I finished printing and constructing the train. Since the model was designed for resin printing, I had to make significant modifications to make it possible to print in FDM and I still had to redo some parts a few times. Now that it is done, it looks a bit delicate next to the lava cannon. This has inspired me to use all my modifications to build my own Iron Daemon substitute that is suitable for FDM printing and has the chunky look to it that matches. It’s a balance between chunkiness and printability, since chunkiness tends to extend outwards in planes that would then require supports, which leads to areas that don’t turn out very smooth. I can design ahead for the Skullcracker upgrade too. Plus it doesn’t fit very well on the 100mm base that it is supposed to (at least in 8th edition), so maybe I will have a removable section for that. Stay tuned for that.
The rocket launcher variant is getting closer to being complete. It’s based on the lava cannon chassis so there’s a lot less to do.
The rocket launcher is done:
I’ve almost finished printing it out, and my adjustments to my printer have really helped because it has printed much nicer than the lava cannon did.
I’ll move on to the actual train part again. I’ll probably do something for the Dreadquake too, just to have the full set. I find it far easier to stay motivated by having multiple projects on the go at the same time and work on each one for a bit before switching to something else.
I spent a few minutes just mocking up a Dreadquake using parts from the rocket launcher
The Iron Daemon is my top priority, but I think I’ll poke away at this every now and then. The big engine on the GW Dreadquake doesn’t fit well with me, but there’s not much to put on the side not holding the ammo. Need to redo all the platforms since they are all too long, so it’s not a quick project to finish.
It’s getting there. Not sure about the position of the hammers. I think I might move the pivot point to be higher to make it look more natural.
A few quick things I’ve been working on. Firstly, a gridded platform that looks a little more industrial.
And I did some pictures of the models without the carriages
I’ve been doing more on the Dreadquake than the Iron Daemon, but that’s because most of the updates are being transferred directly from the minor Rocket Launcher improvements.
This model has given me so much grief. Mechanically enclosing the BC while maintaining the size envelope and not leaving it prone to breaking has been challenging. Still not quite ready. The shield needs to be a bit bigger, and needs more spikes on the front.
Dude, this is all incredible work! Following with great interest. 
Ready enough for now. Trying to work out the hammer version. Now to print out five more and paint them up.
Well done, dude!
I feel like maybe the back side of the wheel could use some detailing. I’m guessing it was reused from the train, where that didn’t matter as much.
Such a great concept!
Yes, I stole it from my train and added a few more spikes. The back being undetailed wasn’t a big deal on the train because you couldn’t see the back. On this it is more visible. It wasn’t too hard to make a fully 3D one for SLA printing, just flipped it and merged. Had some issues with generating the STL, but the OBJ is fine and nearly everyone can use either anyway. Now added to model.
Whoa, what a great turnaround time! Awesome!
You’re not famous until someone copies your stuff. It’s all fine, I literally tell people they can use it and improve on it, and he has credited me in the text.
How he has more downloads than me is more of a mystery.
I printed his version and came to praise your bass design. Pretty fun fiddle as conversion kit bash pieces too.
Perhaps the reason he has more downloads is that his remix includes the earthshaker. And that is by far the most popular retro Warmachines among hats people.
I’m still not sure how to balance my goal of realism vs. looking better vs. looking like the Forgeworld model vs. being FDM printable. Maybe building a ramp that delivers the explosive into the barrel.
I think I’ll also make an alternative short model that fits on a 50x100mm base.
It’s shorter and stubbier, and closer to completion than ever. The Afroafrik one is just a bit too long to fit on the 60x100mm base, so this will fit more comfortably and match my other designs better. I was worried at one stage of having too many Iron Daemons, but it seems that 2-3 aren’t too bad to have in a single army.
Also, I actually finished painting the rocket launcher
I was going to post this yesterday but noticed a crucial error. Fixed it now, so here it is.
Partially painted example (probably detracts a bit from the overall look):
This is the most basic version so it’s a little rough still. It was stressing me out to not have it out there but I know it’s not 100% finished and it will take ages before it is so I just want to release it now. Upgrades will be added over time to improve each part - different hammer heads, different funnel, more dials, control handles, front blades, daemon face/mouth, arrow-free version.
Hey Cornixt, did I understood this thread correclty ? Are all your designe FDM friendly ?
The intention is for them to be as friendly to FDM printing as possible. They should also need minimal supports. They aren’t perfect though, there might be a few small parts that don’t print so well, but on the whole I’ve designed each piece so that it should well on an FDM printer.
I plan on doing a few upgrades to some pieces to make them better - see the backs of the wheels in the engine photo and you’ll see they are flat, which is great for FDM but if you have a resin printer you could have a design that isn’t flat on one side. It’s not that noticeable but it’s an area for improvement.
Finally finished painting the Iron Daemon. I chose to go for the same colour scheme as the rest of my train-based war machines rather than the red I had been using for the 3D renders.
This will be useful in designing the upgrades to make it look a little less plain. I still need to finish the swap-out hammers, something weird happened with the scale when I printed them so they are oddly small.
So now I have a proper matching train.
