Miniatures and mid-life crisis or How i got into 3d modeling, art and 3d printing.

Looking to relieve stress from my police officer career, I laughed one last time at my girlfriend for enjoying jigsaw puzzles, took out my HERO QUEST board game, which contained more than 60 unpainted fantasy miniatures, and got to work. I found out I had a tendency to forget the tough stuff while I was attempting to neatly paint a 1'' goblin's belt buckle.

I finally understood the enjoyment my girlfriend had while trying to find which one of the 2000 similar pieces of cardboard would fit in an oddly specific way, then be happy about finding it. Or just very zen-ly forgetting about the task to attack another part of the destroyed picture she so desperately tried to put back together. She cared about my minis painting just as much as I cared about her puzzles: "Good job babe!" + "OMG so boring" face + "I still love you" smile.

The day came when I finished the last of the 60-some minis. I wanted more. MORE! I found out there was a high demand for miniatures online and the prices reflected this! I guiltily paid 30$ for a DnD mini.

I found a website where 3D modelers sold the 3D-printable STL files of their own created minis and bought one, mistaking the file download for an actual figurine. I then had an awesome figurine, but no way to create it. So I got a resin 3D printer.

After printing and painting that very cool small statue of a samurai, I had to print more. I could find cheap quality stuff for free, buy quality stuff for too much or try creating my own 3d-printables.

Started learning on my own in 2023, then got into a 3D modeling degree, which I will finish in december 2025.

So I guess I should thank stress a little bit for having me discover the world of 3D modeling and printing. I enjoy it a lot. My creativity has a new place to thrive.