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Aotrs Commander.
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17/09/2019 at 13:43 #122509
Aotrs Commander
ParticipantAotrs Shipyards sells prints direct (contact us via Facebook or email) and takes printing commissions. Aotrs Shipyards also has a webstore on Shapeways.com, a 3D print house which had production and shipping facilities located in the USA and the Netherlands.
Aotrs Shipyards
Aotrs Shipyards Task Force – join the group to be able to download the direct-print catalogue.
Hello, TWW moderns users! I am Aotrs Commander, the owner of Aotrs Shipyards (see above!) I’ll be posting my 144th moderns releases here from now on (having defected from TMP) as well as Facebook. I produce 144th scale modern armour (10 or 12mm depending on who you talk to). They are available directly from me (contact me via Facebook) or from my webstore at Shapeways (while that remains a viable option, but who knows how long that is, given their recent apparent direction.
This past year, I have been moving more towards the direct sales end, give Shapeways made a big price hike last year; as this requires me to print out each and every one of my models again to log the time, it has been slow going, but for the moderns side, the end is in sight! I have taken the opportunity to update the direct sales models to a new standard of locking turrets, which key in so the turrets don’t fall out. New releases on Shapeways will be at this standard, but the updated older models are exclusive to the direct sales.
I try to release at least one moderns model each month (ideally two or three variants if I can, but that’s not always practical!), usually around the second week of the month. (I also do scifi, both 144th and starships, which go into their own thread in the scifi parts of this forum, usually the following week each month, but not always!)
You can find the full back-catalogue at Shapeways, or by joining the Aotrs Shipyards Task Group on Facebook (which was, annoyingly, the only way FB would let me upload a file of sufficient size and update it for everyone to be able to look at). As mention, the back catalogue is not completed yet – like everything else, these thing take time, and even getting the photos in is a long job, given it all has to fit around the regular work, but it is at least complete! Anyone interested in something not currently priced up need only to contact me and I can fast track that to be sorted.
Right, blither out of the way, to the actual release!
Moderns Release: September 2019: FV103 Spartan (144th)
Slightly belated due to various issues, including losing the back half of Saturday afternoon when this should have gone out to futilely trying to fix my SD card reader which died between one day and the next, here is this month’s moderns release.
Just a single one this time – between rebuilding a backlog and commissions – the FV103 Spartan in 144th!
FV103 Spartan
Direct price: £3.75
Shapeways price: $5.63 (£5.55) Link___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo as always of the Replicator 2 direct sales version. This is the new silver material, which as you can see, is much better than previous ones for photographs! We’ll be sticking to this material as long as we can get it.
Next month’s moderns may also be a bit late between commissions and October being a busy time of the year. There are a couple of options on the cards; the FV438 Swingfire is now in the backlog queue, and the Kodiak AEV and the Mann Kat 1 truck are next on my list, so it will likely be one of the three!
30/10/2019 at 14:24 #125532Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: October 2019: AEV3 Kodiak Armoured Engineering Vehicle (144th)
Just squeaking in under the wire! It has been a busy month, between one holiday and the birthday celebrations for my 40th and working on this month’s release, the Kodiak!
This was a commission from Panzer-Shop.nl. The Shipyards has been, for the last couple of months, in partnership with Panzer-Shop.nl; they are producing under license 160th versions of selected Shipyards models (with a slightly higher level of detail, because of their better printers), adding to their own range of 160th models. If 160th is your scale, I highly recommend them over Shapeways, they are very competitive price-wise and the printing quality is much better! Find the here: https://www.panzer-shop.nl/en_GB/
(The Shipyards will continue to be producing and selling 144th scale models from the direct prints and from Shapeways.)
The Kodiak was extremely difficult, since the near-complete lack of technical drawings (I had barely enough to make a rough start to do it at all) meant that I had to do it by eye.
One of the concessions made to that was I have not put a weapon on this version of the Kodiak – the majority of the useful source material didn’t have guns anyway, and of those that did, it was impossible to get a clear look (as there was only a couple of top-down shots and nowhere near enough to see what I was working with). I won’t rule it out for future versions, but it will require people finding me some more source material to work from!
(And then, of course, I had to go back and finish off the 144th version!)
I also couldn’t make the turrets locking on this one. For obvious reasons, the in-transit arm would have been impossible to do that on anyway, but the point of rotation on the lifted arm is too shallow in the hull, and too small in the arm base itself to get that to work, so I had to do best I could – the problem is, of course, exacerbated by crane arms and such being the most top-heavy and usually wanting a nice deep post-hole, but on the Rep 2 version at least, it manages!
So, without more ado, here it is:
Kodiak AEV3 Armoured Engineering Vehicle
Direct price: £7.00
Shapeways price: $13.56 (£13.22) Link___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo, as always, of the Replicator 2 version. (Apologises for the extra whitebox space – this is technically the modified image for my Facebook catalogue, but for some reason, the forum wouldn’t take the normal image, and Smugmug didn’t want to see to process it either (I don’t know!))On the plus side, the Man Kat trucks are also done, 4×4 and 6×6, open-topped and closed, which gives me either next month’s release or some stuff in the backlog, we’ll see how things go next month!
12/11/2019 at 14:44 #126357Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: November 2019: Man Kat 1 Truck (144th)
Back on schedule, this month’ release is the Man Kat 1 truck!
This release is four variants – by 4×4 and 6×6 each, with open-topped and covered.
Mat Kat 1 (4×4)
Direct price: £5.70
Shapeways price: $9.49 (£8.85) Link
Mat Kat 1 (4×4) (open)
Direct price: £5.20
Shapeways price: $7.75 (£7.23) Link
Mat Kat 1 (6×6)
Direct price: £5.80
Shapeways price: $12.66 (£11.80) Link
Mat Kat 1 (6×6) (open)
Direct price: £5.40
Shapeways price: $9.10 (£8.48) Link
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Photos, as per usual, of the Replicator 2 versions.
Next month’s release is still undecided, I’m still finishing other projects. It’ll likely be something that will be (apparently!) simple, possibly another CVR(T) variant so I can claw back some breathing space – I haven’t given a thought for what 144 sci-fi to do for Hammerhead in March, and if I am going to do something entirely new, I need to clear some space to do it! (And December is also a short work month for various reasons.)
13/11/2019 at 19:19 #126423Deleted User
MemberThese models has some nice details. I’m by the tyre threads.
14/11/2019 at 16:07 #126491Aotrs Commander
Participant11/12/2019 at 14:35 #127903Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: December 2019: FV438 Swingfire (144th)
Merry Christmas (or appropriate other festival as applies), all!
So, last moderns release of the year; because of various issues (including commissions and family-related issues), we’re going to dip into that stocking that is the backlog, and out comes… The FV438 Swingfire in 144th!
FV438 Swingfire
Direct price: £4.40
Shapeways price: $5.96 (£5.54) Link
The mast has a raised and lowered version (raised not depicted here – I apparently forgot to put it in when I took this photo!), so like the Fennek, you can have the mast up or down (who needs markers when you have the real thing!)
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Photos, as per usual, of the Replicator 2 version.
January might well be another dip into the backlog, we’ll see how things go. It’s been a bit of a month and I’m not going to get much done before Christmas with one thing and another (and then I really need to work out what I’m going to do for Hammerhead for the 144 sci-fi!)
11/12/2019 at 15:06 #127906Darkest Star Games
ParticipantEven in FDM that’s a good looking work you’ve done.
Have you thought of selling the stl files?
"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."
11/12/2019 at 15:27 #127907Aotrs Commander
ParticipantThanks.
I briefly looked at it, but I haven’t found an appropriate distribution facility – I looked at TurboSquid, for instance, but not only would my models have looked ridiculously out of place (like, that place deals with models in thousands of dollars/pounds), but stuff like their image requirements wanted me to essentially texture models in ways I have no idea how to even do in TurboCAD. (And I want to ensure that a place would be of a suitable level that it would be big enough to ensure some level of piracy protection and stable enough to last many years, since I have a LOT of models to have to put up.)
It would thus require another huge time-skin to get everything up for that, and after a year, I’ve still only got about half (with a bias towards the moderns) of the catalogue priced up for the direct prints and only new released products on the Facebook catalogue. It is likely something I may deal with eventually, but not in the immediate future, probably at least not until I’ve actually finished those things.
11/12/2019 at 19:15 #127920Darkest Star Games
ParticipantPerhaps look at Wargames vault? They are able to send stls and well as pdf and such.
"I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."
11/12/2019 at 19:36 #127921Deleted User
MemberI don’t think it hurts toput teh model up on turbosquid and mark it as for 3D printing for the prince you wanted to sell it. I’ve had a few curcumstances where clients bought models off turbosquid or other sites and asked me to make it printer friendly. You never know your models might be perfect for someone looking for modern vehicles within a certain price range.
13/12/2019 at 16:28 #128008Aotrs Commander
ParticipantPerhaps look at Wargames vault? They are able to send stls and well as pdf and such.
Hmm. A possible option for future reference (given that I sell Accelerate & Attack there), but at the moment, I don’t have any plans to do so, given the time outlay required and potential risks involved once the files are out “in the wild,” so to speak.
As/when/if I start getting enough people asking me about specific models I might start considering it.
I don’t think it hurts toput teh model up on turbosquid and mark it as for 3D printing for the prince you wanted to sell it. I’ve had a few curcumstances where clients bought models off turbosquid or other sites and asked me to make it printer friendly. You never know your models might be perfect for someone looking for modern vehicles within a certain price range.
In addition to the other issues, TurboSquid has render image requirements for uploaded models that I simply have no idea how to meet (and even if I did, it would require me re-building each and every one of my 300+ models to do so), which renders it simply impractical at this time to even attempt.
14/01/2020 at 18:45 #129496Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: January 2020: Boxer Command Post (Dutch) (144th)
So we crack off the new year and new decade with a new boxer variant – the Dutch version of the command post in 144th!
Boxer Command post (Dutch)
Direct price: £6.90
Shapeways price: $10.95 (£10.02) Link
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Currenty still sorting out from the tail-end of last year. I have to get something new ready for Hammerhead for the 144 sci-fi for March (and my lack of being able to actually play much throughout 2019 has somewhat stymied my creative momentum). So February moderns might also be dipping into the backlog – there’s a little more left yet! (Two versions of the Boxer ambulance at least.) And then we’ll see!
11/02/2020 at 17:41 #131460Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: February 2020: Boxer Ambulances (144th)
This month, due to all sorts of things (included, but not limited to, preparation for Hammerhead, pantomime) we are once again dipping into the backlog, and we have today the Boxer Ambulance (both German and Dutch versions).
Unfortunately, due to the design of the ambulance modules on the real vehicle, it was not possible to make this into a module like the other boxer variants, so these are single-piece models. The best-laid plans and all!
