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The Unknown Revolution in Scale Modelling


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The Unknown Revolution in Scale Modelling -

This is an example of ' Shapeways ' - where I had a CAD Designer get me a replacement made for the awful kit Bridge Binoculars
for the Trumpeter ( 1/350 scale ) HMS Eskimo Tribal Kit ..

as you can see the 2 parts made by Shapeways ( Trumpeter part are with red arrows ) are far superior , and you can see the difference is staggering

Founded in 2007, Shapeways is basically 3D Printing ( with cutting edge tooling ) but really accessible and economical .. I have used it several times as its really reliable

 

you can also buy ' off the shelf ' items for any Model , and the Ship Boats are far better than the Kit ones , by a long way

 

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ever heard the phrase ' you only get what you pay for ' - you are getting a bespoke new item or an existing pre-designed replacement ( far superior to the kit example )

and above all , tracked and recorded delivery to your door -

If you have anything expensive like a big Warship Model Kit you bought , and mailed from abroad , you have customs fees to pay - what's the difference ?

Edited by 73north
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Also the amount of time it takes to produce a 3D printed item is significantly longer than injection moulding. It would be interesting to know how long these take to print.

@73north  Is that how they look like when they arrive, or do you have 'clean up' the parts?

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They take only a week to printed and then get delivered - if it was made in Holland - they have a factory there ) as I live in the UK ........its quick

 

you only need to remove the item from the casting block , the rest of the Part is flash-free and ' ready to use ' -

sure injected model parts are quicker - but these are really nice , I have several parts ready for the HMAS Vendetta Kit in 1/350 scale

for example a new Refit ( Extended Front ) Bridge - and also a 9 feet Rangefinder to replace the kit part ( which is the 1917 era shorter range finder )

sure its not dirt cheap but the pay-off is that you are saving so much modelling time - eg trying to alter a kit bridge by yourself

 

 

 

 

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The main question I have about 3D printing is can you use enamels on the parts that the process produces? From what little I've seen I get the impression that it's not normally recommended, which is inconvenient for me as I prefer enamels to acrylics.

 

Mike.

Edited by MikeR
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The frosted detail materials from Shapeways need to be washed is sopy water to remove the wax which supports the resin as it is printed.

 

The resin is cured with UV light so sometimes it needs placing in sunlight or under a UV lamp to fully cure the resin. If this is not done small white spots will appear in the paint over time.

 

There is an article on this forum -

http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=165297

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Yep enamels work fine (or ours do anyway). They leave Shapeways only part cured. The cost base is largely time driven so it's cured enough to be rigid before it leaves. A day or two in sunlight before painting will finish it off. I've done it.

 

There's no denying it's quite expensive and for me, the surface finish isn't quite good enough yet (maybe less of an issue for brush painters where much thicker coats go on?) but it has promise.

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I actually find the frosted ultra-detail is better than the Original Kit parts - and the Ship Boats and Rangefinders are far better - the difference is very marked -

sure its not cheap , but it provides an instant ship part that you need to use to present a ship that is altered due to a refit ( or is wrongly made - eg German Ship Boats by Trumpeter on HMS Eskimo )

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  • 4 weeks later...

I am surprised that it hasn't taken off as much as I thought it would. The after-market guys should be crawling all over this with what's needed in the modelling world, after all the effort is in the design, then the file is stored on a pc.

A club member has used 3D stuff for his trucks and one issue is that the parts require quite a lot of sealing...seems to suck paint like a recently plastered wall!

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There's probably a number of reasons why the uptake is slow. Chief amongst which is possibly cost - it's expensive for the size of object you ultimately get. There's also Shapeways itself which whilst I can't think of a better way to do it, is still a bit of an unappealing way to go model shopping. The lack of ability to see/touch anything besides the model render before committing too may hinder it.

 

Lastly there's the finish. Whilst technology does improve, the surface finish isn't really good enough in all cases yet.

 

It does have its place for sure. I have some and I'm sure I'll have more in the future. I'm not quite ready to give up lathe machined brass gun barrels for 3D printed ones yet though to cite but one example.

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36 minutes ago, Courageous said:

I am surprised that it hasn't taken off as much as I thought it would. The after-market guys should be crawling all over this with what's needed in the modelling world, after all the effort is in the design, then the file is stored on a pc.

A club member has used 3D stuff for his trucks and one issue is that the parts require quite a lot of sealing...seems to suck paint like a recently plastered wall!

