Linear A 3D printed sets

Two of the latest sets from Linear A are 3D printed resin models. One set covers the Indus Civilisation, and the other covers the Roman Bacchanalia.

Indus Culture Set 1

Bacchanalia in Ancient Rome Set 1

The figures in both sets require a bit of clean up with a hobby knife, as traces of the supports remain on the figures in various places. The Indus Culture set however, had a lot more issues.

Several of the figures were wet looking and sticky, particularly on the bases. I wasn't sure if it was uncured resin, so I tried putting them under a UV light which seemed to reduce the stickiness a bit (but it may have just been my imagination).

The stuff didn't seem to wash off with isopropanol, so I scraped the base with a knife to remove the stickiness. This is not a good solution for other parts of the miniatures which were affected though. I may try scrubbing with soap and water later.

On many of the figures, the hems of the garments were ill-formed or incompletely printed.

What was really egregious however, were the malformed scales held by the merchant figure.

I used CA glue and baking soda to build up the bottom of the pans, then filed them into shape using the only properly printed figure as a reference.

The good, the bad, and the restored.

The servant holding a fan comes in two parts. The resin is not really flexible enough to allow the fan to slot into place easily, so I ended up shaving down the pegs on the hands holding the fan before trying to attach it to the figure.

The Indus Culture set consists of 40 figures in 10 poses.

Despite the various printing issues, they are very nice figures. The dancing girl figure is clearly based on the bronze statue of the Mohenjo-daro Dancing Girl. Other figures seem to be based on illustrations from Ornament Styles of the Indus Valley Tradition (Kenoyer, 1992).

The Bacchanalia set also consists of 40 figures in 10 poses (kind of). PSR claims the set is pornography, and refuses to show pictures, but whatever.

According to PSR, the set is based on the movie Caligula, but almost all the figures are completely nude, which I don't really think was the case in any of the relevant scenes from the film.

One of the figures is clearly based on the Priapus with Caduceus fresco from Pompeii, while the tibicen player is perhaps based on the left panel relief of the Ludovisi Throne (maybe).

Given the limited utility of these figures, I think that Linear A should cut down on the number of figures per set, reduce the price accordingly, and increase their quality control.

Earthbound but aspiring

The Dohwar are a race of space penguins from the Spelljammer setting. I don't know too much about them, but even though I am a fan of whimsy in fantasy, I'm lukewarm about Dohwar which seem to have devolved into yet another quirky comedy relief race that populates the D&D universe.

A couple of miniatures of Dohwar appeared in the Icons of the Realms line. There is a standard Dohwar (Adventures in Space #5), and a Dohwar & Space Swine (Adventures in Space #18).

I wonder if the creator of the Dohwar had the flying pig with the motto "To the stars on the wings of a pig" used by John Steinbeck in mind when designing them.

In any event, I was interested in re-purposing the miniatures as giant albino penguins from the H.P. Lovecraft novella At the Mountains of Madness.

Most depictions of the albino Lovecraftian penguins make them distorted and grotesque.

For it was only a penguin—albeit of a huge, unknown species larger than the greatest of the known king penguins, and monstrous in its combined albinism and virtual eyelessness.

I prefer something a bit more unassuming like the Dohwar miniature, but sadly it is only about 19mm tall, which makes it closer in size to Inkayacu paracasensis than the full 6 foot height of Aptenodytes albus described in the Lovecraft story.

I slapped some white paint on the miniatures, and colored the feet, beaks, and horns in a coral color. The result was rather mediocre, and the penguins look a lot like oversized chickens...

Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!

Maybe a dark wash, and perhaps a different color for the horns will make them look a little less chicken-like.

西西利 КамАЗ-5350

In an article at the 就爱模型 (Jiu Ai Moxing; [I] Just Love Models) site, Anthony Jin writes that Xixili Model (西西利模型) is the current incarnation of the old CC Lee model company, which in more recent times operated under the CC XF name.

He further reveals that the owners also founded Jinan Kaka Interactive Animation Design Co., Ltd. (济南咔咔互动动漫设计有限公司) which apparently is the company which produces the quick build 4D Model line.

In fact, I only came upon their series of KamAZ-5350 trucks while searching for new 4D Model releases.

The models seem to have been released around the start of the year, and I ordered examples of all the available trucks. So far I have received three of the models.

The kits are quick build models, and have a bit better detail than 4D Models offerings. In general, the body is molded in green plastic. The undercarriage, interior, and two piece wheels are in black plastic. The windows and headlights are in clear plastic with a smokey tint. Metal axles allow the wheels to spin.

Other than that, I will let the photos speak for themselves, since I don't have much more to offer, and don't know much about KamAZ trucks.

I will make a followup post with pictures of the built up models after I receive the two remaining kits — a Grad-K (2B26) and a KamAZ-65225 tank transporter.