Digital modelling

[Fitz]

Here's the latest batch of my 15mm models, received from Shapeways this morning, all in WSF nylon.

I've de-sprued turrets, scrubbed them down with a toothbrush to remove any excess nylon powder, and sprayed them with a pale grey primer to make it possible to photograph them, but that's all that's been done to them thus far.



They are, from left to right:

• Bob Semple tank (New Zealand, WW2)
  
• Garford-Putilov armoured truck (Russia/Soviet Union, WW1—WW2)
  
• T-27 tankette (Soviet Union, interwar)
  
• T-24 medium tank (Soviet Union, interwar)
  

The limitations of the 3d printing process and material shows up most starkly in the steeply-sloped glacis of the Garford-Putilov's turret. The print layers are very apparent there. However, overall I'm quite pleased with them. As I've mentioned before, WSF isn't adequate for scale modelling purposes, but for wargaming models it's just fine.

Desktop stereolithography printers for high-resolution resin printing are available now for well under $US5,000, so I'm hopeful of being able to afford one of my own before senility sets in irretrievably.

[FramFramson]

I saw the first one and instantly thought "Oh my god, did he really make a Bob Semple tank?!"

[Fitz]

The wargaming tables of the world need Bob Semple tanks

[Fitz]

Here's the WSF render for a new model, the Czech Tančík vz33 tankette, based (like many others) on the chassis of the Carden Loyd carrier.



This is the 15mm (1/100 scale) version; there's a 20mm (1/72) version in the works.

You can get it at http://shpws.me/MgdR

[Fitz]

Here are my latest 15mm military vehicle prints from Shapeways.

I've cleaned off the extraneous printing crap (though possibly not completely, by the look of the T-18's suspension) and sprayed them with Vallejo surface primer, which makes them a thousand percent easier to photograph, without hiding any surface imperfections.

The SdKfz 3 (below) has been printed in WSF, while the T-18 and SU-18 (above) have both been printed in FUD.

[Insert here regular complaint about the high cost of printing in decent resolution resin]

[Fitz]

The 1/72 scale (20mm) version of my Czech Tančík vz33 tankette is available now at  http://shpws.me/Mhq3

There's not much to be seen to differentiate the two scales except size, but the 1/72 version has a bit more refinement in detailing things like the machine-guns.

[Fitz]

This is the Burford-Kegresse, a British half-tracked machine-gun carrier, from about 1926 I think.



It mounted two Vickers guns on a modified aircraft Scarff mount.

I've been pondering how to build the model so that the guns could be adjustable; it's not impossible, but I think the 3d-printing tolerances might make it impractical in this scale. Maybe when I re-scale it up to 1/72.

The 1/100 scale model for 15mm gaming is available at http://shpws.me/MiBM

[Fitz]

Now the 1/72 scale version of the Burford-Kegresse is available at http://shpws.me/MiXh



The rivets on this one are the same size as the 1/100 scale model, but thanks to the overall increase in size, they look a bit less like baseballs.

Also, the Scarff mount and Vickers guns are separate components, sprued to the main body of the vehicle. That means that after they've been cut away, they can be assembled at any orientation and/or elevation you choose.

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

I started following you on Shapeways earlier this week, and now I find this thread! Can any of the 15mm stuff be re-sized to 1/56th?

[Ballardian]

Would being brushed down with some acetone reduce the printer scan lines in the WSF? (I've seen it done on other printed stuff - admittedly it was scenery so had fewer small details to accidently melt)

[Fitz]

I started following you on Shapeways earlier this week, and now I find this thread! Can any of the 15mm stuff be re-sized to 1/56th?

Some of it has been, but the problem is that resizing to 1/56 increases the price about six or seven-fold.

[Fitz]

Would being brushed down with some acetone reduce the printer scan lines in the WSF? (I've seen it done on other printed stuff - admittedly it was scenery so had fewer small details to accidently melt)

Acetone has no effect on it at all. It's a sintered nylon material, and I've yet to find an effective solvent for it.

[Fitz]

I've re-sized my 1935 Komintern artillery tractor to 1/285 scale.

It's now also also available in 1/285 scale at http://shpws.me/MjpE (single model) and at http://shpws.me/MjpC (sprue of four vehicles).

[Fitz]

I'm building another Soviet artillery tractor in 15mm (1/100 scale), this time the Voroshilovetz, the replacement for the aging Komintern.

The 15mm (1/100 scale) version is at http://shpws.me/Mmbg

A lot of the geometry is from the Komintern model, but almost everything needed some adjustment, and the running gear had to be rebuilt almost from scratch.

I had a go at building a canopy for the back, but it wasn't very successful. I can't seem to get the drape of the fabric right. I'll give it another go, but I have to say that organic shapes are really giving me grief.

[Fitz]

I've sort of managed to get the canvas of the canopy looking more like fabric, though I think some of the geometry is a bit suspect for printing.

We shall have to see how it goes. Shapeways' automated pre-checks passed it, which is nice I guess, but those automated checks seem to be countermanded fairly regularly when the model gets to the manual pre-checking stage.

Adding the tilt to the back bumped up the WSF printing cost by about two bucks fifty, and the FUD print by about four bucks fifty, which is less than I had feared.

The 15mm Voroshilovetz with canvas tilt is at http://shpws.me/MmJN