The Spanish 3D sculpting company Questron‘s ZombieMania has launched A Tale of Two Cities: Arkham and Innsmouth on Kickstarter, and the campaign has already met its funding goal. As for which township is the nicer place to live, only the buyers will know!
Interest in the collection reflects the appeal of character models, which are often hidden behind larger boxed sets. This collection shifts the focus to where it counts, offering more than 400 character miniatures as 31mm STL files for 3D printing. As for where to get them after the campaign ends, only time will tell and if the company changes their plans.
The project also has a commercial objective. While the Kickstarter gives individual backers an opportunity to obtain the digital files for personal use, Questron’s primary goal is to connect with online and physical retailers interested in expanding their miniature ranges. According to the studio, the models will not be available for personal-use purchase after the campaign.
Future availability through its own store will be restricted to commercial licences.
Can you introduce the company, its history, the artists involved, and the goals behind this project?
We are Questron, a sculpting studio with 15 years of experience creating models for game developers. You can see examples of our work in our Facebook albums page.
For some time, we have also been releasing our own creations through another Kickstarter account, Generic Miniatures. We have now decided to give our horror figures their own identity and a separate Kickstarter account, ZombieMania. Arkham and Innsmouth is part of this new venture.
The studio’s main objective is to connect with online and physical shops that want to add its figures to their product ranges. The campaign also gives individual backers an opportunity to obtain the digital miniatures for personal use.
How big is the team behind this collection?
At the moment, there is one person dreaming it all up — me — and two of my sculptors.
Was it tough to decide not to offer a lot of monsters?
What do you mean? We are talking about Arkham and Innsmouth, no less… Who says there aren’t LOTS OF MONSTERS? :D
When deciding on which cities to focus on, what made you decide on which townships are important? Was it tough to choose between Kingsport, Arkham, Dunwich and Innsmouth?
We want to create a series about Lovecraft’s cities, and it seemed obvious that we should start with these two. Let’s just say that three of the places you have already mentioned are covered… and the rest will be covered in the future too.
Was it difficult to choose between Lovecraft’s characters and creating your own?
Not at all. We did this primarily because of Lovecraft’s characters. We haven’t added any characters of our own: we believe the master’s work should remain intact. There is no need to add anything. Quite the opposite — if I added anything, I would probably spoil it.
What difficulties did you encounter in bringing Innsmouth to life?
Difficulties? None! The Shadow over Innsmouth is my favourite Lovecraft story. I know it by heart, and I have a very clear understanding of what it is about.
Are you designing for a specific audience in mind: TTRPGers, miniature painters, diorama builders, or all three?
If you mean our own projects, we want to expand the usefulness of our files beyond those three circles. Obviously, we make these for hobbyists, but we also want to explore whether an STL file could be useful to a writer illustrating a novel, a designer creating a new collection of printed T-shirts, or a video game developer.
Our goal this year is to broaden our horizons and go beyond 3D printing — without leaving it behind, of course!
What can you tell us about the Kickstarter and its rewards?
By the time you publish this, we will already have launched, so I would invite your readers to stop by and see for themselves what we have created:
https://www.kickstarter.com/pr
I’m sure any Lovecraft fan will find something to enjoy!
Is this the beginning of something bigger? And what about the Dreamlands?
Yes, this is the beginning of something bigger. We want to explore the social fabric of Lovecraft’s world in depth, so you can expect plenty more from us in the future — and not just when it comes to towns and cities! :D
The Dreamlands? Who knows? Do you know anywhere that sells cheap Liao powder? :)
To prepare for Arkham and Innsmouth,
please enjoy this audio recording:
