ADB on Shapeways

Discussion in 'Trek Gaming' started by Nerroth, Jun 22, 2017.

  1. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    The October batch is now up, which includes the Saladin-class destroyer (the first "Franz Joseph" design to be added to the Shapeways storefront), as well as the infamous Planet Killer.
     
  2. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    The Saladin class is affectionately known as the Lollipop Destroyer. It's the star of the graphic novel USS Tamerlane.
     
  3. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    My first batch of Shapeways minis arrived yesterday!

    I got a Federation Byrd-class Galactic Survey Cruiser, a Mæsron Heavy Cruiser, and a Mæsron Light Cruiser, all in 3125 scale.
     
  4. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Two items posted the other day on the ADB board. Steve Cole (aka SVC) had surgery recently and is still recovering. He's doing well but has had very little office time. And their internet was on the fritz. So, with all that, they may or may not be able to release this month's Shapeways items on the First like they want. Worst case, baring more set-backs, is they should have things up on Shapeways by Friday. On deck, if I'm not mistaken, are more fighters and more versions of small Klingon ships, amongst other things.
     
  5. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    SVC just posted, it looks like they may be able to upload / release Shapeways items on the First after all.
     
  6. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    The November 2017 batch of Shapeways releases is indeed up, including more Federation fighters (the F-14, F-15, A-10 and A-20), the Hermes-class scout (in both ADB and "Franz Joseph" incarnations), and the first pair of warships for the Omega Octant's robotic Drex Unity.
     
  7. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    The ADB scout ships have "special sensors" which are represented by additional dishes mounted on the hull (so you can tell them apart visually from regular warships while playing a table-top game). Given that the Hermes-class has eight of these, there was much discussion where to put them all. The final compromise is "okay". Some may find it "too weird", which is why they also did the FJ version. From six feet away, it looks identical to the Saladin-class destroyer. Once you look closer, you will find it loses all four of the photons and two pairs of the phasers (out of three pairs on the DD).
     
  8. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

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    Good demonstration of quality of the miniatures from someone I follow on youtube.

     
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  9. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Nice. I hope someone posts a video comparing the White Strong & Flexible vs. the Frosted Ultra Detail.
     
  10. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Okay, since Shapeways is having a Cyber Monday special, Jean spent her Sunday at ADB's office uploading December's batch of ships early so that we may take advantage of the discount. The Feds got a bit of love this time around. There are now "classic" smooth-hull CA/DD for those who don't care for the grid lines on the saucers. And one of the new ships is the "New Light Cruiser" (NCL), in both sizes and with/without grid lines. The Fed NCL is, in my opinion, the best mid-sized ship in the game, even better than the, albeit close-second-best, Klingon D5 War Cruiser.
     
  11. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    This latest batch also includes the Federation Prometheus-class strike cruiser, which was one of the "design competitors" that ultimately lost out to the aforementioned Kearsarge-class in terms of entering full-scale production.

    Other new arrivals have shown up in this latest batch, including a set of new hulls and mission variants for the Omega Octant, plus a pair of "monster" warships from the extra-galactic Juggernaut Empire.
     
  12. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Shapeways extended the discount for a second day. Don't forget to fill in the Promo-Code box to get said discount.
     
  13. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Okay, now that I've had a chance to examine my Shapeways order closer ...

    I bought all but two of the warship in the White Strong & Flexible (WSF). I bought one each Fed CA and Klingon D7 in Frosted Ultra-Detail (FUD). In my opinion, I'd say the WSF is on-par with any of the previous metal ships and far better than the resin ships Mongoose Publishing attempted to produce. I will say that the grid-lines on the Fed saucers are very fine and may disappear on WSF after being painted. No problem for me as I ordered most of my Fed ships as the "classic" smooth-hull versions.

    If you want these minis as display pieces rather than for gaming, especially if you want the grid-lines to show up on the Fed ships, you may want to consider spending the extra money and get FUD instead of WSF. Just my personal opinion based on two examples to compare. For what I want, I think the WSF is perfectly fine.

    These must be selling well, because ADB has indicated a tentative schedule of ships to come for the next four or five months.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2017
  14. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    My second trio of Shapeways minis arrived recently: a Romulan DemonHawk dreadnought, a Mæsron dreadnought, and a Vulpa blockade runner - all in 3125 Frosted Ultra Detail.