Boxer Ambulance (German)
Direct price: £5.70
Shapeways price: $9.26 (£8.48) Link
Boxer Ambulance (Dutch)
Direct price: £5.80
Shapeways price: $9.04 (£8.28) Link
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Photos, as always, of the Replicator 2 versions.
So again, until the next little bit is out the way, I haven’t got any concrete plans for next month (and the release might be delayed while I work on it). I have a few nominal possibilities, but nothing set yet. For the same reason, there won’t be a scifi release this month (as I’ m too busy sorting out stuff for Hammerhead, but then there may be a load of stuff queued up). As may be surmised, we will be at Hammerhead on the 14th of March, doing both a Manoeuvre Group moderns 144 and a 144 scifi game.
10/03/2020 at 17:02 #133006Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: March 2020: MT-LB (144th)
Just barely squeaking in before Hammerhead this weekend – and still being on schedule! – we have for you the MT-LB in 144th!
MT-LB
Direct price: £3.70
Shapeways price: $5.60 (£5.22) Link
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Photos, as always, of the Replicator 2 versions.This obviously opens the door for more MT-LB variants down the line (though I have a couple of potential commissions to do first!) That’s probably going to be next month’s aim, especially while I try and build some backlog up again.
We will be down at Hammerhead this weekend; the stars have aligned, so in addition to the 144th moderns game, I will be trotting out the first batch of the Royal Elven Army vehicles (allied with the dwarves) as they face off against the Aotrs ground force and their new Mk 2 Enrager wardroids.
07/04/2020 at 19:02 #134452Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: April 2020: Boxer A2 (144th)
Well, despite everything going on (including having to spend more time sorting my grandmother, due to issues do at all related to the virus), I still have something for this month’s release, so here is the Boxer A2!
Boxer A2
Direct price: £6.20
Shapeways price: $11.07 (£10.70) Link
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Photo, as always, of the Replicator 2 version.(For those of you wondering what the difference is, the answer is externally, not much! The towing cable is in a different place, and there’s some more boxes on the roof.)
Next month is very likely to be a couple of Marder variants, or something else depending on how time and circumstances pan out.
Scifi releases will remain on the back burner for a bit, though without any conventions to work towards for the next bit (Barrage is still nominally on the cards for July, but under the circumstances, I’m taking a cautious approach), I’ve been taking some time to finally hollow out and sprue up two of my previous ground armies, so there is, aside from starships, a good lot of releases for those coming.
12/05/2020 at 20:07 #136310Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: April 2020: BMR-3 (144th)
Things have been ticking over slowly. Prompted by a commission to do it for a different scale (285th), having previous done a commission for 700th, I decided I might as well strike while the iron was hot and did the BMR-3 in 144th for this month’s release.
BMR-3 Mine Clearance Vehicle
Direct price: £5.50
Shapeways price: $9.30 (£8.97) Link
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Photo, as always, of the Replicator 2 version.We have tried something with this model; is has been suggested that to remove the thin strings, you can flash it over with the naked flame of a gas lighter/cigarette lighter/whathave you. The idea being it will destroy the strings too thin nearly the naked eye (the ones I only see after taking a photo with my camera, uploading in an going “motherf-!” and having to take again after trying to find and remove…!) Or at least melting them into a lump you CAN see and more easily remove. This was the result.
This was before:
and after:
with the main picture above being after a little clean-up. This sort of thing is really right on the limit of what a FDM printer can comfortable do, but this is a noticeable improvement.
I had a go with one of my fighter bases as well:
It’s not perfect, by any means, but it’s a darn sight better than it has been!
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With the current climate, things are still up in the air, so no idea what next month will be, though there are still vehicles in the queue. Sci-fi releases are also likely on pause for a bit, though they are what I’ve been working on mostly during the lock-down; I’ve been slowly converting my old scratch-built/conversions of the titular Aotrs to CAD models, both for fleet and as of the lock-down 300th scale. (It’s hard to be motivated to do something new under the circumstances.)Partizan are running a Partizan in the Cloud event, on their Facebook page in lieu of the digital event. As I don’t have much else to report, I’ll be going into more detail on that process (with pictures), which will be linked (along with hopefully other stuff!) from their page.
09/06/2020 at 14:35 #137877Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: June 2020: Marder A5 and A51 (144th)
So first off the biggest news: I have a new webstore at TheShop3D. TheShop3D is a UK based company, and is the first alternate outlet that is credibly competing with Shapeways in terms of price and functionality (and customer service).
Models there are available in SLS nylon (the same material as the Shapeways VPN) and in grey resin (for most, but not all models). The Shapeways shop will continue to be open and maintained for the foreseeable future; especially at the moment, with shipping issues, international customers might well struggle to get imports, but I will note that TheShop3D is very slightly cheaper for SLS and the grey resin even lower in price.
(I have heard that there are rumours Shapeways is becoming disinterested in supporting the shops and only in competing with industrial-level printing (which would be consistent with how their customer service has steadily degraded), so if they suddenly decided to turn it all off, I will have something else in place.)
I have not yet tried the grey resin myself (this happened rather quickly and I sorted stuff quicly to it would be ready for today), but I’ll be getting some samples myself soon, though they do a great deal of resin prints for roleplaying figures.
TheShop3D also doesn’t have Shapeway’s $5 minimum model cost, which is better for smaller models – especially for starship fighters.
