3d-printable terrain for all your xenos wargaming needs
It's time to stock up on blue LEDs! Yes.... that's right, we have another hi-tech Taui design coming for you soon!
Designed in the same vein as the recent Taui Landing Pad, this 10cm (4") tall Teleporter has the same smooth, advanced sci-fi look to it. 
It's mostly a one-piece print, with a few extra pieces printed separately for customization. The control console is printed separately and can be glued in place anywhere on the rim, and central 'pad' comes in a hexagon motif or a variety of simple geometric shapes.
You probably won't be surprised to hear that the structure is hollow, so if you print this in clear PLA filament you can add small LED lights in the side towers, to shine out of the vents, side lines, and the hexagon wall facing the middle.
You can even run LEDs under the pad itself if you need to, and the console also has a hollow space inside if you'd like to try lighting up the display screen.
This Teleporter will be printing in the next few days, so watch this space for pics soon....
We have a new (and very tall) release for the Samurai range to show you today. The Samurai Watchtower is now officially available for download!
Well well.... painting this didn't take very long at all! With a spray undercoat, a spray brown wash, and some drybrushing, this whole thing was painted in only 1 hour and 47 minutes!! Posing the models for these shots probably took just as long!
The 3-level version of the watchtower measures a very tall 320mm (13") tall, and is made up of a base level, a mid-level and a top level with that large roof.
Each level can be removed separately, in case your ninja want to fight your way up to the top to silence the alarm from being raised? On every staircase corner there is a small platform which can accommodate a regular-sized model.
The roof has been modelled with rough wooden planks, held down by long strips of bamboo. They were used as fixed watchtowers in earlier castles, and could also be erected on the battlefield to provide commanders with a better view.
I also added a few water transfers to the centre "shield" of each side, to simulate the local lord's clan crest - these were commonly painted on, or branded into the wood.
If the full 3-level tower is too much for your warriors to handle (just think of all those steps!!), then why not remove the middle level and just create this 2-level tower. The interior staircases are designed to fit both options - simply slot on the top level!
The two-level tower is 210mm (8½") tall.
If you are a particularly cruel local lord, you can remove the roof and let your watchtower guards get soaked in the rain! I'm sure they'll thank you for it.....
The Samurai Watchtower is available for download from today!
We're completing the assembly of the new samurai watchtower today, with the top level and roof - see previous blogs for guides for the base level and mid-level.
The top level of the watchtower is pretty simple to assemble, but please check that you have the floor aligned correctly with the staircases from lower levels.
As for the other levels, the front (and back) of the level has small nubs on the outside. In the photo above, the front side is on the bottom right.
I would also recommend testing the fit several times whilst gluing, to make sure that the pegs from lower levels fit the holes in the bottom of this level's frame.
Next, we need to add a few horizontal beams to the front and back of the outside.
When those are dry, gently flip the frame over and glue more horizontal beams to the sides, resting on the previously glued beams as shown.
The last stage for the top level is to glue some large wooden shields to the inside of the level. As on the reconstruction at Sakusai Castle, 3 shields on each side are recommended, but none on the staircase side - as this would be facing the inside of the castle.
Here's the completed top level. The staircase side of the building (the front on our model) has no shields, and is shown bottom right in the photo above.
For the roof of the tower, you simply need to print 2 copies of the piece and then glue them together. This is the only piece that requires print supports.
So here is Shin and Taro, tasked with completing the watchtower build....
A few people commented on Facebook that the painting looked like it was going to be tricky, but I'm actually aiming to complete the whole thing in about 2 hours, with a good use of rattlecan sprays and some quick drybrushing. Fingers crossed.....
We're continuing the assembly guide for the new samurai watchtower today - the base level was completed in PART 1 yesterday.
The middle level is pretty similar to the base level, except that there is no large floor piece. Again, the parts are labelled with Left, Right, Front and Back, and it's important these are arranged correctly.
When adding the central column, please ensure the R (on the top) is on the right hand side, as shown in the photo.
In addition to the slightly thicker platform glued at the bottom, you will need to print 3 more staircase platforms. These are glued in as shown, and are located on the small triangular rests.
I found that it was helpful to add a few rubber bands to hold the vertical pieces tightly together when gluing.
After adding the platforms, you can glue in the 4 staircases next. Gluing them to the platforms, vertical posts AND the central frame will make your model much stronger.
The last step for the mid-level piece is to add horizontal beams, to the front and back. These beams rest on the small nubs on the outside.
Once the beams on the front and back are dry, flip the piece over carefully, and then glue more horizontal beams to the left and right sides. These rest on the previous beams, as shown.
When all the beams have been glued in place, this is how the finished mid-level section looks.
The assembly guide concludes in Part 3 >>
The new samurai watchtower is quite a feat of engineering, and a true "kit" experience to assemble. In an effort to reduce the need for print supports (only the roof section needs them), the model has been separated into multiple easy-to-assemble sections.
However, this guide requires quite a few photos to show some tips and advice, so the assembly guide is being split across 3 blogs. Today's blog shows you how to assemble the base level of the watchtower... 
Don't be daunted by the number of parts! Yes, the horizontal beams on the outside are numerous, but it's not hard to glue together. I printed these parts mostly at 0.2mm layers, since the wood grain patterns have mostly been combined with the printer lines where possible.
First, a note on the outside walls. You'll notice that they have little triangular bumps in various places. These are actually supports for the staircase platforms, and their location is quite important.....
.... so, in order to make sure you can glue them in the correct place, some of the pieces have letters stamped on them. In the photo above, you can see one piece has a "F" (for Front) on it, and the other piece has an "L" (for Left) on it. These letters will be hidden once glued together.
One other thing you will notice is that the outside wall sections (front and back) have these little nubs printed on them. These are locator pegs, which act as guides when gluing on the horizontal beams to the outside at the end. They are not historically accurate, so you can always choose to cut them off before assembly if you really don't want them. Most of them will be mostly hidden after assembly, except when viewing the tower from below.
Okay, on with assembly! We start by printing the four outer wall sections, the floor, and the central column. Please pay attention to the correct arrangement of labelled pieces : L on the Left, R on the Right, and B at the Back. The front section has some additional nubs on the front.
In particular, please make sure that the central column has the "R" (at the top) on the Right when you glue it in place, as shown in the photo.
Next, you need to print 3 of the staircase platforms, and glue them in place as shown. They should rest neatly on the support triangles. Easy, right?
Each tower section requires 4 staircases to be printed, all without print supports. Before you glue the LOWEST of the staircases in place (to the floor section), please cut off the bottom 2mm of the staircase, as shown in the photo above. This will ensure that the steps glue flat to the base.
Then simply glue the 4 staircases in place, as shown. The top staircase projects above the rest of the section, and should have its front edge in line with the central column. If in doubt, wait until the mid-level section is complete, to make sure everything fits.
We're on to the last part - adding horizontal beams to the outside. Start by gluing beams in place on the front and back, resting on those little nubs to make sure they're in the right location.
Once the beams on the front and back have dried in place, gently turn the model over, and start gluing beams on the sides, as shown. These side beams simply rest on the previously-affixed beams for gluing, so once you turn the finished section over to its normal shape, it should look .....
... like this!
Congratulations, your base section is complete! The other sections are actually simpler to assemble, now that you know the tips for assembly.
The assembly guide continues in Part 2 >>
Samurai Watchtower 
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