"ADB Releases 101 Ships for March! " Topic

On March 1, 2018, Amarillo Design Bureau completed its tenth wave of ships (101 in all, for over 600 available ships) in its shop on Shapeways.

The Federation gains its New Scout Cruiser; the B-26 Bomber; the B-25 Bomber; and their own Heavy Shuttle Collection with three Heavy Transport Shuttles (HTS), one E3 Space Warning and Control (SWAC) Shuttle, and two Heavy Assault Shuttles (HAS). Especially exciting is the release of the last of the Franz Joseph designs. The Franz Joseph Federation Dreadnought is presented as Franz Joseph drew her. These are the official Franz Joseph designs offered by ADB, Inc. under its contract with Franz Joseph Designs. The line of "Fed Classic" ships was started in response to requests for smooth saucers. It gets the New Scout Cruiser.

The Klingons aren't neglected. They get their T7B Fleet Tug, T7K Refitted Fleet Tug, Z-1 "Zoran" Fighter, Z-H "Zerhon" Heavy Fighter, and Z-D "Zerdon" Fighter.

The Romulans add the Pioneer Eagle, King Eagle Command Cruiser, FireHawk-C Scout/Survey Ship, FireHawk-C+ Scout/Survey Ship, KR Heavy Cruiser (Obvious changes include a belly bird, scallops on the wings, and Romulan insignia), and KR Heavy Cruiser (Smooth, with no belly bird, no scallops on the wings, and no Romulan insignia for easier application of decals). The "+" indicates it is a late-war design in the style of the Starline 2500 Romulan ships.

The Tholians add their War Cruiser Heavy, Gunboat Pinwheel, Specialty Gunboat Pinwheel, Spider II-P fighter, Spider-H Heavy Fighter, and Gunboat Tender with Gunboats.

The Gorns get their Megalosaurus Light Cruiser, Megalosaurus+ Light Cruiser (refitted version), Allosaurus Buck Battlecruiser, and Allosaurus Buck+ Battlecruiser (refitted version).

The Kzintis get their Heavy Frigate and Needle Gunboat Flotilla.

The Juggernaut fleet was built in another galaxy and sent to check us out. The Juggernaut Light Cruiser should prove a challenge for the Milky Way residents.

The Seltorians get their Nest Ship.

The Lyrans and their wayward county of the Lyran Democratic Republic get their Light Tactical Transport. The Lyrans also get their refitted Tiger Heavy Cruiser and Jaguar War Cruiser in 3788 Scale.

The Hydrans make a return with their Chasseur New Scout Cruiser, Traveler Light Cruiser, Tartar Medium Cruiser, and Horseman Light Cruiser. Their Mongol Medium Cruiser was slightly reworked and re-released.

The WYN get their (Kzinti) Frigate (ZFF) and Pocket Battleship.

The Frax get their War Drone Destroyer, Submarine War Cruiser, and Submarine Missile Cruiser.

Empires from the Omega Octant continue to have new additions. The Gunboat Tender and Gunboat Flotilla are the latest additions to the Probr fleet. The Drex get their Hex Cruiser. The Trobrin get their Refitted Gunboat Tender, Bolt Gunboat Flotilla, and Torpedo Gunboat Flotilla. The Maesron add an Early Gunboat Tender and Gunboat Flotilla. An Early Gunboat Tender and Gunboat Flotilla join the Koligahr fleet. The Alunda get their Devourer Destroyer. The Chlorophons are introduced with their Great Oak Heavy Cruiser, Birch Destroyer, and White Pine Frigate. The Vari are also introduced with their Heavy Cruiser and Frigate.

Finally, we added a sprue of skiffs and a sprue of heavy shuttles. The skiffs include the Security Skiff, Seeker Skiff, Slammer Skiff, and Modular Courier. The heavy shuttles include three Heavy Transport Shuttles (HTS) and three Heavy Assault Shuttles (HAS).

Check all these out here: shapeways.com/shops/amarillo-design-bureau-inc
Don't forget to follow us: shapeways.com/designer/adbinc

You guys offer many great ships. I just wish that a 3rd scale permitting much smaller models was available.

Allen, that is in the plans, but we need to focus on the main scales and empires right now. Let us get them up to speed, first, and then we will look at both larger and smaller scales.

Yikes! Don't you already have a couple hundred ships in the larger models??

I ordered a ship from Shapeways recently. I think I bought the strong black material. Even so, i felt it had a rough texture and it sucked up a lot of paint. Is that normal?

Allen, there are thousands of ships in the game. :) We need to focus on those first. And by larger, we are discussing substantially larger pieces.

Ping Ping, the "strong flexible" material tends to be rougher. It is more than adequate for gaming pieces. However, if you want a showier ship that starts with a finer finish, you might try the Frosted Ultra Detail material.

This group (SFU Miniatures Painting and Kitbashing Tips) has lots of advice for painting minis: link

Glad you were able to do this.
But really dislike Shape Ways.

One day I hope we can buy the stl files from you.

LFseeney, that is not likely any time in the near future. Sorry.

Part of it has to do with revenue stream. Part of it is that we are pushing the tolerances of the printer technology and don't want inferior copies floating around out there.

@Ping Pong:

I recommend you use WSF material and then undercoat it with black spray paint (I use acrylic car primer). I do this with all my models (plastic (be it PLA, Shapeways or otherwise, metal etc) and that will obviate any issues with it absorbing paint.

(It's also cheaper material wise, and I have never had any problems with paint coming off WSF like you can get with metal.)

Texturewise, yes. it's a bit rougher, but you won't notice once painted at wargames distance. While you can get other materials (as ADB mentioned, Forsted Detail) which have a better finish, it's a drastically more expensive and I don't personally consider it worth it. (Though like ADB do, I aslo offer it to my own customers.)

I would, by-the-by (and speaking to ADB as well here) NOT recommend the new HP strong flexible materials. While it is a little bit better surface finish than the SF materials, it is very definitely NOT worth the price, especially since the surface finish is still inferior to the frosted detail materials AND it's more expensive the FUD. (In the beta, it was HALF was it is now, and at that it was adequate.)

We have rejected the HP materials as being a bad choice for our customers. :) Thanks for the feedback.