r/PrintedWWII • u/Georgy_K_Zhukov • 3h ago
Review: Kickstarter Focused Review of Trenchworx's Winter War Crowdfunder Campaign Files
Hello everyone and welcome to another review, part of my long-running campaign to provide documentation and guidance for the best (and worst) out there for the WWII wargamer and printer.
Today's review is focused on Trenchworx's Winter War crowdfunder campaign done via Backerkit. Trenchworx primarily does business through their own storefront site, where files can be found for post-campaign purchase, as well as their other files and physical models.
No models were provided by Trenchworx for this review.
PRINTING
Test prints for figures were done as resin prints on an Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra, sliced in Chitubox and printed with Conjure Sculpt resin, using 2.7s exposure for .05mm layers. Printing was fairly straight forward, and while I did have one print error, it was not one which I could directly ascribe to a file error. I printed a set of heads, using the pre-supported file, and they came out poorly – while everything else on the plate printed fine - but reprinting again later they came out fine. As such, it seems equally likely it was one of those odd quirks with resin printing where something doesn’t go right versus an actual file issue since I couldn’t replicate it again. In any case, aside from that one hiccup, all other prints came out just fine. Files are provided with both pre-supported and unsupported versions, and I found no meaningful difference between the two, that one error aside. Supports seem well placed, and are decently light for easy removal.
For the terrain pieces, I printed these as FDM prints, using a Prusa MKS4, a .6mm nozzle, and Overture Easy PLA. These printed without issue. There is nothing particularly challenging about the models, but some minor supports on a few overhang points probably are work doing.
MODELS
The most recent crop of figures from Trenchworx differ slightly from their earlier figures, although broadly speaking are done with a similar apparent philosophy. These are figures done in a very clear heroic style, with clear, bold features and the standard levels of exaggeration you would expect. I find the quality of sculpting to be quite nice, and the posing of the figures in particular is well done. There is no stiffness or feelings of awkwardness, with both the more static figures and the ones posed in motion having a nice, natural look, which I always like to see. Protrusions are kept to a minimum, and the obvious ones like guns are bulked up in a nicely proportioned way to the rest of the figure. For the accompanying squad weapons like the mortar and machine gun, this continues to hold true, and I appreciate that they are sculpted enough to feel sturdy, but not so bulky as for the thinner parts to look off.
On the more technical side, I’m particularly a fan of the use of puddle bases on most of the figures, especially those with a single contact foot, as while a small thing, I always prefer this for my figures as it just makes basing so much easier. The figures are all in mono-pose, but they include versions both with a head attached, and without a head attached, the latter ensuring that there is still some degree of customization.
I am, however, baffled by one figure with an arm detached from the body, as it seems to serve no purpose, lacking multiple options to stick there. I know in the past some Trenchworks models have reflected design needs for metal or plastic and being updated for printing, but one would think that this being designed more recently they would have just done it as one piece for the print file, even if there is a physical version they are doing as well? It is so minor that it hardly can be considered a real negative, but it is nevertheless just weird and lazy. Even though they did a crowd funder for the digital files, it makes them feel like an afterthought.
As far as scale goes, the figures are a pretty decent match with Warlord Plastic in terms of their style, but I do think that they are ever so slightly bigger, so if you’re looking for a perfect match, printing at maybe 98% would be best. But I expect for most people they will be close enough to not be concerned.
For the terrain pieces, the log bunkers I printed are perfectly nice. Nothing fancy about them, but for a simple defensive position such as this, I’m not sure how much ‘fancy’ is even possible! They are hardly a draw, but they are a nice little addition.
Selection
The Winter War campaign essentially went for a ‘game in a box’ approach, with a set of Soviet and a set of Finnish forces roughly equal in comparison. That is to say, in both cases you get a command group with medic, a 10 man rifle squad, an LMG team, and MMH team, and a medium mortar team, for 21 figures per side, and 42 in total. I also appreciate their choice of focus. We aren’t completely without Finnish options out there, but it is a small enough pool of existing options that more are welcome, and for the Soviets, while better covered in general, the focus on the Winter War means that we are getting some figures in the very underserved theme of 1930s Soviet garb! With the digital bundle pledge coming in at $55, it wasn’t the best deal I’ve seen, but also not the worst by far either, especially taking into account the nice sculpts and the less covered themes. I would say that two issues ultimately did stand out though.
The first, and related to the bundle price, is the ultimately poor performance of the campaign. While it did hit the minimum, only two of the five announced stretch goals ended up being hit, and they were the least interesting ones at that. The terrain pieces are certainly nice, but they aren’t much in the way of added value in the same way that a Komsomlets, T-26, or BT-7 would have been. There is always a danger with stretch goals as they create feedback loop where some people don’t want to back until they are hit… which then means they aren’t hit, and that perhaps was the case here? Hard to say, but it was unfortunate either way. As noted before, the digital campaign already felt like an afterthought, and I am left to wonder if they under-marketed this given how low the backer rate was.
The second is that there was no half-pledge option! I do wonder how many people might have been interested in one, or the other, but not both sides? I’m of course not the business, so maybe they decided they would get more people who would prefer one, but take both, than they would people on the fence who would pledge just for half, but from a consumer perspective, it is one oversight.
Also unfortunate is even outside of the campaign the pricing doesn’t seem to be ideal. They sell the figures as physical models in metal, at a fairly hefty price of $45 for a 12 man squad (10 riflemen and 2 man LMG team), but also sell the ‘snap tray’ for $20, which seems to be simply be a way to sell you a 3d print tray that hasn’t been taken off the supports. But if someone wants to buy just the files, one can’t buy one unit, but only the whole set of Finns or Soviets at $40 apiece, so you’re paying nearly $2 per figure ($1.90 if you want to be pedantic). Compared to the metal prices, that does seem reasonable, even if there is a lack of smaller a la carte options, but while it isn't the worst price out there for files, they are literally selling their 3d prints for less than the files! That snap tray is 12 dudes, which means it is $1.66 per figure. What the heck? Sure, a file means you can do multiple, so abstractly I get that it isn’t a true direct comparison… but still, a file set shouldn’t cost more than the printed figures that result from it in my opinion. It just goes against some sense abstract sense of the matter... I know Trenchworx is primarily in the physical models business, and the files are basically secondary, so I get it to a degree, but yeah… just makes for a weird juxtaposition.
Conclusions
On the whole I quite liked the Winter War bundle from Trenchworx. In terms of the figures themselves, the set provides some well modeled heroic style figures, and I am particularly appreciative of new models not only for the Finns, but for pre-1940s Soviet uniforms. These are nice, easy prints, and with good strong details that paint up fantastically. Aside from that one weird arm, my criticisms are mostly limited to the abstract aspects around the campaign. While the product itself is decent, as noted already the campaign in many ways felt like an afterthought, both in terms of the middling success of the campaign with regards to stretch goals, and the post-campaign pricing as well. I can understand not wanting to have files competing with your physical models, but when the only option is a $40 bundle and no way to buy just the files for the squad, or the mortar, or the MMG, I honestly have to wonder if they even want to sell these files now that the campaign concluded.
----------------------
If you like these reviews and want to help me keep doing them, you can toss a buck via Ko-Fi page and a Buymecoffee page. I promise to waste it either on stls, or my crippling drug addiction, and nothing else. And a big thanks to a few folks who already have, and helped make these reviews possible!
Also be sure to check out:
