Firelock Games is continuing to innovate and try new things to bring the best quality miniatures and gaming products to players. Today we get to look at some newly (or almost) released Blood & Plunder 3D Printed resin minis from Firelock Games!

The Quick News

Firelock Games has been converting their entire line of “original” metal miniatures into STL files they can print them on high-quality, super high-resolution 3D printers. We were able to get some test prints and we’re very impressed!

After talking to Mike Tunéz, it sounds like Firelock Games has settled on this as the manufacturing method (instead of relying only on SiOCAST) going forward. As molds wear out they are planning on migrating their original line of minis that has been produced in metal for the last 7 years. So far, we’re very impressed. We see amazing detail, very little cleanup, and strong durability.

You can read Firelock’s recent “press release” regarding these minis here.

How Much Will the New 3D Printed Resin Minis Cost?

It appears Firelock will be starting to release these minis in packs of 4 for $18 as soon as December 9th, 2023. The move away from metals to resin drops the price of a 4pk by 25%!

The Nationality “Army Boxes” of 25 miniatures will be priced at $99. That’s a $40 drop in price a 39% price drop!

When Will the New Resin 3D Printed Minis be Released?

We can expect these new minis to be released in “waves” by nation, starting with the French line of models. Spanish models are queued next and the migration will continue with the other factions. (For the long version of the history of Blood & Plunder miniature manufacturing, check the bottom of this article.)

French Models Available Now!

Firelock Games made the entire line of French models available in this new resin material on December 8th, 2023. This release includes:

• French Nationality Box for $99
• NEW Pierre Lemoyne d’Iberville
• NEW Compagnies Franches de la Marine Unit for $18 (our preview article here)
• Canadian Militia Unit for $18
• Coureurs de Bois Unit for $18
• Milicies de Caraibes Unit for $18
• Les Enfants Perdus Unit for $18
• Marins Unit for $18
• Boucaniers Unit for $18
• Flibustiers Unit for $18
• Francois l’Olonnais for $10
• Laurens de Graff for $10
• Generic French Commander for $8

Review of THe New Blood & Plunder 3D Printed Miniatures

Not all 3D-printed miniatures are created equal! I’ve seen some bad stuff and some really good stuff. The combination of printer and material (I don’t know the nitty-gritty details) that Firelock Games is using for these miniatures is pretty amazing and I can genuinely say we’re excited to share our impressions of these minis with you. And I say this as a guy who has sworn to play and buy metals forever, I am impressed!

The Printer

Firelock us currently using a ASIGA Pro 4K printer.

Close-up Photos of the Increased Detail

Look at the detail and clarity on that miniature! This isn’t a digital file or photoshopped rendering, this is a photo of a physical mini.

I’ve painted this shirtless chap 7 times in metal, and I can tell you this resin 3d print of the miniature is a cut above! The beard, the pistol detail, the sword lines, and the “space” the miniature takes up are all impressive improvements from the metal.

Here is the same miniature in metal.

Here’s another Spaniard Marinero model, side by side comparison.

The clean lines, depth of the transitions, and detail are amazing! This makes for excellent painting opportunities as the brushes react to the various surface depths.

Firelock was exploring this new manufacturing method and fine-tuning their system a few months back. Below are photos of some test prints of the Compagnies Franches de la Marine. I was impressed then, but they have improved even more since!

You can see more pics of these 3D printed models here.

Are the 3D Printed Resin Minis Durable?

One of the common issues with 3D-printed minis is durability. They are infamous for being very brittle. Particularly with the small parts like muskets, knives, and swords, which are constantly breaking. So far, these have proven to be very hardy!

Mike Tunéz has been putting them through their heat stress tests under the Florida sun on his car’s dashboard. They passed the “shipping across the country” test with zero breaks in multiple shipments. I’ve personally conducted some rigorous “drop them on a concrete floor” tests. They are sturdy but not invincible.

Dropping a Miliciano model from 42″ on a concrete floor, the hat feather broke off right away, then it survived several more drops with no damage. On about the 5th drop, the ankles broke, separating the base from the rest of the miniature. The body survived another 5+ drops with no additional damage. I was able to glue the mini back together without any issues.

