Just received a few of these Aotrs Shipyard BMDs, and thought I'd share a review.
To get right to the point, these are really great, and Shapeways, and the designer of these minis have won me over.
I'm very pleased with the quality of these, and I for one have long been highly dubious of Shapeways products in the past, based upon some images I've seen and articles I've read about them.
Bought a few of the Aotrs Shipyards BMD-1 and BMD-2 minis, in 1/144th scale, and I really like them.
TMP link
Can't wait to get them painted up, and into battle, in NW Europe, Afghanistan, and/or Eastern Ukraine (that's got to be better than just playing out rules testing on graph paper, no doubt).
As we've all seen, there is a slight bit of graininess to the minis, but at my advanced age (yes, I am a dinosaur), at normal viewing distance that really doesn't seem to be much of an issue. It might show up a bit more when painting them, but there are some tactics to help reduce that, e.g. using primer, and/or gloss coats to nullify that a bit, before or after painting. I'll have to try those, especially before using any sort of pigment wash, or dry brushing.
Even using dollar store eyeglasses with a 2.25X magnification for doing detail work with minis, these look really good.
No stair-stepping that I could detect on them, due to their shape I suspect (even on the lower glacis), on these little BMDs, which was a nice surprise. There's a slight bit of that on the BMP-1s, on the upper hull sides, but that should be fillable with primer, or a little extra paint.
The BMD-2 guns are quite thin, but robust. A couple have a slight barrel droop, but that's easy to fix with a little careful bending. The WSF plastic is pretty tough, and snaps back pretty well, so it doesn't appear that breakage is too much of a concern, with normal care.
Anyway, if you are on the fence over these, don't be, since they are superb little minis, and because no one makes them in metal, in this scale, you really can't go wrong.
For the record, I also like their BMP-1s too, which have the proper hull shape. Need to get some BMP-2s, when the military budget permits.
Would love to see Aotrs Shipyards produce the West German Spz Kurz with 20mm cannon, and a Marder 1 IFV, with or without Milan launcher on the turret, but with the little, rear, remote MG mount.
I suspect those would sell very well, in 1/144th scale, since Leo 1s and Leo 2s, M48A2GA2s, M48s, and other Cold War armor are available for gaming, but sadly, both of these much needed vehicles are missing in action from the Bundeswehr's forces.
If anyone's got tips on magnetizing the turrets for these, I'm all ears. Could use tips on sizes to use, etc., so they don't get separated from their hulls.
adds APCs to his Israeli forces.
