Next Level Miniatures is on Kickstarter (Rappan Athuk, a giant dragon, fantasy minis galore)

[haldir]

I like the sculpts but overall, this one is not for me as I have way too many similar miniatures already.

 

Hope for success in the future!

[ksbsnowowl]

On 9/6/2021 at 11:57 AM, Disciple of Sakura said:

Minis look really good, and there's some cool stuff, but overall, I just don't need most of the figures. I'll have to look forward to when the minis start selling individually, but I'm watching for now in case I break down and fail my will save.

The creator has stated in the comments that the various miniatures will be available ala cart in the PM. Possibly single, possibly in small groups (3? 5?), and hopefully for ~$1-$2 per mini; the details have not yet been solidified. 

Edited September 11, 2021 by ksbsnowowl

[Kro]

I've backed collectively with my d&d group, we'll split the cost evenly then draft the minis 😄

[Jeronimus]

Currently this campaign gets you 129 miniatures for 80 bucks - 60 cents for a mini. A pretty sweet deal that's only getting sweeter as it goes on. Too good to be true? Maybe. I am still waiting to see some good pictures or videos posted of what the actual product looks like.

 

Even though I said I don't like painting multiple identical miniatures, I did have to hop on board. If I counted correctly, there are currently 49 different sculpts, with more to be unlocked. That's still only $1,6 per unique figure. A couple of those are pretty large sculpts (Elementals of each type and a Beholder still to be unlocked). Even if the material doesn't hold detail too well, like some early Bones figures, it'll still be good for the bigger sculpts.

 

[Marc]

Out of curiosity, what makes you think the material does not hold detail well?

[Jeronimus]

2 hours ago, Marc said:

Out of curiosity, what makes you think the material does not hold detail well?

I was only bringing up the possibility as a possible concern. Not all the detail from a 3D sculpt is guaranteed to transfer to the physical product as well. I'm also specifically thinking of how the original flexible Bones formula would obscure details on some figures. This is a new material for me that I don't have experience with, but which looks okay.

 

So I don't think these will be blobs of plastic, at all! There haven't been any pictures of the finished results, except for the Ogre. That's a bigger figure and I think it looks great! Not the crispest miniature I've ever seen, but it does look good. 

[Adrift]

The thriftiness of my soul is making me want to back this 😂

[BlazingTornado]

1 hour ago, Jeronimus said:

I was only bringing up the possibility as a possible concern. Not all the detail from a 3D sculpt is guaranteed to transfer to the physical product as well. I'm also specifically thinking of how the original flexible Bones formula would obscure details on some figures. This is a new material for me that I don't have experience with, but which looks okay.

 

So I don't think these will be blobs of plastic, at all! There haven't been any pictures of the finished results, except for the Ogre. That's a bigger figure and I think it looks great! Not the crispest miniature I've ever seen, but it does look good. 

If you'll scroll down past the "turntable" showcase of some renders there's painted examples of the ogre, two goblins and a skeleton.

And just past the scale chart there's a gif of a dwarven mage being used to show the flexibility of the resin.

 

 

1 hour ago, Adrift said:

The thriftiness of my soul is making me want to back this 😂

Oh man, same. Sadly a lot of the stuff on offer covers the "basics" of fantasy RPG minis and I'm already well covered there too. 😅

[ced1106]

4 hours ago, Marc said:

Out of curiosity, what makes you think the material does not hold detail well?

 

I think it'll hold detail better than plastic, see my previous post. I haven't asked the creator if they're specifically using SioCast, so ask them directly.

[ksbsnowowl]

1 hour ago, ced1106 said:

 

I think it'll hold detail better than plastic, see my previous post. I haven't asked the creator if they're specifically using SioCast, so ask them directly.

Someone did ask early in the campaign (day 1?), and I’m pretty sure they confirmed it is SioCast. 

[Marc]

So these are definitely resin, not plastic?

For some reason I was thinking these were plastic …

[ksbsnowowl]

Definitely resin. 

[ced1106]

1 hour ago, Marc said:

So these are definitely resin, not plastic?

For some reason I was thinking these were plastic …

 

Well, Siocast is a "thermoplastic resin" which means... yeah I don't know, either. 🤪

 

It uses injection molding like plastic, but the material has some give, like Reaper Bone's. So you can introduce undercuts and give more detail. Corvel Bell is using the to replace metal. "The Thermoplastic we (Corvus Bell, not the KS) are using is a Poliamide, not PVC, ABS nor HIPS. It's a new material with similar characteristics to PVC but achieves the definition of high quality resin." Note that the CB mold isn't your usual steel mold. Anyway, ask the KS how their stuff compares to what CB is doing. And, of course, just because CB can make high quality models from the material, doesn't mean this KS will. Search on NLM's partner, Pungas Miniatures who sculpted the mini's. Dunno if they've done Siocast...

 

https://infinitytheuniverse.com/blog/injected-thermoplastic

https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/official-announcement-injected-thermoplastic-miniatures.40092/

 

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by ced1106

[BlazingTornado]

I ended up backing it. Guess I have a day to change my mind...

[Grumpy Gnome]

Just under 24 hours to go and some new, reassuring photos of their machine and test samples.

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nextlevelminiatures/next-level-miniatures-dragons-hoard-miniatures-vol-1/posts/3309278

 

Looks like I have convinced Mrs. GG that we should back this.