Friday, 10 July 2026

Painting for a Friend

Painting Napoleonic Austrians is draining, especially when you paint 204 of them in a row...all that white. So, when a friend of mine became keen on Samurai and as a part of that interest ordered a bunch of Japanese terrain pieces from Mad Miniatures, then asked if I would be interested in painting them for him, my answer was :yes"!. Upon my answer he presented me with a very large box of 3D printed ponds, bridges, a castle, walls, a couple of buildings and various lanterns, plus four of the old Hovels Samurai range.

Here are the first pieces. First of all the Hovels buildings. The first thing to note about these is how small they are by today's standards, but they will suit for smaller village buildings. The second thing to note is how poorly cast these resin pieces  are, with evidence of mould tears, damage to original masters and bubbles - both in the mould itself and in the casting - that simply cannot be filled or cut away.




By contrast to the resin castings the 3D printed pieces are clean and precise. Yes there are a few things to clean up, but it is minimal. I was really surprised how easily the PLA plastic took the paint. I attacked the smaller pieces first, needing time to work up to the buildings. First was the stone Torii gate, a simple yet remarkably striking piece.



Continuing with the smaller pieces, this is this very nice Guzei Bridge and pond, complete with Coy Carp.

The bridge...


The pond...


And the bridge over the pond.


Then there is the smaller pond and bridge...


...and the long span bridge.


The final group for this post is a collection of lanterns.











28 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Jonathan. Wait until you see the castle, the Geisha House and the Rice Mill...they are masterpieces!

      Delete
  2. Nicely done. Some unusual looking buildings in this range. Did your friend say which manufacturers he'd bought from?
    Stephen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Stephen. The buildings shown are by Hovels. The other pieces were created by Ian Lovecraft, printed Australia by Mad Minuatures.

      Delete
  3. Your friend is a lucky fellow indeed, they look grand.
    Best wishes, James

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brilliant work on those 3D printed pieces Mark:)! The Hovels buildings were always incredibly cheap compared to other manufacturers, with a consequent loss of quality as you've seen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I struggled with the Hovels, but got there in the end. Many of the problems are in the mould making with air trapped in the silicone rubber.

      Delete
  5. Very nicely done Mark, some cracking work on some very nice bits and bobs.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Some lovely buildings there Mark… I particularly like the fish pond.

    All the best. Aly

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree the fish are a nice touch. Some resin poured into the pond will finish it off nicely.

      Delete
  7. Great work on these Mark. The pond with the goldfish is particularly eye-catching. Nice work on the old Hovels buildings as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The prints are quite superb. The carp were difficult to do because the contouring of the 3D printing did not give an easy surface to work.

      Delete
  8. Love the Koi pond look forward see castle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope to start the castle towards the end of the month.

      Delete
  9. Very cool indeed Mark - I particularly like the effect you have achieved on the hanging lanterns!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The hanging lanterns are printed in an orange translucent print fibre. When I took the image I used two strong LED lights and the reflection is what you can see...I didn't notice it until I put it in the post.

      Delete
  10. Excellent finish, all the terrain look great!
    Best Iain

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, even with poor castings on the resin pieces your painting easily hides any of those blemishes. They all look fab Mark, especially like the water-features and coi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dai. There is still one of the resin buildings to go...it is the poorest of the resin casts and I am struggling with it.

      Delete