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.
Damn, that is just amazing that we can now design pretty much any type of unit for this game now. I might need to check these out. Any pics of painted pieces to post yet?
Guys,
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.
––Thanks for the detailed explanation, Wil. I knew I wasn’t representing the ‘process’ correctly, but I thought I answered his Q. That’s really COOL! I’m always interested in learning from other people, especially here on A&A.Org
“Tall Paul”
jluna,
Damn, that is just amazing that we can now design pretty much any type of unit for this game now. I might need to check these out. Any pics of painted pieces to post yet?
––My only suggestion to you is that whatever you order make sure you specify them using the most detailed plastic available. I’m TOTALLY HAPPY with my outcome and honestly I’m blown away at the level of detail! And I’m a somewhat “picky” individual.
----So far I’ve received the American B-29, B-10, A-20, P-26, the British Beaufighter, and the Japanese J1N1 ‘Gekko’ which I will use as a NEW TYPE,….Long-Range Fighter.
----All of this started after I bought some of the HBG Minor Factories which I’m totally happy with!
Let me know how your experience turns out. I’d almost guarantee you’ll be happy!
“Tall Paul”
how is the scale of the b29’s? are they similar to the OOB b17’s? HBG has those Rita bombers in there Japanese expansion set which have some nice detail for painting, and a great size for a bomber in my opinion. Have you found any detailed ships from shapeways in the right scale for AA? I have looked but haven’t had much luck
how is the scale of the b29’s? are they similar to the OOB b17’s? HBG has those Rita bombers in there Japanese expansion set which have some nice detail for painting, and a great size for a bomber in my opinion. Have you found any detailed ships from shapeways in the right scale for AA? I have looked but haven’t had much luck
Coach sells these in AA compatible size on shapeways. just got to their site and type in Coachofmany in the search box. You can see everything he has there.
jwo1984 and others,
how is the scale of the b29’s? are they similar to the OOB b17’s? HBG has those Rita bombers in there Japanese expansion set which have some nice detail for painting, and a great size for a bomber in my opinion. Have you found any detailed ships from shapeways in the right scale for AA? I have looked but haven’t had much luck
––The B-29 Superfortress were actually designed by HBG’s “Coachofmany” and so I know them to be exactly the correct proportion. I’ll include a ‘link’ to the four pages of units that he has already designed below:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/historicalboardgaming
––The first items I ordered from Shapeways were the Minor Factories that the “Coach” designed. They were AWESOME and the perfect size for use as Minor Factories. For major factories I’m using painted versions of the OOB Factories from previous versions of A&A.
––As far as getting all of the different units in their correct proportions just scroll up in this thread. You could also check out my current thread concerning “Correct Proportions of all the diferent A&A units”. Included in here is a ‘link’ to a previous thread with some really good info.
“Tall Paul”
jwo1984 & others,
––BTW, as far as some ships, I just orderred some APD Attack Transports. I’ll let you know once they come in how they look and if I orderred then in the correct size.
“Tall Paul”
