensive to ship internationally (which is out of our control unfortunately). To see what your exact shipping price will be, visit the product HERE on their webstore and you can check shipping cost in the cart. To add this to your pledge, add $39 to your pledge now, then in BackerKit when the campaign concludes, you'll receive a code to get the item on their webstore for free, where you will just pay for shipping. (Note if you are not in the US, you will be responsible for any customs/duty taxes).

This is a great set of paint for a great price, and supports a local maker in our 3d printing community. Ryan and his studio will receive all income from this add-on, and will use it to continue to make awesome video content and grow the paint line.  The bundle deal for this set puts the cost at under $2.50 per bottle! If you want the paint set but don't want to wait until after the campaign, he's running a sale on their webstore to purchase it right now for $44.95

Ryan will be making some awesome video paint guides for some Ignis Quadrant models, using Cephalopod Studios paints to share with us all as well to give you some ideas on painting up the models from this project!

Another Stretch Goal Unlocked!
about 4 years ago – Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 12:52:45 AM

Well it took a while to get here but we unlocked another one! This tends to happen during the middle slog of a KS, but there's also been many cancelled pledges, due in part to the current economic crisis I imagine. I wanted to make sure you were all still having fun and excited though, so I decided to include a bit more in this one that I had planned for future stretch goals. If you have participated in Kickstarters from other vendors you are probably used to stretch goals with a couple models, but I always try to pack a whallop with each new stretch goal: so here we go!

This goal has two of my favorite vehicle so far: the heavy and medium walker! Initially I didn't have detailed interiors or pilots planned, but lots of folks wanted then so I made it happen. The heavy walker can be printed with fixed glass (if you don't want an open cockpit) or with the cockpit/glass separated. You can also do one without weapons, or a version with a few modular weapon options. The medium walker has 1 style of fixed weapons, and has an option for seated pilot in cockpit or open seat. Both these models print 100% support free, as you would expect!

For scenery we add the Planetary Defense Gun - a huge beam cannon that can blast starships out of the sky. You can see how large it is compared to a mini in the render below, but you can scale it if you wish. The gun rotates son the base 360 degrees. We also added a set of modular laser or energy fences, and a gate. Thees have many configurations, including flat ends to sit against buildings and structures, and you can print the fences in fun translucent materials.

For minis, first is the 'Assassin Droid" - partially influenced by the Mandalorian, but I wanted this one to feel like a wanderer, and somebody who would make an awesome PC or NPC. Last, we add 3 Insectoid aliens - a scout, a warrior, and an explorer. Let me know what you think!

Stretch Goal Tweaks / Notes and More Models

You might note that I tweaked the stretch goals a bit, based on the feedback form and what I think I can do well and deliver as quickly as possible post campaign, and what will really flesh out the campaign more. You'll also see some extra models added next week from the Paint Contest winner model choices, and I'll be running some social stretch goals soon too.

I'm working on finalizing the early mini for the folks who participated in the paint contest, and am hoping to get that sent out on Sun. Cheers!

Paint Contest Results!
about 4 years ago – Fri, Apr 17, 2020 at 04:49:01 AM

The results are in! Holy smokes what an awesome paint contest! So many amazing entries, it was absurdly hard to judge. I loved the process though and will absolutely be doing more of these in the future. Thank you so much to each and every one of you who took the time to enter. Please know that it was gut-wrenchingly hard to pick winners - every entry was awesome our my books, and the judges had to deliberate long and hard (and are truly bummed that we couldn't pick 20+ winners).

You can check out a combined list of all entries, anonymously from both categories in this huge Imgur gallery HERE. It was so hard to choose that I added a 3rd place prize in both category, who will be receiving $30 in free add-on credit in BackerKit at the end of the campaign. If your entry was a winner, I will be contacting you individually via the email you included in your entry over the next few days, so check your inbox!

If you did not win the contest, your entry was still awesome. I truly felt under-qualified to judge this damn thing after seeing how great the entries were, and the other judges agreed. Remember, EVERYBODY who entered will be receiving early access to a new mini to print, which I'll be finalizing and sending to your inbox later this week.

