Appreciate the heads up just the same, though. Thank you.
(Investing thousands of dollars in an injection mold with the ship little more than an artist's rendering at this point is "not real." In 2026--if on schedule--we'll see the actual ship. I would think an injection kit would show up in about another year..."or so." I can be patient. If I ever felt I HAD to have a 1/700 one before then, it's nice to know I could get one, and from a couple different sources at that.)
It ranges in price from $53.00 to $83.00 not including shipping. To me a photo-etch nightmare of mast and NSM canisters. I will wait for the mold injected kit .
As both Lars and Bill note, it is dependant upon "which shop" you use (who the designer is.)
As far as materials used, I have never found a Shapeways shop offering any product relevant to this hobby in other than Natural Versatile Plastic and Fine Detail Plastic.
My experience with Natural Versatile Plastic has led me to conclude that no shop, no matter how skilled, will obtain a terribly good offering with it. That material, and the print process associated with it, just can't produce a very good product. Which is why almost any shop which does offer that option--at a cheap/affordable price point--will almost invariably offer the same thing in Fine Detail Plastic. The price, however, then becomes "a deterent." The experienced (I consider myself this) then need to make a calculation. You get what you pay for, and a model which will likely be affordable, but crap, in the Natural Versatile, will probably come out fine in the Fine Detail material, but have cost an arm and a leg. Each individual has to then decide how much the item is worth to them...how much they're willing to pay. How valuable the subject is to them, personally.
My very first Shapeways order was about seven 1/700 scale accessory items from Kokoda Trail, and some items were only available in Natural Versatile, while others offered the Fine Detail option. Where that was available, I opted for it, and wound up with an assortment. The Natural Versatile items were invariably poor. The Fine Detail items were obviously dependent upon the skill of the designer (and I will openly state Kokoda Trail is not a terribly great designer, IMHO.)
My next order was 1/2400 ships from Nomadier. All were in Fine Detail except one submarine, which I deliberately ordered in Natural Versatile to compare with the same item I had ordered in Fine Detail. Sure enough, that Natural Versatile sub is junk. The other one is a proud addition to my collection. In 1/2400, the Fine Detail option is "eminently affordable," and completely worth it. From this, I learned to "order small." Small items offered in the better material are "more affordable," and totally worth the extra expense of the better material. Pretty much exactly the advice Bill Oreto is offering!
When you scale up to 1/700 (and beyond) that is much less the case. I seriously eyed a 1/700 Constellation class FFG from Dutch Fleet. The item in Natural Versatile costs about what you'd expect to pay for a resin kit. The Fine Detail price is (IMHO) absurd. I know better than to try for the Natural Versatile. I won't pay the Fine Detail price. Guess I don't want a Constellation class FFG all that much after all...in 1/700. In 1/2400, I have 2 of them, from Nomadier, in Fine Detail. Love them!
Shapeways--as Lars notes--is only a printing service. It forces designers to use certain materials. Those materials then force the print methods used, and the prices charged. The skill of the designer, the material and print method all then result in the product you receive. Independent printers, who have their own equipment, and have refined their abilities with their equipment, and have control over all aspects of the production, will always be the better option. But, an understanding of "the parameters" under which Shapeways operates can result in "happiness." In slightly over a half dozen orders, only my first was unsatisfactory on any major level. I have gotten great products from Bill's Bits and Pieces, Nomadier, SNAFU Store, and Panzer and Tanks, in Fine Detail material, at prices I found reasonable. Both Lars and Bill are correct. Which shop on Shapeways is critical. Also, smaller accessory items are most likely to be both affordable, and printed well enough.
I have never been happy with anything from Shapeways.
Well, I'm trying a "printed" ship model. I'll admit, some of the CAD renderings scared me at first, but some research & some questions, and I've ordered a 1/700 Barnegat-class Seaplane Tender off of Shapeways. I didn't mess with any of the upcharges so looking at mid-late January
We will see.
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