Just a quick update on the progress with the OpenLOCK terrain I am working on. I continue to create different wall pieces with the different tessellations. I've completed the set of brick wall toppers which include IA, BA, A, C, D, and Q tessellations.
Q, D, C, A, BA, and IA Wall Toppers
I am working on both high and low brick walls. The plan is to create IA, BA, BA-AS, A, AS, D, and Q walls. The IA, BA, A, D, and Q walls will have optional top locking pins. For low walls, there will be standard brick walls and capped brick walls. This is where my time is being spent currently.
Q, D, C, A, BA, and IA Wall Toppers
Finally, I will be adding some slanted walls to add variety. These will be built on floor tessellations, but provide side ports and optional top locking pins to connect them together and stack walls on top. Here is an example of a slanted brick wall pieces.
Slanted Brick Wall
Creating the various walls is necessary for a foundation set. I'll be working on these through early next week.
When it came to the risers which are the building block for achieving height at my table, I did not want to have a standard wall height and a higher wall to accommodate them. This is where the wall toppers come in.
Example of Wall Toppers
The toppers can be thought of as very low walls that can be floor height or a little taller as in the case of the ones I'm designing. As you can see from the example, the toppers are used to connect the walls to the floor seemlessly. There are different sizes for the wall toppers including IA, BA, and A (pictured below) and I plan to add D and Q. The wall toppers I designed here are just a continuation of the pattern of the wall and when placed on a wall with locking pins, it just looks like a higher wall. Of course other designs are possible, but for the effect I am trying to achieve, I went with the same pattern.
Wall Toppers
The slots on the bottom of the wall toppers fit into the locking pins of the walls and have ports to connect the toppers to floors.
Wall Toppers Connected to Floor
The idea is to completely surrounds the risers. A combination of walls, floors, wall toppers, etc. can be attached to the riser.
Walls and Floor Connected to Riser
The wall toppers are designed with a different slot size on the bottom than your standard wall. This was done so the wall toppers can overlap multiple walls which can be needed to cover the O, I, or L column pieces. Using the wall tessellation is what sets a wall topper apart from a floor piece.
Wall to Wall Topper Tessellation Comparison
The idea is the toppers need to straddle the locking pins so they can accommodate the columns.
Wall/Columns and Wall ToppersWall Toppers on Wall/Columns
I plan to include a set of wall toppers with the full height and half height walls once I have those complete.
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem
The first OpenLOCK set that I am asking money for just went up on Cults3D yesterday. I spent about 2 days painting the pieces I used in the example pictures. Honestly, the process of painting is not my favorite, but the end result is satisfying and my players will be grateful for some color at the table! After some research, I decided to use Krylon Matte Clear Finish (1311) to seal the pieces and lightly coated them twice with the finish. Finally, I used my phone to take the pictures. For the backdrop, I went with 4 pieces of white paper taped together and they are paper clipped to my DMs screen. A world class setup!
OpenLOCK Stairs
I started with the stairs instead of floors and walls because I think they say something about the type of terrain I'm hoping to contribute to the community. I really do not want to just repeat what others have already done, I want to add new ideas. I know these are just stairs and there are a bazillion fantasy stairs already! Yes, there are other stairs, but I think my approach to how these stairs can be as tall or wide as desired using bannisters is unique. I also am fond of the tomees, they really do make tactical combat easier to run on a table with a lot of stairs. I have plans to use the technique I employed on the stairs for a future bridge set that will allow for maximum modularity using OpenLOCK pieces. These stairs can be used with other OpenLOCK terrain designed by others; I myself have used them interchangably with sets from Printable Scenery.
I want to build on the bricks I used on the stairs. I've been fervishly creating the necessary walls and floors as these are a necessity to getting to where I want to be. I'm going to run with the brick theme for now for my initial ideas. A dais, a bridge, some interesting buildings! All with the goal of adding something new. I want to push the envelope just a bit to expand what is possible with the OpenLOCK system.
At some point, I will tackle working with other textures besides bricks. My journey right now is just at the beginning. I'm learning how to model using Blender and boy have I learned a lot already about that tool in a short time! It has a steep learning curve and my first pieces took forever to create. I nearly quit several times, but luckily Blender has a large community with ample documentation and videos so I was able to pick up on ways to do what I've done before faster.
I hope you stick around as I feel I'm just getting started.
Early on while printing out OpenLOCK terrain, I learned the clips were too rigid and not easy to insert or remove from the ports on the pieces. Luckily, I stumbled across a solution by eleotlecram which solves the problem, springy OpenLOCK clips. These clips really do work and the solution is ingenious. With these clips, I no longer struggle locking my terrain pieces together or taking them apart.
