I cannot paint (arthritis) so I learned to love the naked sprue. What interests me most is the technology to 3d print in color, imagine how this improve or evolve over the next 5 years.
I'm legally blind, but the arguments are pretty lame. I want NPCs that are custom, because we play a multi-realm game with about 50 high-detail NPCs. The Standees look like a super great option - plus, they standout, due to difference in make. I have problems paying $60 for My Orc who follows Yondalla and is a Hobbit Guardian, but I'm also on Disability - so, well...I'm good with not Owning that...but I will, I hope. . These should have an option to paint in 16-bit, but the danger is that patrons will bitch about that, too. 16-bit would allow the colors to be a lot more precise, and maybe 8-bit could be an option, too - but people would want 4K - which is a very unrealistic want. . HF has been awesome for me, creating about 100 tokens, including tokens for our Roll20 campaigns and my standee NPCs for my TTRPG.
If you want these colors to pop more like in the render preview and improve the surface quality of the mini a bit, just slap a good acrylic-polyurethane semi-glossy clear coat on it. Also has the side effect of making them more robust to handle.
I use Hero Forge to get the STL, then use the colour options to design the paint job so I know what I want and where I want it when the print is finished. I will never buy a painted mini from them.
HeroForge color is really, truly amazing for one thing: Those of us with no digital art skill and no money to hire someone to make a rendering of a character. Don't think I would currently spend the money on a color print. I mean they look kinda cool, but there's a lot of things I'd rather drop that money on. The tech is pretty awesome though, and it really has come a long way since the days of the character printing you mentioned. I look forward to seeing what comes of it in the next decade.
I feel like what a lot of people miss about the new colorizer on Hero Forge is that you can export the character model you made to a VTT. Now I am not excusing the variance in product between preview and in person, but the more detailed options (I think) are really for the digital export for VTT usage.
If the figure looks like sand, it is printed using the old SLS print technique where thin layers of plaster of paris are printed on with an inkjet printer. The ink converts the plaster in solid gypsum. This is also the cause of the vague colors, they bleed out in the plaster and the paster is white so you don't get vibrant colors like you would when painting a miniature. A plain plaster figurine would be very fragile so it is most likely treated with something like a cyanoacrylate glue to make it more rigid.
Thanks for the video. I think a great follow-up video would be to print the same 3d model in average settings (50 microns) and paint it up to tabletop quality for comparison.
Very stand-up of you to admit that it was better than you thought it was going to be, rather than doing a click-bait rant video. Kudos on your honesty!
I think this feature was released after this video game out, but they're launching a feature where you can export the full color STL so you can upload it to Virtual Tabletop, so that might explain why they let you add more detail than they can physically print right now.
On the "What printer do they use? " front, they use a mimaki 3DUJ-553 which is a UV CMYK inkjet printer, very similar to the 3d systems polyjet printers but with a wider colour gamut, not a gypsum printer like the shape ways full colour figures. I've actually seen and held models from the Mimaki that are much higher resolution than the hero forge models, so I'm guessing they're running their printers in the equivalent of "draft" mode so they can maximise the number of models printed. They also frankly seem to have got their colour calibration wrong as the Mimaki is capable of printing more vivid colours. It's a shame because they're not showing the technology at it's best.
Part of the reason that the 3D model is a lot more detailed is because I think they're hoping for a lot more people deciding to buy the digital file instead so they can upload it to their virtual tabletop simulators. Or if you have access to a 3D printer you can print it out yourself. Less money so you don't feel too cheated.
I don't know if this would help or not, But I would really like to see one of these colored minis with a clear acrylic over them. Maybe it would help the colors pop. Not sure.
they use sandstone printers to make those types of miniatures. Those printers are most commonly used for showcasing product designs at companies and most commonly range in 20K for a printer. The sandstone printers are also very big around the side of large office paper printers.
It's way too expensive as it stands, but what an amazing product demo! I'm really surprised that it is as good as it is really. In a few years I expect they'll get the printing costs down and I can imagine you could make software that mimics ambient and object light sources, material reflectivity and texture, artificial contrast enhancement effects etc. you could get to a point where a relatively user friendly tool to virtually paint a model could result in prints that look expertly painted, if not quite up to the standards of a real pro painter. Certainly good enough for the tabletop. And if mass production could be made cheap enough it could be a real game changer for board games and minis games.
I can see them being popular with people who aren't good painters (I'm not bad but I'm not great, don't ask me to feather). I'm really curious how they compare to something else prepainted. Like Reaper's painted bones series. Because I can see people getting excited about the mix of customizing your figure, and getting it already "painted". Especially if that's the kind of thing they're comparing it to. Do those little scratches bother you? And can you seal them and make them less visible? Also, love NY fire fighters man. Friggin super heroes.
I love the tech and love that they are trying to take a step forward and I even get the kickstarter route (normally dont like) because you know they were looking at a huge upfront cost that any business just wouldn't do because you know its not going to replace painting anytime soon but investing in moving the industry forward is fantastic. As well I actually like that the software guys on the tool made the tool work as best as they could, yes they should disclaimer it that its not photo accurate to what it will look like or they need more example photos maybe but I like that they made the app work as best as possible so hopefully the print quality will catch up over time. it also lets you get photo renders of your design which is really nice in my opinion.