TheShop3D currently has a selection of the newer releases of the Shipyards moderns, plus the Xyriat Hegemony starfleet. I will be adding to it over time. For the moderns, I am going to be updating the files to the new V2 locking turrets (which hiterto have been exclusive to the direct sales for models that were designed before they came in) before I upload them to TheShop3D. This is not a long job per model, but there’s quite a few to even catch up to the ones for direct release (I still haven’t quite printed everything from the moderns yet!)
For once, this is all a bit of good timing; as the Marder A5 and A5A1 (in 144th) were V2 turrets, I decided to make them this month’s release, rather than the MTLB variants I’ve been working on. Which as just as well, since my Replicator is currently down for the count and thus I can’t test-print for photos very easily (though at a push, we do have the upstairs printer, but it’s not ideal.)
To change the materials, you need to change both the drop down menus for the material and for the colour (so Nylon and White or Resin and Grey).
Both new verison are the Marder are also available without a mounted MILAN.
Marder A5
Direct price: £4.70
The Shop3D price: £8.01 (Nylon)/£5.90 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $8.28 (£8.06) Link
Marder A5 (No MILAN)
Direct price: £4.90
The Shop3D price: £7.97 (Nylon)/£5.87 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $8.17 (£7.96) Link
Marder A5A1
Direct price: £5.00
The Shop3D price: £8.48 (Nylon)/£6.24 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $8.61 (£8.38) Link
Marder A5A1 (No MILAN)
Direct price: £4.90
The Shop3D price: £7.79 (Nylon)/£5.87 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $8.51 (£8.29) Link
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Photo, as always, of the Replicator 2 version.Next month will likely be some MTLB variants, depending on how we get along with the printer issues!
That said, I will be finishing preparations to release the Aotrs starfleet shortly for the next week or two anyway (and 95% of the CAD work is done), so hopefully it shouldn’t be too much of a distruption like it might have been a couple of weeks ago.
The Aotrs will see the return of the scifi releases which will pour out for a few months, I suspect, there’s a big wodge of stuff to come out in that department! One of the things I will be looking to try at TheShop3D myself is 12mm infantry. That got very expensive at Shapeways and I have been using iMaterialise with half-an-eye to opening a store there for the scifi infantry, but TheShop3D might present a better alternative – especially if they can manage it in resin! (We shall have to see!) As that would open up for the infantry releases for the Galactic Terrorist infantry, and the ground armies for the Phystyulons and the first wave of the Royal Elven Kingdoms.)
I will continue to have more models brought to TheShop3D as I prepare them (and quicker if I see a big burst of sales there!)
Stay safe and endure.
24/07/2020 at 12:11 #141007Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: July 2020: 9K35 SA13 Gopher (144th)
Here we are with this month’s release, the 9K35 or SA13 Gopher at 144th, delayed, but finally here.
It has been pretty much the most nightmarish period I can recall. A few days after the last release, my grandmother died. It was not entirely unexpected, but it is of course the worst time for it to happen. Nor was 2020, always the over-achiever, content with “merely” that, but I have had a litany of other problems, from that down to the trivial – among them printer issues, 3D printer issues, printer filament issues and computer issues. Heck, there was even a problem in my image-hosting service, for which I pay a small fortune (though to be fair to them, their customer service was excellent).
But we have finally wrestled things into a position where I can actually at least carry on. I have three MTLB variants, of which the 9K35 is but one, but given the circumstances, I held back releasing the other until next month, as – as you might imagine – I have not done a lot of CAD work in this time. (At about the time the PC was randomly shutting off without warning, I threw up my hands and took the week off entirely. We do appear to have tracked that issue back to the surge suppressor of all things, tough wood – and it took TWO tries to get that sorted out, I had to return the first one to Amazon and the plus didn’t fit in it properly).
The final kick in the shins was that TheShop3D’s spam filter had decided my emails were spam, so they didn’t get my initial message to put the Gopher up for sale and THEN they had technical issues, so it was only yesterday that it was ready for release. To paraphrase a wise mechanoid scholar, all in all this month has been a bit of a bugger, hasn’t it, sir?
But despite it all, we do at least have the 9k35!
9K35 SA13 Gopher
Direct price: £4.50
The Shop3D price: £6.23 (Nylon)/£4.63 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $6.58 (£6.44) Link
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Photo, as always, of the Replicator 2 version.Next month should be the other two MT-LB variants (which will buy me some time to get a bit more backlog back up).
Sci-fi releases are nearly ready to begin again, and the Aotrs starfleet and 6mm fighter forces should keep those going for a good few months.
I have some sample prints from TheShop3D, including sci-fi infantry, on the way (if it wasn’t for the spam issue, I’d have had them by now, but in the confusion I didn’t get to chasing it up until a short while ago), so hopefully by next release, we should have some to show you.
I hope the last six weeks have gone better for you, than for us, and all being well, I should be back in another three weeks…!
14/08/2020 at 11:45 #142303Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: August 2020: MT-LB 6MA and 9P149 Shturm-S (144th)
So, here we are with this month’s release, almost on time, even.
(Even this last three weeks or so has been not without problems, though – the Replicator 2 has finally keeled over (after 7 years and 2776 estimiated printing hours), which leaves us with only the small back-up printer for the majority of the next month until the new one arrives. This does not stop any direct sales orders (there are options, even for stuff too big to fit on the mini, but perforce it does mean additional delays, as the mini is much slower and I’d have to outsource for larger prints.)
Here, then, is What I Prepared Earlier: the aforementioned MT-LB variants, the MT-LB6MA and the 9P149 Shturm-S in 144th.
