"Review of Shapeways 1/144 British Boarhound armoured car" Topic

Just completed this – took a lot more effort than I thought given what the models looked like when I opened the package but this is all covered in the review

link

Steve

The unfortunate texture on the vertical or curved surfaces us a natural part of the 3d printing. You can minimize this by paying extra for the higher detailed materials. This is one reason why 3d printing is still of listed utility and appeal to consumers.

I've even seen such printing grain on models cast in resin that were based on 3d printed masters… A lot of companies that use 3d printed masters spend time smoothing and cleaning the master before casting, to avoid this.

I thought I would be avoiding this by going for a more expensive material but the grainy basic white on the plane was a much better overall surface texture – consistent at least. Oh well, a learning experience if nothing else!

This is very interesting and it shows how diffrerent folk see issues. For a show (Hammerhead) we put on a company colum of moderen AFV's including Injection Moulded, White Metal, Shapeways White Strong Flexible (WSF)and our own home printed Vehicles (Replicator 2). White metal came out worse. Injection moulded was first and it was a toss up between Shapeways and home printed for the best.

Almost everybody was happy with the level of detail and surface finish. It is not perfect but the effect to most folk was indistingishable at wargame ranges. Not sure about the cost you paid, seems a lot AOTRS Shipyards on shapeways is a lot cheaper for a vehicle than you paid but they are modern not WWII. 3D is currently a wargames item not a model to be viewed at 5 inches where you will see the detail.

Still better than white metal which generally does not even fit and has mould lines that are too much effort to remove for a wargames model.

I have read somewher that high build primer is ideal for 3D printed models but we have never seen the need. It looks perfect as it is on the table while playing. Still you make your own choice. With Shapeways they do occationally have "Off Days" where there is distortion but they re happy to replace as was said. Genrally we have had good models. We only use SWF as the other are too brittle for real continious use.

When it comes to painting Shapeways or other 3D printed models you just have to explore some different techniques.
I`ve got some decent results just by going back to using enamel based paints for primary coats as these are thicker and less absorbant than acrilics and give a smoother finish.
The only issue I`ve had with the 1/144 aircraft models that I`ve been purchasing from Shapeways is the rather thick trailing edges and detail wise they stack up reasonably well against white metal models in the same scale.
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Yeah, Boarhounds are big!

Interesting review. Price and not really understanding the materials has generally put me off Shapeways so far.

But the models do look nice – and look like they would seriously mess up period light tanks as well as German armoured cars.

Hell, a Boarhound would mess up anything short of a Tiger from the front. 6pdr is a good antitank weapon.