Hot wire cutter from scraps

I’ve had a laser cutter for about ten years, and used it to create loads of tabletop terrain (with varying degrees of success). Even the most successful pieces, however, still appeared a bit “flat” and box-y looking. They lacked texture.

So I got a 3d printer and started printing scenery from the many excellent .stl creators across the internet. And I thought I was happy.

Except FDM printing, when you look closely – or, when you’re printing things quite small, that represent quite large things in real life – the layer lines and lack of exact precision really spoil the effect of super-fine detailed models. If anything, they have too much texture.

So I got a resin printer. And I was a very happy bunny.

Resin printing is just awesome. Super-precise, really nice finish, perfect for tiny details… if I could I’d resin print everything tabletop.

The only thing with resin printing is the relatively small printing area. The build plate is little more than 150mm x 65mm. That’s loads of room if you’re printing miniature characters (I often cram eight or more at a time onto a single build) but not so big when it comes to printing terrain.

So I thought, for Jabba’s Throne, I’d go “old-school”. And make it from styrofoam.

I chopped at my styrofoam with a cheap Poundland “stanley” knife and rounded the corners using sandpaper. It was a messy, horrible job. And the result was really rough-looking and wonky (perfect for a crudely carved stone throne….)

And after chopping up Jabba’s Throne, I thought “if I’m going to take this terrain-making lark seriously, I’m going to have to get a hot wire cutter.”

So this is where it all started.