MT-LB 6MA
Direct price: £4.20
The Shop3D price: £5.58 (Nylon)/£4.16 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $6.00 (£5.20) Link
9P149 Shturm-S
Direct price: £4.00
The Shop3D price: £5.20 (Nylon)/£3.89 (Resin) Link
Shapeways price: $5.67 (£5.22) Link
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Photos, as always (but not for much longer…) of the Replicator 2 version.Next month is likely to be the Dingo 2, since that was the last useful model I got out of the Replicator to prototype, and again, after that, it’s all up in the air, both in what I do and while the printer issues get sorted.
I intend to finally start releasing the Aotrs starfleet very soon (I’m in the stages of the last part of the prep work, down to deciding what is in the first batch to send the files to TheShop3D), so assuming no more disasters, that should be out next week or the following week.
The batch of test prints should be coming from TheShop3D soon (I asked them to delay while I was taking a much-needed holiday the first week of the month); I’ll post up some pictures when they do.
18/09/2020 at 14:03 #144239Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: September 2020: Dingo 2 GE A3.3 (144th)
Frighteningly, this release post marks a year on TWW – the time seems to have just evaporated…
Before we get to the release itself, I finally got the test prints from TheShop3D.
First off, the MT-LB, in white nylon (the same as Shapeways VPN) and grey resin.
As a serious test, I had them do some 144th sci-fi infantry in resin, to see how they would come out.
Aotrs Drop Infantry
And a sneak peek and the eventually forthcoming Phystyulon ground forces, their infantry and rocket cycles.
As you can see, they came out very well.
I am actually very impressed with their resin material. Not only is it cheaper than the nylon it seems to be sharper (compare the grill on the MT-LB). The turret fits better on the resin model, as on the FDM models (the nylon is always little loose, which is why I say that you SHOULD paint the posts and hole of the turrets in my ranges).
It has a texture (and I do not mean this in an at all pejorative way) than reminds me of a tough, rubberised plastic. The sprues on which the models are mounted are flexible (which is good for durability (re gun barrels et al), since it means it isn’t brittle), and my first impressions are very favourable!
Now, to the release itself: the Dingo 2 GE A3.3 (in 144th).
The picture marks the literal very last print the Replicator squeezed out, before finally keeling over (one of the axis started continuously slipping). As I was typing this release, out replacement, a Prusa, has just arrived, so hopefully by the end of the week, we should be back in normal production.
Dingo 2 AE3.3
Direct price: £4.40
The Shop3D price: £4.79 (Resin)/£6.64 (Nylon) Link
Shapeways price: $6.08 (£5.53) Link
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Photos of the Replicator 2 version, pretty much for the last time. (And not the best of prints, but it wasn’t like I could do better without delaying the releases!)As a sort of side-note, Shapeways appears to have dropped the floor for VPN from $5.00 to $4.50, which will reduce the price of the smallest of my models (good) but mean all the prices listed are no wrong (bad). I say “appears,” for as usual with Shapeways, I only noticed this change by complete accident and no official announcement has been made (as per usual, though they are always so eager to advertise new and expensive materials…) and there is no telling whether this is a test or permanent.
(All the more reason, one feels, to look at TheShop3D’s resin…!)
And also, because 2020 is 2020 and thus cannot ever let ANYTHING pass without kicking sand in everyone’s faces, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend a middle finger to SD cards and SD card readers and their tendencies to fail frequently during normal use; my bay-mounted card reader died (for the second time in six months, the first time while still under guarantee) at the start of lockdown, and the back-up has also, between one breath and the next stopped working, meaning to get this release out, I had to take my camera’s SD card upstairs to Dad’s lap top, transfer it to a key and then bring it back down again. We have now ordered three more (of different types), because it clearly doesn’t matter when you have an expensive one of a USB-stick one, they all fail. Quite how a system for removable media that becomes so unreliable as soon as you actually, y’know, REMOVE it regularly (as you have to do to move it, e.g. from camera to PC or PC to 3D Printer) I have no idea. But as said cameras and 3D printers both use them, I don’t have any option other than to roundly curse.
On a more positive note, next month – if no further issues arise – should be the HS-30/ Spz 12, the CAD design of which I have finished, but am waiting on the new printer to be able to do anything else. Next week should see the release of the second wave of Aotrs Starships and the second part of the Guide to the Army Of The Red Spear.
18/09/2020 at 15:26 #144243Deleted User
MemberI found out about the price drop from the Shapeways forum. As usual Shapeways treat every little change as industrial secret.
Can you see me on TheShop3D.
18/09/2020 at 15:38 #144244Aotrs Commander
ParticipantI found out about the price drop from the Shapeways forum. As usual Shapeways treat every little change as industrial secret.
Which is why I try to push every other alternate outlet I have. They really are just not what they were when I started ten years or so ago.
Can you see me on TheShop3D.
Sorry, that has me a bit confused, not quite sure what you’re asking? (I couldn’t see a collection called tiniminis? (from your profile…?) there, if that was what you were asking.) Apologies if I’m just being a bit dense today.
18/09/2020 at 15:50 #144245Deleted User
MemberTypo.
Can you sell me on TheShop3D, the good the bad and the fine print?
18/09/2020 at 16:14 #144248Aotrs Commander
ParticipantOh, SELL you, that make more sense!
Right. From the seller-side, I assume.
Okay, so they are, I believe, relatively new, but interested in expanding their ranges (and they are particularly aiming at the models market, rather than general 3D printing). They’re based in the UK. They have the facility, I understand, to allow you to hook-up to them via a website if you have one, or they can host on their website like Shapeways. Rather than upload directly, at the moment, you provide the files and the stuff and they put it on their website themselves.
