3D Alien Worlds: Taui Landeplattform Preview

3D Alien Worlds treibt es nach einem Ausflug ins feudale Japan wieder in die ferne Zukunft und es wird eine Vorschau auf eine Landeplattform eines aufstrebenden Sternenreich gezeigt.

Designing the Taui Landing Pad

The new Taui terrain collection is our latest sci-fi range of 3D-printable models, and here’s the first look at the very first design…..

You’ll notice some odd colours on this CG render, perhaps? Well, this landing pad has some unique features – the main feature being that it’s designed to be printed in colour-tinted clear filament!!!

The whole model has been designed to minimise wall thickness and maximise the amount of light that can shine through in various places. So while you could choose to fully paint this as a normal 3d printed terrain piece (in grey PLA filament or whatever), you have the option to print the whole thing in your chosen colour of clear PLA, and have a whole table full of terrain lit with LEDs – perfect for hi-tech and advanced sci-fi alien settings.

In this second CG render, you get an idea of just how cool this could look! With LED lights inside the hollow landing pad, pretty much all of it would light up.

On the right of the landing pad, you can see the energy lift, that moves between ground level and the landing pad’s surface. And yes, it really can be raised and lowered during play!

On the left, you can see the large ion shield or force field, which can also be printed in clear filament. The ion shield is even designed to move around the outside of the landing pad, to provide excellent cover from any required direction.

Printing the Taui landing pad

The new Taui landing pad has now been fully assembled, and is a real sight – Behold, the Terrain of Pure Blueness!!!

So for now please excuse the shocking colour of the PLA filament I used (there is a reason for this, I promise!), and take a look at the assembled model…..

At almost 40cm long and 34cm wide (16″x13″), this thing is pretty big! It’s got a solid 5cm height, which blocks line of sight to most infantry-sized models.

This picture shows the energy lift in its UP position…..

.. while this pic shows the energy lift in the DOWN position. There are some tiny teethed track hidden inside, which allow the elevator’s position to be adjusted during play.

You can also see the ion shield with its distinctive hexagonal design. There’s a small inset track running around the edge of the landing pad, allowing you to carefully slide the force field around.

With the ion shield removed (power failure?), it’s still quite an imposing structure.

This is how to raise the energy lift. By gently tilting the front of the piece up by about 10 degrees (as shown in the picture), the locking teeth disengage and the lift can be slid up the groove to its new position. Letting the lift return to its normal (level) position will automatically lock it in place – it’s all thanks to that most hi-tech of technologies… gravity!

I printed the energy lift with its hexagon design for these product pics, but for the painted version I actually plan to use a different geometric design.

You’ll also see there are a few geometric shapes to the bottom left of the pad in this picture. These can be arranged in your chosen pattern and glued on to the flat circular inset part on the back side of the landing pad, if you’d like to customise it to your army’s motifs.

The landing pad will be hitting the paint desk this week, for a release in min-January. Watch this space!

Quelle: 3D Alien Worlds