"Shapeways questions" Topic

I have been looking at Shapeways 1/144th aircraft and I like their range, I was just wondering what people thought of them as a whole. Are they nice models, do they paint up well? Do they come already built or is there construction needed, if so, how much?

I am wondering as I would like the get the FE2b and BE2c for a bit of Bloody April action, but the postage is pretty high to the UK. Any comments much appreciated!

Take a look here – lots of discussion on them, photos of finished models etc:

link

(FWIW I really like them, but give them umpteen coats of paint and Klear to get a decent smoothish finish from the cheaper WSF material, which is rather coarse. This is definitely a faff, but I find it preferable to assembling white metal kits – your milage may vary.)

Go to the Wings of War Aerodrome website and visit the Hobby Room. There you will find various posts on what people think about Shapeways, plus photos of their Shapeways models.

link

I have a few and think they are OK. Others have not had such a good experience of them I understand.

Well done Dom. There was nothing there when I started to post!!

I'm always simulposting…. ;-)

Thanks chaps, I didn't think about the aerodrome. I shall take a gander!

Looking through those links and pictures, they look OK to me.

I'm always simulposting…. ;-)

Superimposting?

Doug

Some pics of a few here too…..

link

interspersed with other projects of mine.

Thanks Dave, your planes look so excellent it's hard to see how much work you have to put into cleaning the model up! I think I may well invest in few of them now!

I think the concensus is that you either love them or hate them. Quality control has been an issue although I don't know if anyone has spent $$ for the higher priced materials Shapeways offers.

I really like them and have have had some good results with them. Only one came out a bit pants, but they refunded it and sent me another one.

There is link somewhere on these boards that tell you how to treat them. I've painted a few for my mates and they have been happy with the results.

The only issue I can see is the high postage and packaging.

So far, so good for yours truly. I have 3 FE2bs, a Voison, 2 Caudron G4s, and a Short Bomber, and all of them were frankly things of beauty.

Kampffleiger Models and WoW by Colin We are the two Shapeways producers I've used to date, and I am looking forward to ordering many more models in the new year. Kampffleiger makes the Breguet pusher bomber which has me drooling in anticipation, and Roman has promised me a Salmson-Moineau SM1 "flying catastrophe" for my Wings of Glory gaming pleasure (well, pleasure for the *German* players, anyway, Bawahahahahaaa!!), so I am primed to expand my Aviation Militaire inventory accordingly as we move deeper into 2013.

I used the handy 1/144 scale white metal air gunners and pilot figures from Reviresco to crew up my Shapeways models, and Dom's decals to given them a proper finish. One caveat, is that you MUST prime them before trying to paint the models! Unless sealed, the material is absorbent like a sponge, and will soak up paint nonstop driving one absolutely mad in the process.

Hope this helps!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

Thanks for the input chaps. It seems like a bit of a love/hate situation alright! I'm sure I could put up with the extra work involved because of the expanded range compared with Ares/Nexus minis. I never really liked the white metal ones from Skytrex, so I may dip my toe in with Shapeways. The thing I'm still baulking at is the price of postage, it's almost the cost of a single model!

The solution to that is buy lots – it's 100% P&P on one model, but a much more reasonable 5% on twenty…. ;-)

Vargulver, I've got quite a few Shapeways on my site;

fat-wally.com/Algernon.html

Dom, am I made of money!? :D I know what you're saying, but at the moment I'm still undecided, so would like to buy one or two rather than a whole bunch.

Thanks Fat Wally, your aeroplanes are lovely! Really good site and excellent photos!

I really like Shapeways airplanes, primarily because they offer things available nowhere else in my scale (6mm). They come primarily in two materials, white strong and flexible (WSF) and frosted ultra detail (FUD). The former is cheap but rough, while the latter is delicate and relatively expensive. Each material presents its own finishing challenges, but they can be made into good-looking models.

I have bought over $400 USD worth of shapeways products around $150 USD worth was a waste. Terrible stepping and knitting. I stopped buying them until the quality control improves. It is a hit or miss.

I have been very pleased with my Shapeways purchases. Some of the planes have been primed with Krylon Fusion paint (in tan) to present a better painting surface. The only issue I had with any of the planes was a Vickers Gunbus with a broken rear strut – fixed with PVC glue. The detail is fine for gaming models, and anyone that that has gone thru the pain of the Revieresco FE2B will love the Shapeways version. I always get the WSF material. Getting the Revieresco WW1 pilots and gunners will add life to these models.

Shapeways aircraft look very nice when primed with white spray paint and decaled with Reviresco decals. There is a photo of a shapeways Fokker D-VII with Reviresco decals at:

The decals can be found at: link

Do the decals fit the appropriate Shapeways plane without any trimming?