I agree the painted minis on heroforge aren't worth it. But I still use the site to color my minis so I can see what the colors will look like before I hand paint it myself
Honestly speaking, I'm very glad I watched this video. I've been waiting a while now and really looking in depth at other people's experiences, as I was undecided if I should place an order. I have a number of characters I want printed out, so the fact that colour printing was now an option really excited me and I had such fun making the colour versions of my already existing models. The issue I've noticed with people's photos of their minis are the lack of pigment, metals just don't seem as metallic as they should, the finished piece is rough looking (Something printed objects are usually sanded down to minimise) and, as you mentioned, features don't show up. I absolutely agree with your statement about the eyes. What is the point of customising the eyes when they don't even show up right and end up looking more like a cake decoration splodge on icing than an actual figure? Or, as I've noticed with some people's orders, what's the point in giving us materials such as glass when they just end up the same as the rest of the figure, especially since you can get transparent filament? I think I will wait and see if they improve over time. Because, at the moment, the price doesn't reflect the quality.
I wonder if you could bring it closer to the design by adding your own black wash? It looked like the difference when you put them side by side. I am waiting on my Hero Forge character and after viewing this I may give mine a wash. Great video! Firefighters Rule!
Have you done this yet? My group each ordered one ourselves and if a little blackwash or acrylic overcoat is all it takes to make it "pop" then I'll be happy.
I was just about to submit an order for a HF color mini before watching, but now I don't see that happening. Also I think there is something wrong with the audio. It seems to cut out after the word "bull" every time. Strange.....
I think it's important to know that on the site and in the tool they go over what materials they use and go over how things will translate to the physical mini. It's very clear on what you're getting.
I think that it's a matter of expectations. I think that everyone who actually knows about printing and painting minis knows that the color printed minis will be less impressive than a traditional one.
Interesting review, I liked it. Informative to see ppl getting this product. As for the color discrepancy it can vary from monitor to monitor. The color you see on your computer may be (most likely) different from those of the developer. Which is why in studio spaces they are calibrated to match across all work stations. Try viewing the screen on your tv and your pc monitor to your phone, willing to bet there is a variance. As for the print itself it looks impressive to me. The fact that you can get a NMM paint job on a simple print is very interesting. If you paid someone to do a NMM on the armor do you think they would charge less? Would it be same caliber as what you got from HeroForge? I do agree for those of us who can paint, we can do better. For the massive amount of ppl who are unable to paint minis this is a godsend. This is simply the beginning of this technology. It will only get better. Good vid and thanks for sharing.
The site is just okay. A friend of mine paid a decent amount of cash for some minis a while back.. The price points were pretty outrageous. They were.....cool? People waaaaay over hype them. EDIT: Maybe some contrast paints would touch up the parts that didn't take the colour well. I don't think it would need a retouch with actual paints.
I appreciate your non-political suggestion of support...we would all do well to remember there is more good than bad in this world by a significant amount. Keep up the great work on the channel.
Thank you for giving the most informative and clear review of the detail, sharpness, and nitpick aspects of the color minis I've found yet. I do wish that the color-picker tool would just let you work with the colors as they'll print. I'll be looking around for more videos to see if the process has improved over the past year, and of course will watch more of your channel. (And, relevant to your shirt and talk at the beginning: NYPD family, here... it's such a complicated world these days...)
I like the colour picker as it is - But I 3d print my own minis. It really helps me to decide on a painting plan and choose whether I like the parts I am selecting. I just wish they would export the colours as a texture for use in applications like Talespire.
I wasn't happy with the actual preview of the colored models on the site, so I've been using the color mode for the images. And now that the stls are $3.99 until the end of the month, I've bought up a bunch of my characters and am printing them myself.
I haven't even watched the video but I already know I agree. My friend got a coloured hero forge for like £40 and I was shocked at the absolute state of it .....
Their site says "color “inkjet” 3D printing" but it looks like it was printed using a SLS printer. The color resolution looks like it did 10 years ago when I first saw a SLS printer. Not as much advancement as there should have been in that time.
It's a mimaki UV resin CMYK printer they're using. It's weird because I've seen other models out out by the Mimaki and they are much higher quality with richer colours. I've been looking at reviews of heroforge full colour minis today and all the pics I'm seeing make me think they're running their printer in the equivalent of draft mode for speed and that they haven't colour calibrated it properly.
'Color sandstone' like on shapeways. It sprays a thin mist of ink (inkjet style) and glue over fine layers of gypsum which build up to a 3d shape. It's been around for a while and it looks kinda cruddy due to bleed, especially on small models.
Print quality is pretty rough, colours are very washy, the mini looks like a compressed .jpg and it's way too expensive. Cool tech, but it's just not there yet.
100% agree. It reminds me of when HeroForge first came out and was sending out FDM-printed models. They got the job done and were recognizable as your designed hero, but it felt "early access" to me. Props to HeroForge, totally, but there's still a ways to go.
@@Lazy-Monkey exactly. And Hero forge has shown a habit of pushing themselves to improve, so i'm interested to see where this goes in the next couple of years.
I think the colours are actually quite accurate to what you picked. Your problem seems to be with thee roughness of the surface and how that changes the perception of the colours.
This looks like a gypsum powder Zcorp printer to me. It’s a colored liquid binder/activator jetted into a gypsum (the drywall material) and starch powder bed and many of the issues you note is just part of the base tech and hard to improve. The next level would be Objet/Polyjet type printers that print a fully colored liquid resin on wax like supports and the colors are much more bold as they aren’t layered over white gypsum.