OpenLOCK clip version 5.4springy OpenLOCK clip by eleotlecram
The only problem I found with the springy clips from eleotlecram is they break too easily in the middle. This may be a problem specific to my printer or the filament I'm using. I solved this by remixing the springy clip design, but with thicker walls in the middle.
springy OpenLOCK clip by Stryfell Studios
Here is a side by side comparison of the clips.
side-by-side OpenLOCK clip comparison OpenLOCK clip version 5.4 (left) springy OpenLOCK clip by eleotlecram (center) springy OpenLOCK clip by Stryfell Studios (right)
Other users have uploaded remixes of the original springy OpenLOCK clips to Thingiverse/Cults3D and I have uploaded mine to Cults3D as well. I cannot recommend enough that you try out one of these springy clips. If you are constantly locking and unlocking terrain pieces, you will find using them much, much easier.
I can honestly say that painting terrain is not my forte. For as much as I am enjoying designing terrain, I'm the exact opposite when it comes to painting. I watched a few YouTube videos and settled on a paint scheme that looks decent which I will be using initially for the Stryfell Studios Sample Pack. I do have an airbrush which I use to prime the pieces. I'm not an airbrush expert, having only used it half a dozen times before now and it took me the better part of a day to setup, prime, and paint a myriad of terrain pieces. I have an inexpensive airbrush and box which I keep in the closet and bring out when I need it.
airbrush setup
I primed everything using Vellejo Ghost Grey which turned out to be a mistake. The color is way too light, even lighter than the cool grey PLA the pieces are printed with.
primed piece (left) and raw piece (right)
I ended up hand painting all the primed pieces which I really wanted to avoid. For walls, I used Army Painter dungeon grey for the base paint. I then used Vallejo cold grey and Vallejo chocolate brown for select bricks. I just picked a dark brown I already had. Finally, all the walls were drybrushed with Vallejo stonewall grey.
painted wall
For the floors, I went with all the same colors except one change. For the base paint, I used the same Army Painter dungeon grey. For select bricks, I went with the same Vallejo cold grey but used Army Painter ash grey instead of the brown I used on the walls. I used the same Vallejo stonewall grey to drybrush the floors.
painted floor
After realizing the mistake with the airbrush color, I did order some Army Painter airbrush medium (thinner and flow improver) so I can use the dungeon grey in the airbrush. Until that shows up next week, I'll be painting the pieces by hand.
E-Stair High with A-Banister Low Stair High Temple
A high banister is taller, coming between a human 28mm miniature's waist and chest. E-Stair High with A-Banister High Stair High Temple
The high banister allows for a lock to be used on the front and back. The low banister does not have room for the port.
front view A-Banister Low Stair High Temple (left) A-Banister High Stair High Temple (right)back view A-Banister Low Stair High Temple (left) A-Banister High Stair High Temple (right)
Newel posts use the same dimensions as an O-Column but can vary in height as long as it can accommodate a port for the lock. Here are the newel posts and a AS-Floor. The AS-Floor is used in the space between the two newel posts in the example.
O-Newel Posts and AS-Floor
The example shows how the stairs, banisters, and newel posts can be combined to make fancier stairways. The newel posts could be designed into the banisters, but then they would always be present when stacking the stairs. I like having them separate so I can have the option to use them or not.
Stairs, Banisters, and Newel Posts example
Here are stacked stairs with newel posts on the far ends of the stairs.
Stairs Stacked with Newel Posts (far end)
Here are stacked stairs with newel posts between the stair pieces.
Stairs Stacked with Newel Posts (between stairs)
Of course, with this terrain being OpenLOCK compatible, other options are available. For example, you could use low walls in place of the newel posts.
One of the decisions I need to make is what site am I going to use to sell my terrain. If you ask anyone that knows me, you'll know that I have been vascillated between choices. These are my considerations:
custom
MyMiniFactory
Patreon
MyMiniFactory Tribes
Cults3D
Each has their pros and cons which I will detail. I have no desire to sell physical copies of the terrain, but instead will be selling the STL files.
custom
I am a software developer, and for the last 10 years, I've been a cloud engineer for a large fintech organization, so my first instinct when I originally thought about this was to just build my own website to host and sell the STL files. I have domains hosted on GoDaddy, so I know they offer website hosting, but I'm also familiar with others like Google's web hosting services through work. I also am very familiar with running Apache and/or Tomcat servers and I run Linux on my desktop, so I'm able to build the site from the ground up. The biggest pros of going this direction are:
fees are lower because hosting fees are low
the site can be tailored specifically to my needs
I will be able to control everything from top to bottom
There are tradeoffs to building a custom site however, including:
it will take time to build the site
it has no audience
I will own everything about maintaining the site
Ultimately, the younger me would have relished the idea of building and maintaining the site, but the older me prefers a turn-key solution so I can concentrate on the end product, the STL files.
