Impact Miniatures Review: Follow-Up

This is a follow up to my Previous Post that compared Impact Miniatures 3D printing to that of Hero Forge. If you haven't read it, the long and short of it is that you can expect even higher quality and more affordable printing by designing a miniature with Hero Forge, buying the STL, then having Impact Miniatures print the model for you. (Or really anything these days, from Thingiverse to the numerous Kickstarters for miniatures that are out there.)

Since my original post I've taken many opportunities to mention Impact's services on social media to people interested in getting their own miniatures printed or liked what they'd designed on Hero Forge and were looking for better printing options.

And yes, he's still able to operate during Covid!

(Full disclosure - the "Punk Turtle" miniature I designed was printed by Impact for free as a review piece due to the details on him, but the minis / parts I and my friends have purchased we paid for.)

So, what's this follow up all about?

Well, Impact's business is going strong and he's upgraded his printers since, so this is a simple update and comparison piece.

Getting it out of the way... Like the previous print, (Below, Left) the new one (Below, Right) still needs some level of supports which can leave behind some imperfections. This is the same with ANY resin printing. While you don't have mold lines to clean, there are these dots to file / cut / fill. It can depend on the complexity of the miniature, some will be worse, some better.

Kickstarters will often include models "pre-supported" which means they've typically taken the additional time to improve the support placement.
(It should also be noted that where the arm "blends" into the turtle shell, this is how the 3D model is sculpted.)

HOWEVER, lets look at what's improved - The definition on the turtle shell between the "scutes" is much more refined. The tear in the jacket has sharper edges and even the straps around the cuffs of the jacket are more pronounced with better defined buttons.

One flaw I found was in the glasses... The slits of the shades are there, but not well defined. You can see the painted version where the slits are fairly prominent.

The irony though is all around them the detail is better - the bolts on his head, nose ring, nostrils and even his teeth, especially the smaller front teeth.

The tear in his jacket arm is another well defined piece of detail.

Finally, if we swing behind and below, the original is pictured in the small box, while the new print is the larger photo below... and the definition again is incredible. The turtle shell is well defined, so is the pocket in his jeans. The texture of the surface of the print is smooth and shaped well. Even the muscles behind the knees stand out well.

I don't want to get too wordy on this follow-up, because I really think the photos tell the story themselves. 3D printing is the greatest thing to happen to miniatures in a long time and in the last few years Kickstarter has given many artists the opportunity to create some gorgeous content for people to print at home or get printed through a service like that which Impact Miniatures offers.

Again, if you want to read the original comparison with Hero Forge and a deeper dive into what Impact Miniatures can do for you, take a read of the original review.