They are, I think, having some teething troubles, though some of that could just be down to the current crisis and 2020 being 2020 (I’ve only been with them for a little bit, since lockdown started). (The delay in getting my test prints, for example, but that sounds like it was a courier issue, so not necessarily their fault[1].) But, I mean, look at Shapeways….!
I would suggest the best option might be to contact them yourself (https://theshop3d.com/, there’s a contact us button at the bottom) and ask a few questions where they can answer a bit more thoroughly than I can.
[1]And I have some sympathy – times are a bit, to put it mildly, poopy; a direct-sales customer of mine in the US waited until late June for a package to arrive I’d posted in mid-April, because it sat in a US postal depot for a couple of months and only got sent out when we (though Royal Mail) offically put in a lost package refund request, which meant they had to get off their arses and find or pay money. Lesson learned there…!
18/09/2020 at 16:56 #144263Deleted User
MemberThanks.
I coulnd’t find any FAQ or basic info on their business on teh site. I’m curious about their policy on IP of STls you upload. You mentioned test prints, do they rewuire a test print to be successful before you sell your models? It’s standard with most other sites except Shapeways. It’s actually the one thing I like about Shapeways because it cuts down the turn around time between design and putting up for sale.
Since they’re in teh UK I might use them for my own prints.
18/09/2020 at 17:28 #144268Aotrs Commander
ParticipantThanks.
I coulnd’t find any FAQ or basic info on their business on teh site. I’m curious about their policy on IP of STls you upload. You mentioned test prints, do they rewuire a test print to be successful before you sell your models? It’s standard with most other sites except Shapeways. It’s actually the one thing I like about Shapeways because it cuts down the turn around time between design and putting up for sale.
Since they’re in teh UK I might use them for my own prints.
Off-hand, I can’t remember, you’d have to ask them. I think it’s pretty much the same as Shapeways, though, as if it wasn’t I’d have made mote of it!
As test-prints, no, as far as I’m aware, they work pretty much like Shapeways. I just bought my prints regularly (I suspect they might have done me some if I’d just asked nicely, but they’d done me a solid in a couple of other ways, so I didn’t want to abuse their generosity!) I think they realise (which places like iMaterialise didn’t) that a policy of making you have to buy all your prints before you could offer them for sale won’t encourage anyone away from Shapeways, especially someone with, like 300+ models or something – the sort of people they’re most interested, from what I could gather from talking to the chap I did, in attracting.
(I mean, for me, it would have cost thousands of Euros, even at the 50% off iMaterialse finally offered me, and I had gone to them pointing out that my stuff had already been printed at Shapeways.)
Basically, TheShop3D, I think, want to be a proper alternative to Shapeways that, doens’t y’know, suck and is more focussed for models.
(The chap I spoke to did mention that had some ex-Shapeways staff were were fed-up with the way it had been going – there were rumbling that Shapeways would really like to get rid of the whole shop aspect to compete commerically with the other big industrial comapnies and rivals. I myself suspect they haven’t dared yet because that would be a burnt bridge they’d not be able to ever repair if they did.)
18/09/2020 at 17:35 #144269Deleted User
MemberI think Shapeways had been making it pretty obvious they want to get rid of the market place. Interesting to hear employees didn’t agree with that.
Not requiring a proof print is a huge plus.Just thought of another question. Does TheShop3D have design guideline for materials the offer?
18/09/2020 at 17:46 #144270Aotrs Commander
ParticipantI’m not sure, but then again I didn’t look for any particularly, aside from asking whether the models for resin were better hollow (like Shapeways) or solid (like the Replicator). (It’s the former, by the way.)
But as my test-prints seem to show, what works for Shapeways appears to work perfectly well for them, both in nylon and apparently in resin, argueably even better. I didn’t need to do anything different, at any rate.
(While it exists though, Shapeways probably serves at least one useful purpose in mesh-checking, since as a shop-owner, you basically just send the .stls to them to put up, rather than check them at the moment.)
18/09/2020 at 17:55 #144272Deleted User
MemberThanks for the info and showing me an alternative to Shapeays. I sent them an e-mail and will probably put sometting up as a test anyway.
Are you going to be doing spaceships for Osprey’s upcoming A Billion stars?
18/09/2020 at 18:29 #144274Aotrs Commander
ParticipantNo problem! Happy to help!
I do spaceships (LOTS of spaceships, since that’s my real Thing), but not specifically for any set of rules – not even my own, Accelerate and Attack – so not in an official capacity, no.
(Though my CAD designs can be somewhat informed by AccAtt – but further to that is the assumption that game stats are merely an imperfect abstraction of the “real” world anyway. The fluff I always provide with my scifi releases is kinda semi-official in that sense, I guess, but as much happens because Stewart Cowley’s Spacecraft 2000-2100AD left very permenant marker on my psyche to the point that I can’t NOT do the write-ups, since I’ve been doing them since I was old enough to able to draw pictures of starfighters! (And said fluff has grown out of the homebrew canon that stretches back to about that time too…!))
If A Billon Stars allows you to make up your own ship stats and such, though, you could absolutely use mine.
16/10/2020 at 16:24 #145562Deleted User
MemberI sent two e-mails to the e-mail address they provided but had no reply. -_-‘
16/10/2020 at 16:53 #145566Aotrs Commander
ParticipantI sent two e-mails to the e-mail address they provided but had no reply. -_-‘
Hmm.
