ADB on Shapeways
- Thread starter Nerroth
- Start date
My latest Shapeways batch has arrived:
That is a Bolosco Merchant Cruiser and an Iridani Galleon, both in 3125 scale, plus an Omni scale set of Mæsron fast patrol ships - all inFrosted Ultra DetailSmooth Fine Detail Plastic*.
Note that the Mæsron PFs deploy in flotillas of four; the sprue has one PF leader, four standard PFs, a PF scout, and two missile PFs.
*Shapeways have re-named various materials one can make use of, so FUD is now SFDP, it would seem.
That is a Bolosco Merchant Cruiser and an Iridani Galleon, both in 3125 scale, plus an Omni scale set of Mæsron fast patrol ships - all in
Note that the Mæsron PFs deploy in flotillas of four; the sprue has one PF leader, four standard PFs, a PF scout, and two missile PFs.
*Shapeways have re-named various materials one can make use of, so FUD is now SFDP, it would seem.
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Very nice.
Yes, I posted over on the Star Fleet Games Discussion board a week or so back about the material name changes. Very odd. A new set of acronyms to get used to!
Yes, I posted over on the Star Fleet Games Discussion board a week or so back about the material name changes. Very odd. A new set of acronyms to get used to!
Try spending twenty-plus years in the service and see how many different names one thing can have over time!!!
Placed a new Space Dragon next to the Fed CA:
Just to see how they'd look, I put the whole family around a Starbase:
What do you think?
I'm kidding, of course. The dragons are pretty close to right-size to the starships, per in-game data. The dragons and the Starbase are in the so-called Omni-scale, meaning that they aren't set to any particular scale but rather made to be of a convenient size. The Starbase is available in three different sizes. I bought the largest one.
Just to see how they'd look, I put the whole family around a Starbase:
What do you think?
I'm kidding, of course. The dragons are pretty close to right-size to the starships, per in-game data. The dragons and the Starbase are in the so-called Omni-scale, meaning that they aren't set to any particular scale but rather made to be of a convenient size. The Starbase is available in three different sizes. I bought the largest one.
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My Shapeways package arrived early. Here's some of my collection thus far:
Back row: Battleship, Dreadnought, Heavy Cruiser, Tug w/one pod, New Light Cruiser
Front row: Police Cutter, Frigate, Destroyer, old Light Cruiser
Back row: Battleship, Tug w/one pod, New Light Cruiser
Middle row: Dreadnought, Heavy Cruiser, Destroyer
Front row: Police Cutter, Frigate, old Light Cruiser
Back row: Battleship, Dreadnought, Heavy Cruiser, Tug w/one pod, New Light Cruiser
Front row: Police Cutter, Frigate, Destroyer, old Light Cruiser
Back row: Battleship, Tug w/one pod, New Light Cruiser
Middle row: Dreadnought, Heavy Cruiser, Destroyer
Front row: Police Cutter, Frigate, old Light Cruiser
Nice - I still remember back in the day when the NCL was first introduced me and my friends believed it was supposed to be the Reliant.
I think maybe they got burned when Supplement One introduced the X-Ships, and the original Klingon DX had photon torpedoes, obviously based on the K't'inga from The Motion Picture which may have skirted a little close to the Paramount copyright red line.
On a happy note when re-organising my place in preparation for the heating system to get gutted and replaced I finally found all my Federation Commander stuff. The downside is it's almost impossible to find any suppliers in the UK, so I'll probably have to order direct from ADB Stateside.
On a happy note when re-organising my place in preparation for the heating system to get gutted and replaced I finally found all my Federation Commander stuff. The downside is it's almost impossible to find any suppliers in the UK, so I'll probably have to order direct from ADB Stateside.
Jean Sexton posted on the ADB board that Shapeways has sent noticed to all the vendors of price / shipping cost increases. It appears that these increases go into effect 1 January 2019. There's still a lot of unknowns, but it appears that the minimum price for anything will be $9.99-US, so all the $6 and $7 ships will go up in price.
She advises that is you want anything, now would be the time to buy. Get it before Christmas, if not before Thanksgiving. They uploaded a bunch of ships last week, out-of-cycle, and should be uploading a few items (about twenty) tomorrow. No idea how many they plan for December.
Jean explains that ADB will NOT be able to simply "eat the cost" because they have to pay royalties to Paramount and the sculptors, as well as PayPal fees. Reading between the lines, and this is only my guess, it almost sounds like Shapeways suggested the vendors eat the cost. That's hardly fair.
So, what happened?? Nobody seems to know. I can't find an answer anywhere on-line. My guess, and this is ONLY my guess without any hard data to back it up, one of three things happened:
1) Shapeways management took a page from Photobucket's playbook and increased prices just because they could, not realizing they're killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
2) Shapeways management finally figured out that they under-valued their product and set their prices too low to begin with to sustain the company. Could be. I've seen that happen with other businesses. Sometimes they screw up the math and set the wrong price-point to match desired profits.
3) Another possibility is Shapeways raw-material supplier raised their prices, and Shapeways cannot afford to eat the cost. A guy at work told me his 3D printer string went up in price 20% from two years ago, so without anything to suggest #1 or #2 might be true, I'm going to lean towards believing #3 for now.
She advises that is you want anything, now would be the time to buy. Get it before Christmas, if not before Thanksgiving. They uploaded a bunch of ships last week, out-of-cycle, and should be uploading a few items (about twenty) tomorrow. No idea how many they plan for December.
