"Questions about Shapeways" Topic

Just a few questions about Shapeways, please.

1) How are the models in terms of composition of material (bendable? brittle?), sharpness of detail, and tips on preparation for painting & finishing?

2) On their website, their models are already classified in certain scales, but what if I wanted to rescale a particular existing model? Would they allow that, and if so, would I incur a charge for it?

Thank you.

My experiences:

1)Depends on the material you choose to have them printed in. Ultra detail materials tend to be brittle.

2) You would have to message the creator of said model and see if he/she would resize it to your requirements. If the model is bigger than the scale/size listed then you would likely pay more to have it printed.

Hope that helps.

1) Different materials are offered and each has different properties.

2) No. The models are a fixed scale. You would need to email the creator and see if he is willing to resize the model for you.

As per above…with the exception…

Try a secondary website that may "own" the figure you are looking at----my example would be thingverse--

Often there are 3d models that are free to download, often with easy to use size selections offered. Then you just need to upload your design to a print shop like shapeways.

I have used the thingverse/shapeways combo several times myself and have been very happy with the results. Twice, I had changed the original scale by almost 100%, both websites were very helpful in getting my final request up to par and printing or sectioned into multiple prints.

I think there's a little misunderstanding of what Shapeways is and does in your question. Shapeways is a service where individual modelers can create models and have them printed and sold using Shapeways' printers. The individual modeler sets up their own items for sale, and they alone determine the scale and material(s) to be used.

Shapeways will handle the transaction, printing and shipping, but they are not the ones who are creating or controlling the models sold.

They have minimum guidelines for modelers and require test prints before items can be sold to ensure viability of the print, but the quality, detail and sturdiness of a model varies with each modeler and the material they choose to allow for print.

If you want a scale, contact the modeler via Shapeways and request it. There are scaling tools that make this trivial with reasonable sizes (though a model designed for 6mm will likely need to be resculpted for say 25 or 28mm since the details won't scale nicely and vice versa), though going 10mm to 15mm or vice versa should be a simple scale change.

And on rescaling, they charge based on volume and material used. Any change in scale changes price either up or down. There is no charge to use their scaling tools, however- just for what is printed.

I never charge for rescaling; I just upload the finished model and leave it up for sale.

The comments below relate to printing wargame figures (not vehicles or solid objects) in size from 20mm to 40mm.

Shapeways common materials (WSF, FUD, FXD) are similar in robustness to old Airfix figures – fragile, break easily, slightly bendable.

WSF is formed from nylon powder. The printed models are like a fine sand sculpture. To paint they need to be sealed otherwise the paint soaks in. Sealing also helps smooth the surface. People use wood hardener, floor wax, plastic primer etc. WSF looks OK but it is too rough to paint easily

FUD and FXD are light-cured resin afaik and produce a decent level of detail. There is still some layering. THe figures need washing. I leave mine for 2 months to cure properly before use.

Some issues:
link

FUD and FXD have detail and heat resistance properties that make them suitable for low temperature mould making. The figures cast well without any issues.

WSF will work in moulds but the resulting figure has tiny dimples like a golf ball. WSF can be "polished" by rolling around in a rotary tumbler full of beads. This helps smooth the pits but reduces the detail.

Fine objects like bayonets are difficult to print.

It may sound bleak but the realism of figures can surpass hand sculpted figures.

If I had the money I would print color figures ready for wargaming. Figures are very lightweight. Your desired base dimensions and terrain can be printed as part of the figure.

Shapeways price model can be cost prohibitive. There is a website (forget the name) where you can load your model and it will give you costs from various print shops.

I am, these days, technically a professional, since running the Aotrs Shipyards webstore on Shapeways is my day-job, so allow me to dip my oar in…

I personally recommend WSF to the exclusion of everything else (including polished), as the price really doens't make it worhtwhile. (Though I leave FUD and FED as an option for the customer that really want it.)

My experience with WSF over the last five years has been extremely positive. I have not, in hundreds of models. had any significant breakages (and those resultaed more from recieving than from use) – certainly less than the wear-andtear damage on my metal and plastic models.

Painting WSF, I do absolutely nothing different to painting anything. Undercoat with black car primer (Hycote matt black) and then paint with acrylic paints (Citadel and Vallejo).

Rather than dig through my extensive photoucket for the seconf time today, here's a link to a post I made earlier with some pictures of WSF stuff, plus a couple of phots of my SSA ships (which are probably some of my best painted) for good measure.

TMP link

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Scaling.

I get asked this a lot, actually. And the answer is, no, you can't just scale the models; minimum wall thicknesses need to be accounted for, as well as the depth of surface detail.

You can scale up easier than you can scale down. At the most basic crude level, you could get away with getting a mode and going "x2" because it should at least at that point pass the minimum print criterion. However, doing a proper job means that you need to rehollow it out (to drop the cost) and proportionally resize any parts that were at the minimum wall thicknesses. (I.e. tracks, which have to be 1mm to print at 144, can be cut down to 1mm if you were to scale to 100th or 72nd (from 1.44 or 2mm respectively)). And of course, you need to change the circumferance of any turrets (etc) so that the gap between post and hole doesn't get too big.

Scaling down is much more time consuming, because you not only have to check everthing is above the minimum wall thickness (often meaning increasing the size of small parts to well oversize), but you also have to check the depth of the surface material (less than about 0.3mm and it becomes too shallow to be much use), and do all the same rehollowing and post/hole adjusting as above.

This all takes time – scaling down especially. I thus have a standard rule that if someone wants a model scaled to a different size, it requires a partial commission fee (basically for my day's work*.) I have have very few people actually take me up in that, largely, I suspect because they wanted me to do in for free on th assumption it would take a few seconds. The reality is rather different.

(Worth noting a typical 144 armoured vehicle model takes me something on the order of 20-24 hours or more to make, so a day spent rescaling is about right.)

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Shapeways and commerical printing is really openly good for relatively small models (144 and starships, 25-28mm infantry etc) and the volumetirc costs basically make it way too expensive to be feabile for larger scales. (When I started, I realsed my models in 100th (15mm) as well. And I stopped at the point I realised I had not sold a single one and thus could be spending my time doing other things.)

Big stuff is best done on a home printer – something like the now-venerable Replicator 2 can do 90% of anything I do on Shapeways at a fraction of the cost. (I do the majority of my personal printing and all my prototyping at home on the Rep 2.) We've had ours for probably 2-3 years now, and the amount of toys we've had out of it has more than paid for it (nevermind the DIY stuff it's done!)

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*And I work for paff-all, it must be noted; the Shipyards was basically the alternative to the dole and pays about as much (but is waaaay less hassal!) *Professional* professionals (like Mr Oines of Irrational Designs, for instance, who has done stuff for the new BSG series) I imagine would charge *quite* a bit more than I do, and/or have access to stuff or just skill that might allow them to do stuff much faster. (If one had Pro-E, for instance, you could do things much faster than I could in TurboCAD, but a package like that cost literally more than I make in a year.