You're right, it's a fun tool, but that's about it. I would never even consider ordering a full-color mini from them. Their tool is nice for letting you make renders for use in VTT programs. That's pretty nice.
There is an example as to what it will result into. For example:www.heroforge.com/static/img/photos/color_plastic_28mm_large_3.png?2 . This can be seen when you choose colored plastic.
Im not a gamer at all, but I enjoy painting, so Ive gotten a couple upsized minis from other places. The upcharge at heroforge is why Ive never ordered. That stopped me in my tracks. I like makin figures on the site though.
I understand why people like it, it saves times and not everyone is good with painting. HOWEVER, I think at the current state of it, the prints look better when they are not painted, and even if they aren't it is definitely aren't worth 25$
I agree, after I got my Heroforge figure and it looked like it was unfinished or something. No eyes, no detail, the different shades of brown had zero differentiation. I still liked it, but it just wasn't $60 worth. It seemed more like a $5 maaaaaaaybe $10 figure. I can't paint often due to arthritis and carpal tunnel, so honestly I'll be ordering again.
So as a person who just received 2 minis yesterday. I'm disappointed, my figures are smaller than I thought they would be. Many of the finer smaller details are faded and the face is kinda bland. The colors are faded for sure, they both have a yellowish green, shade to all the colors. The worst part is the layer lines(the grainy sand) is still consistent and visible. I waited a month and payed over $70 for some faded, grainy, and flimsy plastic. I really am disappointed in them, that being said , I love their site. Its a butt load of fun
Cool tech, paint job I think is sort of acceptable but what isn't are all those printing lines on the model. I would not pay $60 for that quality when I can print that at home in resin for probably $5 or less and paint it for 2 hours and be way better.
the tools give option for eyes and loads of detail cause there is an option to get profile pictures and good for digital art too. I think to expect those eyes on a figure that small is a bit much. I really can't paint so I'm so torn to buy one of these of a grey unpainted one and try find someone to paint it for me ....hmm
50bucks for something you'd paint much better in one sitting? Nah, I'd pass. Ofc sooner or later those might become cheaper so it's cool to support them on their KS. Still, I'd much rather support one of the smaller guys who does commisions or paint it myself. But I'm one of those guys who try to support small patreons/model makers/painters instead of huge things like Heroforge and Titan-forge. Those guys already have a lot of dough, and their products aren't that much greater in comparison to smaller people works.
Yeah this is definitely great for people who do not want to paint their figs and aren't too concerned with amazing quality. Another generation or two, some price decreases... they have something really solid.
Asa heads up, that base is an XL base, that also adds to the higher price, not necessarily just the hight. My opinion, its an impressive tech but its still very crude. The colour variation seems inconsistent across the individual layers, as if the colour is "burnt out" of the edges. The colour itself is a lighter shade. If you could correct for this by using darker colours, a better representation could be made. That being said, its pretty deplorable to advertise it that way. The colour model function is definitely more designed for the tokens you can buy rather than the prints. (That being said, I tend to edit screenshots to make tokens without buying them anyway.)
Their kickstarter mentions this 3D printer: ruclips.net/video/4mwjmwhry1g/видео.html But this mini doesn't look like a resin print to me. More like a powder printed one where you use coloured binder with gypsum.
Thanks for your review it looks good though for custom min with color and under 100 dollars I paint better than them to but I Honestly don’t have the time 😩😩😩 to paint . Love the trees you painted good job
Did you use the option to se what it would look like in reality compared to the digital design? They have that option to look at the reduced quality version.
I think the tech has a long way to go for sure, but it's a very exciting development all the same imo. Hopefully in 10 years we will have affordable at home color 3d printers capable of at least this quality.
Thanks. I want a SHARPNESS but the photos i seen didnt impress me but I also 3d printed Star trek online ships but the detail is good but it has to be bigger to look good.
is it Shapeways colored sandstone? I've heard it's brittle. I know you paid $60, but maybe durability should be part of the review. Excited to get the patreon minis. Got the merchant license so I'm ready to calculate the price.
I've bought STLs from HeroForge in the past and used its color tools to plan my own paint job, and I'm curious about the actual technology behind this color 3D printing they do, but I'm not like $40 curious, especially since I can paint it myself, significantly better. On top of that, I've done some research on what other mini painters charge per piece (because I want to do commissions), and it's much cheaper than HeroForge's options for better quality to boot (and I feel like these artists are undercharging, but they're the professionals, not me...) I feel like this option is only really for people who know absolutely NOBODY in their area who can paint, and for whatever reason, don't want to ship their mini to someone else to paint-- like, they just want to exclude everyone and everything else in the process and want to pay out the nose for that "convenience" of a colored mini shipped straight to them, no other work. But even for that I feel like it's a high price to pay for the quality the tech is currently at.
I have two color prints, im a decent painter but use the color prints for characters with angles and nooks i know my paint skills cant handle. I want to wash it or something to try to make it pop a little bit more, do you have any videos of you maybe trying different ideas to improve them/ or any ideas??
It seems like they have some ways to go to dial in the color. Looks like the specular map from the 3D model/preview isn't really well lined up with the end result. I don't know if you know this, but Game Print has been making colored models of Star Trek Online and EVE Online spaceships (I have a few of my favorite ships printed lol). They had similar pains in the early days where the spec map wasn't really well reflected (it still isn't, but does much better now). It would be interesting to see you do a comparison of a Game Print print vs Hero Forge print in regards to model details and color accuracy.