    There are two versions of the DMH on the Shapeways storefront; this one is designed to match the "Mongoose" style in the metal Starline 2500s, while a more "classic" DMH is currently available in 3788 scale.

    As for the others, the Mæsron DN has the same "floating" firing platform as the Mæsron heavy cruiser and light cruiser; whereas the Vulpa VBR is derived from the Mæsron destroyer, but with some heavy modifications (to incude the removal of said platform).
     
  15. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    The January 2018 batch is up, which includes the "Franz Joseph" Federation starbase, the "Mongoose-style" Romulan SparrowHawk light cruiser, and the first (bio)ship for the Omega Octant's Alunda Host.

    -----

    As noted in earlier posts, I have six minis from Shapeways I've been working on, all in 3125 scale Frosted Ultra Detail; a Federation galactic survey cruiser; a Romulan DemonHawk dreadnought; a Mæsron dreadnought, heavy cruiser, and light cruiser; and a Vulpa blockade runner.

    This is how they looked unpainted:

    [​IMG]

    And this my current work-in-progress attempt at each:

    [​IMG]

    Of the lot, I'd say that, thus far at least, I'm feeling relatively comfortable trying to work on the Mæsron and Vulpa ships.

    In the case of the Mæsrons, I've been trying to follow the colour scheme shown in the cover art for SFB Module Omega 1, and particularly Adam Turner's cover art for Module Omega 5. I've painted the "city" sections of these hulls grey, with silver "buildings" and (on the CA and DN) black for the "recessed" sections. The "outer" hulls are painted red, with a clear red coating added - though it may not show all that clearly in my less-than-stellar picturing attempts.

    For the Vulpa, I wanted to do something different, yet still reflecting their "post-Mæsron" status. So, I used the same colour pattern for the "city" portion of the blockade runner, as well as common weapon and engine colours. However, it took a while to figure out a half-decent alternate colour for the "outer" hull; by accident, I found that a coat of clear red over a layer of yellow produced a nice orange-ey look, which I feel helps distinguish the ship from its former Mæsron comrades. (As it happens, the relevant Omega hex maps show Vulpa territory in orange, as opposed to Mæsron red...)

    In contrast, I'm much less happy with how the GSC and DMH are turning out thus far.

    If I'm being honest, I've never been overly comfortable trying to paint the white (or very light grey) hulls on Star Fleet or Auroran Navy starships. In the case of the GSC, I made a mistake trying to figure out how to colour in the panel lines, and "doubled down" by trying to give the ship an overall "weathered" look, as if it has been away from a major fleet installation for a significant stretch of time - which, I suppose, would be an appropriate thing to say about the long-range survey missions your average GSC is liable to be sent out on.

    In the case of the DMH, I wanted to go with a green colour, yet one which avoided looking too "Franchise-ey". One of my problems has been how to distinguish the SparrowHawk and SkyHawk modules, and other details such as the warp engines, without looking too garish relative to the main hull.

    In all, I have much to do to try and tidy up even those minis I feel more comfortable with, let alone trying to salvage something out of the others. Oh well...
     
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  16. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

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    Way I did my Fed ships was an undercoat with Tamiya AS-26 ghost grey, very carefully-applied ink-wash along the panel-lines, then an overall drybrush with a lighter grey.
     
  17. Nerroth

    Nerroth Commodore Commodore

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    For what it's worth, I have posted a few "before" and "during" pics of each individual ship to this thread over on ADB's FC forum.

    Have you tried the same technique on any of the non-"saucer-and-nacelle" ships in the SFU's Star Fleet, such as the old Terran CL - and if so, does it work as well on them also?
     
  18. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

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    It does work on them, just slightly harder to pull off on smooth-hull designs like the Old CL, and races that use less panel lines like the Klingons, Romulans, ISC etc. Definitely adding these to my future projects list, I want a Juggernaut as loved them since I first got the Captain's Log with it in.
     
  19. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Work has begun on the Gorn fleet. Pop on over to the ADB discussion board to see the early draft.
     
  20. Sgt_G

    Sgt_G Commodore Commodore

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    Jean just posted on Facebook that she has about 70 items to upload tomorrow. Keep in mind that some ships are done in two different scales and thus count as two items.