Train Tuesday Part 118: Wild, Wild West

Greetings, fellow biker buddies! Another edition of Train Tuesday is ready to roll, or better yet, hover onto your DnD gameboard. Let’s check out our latest hogs and figure out what sort of hijinks they might instill in our Dungeons and Dragons campaign!

We love adding new Gnome Tinkerer steampunk contraptions and quirky new hover vehicles to The Forgotten Rails campaign setting, as these new miniatures/scatter terrain pieces give DM Ben all sorts of additional homebrewed storytelling options. So, let’s take a look under the hood!

First, let’s talk about our inspiration for these new 3D prints. DM Ben expects our Hovertrains to be under threat like the old stagecoach and train robbers of the Wild West back in the day. Certainly, the underworld bosses of Waterdeep will test the thievery waters by sending some of their armed thugs to see how vulnerable the Hovertrains are while also learning what sort of security accompanies a train. A good thieves’ guild always knows what the best soft targets are and all their corresponding weaknesses.

It’s quite fitting that our featured TTRPG 3D prints today come courtesy of the amazing Aether Studios team. We’re using their sick STL library for all our Hovertrain models – the cornerstone of this ongoing Train Tuesday series. DM Ben loves competing factions in his campaigns, so these Shark Range Riders are going to be a perfect fit.

Since these were larger 3D prints (1×3 d20 squares) and they contained a lot of metal, DM Ben decided to suck it up and try to paint ’em himself. That’s the cool thing with Army Painter Metallics and Slapchop – they’re very forgiving for novice painters.

So, just in case you’re curious about the paints used here and like some color inspiration:

• Prime Flat Black | Slapchop Base.
• Body: ASP Enchanted Steel.
• Front Fan: ASP True Brass.
• Metal Plating: FAN True Copper.
• Bots: FAN Gun Metal and Citadel Shining Silver.
• Vents & Coils: ASP Hoard Bronze.
• Engine Hoses: FAN Uniform Grey.
• Shark Skin: Same scheme as other water-esque minis.
• Shark Pants: ASP Occultist Cloak.
• Shark Hoodies: ASP Orc Skin.
• Shark Boots: FAN Leather Brown.
• Straps & Seat: GSW Komodo Khaki.
• Saddle Bags: Citadel Contrast Snakebite Leather.
• Lights/Back Engines: ASP Zealot Yellow.
• Optional Wash: FAN Soft Tone.

We always love it when experimenting with a new model enlightens us on a new paint color pick. Using FAN Uniform Grey for the hoses was perfect. We’ll definitely utilize that particular paint pot in the future.

Disclaimer: We really overloaded these STLs with supports during slicing, as we always put on more than we seem to need. Paranoia of failed prints past, we guess. We’re also lazy in that we rarely buff out any of the little support stubbies that remain. With the arm’s-length rule, they really don’t bother us.

There are so many darn fun little details in these TTRPG STLs that make them look especially cool from basically any angle. Like, aren’t you just dying to know what’s in those big, bulky saddlebags?! We love it when creators give their models some extra personality touches, like lettering on the hoodies and nameplates on their hoverbikes.

Lastly, we’ve 3D-printed an entire group of shark miniatures, so having fresh minis at the ready for when they dismount is already taken care of for any follow-up interactions. We’re really jazzed to show you those ripped shark miniatures in future posts! Just imagine this freak of nature pulling up, and then after he dismounts, DM Ben puts another fab miniature on the table to represent lunacy.

Until next time!