Okay. Now, they HAVE had once instance where their spam filter is well-over achieving (it sent my emails into spam), so maybe it was that?
I can try emailing their boss directly myself as a head’s up – maybe there’s a problem with their spam filter again. You could either forward me your email to forward to him, or just your email so he can check his end?
(Easiest way to get my email would be to use the “Send Email” button on my Facebook page, else go to Facebook and grab the PDF download from either of the Aotrs starfleet release posts, my email is at the very end of those.)
17/10/2020 at 14:28 #145611Deleted User
MemberI’ll send a message through Shapeways. Couldn’t email you from the button on Facebook.
20/10/2020 at 17:17 #145734Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: October 2020: MG144-G15 Schützenpanzer HS-30/ Spz 12 (144th)
So, before we start, a few announcements.
First off, for those of you who did not see the post on Facebook, I have completed the revisions and updates to all the modern ranges for direct sales. They have all been sprued up for TheShop3D and will be put up there in due course (so as not to dump, like sixty or something models on them all at once!)
Link to the current iteration of the catalogue.
(Note that today’s release is still listed as unreleased, but the price is there anyway!)
On top of that, now we have had chance to assess the Prusa and the running costs, the time component of the cost has been reduced, which means that the price of the direct salves models has been dropped by an average of 28% (less on small models, more on bigger models)!
And, as a direct contrast to that…
Regular readers will have perhaps gathered I do not suffer fools gladly, and corporate fools rather less than most. Late last night, Shapeways sent an email around, which I shall quite for you:
Dear Shapeways Customer,
We hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. With the holiday season around the corner, we’re upgrading some of our services to help you serve your customers better. We’re also giving you an early notice of some price changes due to fluctuations in the market. Please note that some of the changes may require updates to your product listings. We’ll notify you again when the changes go live on October 19, 2020 so you can make the adjustments if needed.
Nylon 12 [Versatile Plastic]
Prices Changes for all colors and finishes will take place on October 19. Once this change is live, new orders will automatically be adjusted. Your markup will remain the same but the total price for affected models will change, and you may wish to review your product pricing then and make changes as needed.
Change to what, you might ask? I don’t know! Isn’t it exciting! Clearly this is to build anticipation for the change, like it was a plot twist on a movie, or an industrial secret!
In seriousness, one feels it is very unlikely to be a decrease (else they would have said so). Nor am I going to give them any credit for actually telling us the price is changing, unlike the unannounced change to the minimum part cost I discovered recently. As time of writing, there has been no response to the uproar this has created.
Pre-post Tuesday edit: The new prices have hit. As far as I can tell, it is approximately a +10% price increase to WSF, scaling up from a slight increase to the floor (which is back up to $5 again). As they STILL have not said anything (once AGAIN, I got an annoucement saying the prices had changed, but not detailing – that ought to be illegal), I have had a sampling of the more recent releases, and it seems to be about 50p to a pound on most of the slightly larger models and a +£1.50 on the largest starship I looked (bigger than most tanks). So not good by any means, but I suppose better than the price doubling or something. (Purportedly, there is bulk pricing now automatically applied, but aside from actually going through the process of attempting to purchase something, there is no information available on that.)
Now, as it so happens, I just happen to have here in my hand another resin print from TheShop3D: a VASTLY better and tidier version of the BMR-3! (And, I would again like to note, cheaper than even their own nylon-12 (which is itself now cheaper than Shapeways’ in the identical material by the increase of this price-hike…)
I have not tried painting the resin yet, but Dad has now just discovered an fresh can of black spray paint, so that’s next on the list (unlikely to be done before the sci-fi release though). I HAVE, however, just conducted a drop test from table-height panelled floor of the dining-room to the with a) the sprue of bikes, b) the MT-LB and c) the sprue of infantry and am happy to report they all simply bounced, so we can conclude that the resin is not brittle and thus pretty drop-resistant, which is a great sign!
(I haven’t tried printing the BMR-3 on the Prusa yet, but one feels given the fact that I got the Leopard 2 minelayer to print-
– note lack of stringing – that it ought to be better!)
Right. After all that, down to the release itself! This month, I have for you the Schützenpanzer HS-30 aka Spz 12 in 144th!
MG144-G15 Schützenpanzer HS-30/ Spz 12
Direct price: £3.10
The Shop3D price: £3.45 (Resin)/£4.58 (Nylon) Link
(Note that they are supposed to be changing the model name to what it is supposed to be shortly, at which point I’ll have to edit the link (if I can here), but I needed to get this out today.)
Shapeways price: Shapeways price:
$5.55 (£5.19)$5.65 (£5.28) Link___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo of Prusa i3 Mk3S version.
Next month’s release is a bit up in the air. I have been working hard on getting the moderns done and ready for upload to TheShop3D and continuing the prep-work for the Aotrs grand releases, so I haven’t done anything new yet. I might cheat next month, ever so slightly, and release the Galactic Terrorist APC and infantry in the moderns spot: the GT is technically scifi, but fits with ultra moderns, since they are, by their own time period, low-tech, and all of it is based on modern vehicles anyway. (Their APC is based on the Vodnik, on an applique-armoured version I found a picture of while doing the Vodnik) and their infantry are largely suitable for moderns – suicide bombers included…!)
(No, my goodness, I did not heavily take inspiration from Command & Conquer Generals, why do you ask…! No, I certainly did not have a ground army entirely just so I could shout “AK-47s! For everyone!” in a terribly unconvincing accent.