As a reminder, 1st place in each category gets free all-in KS reward, the full EC3D back catalog of add-ons, and get to work with me to create a model that will be included in the project for all backers! 2nd place gets a free pledge + $50 for add-ons, and 3rd place gets $30 for add-ons.

CATEGORY ONE - BEST LOOKING

1st Place - Doug Chapman

This one leapt off the page to all the judges - ultra smooth, yet still crisp color, with a pleasing color scheme and nice detail in the base - some distressing but not too much, it captured everything I could imagine about this model! You knocked it out of the park Doug!  

2nd Place -  Alexandre Ducrocq

This guy just screams destruction - you know he's seen some sh*t . Awesome blending and distressing and the eyes are captivating!  

3rd Place - James Convy

We all really enjoyed the feel of this guy, like an old companion robot left behind after the Robinsons last mission. Distressing over smooth paint is great, and the base really ties it all together. 

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CATEGORY TWO - COOLEST / MOST FUN SCENE

1st Place - Katherine Marion Rosland

This one legit floored all of us when we saw it. It's captivating, and tells a deep story on many levels - I absolutely loved it. Go ahead, stare at it deeply... then do it longer. The photo had a very simple filename that added to the story so simply, and elegantly... "Discovery". All the trees in the scene are 3D printedd as well. Amazing work Katherine!

2nd Place - Geir Harald Helgeid

This one is great too - another relatively simple scene with deep meaning. Geir titled this one "Wartorn" and we kept finding ourselves drawn back to it repeatedly. It elicits a lot of emotion and thought, and the creative re-posing of the minis and use of the 3d printed building is awesome.

3rd Place - Bill Curran

This scene is just cool, and classic scifi. Bill used pieces almost exclusively from the freebies files from this campaign and made an awesome scene that feels both futuristic and time-honored, and I wish this was a campaign that I was playing in right now!

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What do you guys/gals think? It's truly amazing to see the creativity of this community and I'm beyond humbled by all of your talents!

New Stretch Goal Unlocked!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Apr 09, 2020 at 07:05:21 PM

WOOOO! It took a while (the middle of kickstarters always feel like a slog) but we got to another unlock!

New Unlocks 

This one has some of my favorite minis from the project: the Space Dwarves! included are a set of 4; The heavy gunner, berserker, gun slinger, and mechanic. These guys have tons of character and detail and will make one hell of a space crew. I also tossed in a small scout drone to keep tabs on those pesky dwarves. For vehicles we added the hovering personnel cannon - for the times that you need some SERIOUS firepower. This piece of armor is designed to fit a mini inside, and hovers with a control screen to bring the pain. I also added some random scatter bits to keep your tables spicy, including a portable power unity, some ventilators/fans, and the "Scan-o-matic", to scan all the organic and non organic matter your science sorties bring back!

Ongoing Stretch Goals

Usually i'm pretty good at planning/predicting stretch goals, but this KS is proving a bit elusive - due I'm sure to the global health crisis and unemployment sweeping the world. I have seen lots of canceled pledges, but I understand of course that people need to put their families and well being above discretionary spending (like 3D models). I still, however, want to make sure this is a successful campaign and all of you who stick it out with me will be thrilled with what's included, so I'm tweaking the goals a little. Based on the feedback form from a few updates ago I'm restructuring my plan slightly and making some awesome new models. I have also lowered the stretch goal unlock prices to help keep the excitement rolling. We'll see how things continue, but I'm still very confident we'll unlock at least 6-8 more stretch goals (if not more) - after all, we are only halfway through the funding period. This longer campaign has given me ample time to get every unlock so far finished and EVERY FILE  included/unlocked so far is finished, tested, and ready for delivery post funding.

Facebook

I know not everybody uses Facebook, but I only have the bandwidth to manage and keep up with 1 social media channel, and FB is my choice. I'm always posting teasers and work in progress stuff (including future models for this campaign), so please check out my page and follow me if you wanna keep up!

Paint Contest Reminder!

Don't forget, we have a live paint contests right now for one of the free robot model, with hundred of dollars in prizes and the chance to choose a model to include in the project! The contest ends at 10pm CST on Sun, and the entries are starting to roll in, so check it out and throw your hat in the ring! 

Even if you don't think you'll win, everybody who enters will get early access next week to a model from this campaign that is not getting released for free, so check it out - info HERE.