Guys,
––I decided to treat myself with a Christmas present and so I ordered some of the HBG Minor Factories from the Shapeways website. These units are available in three levels of detailed plastic and priced accordingly. $11.95, $18.95, and 24.95 for sets of twelve. I like my units as nice as possible so I ordered two sets of twelve (24) of the highly detailed versions as a “test” of these products.
––They’ve now been delivered and all I can say is:
WOW! :-o
––I’m very happy that I choose to order my Factories with the highest level of detail. They are simply Superb! I can now see myself ordering many, many more Shapeway units in the near future. If you haven’t already tried some Shapways units I recommend that you do. You won’t be disapointed.
----Shown below is a “file photo” of a lesser detailed Minor Factory showing it’s size in comparison to the OOB factories that came in the older versions of A&A. Shapeway(HBG) also has versions of
Major Factories if you would prefer to use them instead.
“Tall Paul”
link?
IL & Others,
––The link to the Shapeways units designed by HBG’s “coachofmany” is below:
http://www.historicalboardgaming.com/Battle-Shapes-Shapeways_c_425.html
“Tall Paul”
Guys,
––HBG’s “coachofmany” has also designed some B-29 SuperFortresses on the Shapeways site. Check 'em out.
“Tall Paul”
That site is ridiculous!
They got thousands of models for sale. Wow
IL & Others,
––Looks like we BOTH need to go find our “piggy banks”, huh? I’ve found several items already the last couple of months. (Soon to be ordered).
“Tall Paul”
shapeways as awesome of a site and resource it is I have a hard time finding what I’m looking for.
Guys,
––After receiving the Minor Factories, which were AWESOME, I ordered my first units,
A-20 Havocs from Shapeways. Actually they are listed as “Maryland” Bombers which I will easily convert into “Havoc” Attack Aircraft. To be certain I ordered them in the right size I only ordered one set of five aircraft. once I know these are in the correct proportion I’ll order some more “stuff”. Who knows, I’ll probably end up with some “Commerce Destroyers” with 8 .50 cal. mg’s sticking out of them. Then later some B-25s with 12 .50 cal. mg’s like were ‘invented’ in Austrailia for service in New Guinea
……Look out Tojo!
“Tall Paul”
shapeways as awesome of a site and resource it is I have a hard time finding what I’m looking for.
Yes, you really have to dig through a lot of stuff. There is some cool stuff there though.
Guys,
––I just got my UPS shipping notice that says my A-20 Havocs should be delivered tomorrow. I hope I ordered them in the correct proportion. I guess we’ll see.
“Tall Paul”
@Tall:
Guys,
––I just got my UPS shipping notice that says my A-20 Havocs should be delivered tomorrow. I hope I ordered them in the correct proportion. I guess we’ll see.
“Tall Paul”
––Again, all I can say is Wow!
1/600 was the perfect proportion for the A-20 Havocs I ordered. Like I said before, they’re actually listed as ‘Maryland’ Light Bombers.
––The amount of detail on these is absolutely Awesome!
----Once I determine the correct proportion that everything should be modelled in I will definately be ordering many additional Shapeway units. Consider me a TOTALLY SATISFIED customer!
“Tall Paul”
Guys,
––Since I was totally blown away with the AWESOME DETAIL on the A-20 Havoc’s from Shapeways, I just orderred two B-29s, eight Bristol BeauFighters, and three Japanese J1Ni 'Gekko’s.
––I will use the 'Gekko’s as Long-Range Fighters along with American P-38s, German ME-110s. I prefer to have two-engine aircraft to represent this NEW TYPE of unit in order to make identification of the TYPE as easy as possible.
––I will probably order some early war aircraft next,…like an American B-10 Bomber and a P-26 ‘Peashooter’ as both of these types were on the Phillipines at the onset of war.
“Tall Paul”
@Tall:
Guys,
––Since I was totally blown away with the AWESOME DETAIL on the A-20 Havoc’s from Shapeways, I just orderred two B-29s, eight Bristol BeauFighters, and three Japanese J1Ni 'Gekko’s.
––I will use the 'Gekko’s as Long-Range Fighters along with American P-38s, German ME-110s. I prefer to have two-engine aircraft to represent this NEW TYPE of unit in order to make identification of the TYPE as easy as possible.
––I will probably order some early war aircraft next,…like an American B-10 Bomber and a P-26 ‘Peashooter’ as both of these types were on the Phillipines at the onset of war.“Tall Paul”
––The J1Ni ‘Gekko’s’, Beaufighters, and B-29s came in and there as AWESOME as I’ve come to expect from Shapeways. One word of advice when you order,….I always order my units made with the most detailed plastic option available, yes, it’s more expensive but IMHO it’s well worth it.
“Tall Paul”
So how did they work out? Links?
ancient history & others,
––Historical Board Gaming also has a link to several units the “Coach” at HBG has designed. Just refer to the 3rd or 4th post in this thread or go to their website and “click” on the link in the left margin.
----As far as how they “worked out”,…IMHO they are AWESOME! Since they are translucent plastic and almost transparent, it’s hard to take a pic until they are painted. One day, though.
“Tall Paul”
Guys,
––The P-26 "Peashooters and B-10 Bombers have also come in, now. They are as AWESOME as everything else that I’ve ordered from Shapeways. I’m a very satisfied customer!
“Tall Paul”
Is the plastic strong like AA pieces or fragile and prone to breaking?
IL and others,
@Imperious:
Is the plastic strong like AA pieces or fragile and prone to breaking?
––It’s stiff and sturdy with no problems. The only thing I can say is that I always order my units to be made with the most detailed, and hence exspensive, plastic option available. I’ve seen pics on the web of some Shapeways units that had a very coarse surface. I’m certain they were less exspensive, but I didn’t like the way they looked at all. Nevertheless I believe that since these units are basically carved out of a hunk of plastic by computer control, they have to be durable.
“Tall Paul”
They are not carved like CNC pieces but rather soldered layer by layer. They use a plastic powder that gets lasered almost like a layer cake similar to the way toner is heated and bonded to paper in a printer. It’s called 3d printing because the “ink” is the plastic layer and a laser melts it to the previous layer to build up as a 3 dimensional “print” rather than just the 2 dimensions that we see on paper.