Thank Greg, my pile of shame is possibly a lot larger than yours, all but gave up painting but continued to buy all the minis that appealed to me.... Now have a large pile of STL files and have not bought a printer! Watching and listening to your shows decided I wanted to wait for the mid-sized 4K resin printers that would give really good minis and allow for some hollowed out terrain which would negate the need for an ender or such like. You know 2 birds 1 stone situation. Trying to get my hands on the EPAX E10, for political reasons not into buying Chinese products and EPAX are all produced in the US of A, or so I read. My quest is harder than I thought and will probably have to wait until all the pre-sold printers have arrived at their new homes, so likely will not be able to get the EPAX E10 until next year! Weirdly you can get the EPAX X10... If you've got £1200 plus shipping to hand. When you have printed enough minis on the EPAX would love to know which resin you are going to recommend for it and obviously the setting you use. Anyway regards, Simon. & yes I have backed your kickstarter.
My biggest issue with Heroforge in general is the price. They charge way too much for their physical product (the prices for the color minis are ludicrous), and even their stls are too much for general purchase. I MAY buy an occasional very special figure in stl for $8, but if the stls were $2-3 I'd buy tons of them. It's also a shame they won't sell their color stls. Hardly anyone, if anyone, could actually print them in color and give them physical competition, but they'd be useful for other purposes like VTT. They're actually leaving a lot of potential money on the table.
Great video brother, as usual. I'm curious though; have you checked out Anvl? It's a similar service to Heroforge and Desktop Hero, but their prices are much lower. I've used all three, and the models from Anvl are just as good as a Heroforge mini. Honestly, I'm not a fan of Desktop hero.
My wife and I backed the HeroForge KS - but for the STLs. Perfectly happy with the STLs - but the one person we know that backed for the printed models... what he got was crap. They DID send him replacements - but they weren't really any better. Lower quality than the demo model they sent out to reviewers, that's for sure. Grainy, with pastel colors, and whoever told them that those were 'metallics' was lying through their teeth - they were grey and orangey yellow.
They don’t use a resin printer, I don’t know wich material they are using, but that’s definitly an sls printer, that’s why the finish product it’s not so smooth. Probably they are using a printer like the hp jet fusion 380 or 580.
You're right about the material. It literally is fine white sand that is kept in form with super glue mixed with printer ink. That's why it's lighter than your model.
Never heard of Hero Forge, until I came across it when I was looking at my Facebook two days ago. I like it and will eventually get my own miniature, but I won't actually play the game.
RP is getting much bigger for people who haven't played anything like D&D before. Hero Forge is a super easy way for them to drop a hundred bucks or so and maybe play a full campaign over a few weekends. To the laymen these figures are amazing and they give glowing reviews. I love Hero Forge and have fun with the design and download feature but I don't think the print service would be useful and for $50 I want some premium packaging.
I cannot paint (arthritis) so I learned to love the naked sprue. What interests me most is the technology to 3d print in color, imagine how this improve or evolve over the next 5 years.
I have arthritis and carpal tunnel, I’ve been able to enjoy painting as long as I don’t rush my self and realize my limitations
I hope it doesn't kill the painting side of the hobby.
@@jasonbaxter3658 painting is too big of a hobby to be killed that easily
I'm legally blind, but the arguments are pretty lame. I want NPCs that are custom, because we play a multi-realm game with about 50 high-detail NPCs. The Standees look like a super great option - plus, they standout, due to difference in make. I have problems paying $60 for My Orc who follows Yondalla and is a Hobbit Guardian, but I'm also on Disability - so, well...I'm good with not Owning that...but I will, I hope.
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These should have an option to paint in 16-bit, but the danger is that patrons will bitch about that, too.
16-bit would allow the colors to be a lot more precise, and maybe 8-bit could be an option, too - but people would want 4K - which is a very unrealistic want.
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HF has been awesome for me, creating about 100 tokens, including tokens for our Roll20 campaigns and my standee NPCs for my TTRPG.
If you want these colors to pop more like in the render preview and improve the surface quality of the mini a bit, just slap a good acrylic-polyurethane semi-glossy clear coat on it. Also has the side effect of making them more robust to handle.
Would you recommend a spray for that or brush it on?
@@mouthforwar17 Doesn't matter much really, as long as the coat is thin and even.
Brush is less messy and more economical though.
@@axelhopfinger533 just wanna let you know, I brushed on some satin clear coat and it made a world of difference. Thanks for the tip
@@mouthforwar17 Glad to hear!
I use Hero Forge to get the STL, then use the colour options to design the paint job so I know what I want and where I want it when the print is finished. I will never buy a painted mini from them.
I love the painted preview, because it can give you as a painter some guidelines
HeroForge color is really, truly amazing for one thing:
Those of us with no digital art skill and no money to hire someone to make a rendering of a character.
Don't think I would currently spend the money on a color print. I mean they look kinda cool, but there's a lot of things I'd rather drop that money on. The tech is pretty awesome though, and it really has come a long way since the days of the character printing you mentioned. I look forward to seeing what comes of it in the next decade.
I feel like what a lot of people miss about the new colorizer on Hero Forge is that you can export the character model you made to a VTT. Now I am not excusing the variance in product between preview and in person, but the more detailed options (I think) are really for the digital export for VTT usage.
