Hi All,
Has anyone had dealings with Shapeways 3D Products and if you have what are your thoughts regarding their service. They do seem to offer a vast amount of items, though they do appear to vary in their pricings.
Any input would be welcome
Regards Colin U.K.
I bought some PRR catenary towers from a Shapeways contributor and I was pretty satisfied with the product delivered and the reasonable cost.
IMG_5481_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
This was a few years ago. Materials have improved, costs have increased.
PRR_cat2 by Edmund, on Flickr
The type of plastic these are made of is slightly fuzzy. There are better materials today.
PRR_cat6 by Edmund, on Flickr
Still, for my purpose they filled a need at a reasonable cost and I found a product that was heretofore unavailable unless you wanted to scratch build and the outlay of time and money for that would have been more than the Shapeways cost.
There are plenty of other 3D printing services out there. I found some neat things for HO details by searching eBay:
This MESTA cylinder casting:
Mesta_big50 by Edmund, on Flickr
or mill stands:
Mesta_Mill by Edmund, on Flickr
Alco engine blocks and generators:
Alco_engine by Edmund, on Flickr
Or this nifty boiler:
Boiler_on_flatcar2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Boiler_on_flatcar by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Luck, Ed
Keep posting these examples, Ed!
And I don't think it violates the advertising proscription on the forums to link where to find these on Shapeways, or even give a link to the makers involved...
(I am now thinking how interesting an HO Double Belpaire to late Lima dimensions, built with the kind of interior detail pictured, might be...)
I bought 2 dry bulk tankers.
I haven't finished them off yet.
I was also thinking about a few EPIC trash containers, but they are so simple, I'll probably scratch build a few.
Mike.
My You Tube
I buy my 1:87 female figures off Shapeways, the detail on the figures are outstanding. I make molds from the figures then remove arms and legs to configure the figures so that they all look different. Even the second generation detail is very good after casting the reconfigured figures.All the figures in this lounge car are my castings, females are basically Shapeway figures the males are Preiser figures. There are a lot of nice Preiser male figures but very few nice looking female figures.This is a second generation Preiser figure.These are castings from Shapeway figures ready to be reshaped.These are third generation castings.
Mel
My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I bought a critter body from them a few years back and made myself a nice little running model. The high quality finishes do get very expensive, but it's understandable considering the cost of thes machines and how long it takes to make a quality print. The forum software forbids me from posting links to itself for some reason, so here it is on the Tyco forum.
EDIT: And here's a finished photo.
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I think this technology will only increase and get better and better in quality. The advances just in the last couple of years are astounding. Whether we will all have our own 3D printers or whether we will buy what others have made remains perhaps to be seen, but my money is on buying. But it would be nice to have a centralized source where we could see what's out there. Shapeways is one but there are others.
What is really needed is better penetration into the hobby's awareness of what is actually out there. There are several manufacturers I have found because someone sent me a link -- otherwise would have been utterly unknown to me. This is especially valuable knowledge now that Walthers has made it explicit and plain that carrying vast inventory of small and specialized parts is not something they are as inclined to do as they once were.
Model Railroader could do more for us in this regard. Back in the 1960s their product reviews didn't just focus on locomotives, rolling stock and structures, but they would review detail parts (and decals!). I'd like to see them do more to actually review some of this new generation of fabricated parts, and not just blandly mention that they exist.
Dave Nelson
I got a 3D printer for Christmas, a resin type, so I have some fun time ahead learning how to use it best. And learning to draw in 3D.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Besides 3d printing with filiments they have other ways that have no fuzzies, they used to call it emulsion printing but have changed the name as it was the wild west when it was first developed so you could call it what you wanted back then.
CP ModellerHas anyone had dealings with Shapeways 3D Products
My limited dealings with them have been very satisfactory. I ordered some oxy-acetelene welding sets that were supposedly HO scale. The detail was amazing but they were way too small to represent a set of full sized HO scale tanks. I contacted Shapeways with the intent of simply advising them that the size was a bit off. I got an apology from them and a full refund, and they said I could keep the welding sets. I was able to find another welding set from them that was scaled properly and equally as well detailed.
Another benefit that Shapeways offers is that they have a listing of designers who can create the programs needed to copy an item. A couple of years ago I needed to match our kitchen cabinet handles. I found a gentleman who was just a few miles from where I live. He scanned the handle, ordered the copies (in steel no less) and had them to me in a couple of weeks. They were not cheap to make, but they were exact and they solved a significant problem for us. His cost for doing the scan alone was ridiculously cheap! I told him that he undervalued his services even though the scan only took a couple of minutes.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I've shied away from Shapeways parts after having some leach an oily substance after being cleaned and painted. Maybe I should have used a more potent cleaning agent than the suggested Simple Green. In any case that was three years ago, perhaps the oily residue is no longer present.
Ed, Dig your interior shot of the boiler with tube-sheet, took me way back to boiler shutdown daze and 'rollin' 2" tubes'.
Wishing everyone a good New Years Eve, regards, Peter
Randy)
rrinker I got a 3D printer for Christmas, a resin type, so I have some fun time ahead learning how to use it best. And learning to draw in 3D. --Randy
Good luck! Best advice - start simple, take your time, and stockpile patience.
All the Best!
Douglas
Shapeways is great. I've bought many items there. There are different types of materials used, and I find some are easier to work with than others. Until recently, the items I ordered were all in a fairly brittle translucent material, but easy to sand. The latest piece I got was made of a more robust white material, but the detail was not as crisp and it was definitely harder to sand. Sanding and filling with putty is necessary if you want a really smooth finish. That's been my experience anyway. The HOn30 Porter below was made from a Shapeways cab and boiler, that I combined with a Japanese HOn30 mechanism (the motor is actually in the gondola behind it). Tomorrow, I will post another one that I just finished up - it will be on the Weekend Photo Fun thread...
Simon
20190501_214822b on Flickr
Shapeways is great and I have bought multiple items from them without any issues. My only complaint is their website is not great for sorting out what you are really looking for. I alway plan on doing some browsing to find what I want.