"Aotrs Shipyards November 2017 Release: BRDM-2s (144)" Topic

Aotrs Shipyards is a webstore on Shapeways.com, a 3D print house which had production and shipping facilities located in the USA and the Netherlands.

Right before we get to the releases, a quick word.

Be wary of a site called Panzer Depot. From pretty much every evidence I can find, aside from actually acquiring one of their models to physically compare (and thus giving them more money), it appears that a few – possibly many – of their recent releases at least are re-casts of models bought from Shapeways stores. There are at least two of mine and models from at least two other Shapeways webstores who appear to have been thusly copied. I am strongly lead to believe that they are a Chinese operation, so actually being able to do anything about it other than make people aware is limited; an oppo of mine suggested contacting trading standards in the UK, but I don't know whether they would be able to do anything either. Shapeways does not seem inclined to do anything (or even respond to the thread I made there). Andrew Bruce of 10mm-wargaming.com (http://www.10mm-wargaming.com/) made a direct inquiry asking them to make some sort of public response, but they told him they did all their work in-house (and did not). (I didn't actually expect anything different, honestly.)

So, just be aware of that site, as there is a chance that anything you buy from there may basically be someone else's model they are selling.

Right, now, that bit of unpleasantness aside, to the actual point!

This month, we have the BRDM-2 and BRDM-2 with AT-5 Spandrel (9P148 Konkurs) in 144th!

BRDM-2

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BRDM-2 Spandrel

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As usual, photos are of the Replicator 2 prototypes. As the BRDM-2 is a wheeled vehicle, printing on the Rep 2 required a top/bottom print (which of course, you don't get on a Shapeways print). The spandrel turret only just barely worked on the Rep 2 (and it took me two attempts to print it in then!) Still it means the hull could be printed free from supports, so there is that positive!

I have done the BRDM-2 with SA-9 Gaskin (or the Strela -1) variant as well for the backlog, so expect to see that in due course. (I would have liked to have done the Sagger version, but trying to find any pictures of the missile launcher under that cover proved impossible, unfortunately, either the real thing or in kits.)

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I have – thanks to the thread I made a while back and my mate's Jane's book – managed to cobble together what might be enough of a technical drawing to attempt doing the M114, which is the objective for December's release. We'll see how that goes; if that proves impossible, I might have a go at the T-72B or maybe the T-64BM (dubiously).

Hello, Aotrs Commander!

What info about Strela-2/SA-9 you need?

Hi UsmanK.

The Strela version is done (and in the backlog, as I needed to fill that back up a bit, since I cut into a fair bit this year!); it was the Sagger version I found a non-starter. Basically because of the overhead cover. Which renders it pretty much impossible to find pictures where you can see how the missiles are attached to be able to model it.

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December by-the-by, will indeed be the M114 (or at least the M114A2 aka M11A1E1, since that was the one the technical drawings I cobbled together and found photos for…!)

And as someone asked, I might look at the BTR-70/80s next.

Oh, and Shapeways finally released their HPSF material from beta – and doubled the price, making it more expensive than Frosted Ultra Detail and thus rendering it entirely pointless.

(Notably, the release and beta thread has recieved almost entirely negative feedback from the beta testers, saying "not at that price" and even the one marginally in favour (the first one I've seen) said it was expensive. (And I think, frankly, his assertaion it is twice as good for his purposes to be a bit dubious, honestly).)

So we can write that one off as a material.