I believe that preparation is everything for the parts , they need to be washed , and preferably left in the sun for 2 days - although the frosted plastic seems really ready to go , to be honest

 

its a great time-saver , if you want a specific item , although I totally agree Metal Gun Barrels are unbeatable .

 

I think if you go for the very best material ( Ultra detail Frosted ) you avoid a lot of problems

But the aftermarket Shapeways Turrets seem nice , and I have had in the last 2 months specific sets made for me for the V & W Class in 1/350 scale , which look really nice ..

 

I have used the 1/350 Binoculars for the HMS Eskimo Kit by Trumpeter - and they were a HUGE improvement of the kit examples ..

 

its an addition to the Modelling aftermarket parts , and injected plastic is probably better - but if you need a bespoke item made - then its a huge timesaver ( and they can look wonderful )

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I knew you clever guys would give me a reason why 3D printing isn't where I think it should be but things are improving.

On know this is 'off topic' but seeing that we are on a maritime forum, can you guys explain why their are so few ship kits for this maritime nation of hours? IIRC, Britain's naval fleet was larger than the next two biggest naval fleets put together!

 

Stuart

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I think lack of reference material has a big part to play, but really, the Japanese market is the most dense in the world and America is large due to their large population and wealth. For the same reason we like British ships, the two largest modelling consumer markets on Earth have a common interest in the war in the Pacific, fought predominantly between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the US Navy.

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Jamie's right enough with what he's written. If we get any Royal Navy subjects out of the Japanese manufacturers it's purely down to whether or not the subject is sufficiently well enough known in that country for it to be kitted. We are seeing subjects come from the Chinese manufacturers, namely Trumpeter and Flyhawk, but it's a slow trickle, and, again, will be predicated on what those manufacturers think will sell for them. I wouldn't hold breath waiting for Airfix to stick it's head above the parapet and issue new kits in either 1/350 or 1/700 of RN subjects - they were savaged (and I mean savaged!) by ship builders over the quality and buildability of their Illustrious and Daring kits. The latter took some real flak, if I remember correctly. Add in the Hornby Group's current financial woes and anything that doesn't have wings is off the release menu for them.

 

As an aside, from what I can gather, most Japanese have a very poor understanding of the UK's role in the Pacific War. I'll quote this, which I found on another website:

 

Quote

 In Japan among naval enthusiasts they (Britain) are famous for suffering crippling defeats at the hands of the Imperial Navy in 1941 and 1942. In fact from my own (Japanese) sources it is understood that the British only joined in the Pacific War for fear that America would free up their former territories and colonies. In any case a general sentiment in Japan is that we lost (or in the words of our prime minister “the war ended”) to America and not the Allies.

 

Explains a lot.

 

Mike.

Edited by MikeR
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Maybe we should be asking what size the native UK market for Royal Navy subjects is? Perhaps if there was less dominance of the UK TV history market by Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and Operation Overlord, with their focus on the Army and RAF, the naval war would have a higher profile. Anyway, I'd say that there is a UK market but as I wrote above the most obvious candidate to sate the demand isn't interested in maritime subjects and, compared with aircraft and tanks, ship models are a niche within a niche and don't offer a big enough return for them considering their own self-inflicted maladies. That leaves the foreign companies to have a crack at the market. Certainly as far as 1/700 (my own favoured scale) is concerned it looks like our main hope will be the Chinese. Even then, I think any such expansion in RN subjects will be down to what becomes visible in their own home market via computer games like "World of Warships". The companion game, "World of Tanks" appears to have had an effect when it comes to armour - I'd have never expected good 1/35 scale kits of the A9,A10 and A13 series cruiser tanks to be produced in plastic. Yet they have!

 

It's all food for thought, anyway.:hmmm:

 

Mike.

Edited by MikeR
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  • 2 months later...

A bit late to the party  but I may add another reason why 3D printed parts have not yet become the norm for modelling items: longer term stability. Not all resin used for 3D printing guarantee the stability in their material properties that we expect from our plastic and resin parts, some do, some don't and some only do if certain procedures are followed. Many UV-cured resins for example get really very stable only after going through a post-curing procedure... the link above explains exactly one of these procedures.

Regarding aftermarket manufacturers, some actually use a 3D printing ! However they use this for the production of masters that are then reproduced in the more common resin, they don't sell the parts straight from the printer.

Edited by Giorgio N
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