Moving the site over

http://recklessterrain.blogspot.com/

This will be the new address from here on out.

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6mm Building Terrain Offerings! I need input on your thoughts

I am doing a test print on my Hana Building this morning. I should know in the next 4 hours if it is going to print correctly.

So I have been racking my brain around how to give you guys what you want at a reasonable price.
Sounds easy right? lol

So on Shapeways this model is priced at $20 plus shipping! In which I am making $2 per unit sold.

Now take a good look at the picture.
This building should be printed in 3 hours and 33 minutes and costing $2.11 for the material used.
I do charge $1 by the print hour (rounding up) because of ware and tear on the machine and its parts.
So I feel I can offer this Model for $10 each not counting shipping. Which is an obvious savings of $10 and it gives me a earning of roughly $4 for my time.

My Big Hurdles I need to tackle is Production & Shipping.

Production: My 3D printer can only print so fast. I can do molds but lets put a pin on that thought for a later time. On a good day plus my full time job I might be able to turn out two of these buildings a day or 60 units a month.  I don't believe I currently have that sort of demand yet but you will understand more of this train of thought later on in this post.

Shipping: So I found  6 x 6 x 6 boxes which should work nicely for $2. Shipping with in the Untied States should be fairly easy and I would not expect it to cost more that $5. So for $7 I think this would cover shipping costs.

My Concern is International Shipping and pricing that out. I guess ultimately I would need a trusting soul to test that out.

My Plan

I am heavily looking into running a Patreon Account for Reckless Terrain.
They have a good payment system and integrated shipping information which would make doing this easier. The basic idea behind this, is a monthly subscription system so at the 1st of each month you will be charged for whatever reward you picked. Also by becoming a support of Reckless on Patreon
it will give you more direct access to me and what you want to see. I can do polls of the supporters and see what building they want to see next as a Reward for the next month. There is a better level of interaction between the creator and the supporters on Patreon that is really hard to beat.

The example rewards that I have been throwing around in my head.

$1 Month / Level 1 Rewards
-- Access to Vote on Future Rewards
-- Behind the Scenes Access to this whole process
-- Private Community to discuss what you would like to see
-- ????

$15 Month / Hana Building (Limited to 10 Supporters)
-- Same Rewards listed in Level 1
-- One 3D Printed Hana Building, Shipped Directly to you. (with in the USA)
-- Once the reward is paid out you will have to renew your support. This level does not auto renew each month.

These are just some very basic Rewards I have been thinking about. The higher end Rewards will change every month. There could be offerings of several buildings in a month with in reason due to production / time delays. It is honestly up to you, it is what you want. If people want more Star Wars Armada stuff there could be an offering on that.

There are Goals, I can also to help sweeten the offers.

So I need your thoughts on this matter. Please contact me about this.
email: jmartinson27   @  gmail  .com    Please Use the Title: Reckless in the subject matter so it does end up in spam. I just fired up a Reckless Terrain Twitter account this morning. If you want to reach me there.

Please Folks, if this is something you might be interested in spend the 5 minutes and send me a note.
I will be doing more than just buildings for Robotech. Count on Blood and Plunder Terrain, Battlestar Galactica game I have been working on, Arcadia Quest, Giant Killer Robots: Heavy Hitters. Star Wars Armada etc....

Its your voice! tell me the direction

The $1 a month reward would help off set possible shipping costs, failed prints and keep me in enough printing materials.

-----Up-Date-----
Remember that Print Time? Well it actually took 4hrs 42mn to print.

Achievement Unlocked: Offically an Artist for Firelock Games

Well according to their Second Rule book.

This has been a very strange twist in events.

Back in April I was still trying to get all my stuff gathered to send off to Weta Workshop. When I ran across an old Kickstarter that I just could not back the first go around. I dived in and absorbed as much as I could to get back up to speed with the game's development. With my latest addition of a 3D printer, I was coming up with ideas for terrain and game pieces that could be used for it. During my lunch break I thought. What the hell what do I got to loose but to ask if they would be interested in me designing terrain and other game pieces for them. So I sent out a message to one of the Co-Founders Alex. I kept it very simple with a picture of the Medusa , its orthographic and thanked him for his time.

With-in Five Minutes he responded and he was indeed looking for someone to do terrain for them!
He told me lets touch base later on and that we would work out the details.

