"Shapeways Printing Material" Topic

Hey Folks,

I recently received my first shipment of Shapeways 1:144 WW1 aircraft. I have to say that I somewhat disappointed in them … the 'white, strong and flexible' printing material produced a model that was not as smooth as I would have liked. Does anyone know if the 'detail' printing materials will produce a model that is as smooth as normal resin or metal cast models?

Thanks, Mark

You can get teh shiny version . I frankly had more to work around the porosity of the material. I rigged my Moraine Saulnier Ns and a Fokker EIII and EIV, I added crew to my Handley Page 400and am quite happy with the results

I found that a spray of Krylon as a primer smoothed out the "white, strong, & flexible" quite nicely.
Bought some "Trek" ships and they came out well. They have a real "plastic feel" to them now.

There is no such thing as a smooth as resin rapid prototype. Even the ultra fine has stair stepping lines but they are significantly reduced over the white and flexible. You have paid cheap and got cheap. Something to beware of for the future. We use the ultra frosted detail for some of our masters and still have to spend time cleaning them up for casting.

Try here, i've heard good things from some mini manufacturers, although it is more expensive, it seems to be better quality. moddler.com

Craig,

Is the 'ultra fine' material easier to sand than the WSF. The WSF is so flexible that it is almost rubbery and is therefore very difficult to sand smooth.

Mark

Yes it is much more rigid

Yes – the WSF is sintered nylon; not a material that sands or carves well. The finer materials are much easier to work with, but also much more brittle, so you need to take care not to snap things when working on them.

I have a Shapeways Fokker D-VII that I covered with a Reviresco decal. I didn't do any surface prep other than a light spray of flat white paint. The Decal fits like it was made for this kit and covers most of the grainy surface. After the decal had set I assembled the kit. It only took a few minutes to apply the decal. I used a little watered down white glue to boost the decals sticking power. You can download a photo of this assembled kit at https://www.tin-soldier.com/D-7h2.png

Try it you will like it. John McEwan

Thanks Don, that explains it. Soooo… if I am going to use these models for Wings of Glory, would you not recommend the finer print material?

Thanks, Mark

Really depends on your budget – I use the cheaper WSF, and give it repeated (half a dozen or so) coats of Future / Klear before painting, which largely smooths it out, but is a definite faff. I got a couple of Frosted Ultra Detail when I was first trying the biplanes out, and truth be told if my finances were less grim would go down that road – it really boils down to whether you can most easily spare time or money – the FUD material's simply too much for my pocketbook these days, but if I was on a decent salary, it's the way I'd go….

The Wings of Glory Aerodrome has had a lot of discussion on the 'qualities' of the various materials used by Shapeways, also on the poor finish that is unfortunately regularly encountered on the 1/144 aircraft models.

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