If the figure looks like sand, it is printed using the old SLS print technique where thin layers of plaster of paris are printed on with an inkjet printer. The ink converts the plaster in solid gypsum.
This is also the cause of the vague colors, they bleed out in the plaster and the paster is white so you don't get vibrant colors like you would when painting a miniature.
A plain plaster figurine would be very fragile so it is most likely treated with something like a cyanoacrylate glue to make it more rigid.
Wasn't there another method that used paper layers, with colour being printed on the very edge of each layer?
Thanks for the video. I think a great follow-up video would be to print the same 3d model in average settings (50 microns) and paint it up to tabletop quality for comparison.
This, definitely this
You didn’t edit out the beginning of your video. lol Kinda cool to see how you prep for a video “behind the scenes” so to speak. : )
His smile though 🤣
1.2.3 Ready go. “Hero Forge is over priced and the product isn’t as good as it should be for the price.”
Agreed.
Me: Liked and subscribed.
Very stand-up of you to admit that it was better than you thought it was going to be, rather than doing a click-bait rant video. Kudos on your honesty!
I think this feature was released after this video game out, but they're launching a feature where you can export the full color STL so you can upload it to Virtual Tabletop, so that might explain why they let you add more detail than they can physically print right now.
On the "What printer do they use? " front, they use a mimaki 3DUJ-553 which is a UV CMYK inkjet printer, very similar to the 3d systems polyjet printers but with a wider colour gamut, not a gypsum printer like the shape ways full colour figures. I've actually seen and held models from the Mimaki that are much higher resolution than the hero forge models, so I'm guessing they're running their printers in the equivalent of "draft" mode so they can maximise the number of models printed. They also frankly seem to have got their colour calibration wrong as the Mimaki is capable of printing more vivid colours. It's a shame because they're not showing the technology at it's best.
Sounds like they need more Mimakis, then.
Totally agree with you, especially about the exaggerated colors on the design side. And the "up-size" surcharge.
Part of the reason that the 3D model is a lot more detailed is because I think they're hoping for a lot more people deciding to buy the digital file instead so they can upload it to their virtual tabletop simulators. Or if you have access to a 3D printer you can print it out yourself. Less money so you don't feel too cheated.
I don't know if this would help or not, But I would really like to see one of these colored minis with a clear acrylic over them. Maybe it would help the colors pop. Not sure.
they use sandstone printers to make those types of miniatures. Those printers are most commonly used for showcasing product designs at companies and most commonly range in 20K for a printer. The sandstone printers are also very big around the side of large office paper printers.
It's way too expensive as it stands, but what an amazing product demo! I'm really surprised that it is as good as it is really. In a few years I expect they'll get the printing costs down and I can imagine you could make software that mimics ambient and object light sources, material reflectivity and texture, artificial contrast enhancement effects etc. you could get to a point where a relatively user friendly tool to virtually paint a model could result in prints that look expertly painted, if not quite up to the standards of a real pro painter. Certainly good enough for the tabletop. And if mass production could be made cheap enough it could be a real game changer for board games and minis games.
I really like the colour tool, but not for printing. It's a fantastic way to plan out a painting scheme. Fast, easy, and simple. Plus, it's pretty fun
Thanks for the kind words you mentioned about our Police, Firefighters and Service People. So glad I backed your Kickstarter!
I can see them being popular with people who aren't good painters (I'm not bad but I'm not great, don't ask me to feather). I'm really curious how they compare to something else prepainted. Like Reaper's painted bones series. Because I can see people getting excited about the mix of customizing your figure, and getting it already "painted". Especially if that's the kind of thing they're comparing it to.
Do those little scratches bother you? And can you seal them and make them less visible?
Also, love NY fire fighters man. Friggin super heroes.
I love the tech and love that they are trying to take a step forward and I even get the kickstarter route (normally dont like) because you know they were looking at a huge upfront cost that any business just wouldn't do because you know its not going to replace painting anytime soon but investing in moving the industry forward is fantastic. As well I actually like that the software guys on the tool made the tool work as best as they could, yes they should disclaimer it that its not photo accurate to what it will look like or they need more example photos maybe but I like that they made the app work as best as possible so hopefully the print quality will catch up over time. it also lets you get photo renders of your design which is really nice in my opinion.
Appreciate the honesty and genuine thoughts of the review, good on you 👍🏼
I wonder if layer of satin varnish would help?
I agree the painted minis on heroforge aren't worth it. But I still use the site to color my minis so I can see what the colors will look like before I hand paint it myself
Honestly speaking, I'm very glad I watched this video. I've been waiting a while now and really looking in depth at other people's experiences, as I was undecided if I should place an order. I have a number of characters I want printed out, so the fact that colour printing was now an option really excited me and I had such fun making the colour versions of my already existing models.
The issue I've noticed with people's photos of their minis are the lack of pigment, metals just don't seem as metallic as they should, the finished piece is rough looking (Something printed objects are usually sanded down to minimise) and, as you mentioned, features don't show up. I absolutely agree with your statement about the eyes. What is the point of customising the eyes when they don't even show up right and end up looking more like a cake decoration splodge on icing than an actual figure? Or, as I've noticed with some people's orders, what's the point in giving us materials such as glass when they just end up the same as the rest of the figure, especially since you can get transparent filament?
I think I will wait and see if they improve over time. Because, at the moment, the price doesn't reflect the quality.
I wonder if you could bring it closer to the design by adding your own black wash?
It looked like the difference when you put them side by side.
I am waiting on my Hero Forge character and after viewing this I may give mine a wash.
Great video!
Firefighters Rule!
Have you done this yet? My group each ordered one ourselves and if a little blackwash or acrylic overcoat is all it takes to make it "pop" then I'll be happy.
I was just about to submit an order for a HF color mini before watching, but now I don't see that happening. Also I think there is something wrong with the audio. It seems to cut out after the word "bull" every time. Strange.....
I think it's important to know that on the site and in the tool they go over what materials they use and go over how things will translate to the physical mini. It's very clear on what you're getting.
I think that it's a matter of expectations. I think that everyone who actually knows about printing and painting minis knows that the color printed minis will be less impressive than a traditional one.
Interesting review, I liked it. Informative to see ppl getting this product. As for the color discrepancy it can vary from monitor to monitor. The color you see on your computer may be (most likely) different from those of the developer. Which is why in studio spaces they are calibrated to match across all work stations. Try viewing the screen on your tv and your pc monitor to your phone, willing to bet there is a variance.
As for the print itself it looks impressive to me. The fact that you can get a NMM paint job on a simple print is very interesting. If you paid someone to do a NMM on the armor do you think they would charge less? Would it be same caliber as what you got from HeroForge? I do agree for those of us who can paint, we can do better. For the massive amount of ppl who are unable to paint minis this is a godsend. This is simply the beginning of this technology. It will only get better.
Good vid and thanks for sharing.
The site is just okay. A friend of mine paid a decent amount of cash for some minis a while back.. The price points were pretty outrageous. They were.....cool? People waaaaay over hype them.
EDIT: Maybe some contrast paints would touch up the parts that didn't take the colour well. I don't think it would need a retouch with actual paints.
I appreciate your non-political suggestion of support...we would all do well to remember there is more good than bad in this world by a significant amount.
Keep up the great work on the channel.
You're way better at painting than you give yourself credit for lol
Thank you for giving the most informative and clear review of the detail, sharpness, and nitpick aspects of the color minis I've found yet. I do wish that the color-picker tool would just let you work with the colors as they'll print. I'll be looking around for more videos to see if the process has improved over the past year, and of course will watch more of your channel. (And, relevant to your shirt and talk at the beginning: NYPD family, here... it's such a complicated world these days...)
I like the colour picker as it is - But I 3d print my own minis. It really helps me to decide on a painting plan and choose whether I like the parts I am selecting. I just wish they would export the colours as a texture for use in applications like Talespire.
I wasn't happy with the actual preview of the colored models on the site, so I've been using the color mode for the images. And now that the stls are $3.99 until the end of the month, I've bought up a bunch of my characters and am printing them myself.
I haven't even watched the video but I already know I agree. My friend got a coloured hero forge for like £40 and I was shocked at the absolute state of it .....
Their site says "color “inkjet” 3D printing" but it looks like it was printed using a SLS printer. The color resolution looks like it did 10 years ago when I first saw a SLS printer. Not as much advancement as there should have been in that time.
It's a mimaki UV resin CMYK printer they're using. It's weird because I've seen other models out out by the Mimaki and they are much higher quality with richer colours. I've been looking at reviews of heroforge full colour minis today and all the pics I'm seeing make me think they're running their printer in the equivalent of draft mode for speed and that they haven't colour calibrated it properly.
'Color sandstone' like on shapeways. It sprays a thin mist of ink (inkjet style) and glue over fine layers of gypsum which build up to a 3d shape. It's been around for a while and it looks kinda cruddy due to bleed, especially on small models.
oh and it's usually more brittle than cheap resin
"I'm not going to rant as bad as I thought" That's almost a win but not quite, right?
Print quality is pretty rough, colours are very washy, the mini looks like a compressed .jpg and it's way too expensive.
Cool tech, but it's just not there yet.
100% agree. It reminds me of when HeroForge first came out and was sending out FDM-printed models. They got the job done and were recognizable as your designed hero, but it felt "early access" to me. Props to HeroForge, totally, but there's still a ways to go.
Somebody's gotta be the first one putting it out.
@@Lazy-Monkey exactly. And Hero forge has shown a habit of pushing themselves to improve, so i'm interested to see where this goes in the next couple of years.
@@Lazy-Monkey Agreed. But for $45, that's nonsense.
I think maybe it should have shipped in a display case for that price. Put it on a shelf as a reminder you could have spent that money on resin.
I totally appreciate the kind words to our first responders and military! Thanks, Greg! Also... where'd u get the crabs?
Thank you for that review. But what are those magnifying glasses you are using?? I really need a pair for myself. Thank you!
the detail you can design on the website is also to create portrait and token for your character.
The thumbnail definitely had me ready for a rant lol. Looks closer to a tau commander with green skin
I believe the high level of detail they allow is meant more to reflect in there larger higher dollar items.
I think the colours are actually quite accurate to what you picked.
Your problem seems to be with thee roughness of the surface and how that changes the perception of the colours.
This looks like a gypsum powder Zcorp printer to me. It’s a colored liquid binder/activator jetted into a gypsum (the drywall material) and starch powder bed and many of the issues you note is just part of the base tech and hard to improve. The next level would be Objet/Polyjet type printers that print a fully colored liquid resin on wax like supports and the colors are much more bold as they aren’t layered over white gypsum.
You're right, it's a fun tool, but that's about it. I would never even consider ordering a full-color mini from them. Their tool is nice for letting you make renders for use in VTT programs. That's pretty nice.
There is an example as to what it will result into. For example:www.heroforge.com/static/img/photos/color_plastic_28mm_large_3.png?2 . This can be seen when you choose colored plastic.
I wonder if a quick lick of flame would soften those rough textures
Im not a gamer at all, but I enjoy painting, so Ive gotten a couple upsized minis from other places. The upcharge at heroforge is why Ive never ordered. That stopped me in my tracks. I like makin figures on the site though.
I use the coloring tool in hero forge to get the color design perfectly how I want it then order it blank, I paint it myself when it gets home
I understand why people like it, it saves times and not everyone is good with painting. HOWEVER, I think at the current state of it, the prints look better when they are not painted, and even if they aren't it is definitely aren't worth 25$
I agree, after I got my Heroforge figure and it looked like it was unfinished or something. No eyes, no detail, the different shades of brown had zero differentiation. I still liked it, but it just wasn't $60 worth. It seemed more like a $5 maaaaaaaybe $10 figure.
I can't paint often due to arthritis and carpal tunnel, so honestly I'll be ordering again.
For $60 you might find a really good local painter tho, and get a better paint job and support an artist! :)
So as a person who just received 2 minis yesterday. I'm disappointed, my figures are smaller than I thought they would be. Many of the finer smaller details are faded and the face is kinda bland. The colors are faded for sure, they both have a yellowish green, shade to all the colors. The worst part is the layer lines(the grainy sand) is still consistent and visible. I waited a month and payed over $70 for some faded, grainy, and flimsy plastic. I really am disappointed in them, that being said , I love their site. Its a butt load of fun
Cool tech, paint job I think is sort of acceptable but what isn't are all those printing lines on the model. I would not pay $60 for that quality when I can print that at home in resin for probably $5 or less and paint it for 2 hours and be way better.
Thank you very much! This is exactly what I needed to see. I’ll paint them myself!! lol
It would be fun if you printed and painted this mini to compare costs and quality.
the tools give option for eyes and loads of detail cause there is an option to get profile pictures and good for digital art too. I think to expect those eyes on a figure that small is a bit much. I really can't paint so I'm so torn to buy one of these of a grey unpainted one and try find someone to paint it for me ....hmm
50bucks for something you'd paint much better in one sitting? Nah, I'd pass. Ofc sooner or later those might become cheaper so it's cool to support them on their KS. Still, I'd much rather support one of the smaller guys who does commisions or paint it myself. But I'm one of those guys who try to support small patreons/model makers/painters instead of huge things like Heroforge and Titan-forge. Those guys already have a lot of dough, and their products aren't that much greater in comparison to smaller people works.
Yeah this is definitely great for people who do not want to paint their figs and aren't too concerned with amazing quality. Another generation or two, some price decreases... they have something really solid.
Asa heads up, that base is an XL base, that also adds to the higher price, not necessarily just the hight.
My opinion, its an impressive tech but its still very crude.
The colour variation seems inconsistent across the individual layers, as if the colour is "burnt out" of the edges.
The colour itself is a lighter shade. If you could correct for this by using darker colours, a better representation could be made. That being said, its pretty deplorable to advertise it that way.
The colour model function is definitely more designed for the tokens you can buy rather than the prints.
(That being said, I tend to edit screenshots to make tokens without buying them anyway.)
I just ordered my mini, i think this looks what I expected and so im hyped
Their kickstarter mentions this 3D printer: ruclips.net/video/4mwjmwhry1g/видео.html
But this mini doesn't look like a resin print to me. More like a powder printed one where you use coloured binder with gypsum.
Thanks for your review it looks good though for custom min with color and under 100 dollars I paint better than them to but I Honestly don’t have the time 😩😩😩 to paint . Love the trees you painted good job
The color choices are also for the digital downloads and tokens.
I have a pair of those 40 year old virgin goggles, but only worn them once or twice. Should crack them out more, nothing cooler haha
Did you use the option to se what it would look like in reality compared to the digital design? They have that option to look at the reduced quality version.
I think the tech has a long way to go for sure, but it's a very exciting development all the same imo. Hopefully in 10 years we will have affordable at home color 3d printers capable of at least this quality.
Gotta say there is a huge difference between multi-color pla and resin with custom paint job
Thanks. I want a SHARPNESS but the photos i seen didnt impress me but I also 3d printed Star trek online ships but the detail is good but it has to be bigger to look good.
is it Shapeways colored sandstone? I've heard it's brittle. I know you paid $60, but maybe durability should be part of the review. Excited to get the patreon minis. Got the merchant license so I'm ready to calculate the price.
At least with the tool you can see what it will look like in a certain color scheme before you paint it
That's likely printed on an HP FusionJet 4200. Not quite stratasys level quality for SLS.
Maybe its a liquid jet printer? I know that technology supports multi color resin mixing. Its often used for creating medical models
I've bought STLs from HeroForge in the past and used its color tools to plan my own paint job, and I'm curious about the actual technology behind this color 3D printing they do, but I'm not like $40 curious, especially since I can paint it myself, significantly better. On top of that, I've done some research on what other mini painters charge per piece (because I want to do commissions), and it's much cheaper than HeroForge's options for better quality to boot (and I feel like these artists are undercharging, but they're the professionals, not me...) I feel like this option is only really for people who know absolutely NOBODY in their area who can paint, and for whatever reason, don't want to ship their mini to someone else to paint-- like, they just want to exclude everyone and everything else in the process and want to pay out the nose for that "convenience" of a colored mini shipped straight to them, no other work. But even for that I feel like it's a high price to pay for the quality the tech is currently at.
I have two color prints, im a decent painter but use the color prints for characters with angles and nooks i know my paint skills cant handle. I want to wash it or something to try to make it pop a little bit more, do you have any videos of you maybe trying different ideas to improve them/ or any ideas??
Can you paint over their colors to make them look better?
For me looks better then I thought, better than I could paint,
What would the figure look like if it sanded with different grits of sandpaper? Will the colours pop a bit more?
Love the honesty. Keep doin what you do!
It seems like they have some ways to go to dial in the color. Looks like the specular map from the 3D model/preview isn't really well lined up with the end result. I don't know if you know this, but Game Print has been making colored models of Star Trek Online and EVE Online spaceships (I have a few of my favorite ships printed lol). They had similar pains in the early days where the spec map wasn't really well reflected (it still isn't, but does much better now). It would be interesting to see you do a comparison of a Game Print print vs Hero Forge print in regards to model details and color accuracy.
Perosonally I'm not going to buy one... but the colour picker is handy for choosing colour schemes for painting or drawing
when do they have sales??
Thank Greg, my pile of shame is possibly a lot larger than yours, all but gave up painting but continued to buy all the minis that appealed to me.... Now have a large pile of STL files and have not bought a printer! Watching and listening to your shows decided I wanted to wait for the mid-sized 4K resin printers that would give really good minis and allow for some hollowed out terrain which would negate the need for an ender or such like. You know 2 birds 1 stone situation. Trying to get my hands on the EPAX E10, for political reasons not into buying Chinese products and EPAX are all produced in the US of A, or so I read. My quest is harder than I thought and will probably have to wait until all the pre-sold printers have arrived at their new homes, so likely will not be able to get the EPAX E10 until next year! Weirdly you can get the EPAX X10... If you've got £1200 plus shipping to hand. When you have printed enough minis on the EPAX would love to know which resin you are going to recommend for it and obviously the setting you use. Anyway regards, Simon. & yes I have backed your kickstarter.
Jesse the Body Ventura called and he wants his voice back.
I've been using it anton to make tokens for FoundryVTT
My biggest issue with Heroforge in general is the price. They charge way too much for their physical product (the prices for the color minis are ludicrous), and even their stls are too much for general purchase. I MAY buy an occasional very special figure in stl for $8, but if the stls were $2-3 I'd buy tons of them. It's also a shame they won't sell their color stls. Hardly anyone, if anyone, could actually print them in color and give them physical competition, but they'd be useful for other purposes like VTT. They're actually leaving a lot of potential money on the table.
Great video brother, as usual. I'm curious though; have you checked out Anvl? It's a similar service to Heroforge and Desktop Hero, but their prices are much lower. I've used all three, and the models from Anvl are just as good as a Heroforge mini. Honestly, I'm not a fan of Desktop hero.
Have you tried Eldritch Foundry?
@@gilatmat not yet, but they are on my list. :)
My wife and I backed the HeroForge KS - but for the STLs.
Perfectly happy with the STLs - but the one person we know that backed for the printed models... what he got was crap.
They DID send him replacements - but they weren't really any better.
Lower quality than the demo model they sent out to reviewers, that's for sure. Grainy, with pastel colors, and whoever told them that those were 'metallics' was lying through their teeth - they were grey and orangey yellow.
"Pro-painted" is like "organic" they are puffery, totally meaningless terms.
Yeah but at least "pro-painted" should look good! Their pro-painted looked purposely bad to me...
But pro painted should be better than my first try of painting a mini after watching 5 hours of youtube vids ...
@@3dprintingpro212 You haven't searched eBay for "Pro-Painted" models, have you? ;) Generally, that label is jokingly known for "garbage".
I wish this guy lived by me. I would game with him any day.
Love the Massimo Capra look you're going for there Greg.
Also nice shoutout to Squidmar and Goobertown!
They don’t use a resin printer, I don’t know wich material they are using, but that’s definitly an sls printer, that’s why the finish product it’s not so smooth. Probably they are using a printer like the hp jet fusion 380 or 580.
You're right about the material. It literally is fine white sand that is kept in form with super glue mixed with printer ink. That's why it's lighter than your model.
Nope, that's the old gypsum printer method. These use A mimaki CMYK UV resun printer full-color-custom-miniatures-with-hero-forge-20.backerkit.com/faq
Never heard of Hero Forge, until I came across it when I was looking at my Facebook two days ago. I like it and will eventually get my own miniature, but I won't actually play the game.
Is there a game associated with this? As far as I know, they just 3D print miniature designs you make on their website for tabletop gaming.
RP is getting much bigger for people who haven't played anything like D&D before. Hero Forge is a super easy way for them to drop a hundred bucks or so and maybe play a full campaign over a few weekends. To the laymen these figures are amazing and they give glowing reviews. I love Hero Forge and have fun with the design and download feature but I don't think the print service would be useful and for $50 I want some premium packaging.