So Saturday night and all day Sunday, I started to 3D model out terrain pieces. Did some Rum Barrels, Spanish Style Church, modular dock, crates etc... On Monday morning, I fired off a series of pictures of the terrain I worked on the past few days. He was really impressed, He got Mike Tunez the other Co-founder involved. Mike immediately asked if I could do a Piragua? Which I new was a ship on some kind but that was about it. The Piragua was one of the three ships that needed to be ready for the new Kickstarter in June. It was mid April and this ship needed to take priority so they could have it done in time. The second ship is a Galleon which they were still building.

After one attempt that needed so many changes. I asked if a line drawing could be done so I could get the basic shape and lay out as close to possible. In a few days I had the line art and went to town. Just shy of a week, I had the 3D model of the Piragua approved by Firelock games. It was sent out to be proto-typed and have some wooden detailing put in to match the others in their ship line.

After the Piragua was done I was asked to work on boat number 3. Which I will not spill the beans on what this one is. Mike and Alex both have not gone on the record yet to what is it. All I can say is it fits with the theme of the Kickstarter.

So let this story remind all of you out there.
If you have a dream of doing something, reach out for it. No matter how hard the odds may seem.
You just never know, the one time you ask for it, they may just say yes.

Garish Kit

I have got two Garfish kits that are up for sale. I am asking $40 each which will cover shipping with in the Continental United States. All other shipping over seas etc.. will have to be extra.

These Garfish's are very limited and do not count on seeing them up for sale again any time soon. Between the plastic and print time this is a heck of deal. Not counting the 120 hours of 3D modeling time put into the mesh.

All funds are keeping me supplied in plastic to keep me printing and keep the printer serviced.

Kit comes in 5 parts with its rafting structure still attached. It will require cleaning up, trimming, filling and gluing (recommend Super Glue)

Nose Section

Upper Mech Bay

Aft Engine Section

Lower Mech Bay & Engines

Tri Barrel Turret.

Prototype Primed.

Here is some more close up shots. I figure if I primed it up, it would allow the details to come through.

1st Prototype printed

30 years of wanting this ship model and its finally here. I found some areas I need to address to make it all fit together better. I made my parts to tight. I need to give a little room for some play.

Lower hanger doors are distorted due to printing orientation. This should be an easy fix.

Garfish forward section

Well this took 14hrs to print. Small failure of one side of the upper mech bay. Currently reprinting it to see if there is a mesh issue or printer issue.

Garfish Test Print: 1st Attempt

So here is a 14hr print at 60 microns. I will do the other half tomorrow.

Test Prints

Printed out a Heavy Lifter at .06 Layering. Still have a bunch of clean up to do but over not to bad. Repositioning this on the build plate might even render better detail. I did this and a recon vehicle which took 33hrs and 30mn to complete. Recon vehicle suffered from the extruder hitting its middle tire and shifting part of that tire print. Again repositioning will help with this or just print them as singles.

As I am writing this my printer is just starting to work on my Garfish's raft for its aft section. Estimated time to complete is 11hrs. When its done ill start printing its forward section which will take another 12hrs.

Up-date

I am still plugging way with the BattleStar Galactica game. I just figured out a smoother way to handle a good portion of the game mechanics. Which will mean a very big over haul of what I already have in place. So technically I am on V3 now since I announced I was doing this project.

Earlier this week, I received the Cylon Guardian Base Star Kit. Its already assembled and painted, I need to hit it with a clear coat before I weather it. I also now have 4 Cylon Tankers that need to be assembled and painted. Plus 30 Cylon Fighters (Razor).

In other news, I am on the verge of buying a 3D Printer. This last batch of 80mm flight stands I created on Shapeways ran a good $75. Since I was about to purchase easily another $75 in flight stands well, it is time in invest in a printer. 

On top of all of this I m following the Kickstarter Giant Killer Robots Heavy Hitters from Weta Workshop. GKR Heavy Hitters This gatme looks like a lot of fun! Please Check it out, count on me making up-graded pieces for this game in the near future. Yes, I am a Backer!  =)

So this Kickstarter reminded of the time I was going to apply to Weta Workshop when they were in production of the Lord of the Rings. Needless to say, I missed that window to apply by a few weeks.
But this Kickstarter reminded me of this so I thought I would check out to see if they are hiring.

Over the Past week I have been pulling art work, projects, 3D models, 3D prints and etc...  Because they are looking for Concept Designers, Artists, Modelers etc... I am building a care package of goodies for them to look over. Hopefully I can stand out enough in a good way that they will remember me.

