Action Figure Feature – Shapeways 3D-Printed Figure by Strangefate

3D-printing services like Shapeways feel like the next frontier of custom action figures to me.  I find it exciting, and a lot of the toys we buy are prototyped by companies in this fashion, so it feels like the consumer is getting that much closer to making their own toy lines.  I’m loving all the cool accessories I’ve bought from Shapeways by sculptors Evil Mike and Def Waffenmeister, and Fwooshers like Hauke and Strangefate have taken it to the next level with fully articulated figures.  They aren’t cheap, but I felt compelled to dip my toe in the pool of this exciting area of the custom toy world, and today we are going to take a look at a 7-inch scale Fantasy Warrior by Strangefate.

Pabs already showed off a 6-inch scale sculpt by Strangefate here, and you can check out Strangefate’s custom-painted figures on his thread in our custom forums here.

I had meant to take a picture of the raw printed figure, but forgot to.  You can get a sense of what it looks like in Pabs’ article or in the pic of the 3D output on Shapeways.

Strangefate generated lots of useful instructions for assembling his figures, so I followed his instructions and cleaned out the excess plastic dust from the pieces prior to painting the figure using my usual Games Workshop paints.

The figure is slightly rough in texture, but that works to your advantage in that the paint absorbs into the layer of plastic and there is not as much paint rub as you would think.  It doesn’t appear quite as rough in person as it appears blown up large like in the above pic.

She came with a knife and working scabbard for it, but there is an accessory kit that can be printed as well, so I think I’ll get that at some point too. For now I have her holding a Conan-style sword also ordered from Strangefate’s shop.  I love the design and the sculpt is sharp and detailed.

The figure assembles easily and solidly.  It’s not as solid as a factory figure, but it’s pretty darn close.  Some joints were a little loosey-goosey after assembly, but I was able to tighten those with the old super-glue trick for the most part.  The biceps are still a little looser than I’d like.

The articulation is as follows:

• Ball-jointed head, neck and mid-torso
• Swivel hinged shoulders
• Swivel wrists and biceps
• Hinged knees, elbows, and ankles
• Ball-and-socket hips

The hips worried me a bit when I first saw how they were constructed as a single ball-and-socket, but they function really well, have good range of motion, and held poses without any looseness.

The scale is interesting.  She has the height to hang with 7-inch-tall MOTUC figures, but actually makes for a nice Amazon-type for a 6-inch scaled figure.

Overall, I am very pleased with the purchase.  The figure has a great design and it was a really fun project that brought to mind the feeling I would have as a kid assembling models.

I was initially going to go for a straight-up redhead warrior, but Strangefate’s paint job on his sample inspired me to add a little war paint to my gal. I’ve already ordered another figure from Strangefate’s shop and I’m looking forward to seeing future sculpts from him.

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