I have run tests on metals, SiOCAST, hard plastic, and the older 3D printed models at the same 42″ drop, and only the metal and hard thermocast plastic took no damage. Considering that most flooring is not concrete, they faired quite well.

Prep Time

The new minis are one-piece models, which is a HUGE benefit for me. For some, assembly is a enjoyable part of the creative process. But it does take extra time and can be frustrating with little pieces sliding and drooping. I love a good one piece mini and it helps me get miniatures prepped and painted faster.

These are very clean models. Some need almost no prep at all before priming. I’ve noticed some little nubs from printing supports but they are easy to remove with a knife or fingernail.

This William Kidd model had the most little nubs but they aren’t hard to remove. And still, look at the detail on that pistol!

The only other prep step that may be necessary is running some warm water over a miniature if a part has been bent in packaging/shipping. Warming the miniature under hot tap water makes it slightly pliable. Straighten the part, then turn the water to cold and your golden. Of the 18 minis I received, only 1 needed straightening.

Being 3D printed, there are no mold lines (the little ridges that appear where the two sides of the mold are pressed together.

What About Layer Lines from The 3D Printer?

There are occasional print lines visible, but you have to get REALLY close to actually see them. Once primed and painted, these rare occurrences are nearly invisible. Though to be fair, I have noticed a thin wash can increase their visibility. However, as far as 3D printed models go, this is really subtle.

There are various types of 3D Printers out there. The most common two varieties are FDM and Resin. Older standard FDM 3D Printers melt plastic filament and build models printing tiny strings about the width of a hair until they build up to a final model. This results in multiple layer lines on the surface of the model. The smallest layer height most FDM printers can reach is a layer height of 0.1mm. This style of printer is inexpensive, but better for terrain printing than miniatures as the layer lines are easily visible.

Resin printers use a vat of special liquid that is flashed with a light that hardens the resin in a very thin layer. So while they have layer lines, they are much thinner A standard resin style printer that most hobbyists use to print miniatures has a layer height of .35 microns or 0.035mm. This makes the average Resin printer 28.5 times more detailed than an FDM printer.

Firelock Games Super High Definition Printer Resolution

Firelock Games has invested in top-of-the-line, professional-grade commercial resin 3D printers. These printers have a player height of 1 micron (0.001 mm). 1000x times better than an FDM printer and 350 times better than a hobbyist printer. At full resolution, this helps make layer lines nearly invisible. I’m not sure what resolution they are using to print the production models as the higher the resolution, the slower they print.

Consistency Comparison of the Resin 3D Printed Models

The metal casting process involves molds that wear out over time. The first miniatures through the molds are excellent, then as they are used to cast additional sets of minis they start to deteriorate. This can lead to some of the later miniatures through the mold to have a lower quality level. As the the molds wear out, minis can have more flashing, blobbing, and issues with detail in general.

One of the benefits of the new process is the total elimination of molds. This should avoid those issues altogether. Meaning every print run should have near identical quality.

Dynamic Poses are Back!

I love the poses and character of Firelock’s original models and these preserve those poses. While I appreciate the flexibility of the multipart plastics, many times the poses that I end up making look a little stiff and awkward, while these look more natural.

One of the issues with the SiOCAST process was the need for thin molds. This limitation was pushing models to be more 2-dimensional and a bit squished. Again, this was limiting options and causing issues in manufacturing. Even the metal spin casting process puts major limits on what you can do with legs, arms, overhangs, etc.

Because of the way the 3D printing process works, it is less limited in this area. Holes and narrow bridges and pieces are no longer an issue.

Examples of every 3D model, include Benjamin Church and the shirtless Marinero, which is noticeably more “spread” and more similar to the sketch in the rulebook than the metal version.

Look at that manspread. What a boss.