From the info on the Weta website only 5-10 people are chosen a year out of a 1,000 plus applicants.
With the studio launching their GKR board game and hopefully expanding this department. I just can't ignore all of these signs to not apply.  I know its a long shot, I know it would require moving a long way but its a once in a life time moment. Besides what is one more move, I quit counting my moves after it reached 24.

I will post more in the next week. I just need to get this package dressed up a little before it heads over to my New Zealand Friends.

Cards thus far

This is part of the madness of game design. If I would have only kept this like a standard war game. I would be much further along than I currently am. Lol actually this all started as just that. Now its evolved into something else. I am still hovering over the 230 mark in just cards.
I still have a damage deck, command deck and Cylon AI cards to do. Both the damage and command cards will go by quickly since most of these have been written down. AI cards are a challenge, I started working on the wording of these last week.

I had to go back and pull a few cards that just didn't fit. Some got reworded and others were just set aside. They have a place in the game just not where I first thought. Bought another 200 note cards to get ready for the AI, command and damage cards.

Magnets have been purchased and they are on the way.

Galactica 80mm Flight Stand

As you can see my Shapeways bases have arrived. These were designed to use magnets. But from the above picture you can see it works well with out them. A 3mm by 1mm magnet will fit in flush at the top if the base. While a 4mm by 2mm magnet will go into the ship it self.

From this view you can see how well this fits. I created an "X" shape support to better handle the weight distribution. This Stand does work just fine on the Pegasus.

Now time to buy two more and get those magnets here.

Some more progress

I knew right up front this was going to be an under taking. I just don't believe you truly understand until you completely commit to it. Even three years ago I thought this couldnt be to hard, like anyone could just do it. Lol. Truth be told its not hard, yes it can be difficult to wrap your head around how to do things. But once you commit to it, something inside your head flicks on. Ideas and thought processes just start to flow out and most likely will be sparked from the weirdest daily interactions.  Thankfully I try to keep a pen and paper around to jot down the basic idea. The Keep app on my phone has been a life saver in this processes.

So I knew right up front I was going to have to design a lot of cards to make this game work properly. I just didn't know how many this might be. Last time I posted I mentioned I had 88 cards writen out. Well that number has reached over 170 and I removed 30 some cards out of this part of the design phase. Which I could still integrate back in with out an issue.
Currently I have 70 Resource Cards and I set a tempory limit of 70 Event Cards. I reworked the 12 Colony Cards, Got some 20 plus Colonial Ship Cards and etc...

The Event Cards are currently limited to 70 for now. I could see this number reaching 100 if I didnt place a limit for now. 70 gives me a good sample to work with during play testing.
The Resource Cards are some thing new. I just didn't have a solid way for players to expand their fleet and or replenish their squadrons. So the Resource Cards came to me over Christmas while I was on Vacation in Jamaica.  Again thank god for the Keep app.
The idea behind the Resource Cards is as you do missions you will find stuff. Either from the Mission it self, enemy ships and etc... If your Fleet attempts to do a Mission at a higher difficulty level, the base number of these cards will increase. Some of these cards will help the Fleet with Supplies,  Food, Water, Tylium, Intel and Admiralty.

Intel and Admiralty are now two new game mechanics.
Intel is just that, advanced intelligence on what is going on and possibly the near future.  I needed away for the players to avoid a bad situation during the Event Phase. This gives players a chance to alter their fate and have some sort of control. Lets say your fleet gets an event card that could seriously endanger one or more of your ships. Once the Event Card is flipped over, your fleet will have two options. One to either resolve that event or secondly ignore that event completely by Expending 1Intel. Intel is not going to be easy to accumulate currently you have a 1in 7th chance of gaining +1 intel. Plus the fact you have 7 days in the Event Phase I would use your Intel wisely.

Admiralty reflects how the Colonial Admirals view your Fleets Performace. These points can ne spent to gain favors from the Admiralty. Like reinforcements, Foundry Plans so you can start building your own Mk II Viper Squadrons etc...Again you are going to want to spend these wisely.

Yesterday I designed and orders two Flight Stands for this game. One for my Galactica model and the other for my Osiris resin kit. Both stands incorporate magnets in them to keep the model pointed in the right direction with the ability to be stowed away in storage. One is an 80mm base the other is a 60mm. Both of these hit the 3D printer this afternoon.
I also ordered 30 Cylon Razor fighters which should be here in the next few days.  I am debating on doing flight stands of 3 to represent a squadron. Custom dice is also a must,  I know what I am doing for the Colonials. Still havent focused to much on the Cylon dice yet.

