"Aotrs Shipyards: Wiesel 1 Tow and Wiesel 1 Mk20! (10/12mm)" Topic

This month's release (a little delayed because of my holiday!) is the Wiesel 1 in 144th scale (10/12mm), up in the Shipyards store now!

Two variants:

The Wiesel 1 Mk20A with 20mm autocannon.

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Wiesel 1 with TOW.
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(This version of the group comes with several spare turrets, since they are rather small!)

Next release should be (all being well!) the BMPT Terminator (which is currently about 50% done.)

Are you printing those in WSF?

Yes; that's what these are in the photos and what I personally recommend. I print everything in WSF personally.

(Or where possible, on my Replicator 2 at home, since the quality is overall the same as WSF and the cost is negligible; some models, though, are just not possible to print on the Rep 2 due to size or complexity. The Wiesels fell into this category because of the turrets (TOW turrets especially, since they're so damn small); other examples are the IMR-2, my sci-fi infantry and the BMPT will be too.)

I don't think that the detail materials are worth the significant extra cost (and fragility), myself, especially as you honestly don't see the roughness once they're painted and on the wargames table. (Heck, to be able to get to the point where you'd start to worry about the surface finish (or you use airbushes or something), you'd be painting to a standard well beyond me at my best!)

We tried an experiment once, when we had M113s from metal castings, Shapeways and our Replicator 2 at a convention, and none of the punters could tell which was which without picking them up. I could only tell the difference between the Rep 2 and Shapeways model because we'd had the latter painted by an oppo of ours and he used a difference varnish!

I leave ultra detail materials as an option for those of rather deeper pockets than mine for whom the surface finish is of more paramunt concern. (I have had to regretfully give up on supporting Transparent detail, since the design critieon are now so strict that Shapeways rejected models that printed fine before.)

(Should note that while these are WSF, they were printed at 3D Print UK, which is slightly cheaper than Shapeways for my personal printing, but they a) don't have a store facility and b) you have to sprue each order together to nest together to get the full benefit of the lower cost (which took me about two days!)

Those look cool.

Would love to see the following produced:

HS-30 with 20mm cannon'

Marder 1

Jagdpanzer Kanone

M-114A1 with 20mm autocannon

BMP-1 (the metal one in this scale is incorrectly shaped)

I have some of Aotrs' M113s, M577, M901 ITVs and a few other vehicles. They look much better than the metal from another manufacturer. I need to place another order soon.

While you are working on BMPs, how about doing the recon version? And another vote for the Marder I.

@Cold Steel: Thank you!

With the rather… abrupt nature of switching over to doing this as a job, rather than a hobby, I'm trying to build up a bit of a backlog so I have some spare (i.e. so I've got a few month's releases lined up in advance) while still doing the montly releases, so at the moment – bar commissions work of course! – I'm doing a few relatively quick things, finishing half-done projects and so on.

My plan at the moment is to do the BMPT (which is now nearly done!) and then the T-72 (having done all the variants, the hull is done it just needs the turret) and the Tunguska (which I have 75% done because of the sci-fi version). I will probably do at least one more Boxer variant after that.

(I'm also spending some time doing my sci-fi stuff as well in the same vein.)

After that… I am taking note of all the suggestions (and putting 'em on a list). I think (providing I can find some good pictures) that the BRM-3K (the recon version of the BMP-3*) is a quite likely candidate.

(Unfortunately, I'm having a few vision problems at the moment as well, so until that's sorted, it's negatively affecting my wrok-rate.)

*As opposed to the BMP-3K, wgich is the command vehicle

No one makes BMDs in this scale.

Good for 1st Afghanistan (Russkie), Cold War, and ultra-modern (Russia vs. Ukraine).

I'd like to see the BMD-1 first, which was available in the 1970s, and still seems to be in use.

Can't do Russian para actions, or guerrilla wars without it.

I'd support the BMP recon variant too.

*As opposed to the BMP-3K, which is the command vehicle

So the obvious answer is to do both. Like Mako says, the only other BMP on the has a mis-shaped hull. We need a better version of the -1 in 1/144 scale, plus someone to lead them and someone to show them the right direction to advance in! My poor, deformed BMP-1s are being led buy guys riding BTR-50s. Do you know how embarrassing that is to the commanders? Take pity on them at least.

Yea, that mis-shapen BMP-1 hull has put me off Soviet/Warpac units until a better one comes along, sadly, and I'm really dying to do them.

A terrible shame really.

I've got a full Battalion of 40+ T-55s just raring to go, as well as a couple of companies of T-72s also. Not to mention the company of T-10Ms itching for a fight too.

The BMP-2 by Minifigs is very nice, but a bit late and rare for my desire to do early/mid-Cold War through the 1980s period.