T2k3d - Printing the Postapocalypse.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd share a couple of recent finds; if you're not on the Twilight 2000 facebook group, you'd have missed these, but there's an honest-to-goodness LAV-75 (HSTV-L) model now available for 3d printing. It costs a few bucks, but if you have a 3d printer or access to one, or even want to "order out" for your tabletop game, its worth having. I printed one up and I quite like it. Of course you can scale it to whatever size you want; I did one in 1:64; it's a tad bit on the small size compared to the T80 I'm printing at 1:60, but that's okay. I put Ral Partha true 25mm minis from the mid 80s next to the "28mm" (actually 32 or even 35mm these days) fantasy minis from the last 15-20 years in the same D&D game Besides it hypes up the "David v. Goliath" feel!

https://www.wargaming3d.com/product/rdf-lt-or-hstv-l/

(I'm not affiliated with this site nor with the artist.)

The other bit is one I'm kind of proud of and is a work in progress. There's no M247 Sgt. York model out there, and regardless of real life issues that kept it out of anything but the least amount of production (50 which almost immediately got scrapped or put on display vs the 520 the Army had planned), but while digging around on the web I found a model of it for use in video games. As 3d file formats are fairly standard, converting it into .obj and then .STL for printing was a snap! It needs some TLC: whoever made it originally didn't model the rear engine deck properly, so there's still a travel lock for the M48's 90mm main gun, vs the angled engine cover and rear triangular engine vents. I'm working on those. Also, the tracking radar dish on the model I downloaded was way, way too big, so I cut it down by like 3/5ths. Finally I'm trying to section the model rather than have it just as one huge single object so you can lay pieces flat on your printer and get it made without a bunch of hassle with supports. If you hit the FB group you can snag the model with the corrected tracking radar dish, but that's the only revision on it at the moment.

[Tegyrius]

Nice find! I took note of Battlefront's release of the 15mm RDF/LT for Team Yankee and was idly wondering when someone would duplicate it for 3D printing at other scales.

Any recommendations for a first printer suitable for vehicles and terrain scaled to 25mm/28mm figures?

- C.

[pmulcahy11b]

I've never seen a LAV-75 with a bustle rack, but it's logical.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Tegyrius

Nice find! I took note of Battlefront's release of the 15mm RDF/LT for Team Yankee and was idly wondering when someone would duplicate it for 3D printing at other scales.

Any recommendations for a first printer suitable for vehicles and terrain scaled to 25mm/28mm figures?

- C.

For terrain, and vehicles, an FDM printer is what you want. They're relatively easy to set up and use. I have an Anycubic Mega Zero 2.0, it's alright. I get decent quality from it. I've printed up a simplified T80 just last night I'm quite satisfied with.

I thought about the Battlefront minis for TY for this demo but they're a bit rich for me right now, but I have a spool of PLA and a printer, so...

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I've never seen a LAV-75 with a bustle rack, but it's logical.

The HSTV-L had one that carried telemetry equipment and so on, and it looks darn spiffy; I would think it'd be a must, in T2k. If nothing else, a "field expedient modification".