Oh yes, I will most likely create an Event board. To make the Event Phase run smoother. I already found a company that can do game boards. Why I bring this up. Most Missions normally take 3 days to reach on this board.  On day 4 the Fleet will have to expend one of ots resources to move into day 4. Plus resolve any Event Cards that maybe on that day as well. On day 7 the fleet will again have to pay to move forward. Showing the fact the Fleet isover extending it self for this Mission. Now you should start to understand how thr Event Phase helps tell the story of the Fleet between each Mission.

There is more I have yet to cover but that will come In later up dates. My next focus is going to ne the Cylon AI deck. I roughly know how the Command Cards will work and be worded. But aspects of that may change due to the Cylon AI deck. Again the Cylon AI cards will ne robust so each confrontation will/should play out differently.

Thats it for now. Oh one last thing,  I intend to have a playable version of this game before this time next year.

Developing Battlestar Galactica tabletop/board game.

For the past three years I have been writing down notes and ideas to develop a table top minatures game. I would spend a good few months writing down my ideas and game mechanics. I would pack up the project for a few months and once again approach the project with a fresh set of eyes. In most cases it would totally mean scrapping out sections to improve the game flow while not making it overly complicated. Part of the problem I was facing was picking a theme. I have enough notes and ideas to do one hell of an Robotech Space Combat tabletop game. It is painfully hard NOT to do one when I have the ability to 3D print all my REF ship models. I have even gone as far as asking my contact in Harmony Gold if I could create it for them. Which was a no.

So I am switching my Theme to Battlestar Galactica.
Yes, I know I dont have the licensing rights to do so. I am creating this game for myself 1st and for most. Plus prove to myself and others that it can be done. It is a huge undertaking, designing the mechanics, keeping the theme throughout it all, while making it a co-op and not making it complicated.  Then there is all of the graphics work that will need to be done.

So this past week I started to design out my cards for this game, just the mehanics and wording for them. I quickly hit 88 cards written out and this doesn't even scratch the surface of the game.

Let me explain, the over all idea of the game. You and your friends will be captains in the colonial fleet at the start of the Cylon's war. The first mission will get the story going and take you threw all of the phases and steps. This will function as a story and teaching the players the rules. You will have choices and actions that will have effects on your fleet that might not seem obvious at the time. Once you get past a few of the basic missions, you willjabe even more choices in mission selection. Each play session represents 1 week in the fleet in which you try to complete the mission. From here we zoom into what happened during the week of this mission.  There will be 7 squares for each day of that week. A mission objective will be placed on one of these days. Each day may have an Event Card or possibly left blank to represent a very quite day in the fleet. The Mission objective as an example could be on Day 4 and a Cylon Basestar could be on Day 7. As the fleet attempts to each their objective they must reveal the Event Card for that day and resolve it. As an example you might reveal  a Delay card, which advances your mission objective 1 day further down the week. So it is now on Day 5. You might reveal a card that moves the Basestar 1 Day closer to your fleet and your objective.  There is both good and bad results in these themed Event Cards. Do not get to attached to certain ships in your fleet. Just like the show there are times you may have a 20% chance of loosing one. Which will affect the out come of your fleet. Once you or the Cylon reaches the Mission Objective is when the Battle phase starts. This is where the tabletop side of the game comes out. Cylons will function off an AI card deck. The deck will be robust with the ability to bring out aggressive and defensive behavior.  There will be enough variations to ensure that it will not react the same way each time. Just attacking may cause a reaction.

Its been a fun process so far, there have been several times this week where a new Event Card idea has made me laugh out loud at work. Thank fully I keep scrap papper to write on so I dont loose the thought or idea completely.

80mm Colonial Base 8mm off Center

Mining Ship: WIP

Started work on this earlier this week. I am going to set its scale to match 1:4105 which at the time. I thought this ship was much smaller, thinking at best 4 inches. Well as it turns out, it is closer to 7.6 inches. This ship is huge so, with that notable size increase I am going to have to redo some parts to bring more detail out.  

Medusa Class Battle Cruiser

BSG: Teaser

Here is what is going public on the ship I am working on today.

Still here

hey guys, I know I have not posted in a while. It does not mean I have not been working on a new model. Since I have been asked to keep its progress hidden all I can say is the following.

Sofar the model is 300,000 polys. It is a new ship concept for Battlestar Galactica and it will eventually be casted out in resin to match the 1:4105 scale that has been used by Moebuis.
60 hours into the model and it is coming along nicely.