Scatter Chatter

A continuous conundrum here at 3DRPG Studios is that we often have dozens upon dozens of freshly painted STLs to share, but they’re not necessarily mighty enough to write an entire DnD blog post on their own. Still, they deserve a chance to shine, right?!

So, we decided to do some rapid-fire shares so you can decide for yourself if they’re worthy enough to 3D print for your own DnD campaigns. We adore scatter terrain and continuously slice and dice ’em for our overflowing RPG collection. No surprise there, as this constant obsession certainly follows our core mission: what should we 3D print today?!

Let’s start with Aether Studios and this awesome Mimic Portrait TTRPG scatter piece. This unsuspecting artwork is from their fun Great Mimics set. Now, you’re first reaction might be, how do you actually base this Chatty Cathy? No worries – we’ve got a plan…

Resident painter Kimmy Utah snatched up this piece and came up with some swell color combos that just brought it to life. We wanted to ensure this one rested on a solid foundation, so we grabbed a few Hirst Arts casted blocks. Before the 3D printer revolution, Hirst Arts was the leader, and we still have thousands upon thousands of them in reserve. We got a bit teary-eyed when coloring them up.

Next, we have this imposing altar by STL Miniatures. This stony shrine is from their marvelous Fantasy Props I set. We consider this maker top tier when it comes to reusable scatter terrain. STL Miniatures just crushes it with thematic set after thematic set. We’re a longtime Patreon subscriber and can’t say enough positive things about their ongoing work.

DM Ben was the “First Brush” on this one, reaching for a few Army Painter Speedpaints and Citadel Contrast Paints to do the job. He chose a darker blue cloth color here because red seemed too commonplace. In hindsight, DM Ben should have done a few Google image searches for color ideas because there are lots of Etsy and eBay artists selling these STLs. Still, that eureka inspiration moment will definitely stick for the future. 😉

Finally, you definitely can’t do a TTRPG post about DnD scatter terrain without also mentioning Cast n Play. They’re the Shaq to STL Miniatures Kobe. We pulled this Bandit’s Banner STL from their slick Terrain Essentials Bandit’s Camp set. You get a tremendous amount of monthly content from Terrain Essentials, which is a relatively new series in the 3D-print space. We just love seeing what they release each month!

DM Ben also volunteered to color this one as he was chomping at the bit to try more of Green Stuff World’s Dipping Inks set. Beloved YouTuber Miniature Hobbyist turned us on to this paint line, and although Green Stuff World is based in the UK, the extra shipping distance to the States is sooooo worth the wait.

In particular, he really wanted to try out Wood Brown Dip and the Green Stone Dip, which were featured in his HeroQuest Jungle Board video. He also used the Red Opulence Dip for the banner. DM Ben also wanted to use a bit of flock for the base to tie everything together.

Several online reviews mentioned that these Dipping Inks were on the thin side and required a couple of coats, but we strongly disagree. They went on effortlessly, and best of all, their paint bottle names were super straightforward. We vomit in our mouths a little when paint makers use cryptic names. Really looking forward to trying more colors from this set (and even their Basic Colours Mega Box) on future DnD 3D prints.

Until next time!