…
And I totally do not have a series of stock phrases to be quoted every time a GT vehicle enters the battlefield…)
21/10/2020 at 13:03 #145766Deleted User
MemberI’m impressed the resin print came out so well. I’m not surprised Shapeways is changing the price yet again and being all cloak and dagger about it.
24/10/2020 at 14:25 #145906Deleted User
MemberSorry to hijack your thread once again. What’s your take on theshpe3D’s separate shipping cost as a designer. Seems to me to break even you’ll either have to set the markup pretty high or hope to sell multiple models at once.
I’m still studying the material tollerance and the UI takes a little getting used to but I’m glad for the alternative to Shapeways.
27/10/2020 at 11:57 #146023Aotrs Commander
ParticipantSorry to hijack your thread once again. What’s your take on theshpe3D’s separate shipping cost as a designer. Seems to me to break even you’ll either have to set the markup pretty high or hope to sell multiple models at once.
I’m still studying the material tollerance and the UI takes a little getting used to but I’m glad for the alternative to Shapeways.
Sorry, I was busy over the weekend.
I’m not sure what you mean by seperate shipping cost…?
28/10/2020 at 11:42 #146080Deleted User
MemberSorry, I got confused with their website.
18/11/2020 at 12:18 #147051Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: November 2020: BREM-1 (144th)
So, before we get to the release, I have finally painted some of the TheShop3D resin! You will have to forgive the dirty scifi (and close-ups requiring meaning you can see how bad my painting is…!) but:
This was painted exactly the same way I paint everything else, black undercoat (I use Hycote matt black acrylic car primer myself) and then painted normally. So as you can see, it pains up fine!
To the release itself!
I DID find time to do something new after all – the BREM-1 armoured recovery vehicle in 144th! (I had previously done the model for a commission at 700th, so I had already found the sources and done part of the work, so it was relatively quick!)
BREM-1 Armoured Recovery Vehicle (144)
(As per usual standard, it comes with crane raised and lowered. Also, no, the hook is not missing from the lowered version, you can see it on the side there, that’s how they store it, apparently!)
Direct price: £4.50
The Shop3D price: £8.46 (Resin)/£11.45 (Nylon) Link
Shapeways price: $12.57 (£11.69) Link___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo of Prusa i3 Mk3S version.
I’m already working on next months’ release, so I can get it to TheShop3D as soon as I can so it can hopefully go up in plenty of time (as I like to do the December releases early.)
I say “hopefully” because I thought to myself “hey, I have a sci-fi version of the TOS-1A, I have a proper T-72 turret, it shuldn’t be a long job to do it, right?” (It has currently taken my longer than the BREM-1…)
(Sharp-eyed viewers will also note on the TheShop3D store that this months’ sci-fi releases are also up, though the official release will be next week.)
01/12/2020 at 14:58 #147753Aotrs Commander
ParticipantModerns Release: December 2020: TOS-1A “Buratino” Heavy Flamethrower (144th)
Early release this month, to get everything done for Christmas! (Sci-fi release will be early, too, next week).
This time, we have the TOS-1A “Buratino” Heavy Flamethrower (specifically the BM-1 launcher vehicles, but you can’t get all of that in a title, I tried!)
Direct price: £6.50
The Shop3D price: £4.56 (Resin)/£10.15 (Nylon) Link
Shapeways price: $11.70 (£10.52) Link___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Photo of Prusa i3 Mk3S version.
In case you missed the post on Facebook, I have had to put a warning up. Shapeways has started to just flat refuse to print some older models (that it printed fine before) in versatile plastic. There is nothing I can do about that, aside from to say if you don’t want to pay for the very expensive materials, if it something bounces, the only thing I can do is point in the direction of the direct sales or TheShop3D. So far, this has only affected one of my sci-fi starships, but with Shapeway’s increasingly poor performance, I can only expect it to continue.
I also will note that at time of writing, Shapeways are having a sale, but a) they barely gave me 24 hours’ notice for a sale which ends the middle of the 2nd of December (EST) and b) it is only 10% off 50 dollars or more (I remember when it was 15% in previous years…)
(I wasn’t about, given the issues I had with them in the past week, going to bend over backwards to put in work on my weekend for that, considering that “sale” just puts the prices BACK to about what they were before they put them up and didn’t admit to it.)
I have also attempted to update the “About” section of the Facebook page. I say “attempted” since the new Facebook interface actively precludes some sections it used to show, and won’t show hyperlinks. Nevertheless, there are now store links to TheShop3D and Shapeways. In addition, I am now indexing the release posts made of Wargames Directory on their forums here. (I am also doing this for the sci-fi releases, and for a series of lore posts for the sci-fi to cover stuff that is released (though only on Shapeways) as people were starting to ask me about it and there wasn’t a centralised location for it.)
(As a side note, Facebook is becoming increasingly difficult to work with – half of the things I could even six months ago, I know can’t. Unfortunately, I’ will have to muddle through at least until all the back-catalogue is updated to v2 and up on TheShop3D, since I can only manage one massive job at a time while keeping things rolling – and 2020 being 2020 has not helped.)
Next month is once again up in the air. Once the sci-fi release is done and goes out next week, I’ll start looking at what to do (I am considering the TOS-1 version, since that is fairly simple (at least in comparison to doing the TOS-1A now I have started).
Of course January also brings us to Brexit and honestly we have no idea how bad things are going to get, other than it is likely to be Very Bad, which will affect both me and TheShop3D potentially.
So have a good Christmas (and/or any other holiday you celebrate) and New Year, and let’s hope 2021 is a better year.
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