"Shapeways WSF / FD / FUD For WWII Naval" Topic

Hi all,
I am considering getting a few (cough, cough) 1/2400 WWII ships (Battleships and Cruisers) in the near future…
What is the difference between the materials? (Apart from price) What are the advantages or disadvantages?
I have 50 odd GHQ and Panzerschiffe ships at the moment, and am looking for something moderately robust which still looks nice (and Shapeways have models that no one else has)
I would appreciate input about the quality of the materials, in terms of looks, wear and painting / basing.
I am aware of potential issues with FUD and painting…
TMP link
TIA

WSF looks horrible up close. Very rough texture, can't do the detail FUD does. At a distance it's OK. Depends on you. If detail is important, to you, then the lack might bother you.

WSF takes paint very well. I've read it takes a lot, soaks it up but I don't know personally. The airplane guys love WSF but the details, in their much larger scale, do show up. I've also read that Future will soak in and remove some of the rough texture, but it won't do anything about lack of detail.

FD is sort of a halfway between the two but, judging from the offerings, an unsatisfactory one. If you want detail do FUD, less expense WSF, FD is polished which removes detail.

My opinions on Shapeways small-scale ship models, based on personal experience with FUD only, in 1/4800 and 1/6000 scale:

1) All 3 allow the production of "printouts" of otherwise unavailable prototypes. This is a big plus.

2) Given a skilled 3D model maker, the shape of the printout can be more accurate than many traditional spin cast models. This is because the process avoids the cumulative dimensional errors inherent in putting together very small-scale masters.

3) FUD has the best resolution of the 3, but even FUD resolution produces a surface which is visibly worse than good quality spin castings. Leaving the wax coating on helps smooth things out, but then you may have painting issues (either immediate or delayed). So far as I can tell, the only way to *completely* remove the wax coating is to soak the printout in Bestine (heptane).

4) FUD is significantly weaker than lead/pewter alloy, also and more difficult to bend. So, you won't have bent gun barrels, but they may break. Also, if printouts are received with bent hulls, this is more of a problem than with metal alloys. FUD can be heated in boiling water and carefully bent, but it seems to return to its original shape over time. I have compensated for this short-term by "over-bending", but long-term it has not been so successful.

MH

I have WSF (1/3750 spaceships, land ironclads, one WWI blimp) and FUD (1/300 and 1/600 aircraft, one 15mm sci-fi tank), and I think for ships, FUD is what you'd want. You can ignore the WSF fuzziness for some things but I think it'd bug you on ships.

There are also some ways to improve WSF that I don't have handy, but I think Tony at Brigade Models UK has posted his technique on this somewhere.

Late comment but…

While FUD (Frosted Ultra Detail) may give you the best over all results and look, w/ Out that fuzzy/grainy look many mention with WSF (White Strong Flexible IIRC the name correctly), FUD also is clearly 'the' most expensive by far.

In short, you PAY for that Ultra Detail.