Things not to do while jet lagged...

1. Set up Anne’s new iPad.
2. Finish installing fonts for the Dux Compendium on my iPad 

The former was made markedly harder by Apple’s iCloud sync getting very confused, followed by me getting very confused and doing things on the wrong iPad (despite several ‘are you REALLY sure?’ prompts...)

The latter, well let’s just say that iFonts may be free, but you get what you pay for. Mission accomplished in the end but gave up on computers after that, so you get this post a day late. :)

Editing on the move...

Since I'm off to the States shortly, today's hobby effort has been setting up the iPad so I can work on the plane - while I am taking a laptop, it's a 15" MacBook, and they're a bit unwieldy, to say the least, on the tray table in an economy class seat :D

Fortunately, the master copy of the Dux Compendium is in Apple's Pages, for which Apple do an iPad version which is pretty much compatible. What I didn't know until I checked just now is you can install fonts on the iPad for Pages etc, which is very useful - except for the fact that it's taken me a while to remember what fonts I needed!

World Anvil campaign design/documentation tool

I have been playing with World Anvil - essentially it’s a specialised Wiki-like tool for designing and documenting world settings for RPGs and the like - things like timelines make it great for this. .

I’m using it for my D&D world (and as such the main review will go in The Sage DM) but I’ve also just started using it to manage the complex background for Secret Project C (which is a setting for TFL’s Quadrant 13). Very impressed. More later. 

Operation Get S(tuff) Done progress....

Just so no-one thinks I've been slacking since the last update, you understand:

• Realm of Battle boards finished, Purity Seal'ed.
• Total Battle miniatures narrow latex roads painted and flocked to match the RoB boards. Wide ones still to do.
• Fair bit of 3D design work done working out the kinks in my process for doing buildings. Waiting on the print head coming back from the CEL Robox folks for a minor warranty fix, then I actually have FOUR commissioned jobs to do. 
• Made some initial steps on Sekret Project HQ. Not mine to tell.
• Sorted out the 15mm WW2 stuff after too many IABSM games with hurried cleanup left thing in wrong boxes! All infantry bases now labelled on the back edge with printed details of nationality/company/platoon/section. (And if you think nationality isn't necessary, I found two American sections in the German support tray last time!). Still debating what to do with Big Men given variable Level/number in scenarios.
• Got re-elected Chairman of Peterborough Wargames Club. (Still no-one else mug enough to take over :D)
• Found a graphic designer (right under my nose) for Sekret Projekt C.

If anyone wants the force labels as a big Excel spreadsheet, let me know and I'll clean it up for consumption by people who aren't me :D

Basically, each sheet has enough print, cutout and glue labels for all the infantry bases (but not Big Men) for a battalion (with intrinsic supports) for US, GB or German as per TFL's "Battle For Liberation" with (at least in theory) correct company/platoon numbering. The latter was a headache: as I understand it:

• US: Companies lettered across a regiment, so A-C company, then D is support company, then E-G + H, etc: platoons numbered 1-3 within each company, sections 1-3 within platoons.
• GB: A-C company, platoons 1-6 are various battalion supports, then A company has platoons 7-9. B has 10-12 etc: sections 1-3 within platoons
• German: As far as I can tell, companies are numbered across a regiment, so a battalion may have 1-3 or 4-6. Zug 1-3 within company, Gruppe 1-3 within Zug.  Anyone with better info, help!

Anyone who knows better, I welcome corrections. Just hoping not to need to relabel TOO much! I'll provide the ability to pick which set of battalion companies you want the battalion to start at for German and US.

Secret Project .. what are we at now?

Just so we keep track:

• Sekret Projekt W - on indefinite hold
• Sekret Projekt C -part complete, awaiting a holiday to write more over the summer
• Sekret Projekt D - the Dux Brit Compendium - well in progress 
• Sekret Projekt L - should be released over the weekend :D :D (Now there's a teaser)
• Sekret Projekt A - in the planning stage.

More pondering on 3D printing and pricing

Let's suppose, hypothetically, I were to design a range of 3D printed miniatures for a game - let's go with spacecraft, since vehicles are actually more feasible on current hobby printers than figures, and spacecraft mean you can even get away without wheels.

To get it pre-printed by someone like Shapeways, you'd be looking at about $25 for a large ship (15 cm³ print volume) and $10 or so for a smaller one (7 cm³). Let's then suppose that a typical fleet is half a dozen large ships and, say, ten small, from a total of three designs each of the large and the small.

FX: counts on fingers...

That's $250 or so. Call it UKP 160 or so (yes, I know the dollar exchange rate is a bit variable at present, but lets work with the figure of 160 quid's worth of 3D printed starships for a single fleet). That seems to be a reasonably comparable price to a similar fleet in other materials (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

Supposing you own a 3D printer of your own...

What's the right price for those six designs?

Assuming the 'pre-printed' ships are done in Shapeways "white strong and flexible", I'd be paying Shapeways $1.40 per cm³, which works out around $170-200, so you'd be paying me (for the sake of argument) $50 for the intellectual property, the design work, call it what you will.

So: would you pay $50 for the 3D files for those 6 ships? Say $12 for the large ones, $6 for the small, and a package discount for the lot? Fundamentally, I'm basing the figure on the typical amount of money I'd make from Shapeways if you ordered a representative fleet. Assuming you already own a printer, it's going to cost you (relatively) peanuts in ABS or PLA off-the-reel (not at Shapeways prices!) and power.

What if I said (purely on an honour basis): "those designs are for your personal use. If you want to print stuff for your club, or your mates, the price is $100 for the bundle"?

Thoughts?