Ironclad, from sculpt to 3D print

I sculpted the Ironclad from Slay the Spire in ZBrush, working from the game's art, then 3D printed the model and painted it by hand.

Muhannad, Averse Studio · 2026 · fan art

The finished 3D print on a wooden table: the Ironclad in a wide stance, holding a long glaive, painted with a gold helmet and pauldrons and red trousers — The print, painted by hand.

The sculpt

I kept the pose from the game's art: a wide stance, both hands on a glaive that reaches far past the body. Armor, straps, belt and boots each read as their own shape, which is what makes them easy to paint once printed.

The grey ZBrush sculpt of the Ironclad holding the glaive, with the game's art in the corner for reference — The sculpt in ZBrush, with the game's art in the corner for reference.

From screen to table

A sculpt that only has to render can cheat; a print can't. The model has to be solid, with no holes, and thin parts like the glaive have to be thick enough to survive printing. Taking it all the way to a painted figure is the part of 3D work that tests whether the model is actually finished.

How it was received

I posted the painted print on r/slaythespire, the game's community on Reddit. It got 1.5k upvotes and 56 comments.