Final Judgement on New 3D Printed Firelock Models

We’re all thrilled with these minis. I MUCH prefer them to multipart plastics. They’re faster to get ready to play and less frustrating for my banana fingers. I prefer them to metal (never thought I’d say it) because the detail level is so much better. I prefer them to SiOCAST because the detail is better. Because they are one piece, there are no seams and there are no mold lines which makes for less cleanup.

Here is a summary of the pros and cons:

The (Long) History of Blood & Plunder Miniatures

This is the long (and maybe tedious) history of Firelock miniature manufacturing methods, as seen from an uneducated outsider who has semi-regular conversations with the folks at Firelock Games. But I’m not an expert on the process, so take it with a grain of salt. Or skip it if you’re not interested. 🙂

In the Beginning…

Firelock Games original line of miniatures (2016) was all in metal. They are excellent miniatures, with all the pros and cons of metal minis.

Starting around 2020, the cost of metal started to multiply, and along with other increasing costs, the metal miniatures’ prices went up and up, eventually settling on $24 per pack of 4 (more than twice the original price).

As metal prices went up, Firelock has explored other options in an attempt to keep costs down and quality up. They did several runs of 3D printed models in 2022, bringing units of North American Natives into the game. The detail was good (though print lines were a consistent issue), but durability was not ideal. Thin elements like bows and knives were often broken during shipping.

SiOCAST Miniatures Revolution

SiOCAST came along as a new production method for miniatures and it appeared to be the answer. Firelock invested in SiOCAST equipment, but as time has progressed, it has proved more difficult and time-consuming to port over a set of minis designed for metal spin-casting to SiOCAST manufacturing techniques than expected. There have been some successes and some failures, but after more than 2 years, it has not proved to be a perfect solution. They have sold some SiOCAST miniatures at conventions, and a few different sets of sculpts on their website, but all the original sculpts have needed lots of work and modification to make SiOCAST molds and it just has not happened.

Hard Plastic Sprues

Firelock has invested considerable effort and treasure (should we say blood and plunder) into the multipart hard plastic kits funded by the Raise the Black Kickstarter project. These are great minis with lots of customization options and they are much more affordable to produce and bring to market. These have been a great boon for Blood & Plunder! However, this manufacturing method is not practical for the extensive line of existing “nationally flavored” models that are the core of the game for many players.

With low production costs but high investment costs to create the metal injection mold, this method is perfect for the more generic “Soldiers,” “Militia,” and “Sailor” models that can be used for a wide variety of units in Blood & Plunder. But is it less efficient for more narrowly appealing units like the French Couerer de Bois.

Each of these manufacturing processes has distinct advantages and drawbacks. With so much effort put into settling on the perfect manufacturing system and overcoming setbacks, it has slowed the release of new models and units.

It appears Firelock Games has finally settled on a manufacturing system that is checking all the boxes and will be the way forward. From conversations with people at Firelock, I sense a renewed level of excitement and optimism for the coming year. A miniature gaming company does better when it can MAKE MINIATURES!

Final Thoughts

Every type of miniature has it’s pros and cons and every gamer has their favorite. I love the metals for their sturdiness and heft. I like the hard plastics for their customization opportunities and affordability. I really like these minis for 4 important reasons:

1. They look super good
2. They are cheaper than metal
3. The are one piece and easy to prep/paint
4. Firelock Games can reliably make them

This last point can’t be overstated. A game company can’t last long without actually producing content. Firelock Games is a small company and constantly switching manufacturing techniques can’t be easy or cheap. If this is a method that is high quality, is affordable, and they can maintain, we’re on board, 100%. If Firelock can settle on these minis and everything goes well, that will free up time and energy to channel back into more consistent development of more product. This is good news for Blood & Plunder!

With the the excellent starter set, the affordable hard plastic kits and the rest of the miniatures line moving to this style of miniatures, Blood & Plunder seems to be a in a great place and ready to grow and take down Warhammer as the most played miniatures game on the market (well maybe that’s a little ambitious…)!

Additional Content Suggestions

• Tips and Tricks for Assembling Raise the Black Plastic Miniatures
• Building 24 Unique Sailors from the Sailor Box
• Firelock Games’ Press Release for new Resin Miniatures