[Epic] (pre)Imperial architecture

[Malika]

Started working on a new project for Bits Blitz...



Still very WIP. The roof component will need detailing, and I'm tempted to remove the pyramid like thing.

It's going to be a multipart kit, each 'level' is 5 stories high (which translates as 5cm high)

[Stormwind]

Ooh, interesting!

For my part I must admit, it's the Epic ruins which I am most looking for from 3rd party sellers.  I've seen some odds and ends on Shapeways but they had absolutely ridiculous prices.

http://www.shapeways.com/model/879997/gothic-arches.html?li=search-results&materialId=26

[Malika]

Wow...those are pretty beautiful though.

Main problem is that 3d printing is pretty expensive. The markup I add to my products is so small that I'm not really making any money off it. Normally in retail the markup is at least 300%, so if production costs are $5, the retail price is $20. If I would follow that philosophy you would never be able to afford any printed model I designed. So I'm keeping that markup ridiculously small, it's just that the technology is still relatively new and thus still very expensive.

[Stormwind]

Oh yes!

In terms of lower resolution but still servicable stuff:

http://www.shapeways.com/model/60999/gothic-style-cathedral.html?li=related-items-ext&materialId=6

This was the only thing I reall thought was correctly priced whilst also being convincing.

[Malika]

Since my more Space Hulk oriented stuff will undergo a serious redesign to make it produceable, I decided to take the components I've built so far, and play with them a bit. After putting them together and shrinking them I realized I could then them into Epic scale buildings.

What I've got here is rather easy to reproduce, the panels are 50mm x 50mm, and I'm working with a two-part system, meaning I'd only have a roof and wall part. A future expansion would be a wall part with no door in it so you could build higher structures.

Let me know what you think:

[Malika]

Tweaked the design so it's a bit more print/cast friendly. Also moved the windows a bit so that each floor would have four 36 square meter apartments. Note that model is scaled 1:300, meaning a 36 square meter apartment in this model is 20mm x 20mm.

[Malika]

Playing a bit more with the design, and introduced a third part (top five floors):

[Malika]

Ok, been playing with it a bit more, and designed a wall variant. Had to redo the windows on the previous panels in order to make them compatible with this new one.



I noticed that I'm slowly moving into the realm of Fascist Architecture and Brutalist Architecture, which is more fitting for pre and early Imperial days, the whole Gothic thing combined with the skulls came later anyways!

[Malika]

Here a 'compilation' of the wall panels and roof panel I've got so far:


In theory they're all interchangeable, not so sure if they would all work aesthetically though. The ones on the far left really have their own style going on when compared to the rest.

[Stormwind]

Ah but would they be easy to bash up and use as ruins? =3

[Malika]

The plates are about 2mm thick (stuff that sticks out and such make it 4mm thick). I guess a sharp knife could make the buildings rather ruined.

[Islacrusez]

Lack of interiors could probably cripple efforts to make ruins more than say 3 storeys tall... Though creative use of "rubble" and roof sections could probably make that workable.

[Malika]

Been adding some more variants in the mix which could be cool for in the future. Idea is that each 'type' of building has three possible wall variants, the 'grand entry' / 'pillar' style (bottom), the normal door wall (middle) and the higher levels (top) variants.

[Islacrusez]

Would it not be possible to mould a door panel that could simply be tacked over the appropriate location? Or is the scale too small for such things?

[Malika]

Actually...that's not such a bad idea! Let me try some stuff out!

EDIT:: Check what I just did!