Enjoying the golden age of miniatures

As someone who has been buying, painting, and playing with miniatures for over 30 years now, I’m feeling relaxed and happy. If there’s a model I can think of, someone else has thought of it too, and made it available for me.

It wasn’t always this way. Oh no. In the dark times, you had to visit a local brick and mortar retailer and just cross your fingers and hope they had what you wanted. Or maybe you could find some black and white mail order catalogue of dubious origins, with an order form at the back (permission to photocopy granted!). Then you could send it off to some address along with a postal order and cross your fingers that miniatures would result from this action, in 6-8 weeks.

There were reasons things were that way. Pre-internet (okay, pre web) it was difficult for new entrants to get their product where prospective buyers could even see it. That was assuming they could afford the start up costs. Most couldn’t.

Today, as someone who mostly paints and occasionally plays with miniatures, I am spoiled for choice. With .stl files in abundance and a lowering in costs of production there are so many producers of quality miniatures that the challenge is not getting hold of them but keeping up with all the new releases.

A website like MyMiniFactory offers me so many choices – and I don’t even own a 3D printer (yet!). Would I like a kaiju today? How about the interior of a spaceship? Or maybe a barbarian with a very specific set of weapons, riding a war mammoth?

As someone in the demographic of ‘friends with printers’ I can select something I like the look of, come buy with some resin and refreshments, and settle down for some assisted tinkering and a print or two.

This brings me to the other aspect of the 3D printing hobby – it’s inherently social. Going over to a mate’s place (circumstances permitting) to print for several hours is a great way to spend time with your hobbyist friends. I love it.

For those of you who intent to be here in another 30 years I say: enjoy the journey. I’ve no idea what is coming next, but it is going to be fun finding out.

A version of this article was first published on MyMiniFactory on 6 December, 2021.