MyMiniFactory
To me, the cadillac of choices is MyMiniFactory. This site was designed for creators to sell STL files and they cater to the table top gaming crowd. The main pros are:
it's a turn-key solution
it has a built-in audience
it has a targetted audience
it has a large audience
Honestly, what more could you want? This was my first choice and it would have been my go to solution, but there is one major, and for me, show-stopping drawback:
it has a fixed, monthly fee
With a fixed monthly fee starting at $9.99 in addition to the commission of 15%, I just couldn't pull the trigger. At least not yet. I want to use MyMiniFactory, but I first need to prove that I am going to be able to make money from selling my 3D terrain designs. I'm not willing to pay $9.99 until I know I can make money at this.
Patreon
Patreon is a popular choice for beginning creators. It has several advantages:
it's a mostly turn-key solution
fees are low with 8% commission
tiered follower fees
The idea behind Patreon is a creator just creates and gathers a following that pays them a monthly fee. The follower fees can vary depending on several factors. It sounds good except:
followers are not sticky
building an audience requires work
I would need to be constantly creating
Hosting STL files is done somewhere else
Honestly, Patreon is an enticing choice. I know I am up to the task of creating decent terrain, but I'm not sure just how fast I can churn them out. I'm still new to the tools and processes used to create the terrain. Additionally, Patreon is not designed for what I'm specifically going to sell, STL files. My understanding is I would need to host my STL files elsewhere. This big drawback is addressed by my next choice however.
MyMiniFactory Tribes
MyMiniFactory Tribes is basically Patreon, except it is designed specifically for creators of STL files. Unfortunately, I'm not going this route because I'm still concerned if I can produce enough terrain fast enough to keep a pipeline full to warrant an audience staying interested.
Cults3D
My final consideration is Cults3D. It's advantages are:
it's a turn-key solution
it has a built-in audience
it has a large audience
Cults3D is not targetted to the table top gaming crowd, but it is used by many to sell 3D files. For me, the main cons are:
a fairly high 20% commission
payment is in euros
I'm based in the US, so if I use Cults3D, there is going to be a fee for converting euros to dollars.
Conclusion
Honestly, this was not an easy decision. I like aspects of all my choices, but in the end, I have decided I will use Cults3D until I prove there is an audience for my terrain. I will only see about 65-70% of the income by using Cults3D after commissions, conversion fees, and business fees, but the advantage is I am not paying any upfront money unless something sells. If and when I see there is a business here for me to pursue, I will use MyMiniFactory which is the superior selling site for established terrain designers.
Nobody wants a flat world to play in so providing elevation is key. The basic building block for elevation is risers, pieces that allow you to lift your terrain. I designed four OpenLOCK risers on the S, E, EA, and U floor sizes which I use for almost all the terrain built for my table.
S-Riser Mid (left) S-Riser High (right)E-Riser Mid (left) E-Riser High (right)EA-Riser Mid (left) EA-Riser High (right)U-Riser Mid (left) U-Riser High (right)
The mid riser is the same height as a low wall.
A-Wall Low (left) E-Riser Mid (right)
A high riser is the height of a full wall.
A-Wall (left) E-Riser High (right)
Each is available with and without the locking pins. The versions without the locking pins allows me to elevate terrain that does not easily lock into one of the four sizes.
EA-Riser Mid with Locking Pins (left) EA-Riser Mid without Locking Pins (right)
When deciding on the location of the locking pins, I wanted to account for the two different types of OpenLOCK floor terrain I have. The "square" design is an older version which I've seen on some terrain from Printable Scenery while the newer version provides a better printing experience.
older configuration S-Floor (top) newer configuration S-Floor (bottom)
In addition to handling both types of floors, the risers need to be able to handle the situation where the floor tiles are locked together before placing them on the riser. The worst case situation would be if I-Floor tiles are combined to make larger floor pieces and these risers handle that situation.
older configuration I-Floors locked (left) newer configuration I-Floors locked (right)
Because the risers use the same tesellation as floor pieces with the addition of columns, risers with pins can be stacked to achieve the desired height.
stacked risers
Ultimately, the risers are hidden inside your terrain using a combination of walls and floors attached to the top and sides. They are a versatile piece that I find essential for my terrain.