Jean explains that ADB will NOT be able to simply "eat the cost" because they have to pay royalties to Paramount and the sculptors, as well as PayPal fees. Reading between the lines, and this is only my guess, it almost sounds like Shapeways suggested the vendors eat the cost. That's hardly fair.
So, what happened?? Nobody seems to know. I can't find an answer anywhere on-line. My guess, and this is ONLY my guess without any hard data to back it up, one of three things happened:
1) Shapeways management took a page from Photobucket's playbook and increased prices just because they could, not realizing they're killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
2) Shapeways management finally figured out that they under-valued their product and set their prices too low to begin with to sustain the company. Could be. I've seen that happen with other businesses. Sometimes they screw up the math and set the wrong price-point to match desired profits.
3) Another possibility is Shapeways raw-material supplier raised their prices, and Shapeways cannot afford to eat the cost. A guy at work told me his 3D printer string went up in price 20% from two years ago, so without anything to suggest #1 or #2 might be true, I'm going to lean towards believing #3 for now.
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My latest Shapeways batch has arrived:
*Shapeways have re-named various materials one can make use of, so FUD is now SFDP, it would seem.
Just use red plastic for Tholian crystal ships...
With today's Cyber Monday sale in mind, ADB posted an early batch of new minis on Sunday; to include the first set of ships for the Vudar Enclave (a satrapy of the Klingon Empire, which was the subject of an in-universe propaganda campaign which acted as if they had in fact broken free of the Empire entirely) and the Zosman Marauders (the main "pirate" faction of the Omega Octant; their first wave of Star Fleet Battles rules and SSDs are still in playtest, to be found in Captain's Log #50, the Captain's Log #50 Supplemental File, and Captain's Log #52).
The Zosmans are one of a number of "Omega's Lost Futures"; a group of empires which were intended to be added to the Omega setting, yet which had all relevant data lost in a fatal hard drive crash (and which now have to more or less be re-designed from scratch). Other "lost futures" empires include the Vulpa (who at last have one sample hull type, the Blockade Runner, as shown earlier in this thread) and the Paravians of Omega (who had escaped the destruction of their home system back in the Alpha Octant, and settled in to become a growing threat to the Omega Octant at large). Hopefully, in time, more of these empires may see the light of day.
The Zosmans are one of a number of "Omega's Lost Futures"; a group of empires which were intended to be added to the Omega setting, yet which had all relevant data lost in a fatal hard drive crash (and which now have to more or less be re-designed from scratch). Other "lost futures" empires include the Vulpa (who at last have one sample hull type, the Blockade Runner, as shown earlier in this thread) and the Paravians of Omega (who had escaped the destruction of their home system back in the Alpha Octant, and settled in to become a growing threat to the Omega Octant at large). Hopefully, in time, more of these empires may see the light of day.
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A new trio of ships arrived recently: a Federation Heavy War Destroyer, a Neo-Tholian Survey Cruiser, and a Zosman Heavy Cruiser; all in 3125 Smooth Fine Detail Plastic:
The Fed HDW is a modular design, which has a series of reactor, non-weapon option, and weapon mounts, all on the secondary hull, which can be configured to serve a variety of roles: combat, survey, carrier, repair, and so on.
The Neo-Tholian NSR is a "mission variant" of the Neo-Tholian heavy cruiser, which was a "naval" ship used by the Tholians back in the home galaxy. While the NSR itself is listed in SFB as a conjectural design, I consider this mini to act as a stand-in for the Sojourner - a one-of-a-kind survey vessel which helped lead an exile group of Tholians to the Draco Dwarf galaxy.
The Zosman CA is also modular in design; it has two weapon modules and two system modules on the prow, which allows it to be configured in a variety of roles. The ship can land on planets, so the mini has a set of docking clamps on the ventral hull. Ships of this class can appear in the "on-map" Omega Octant as pirates or mercenaries (belonging to one of numerous Zosman Marauder cells), or in the "off-map" Phi Sector of the galaxy in the navies of the five independent Marauder worlds (which sponsor the various Marauder cells) or the Zosman Collective (the "main" Zosman star-nation, which officially condemns the pirates yet benefits indirectly from increased trade with thee Marauder worlds nonetheless.)
The Fed HDW is a modular design, which has a series of reactor, non-weapon option, and weapon mounts, all on the secondary hull, which can be configured to serve a variety of roles: combat, survey, carrier, repair, and so on.
The Neo-Tholian NSR is a "mission variant" of the Neo-Tholian heavy cruiser, which was a "naval" ship used by the Tholians back in the home galaxy. While the NSR itself is listed in SFB as a conjectural design, I consider this mini to act as a stand-in for the Sojourner - a one-of-a-kind survey vessel which helped lead an exile group of Tholians to the Draco Dwarf galaxy.
The Zosman CA is also modular in design; it has two weapon modules and two system modules on the prow, which allows it to be configured in a variety of roles. The ship can land on planets, so the mini has a set of docking clamps on the ventral hull. Ships of this class can appear in the "on-map" Omega Octant as pirates or mercenaries (belonging to one of numerous Zosman Marauder cells), or in the "off-map" Phi Sector of the galaxy in the navies of the five independent Marauder worlds (which sponsor the various Marauder cells) or the Zosman Collective (the "main" Zosman star-nation, which officially condemns the pirates yet benefits indirectly from increased trade with thee Marauder worlds nonetheless.)
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