ADB on Shapeways

[Nerroth]

Recently, Amarillo Design Bureau set up their own storefront on Shapeways, offering various designs from the Star Fleet Universe.

The minis on offer are in one of three scales: "3788" Scale (which match the metal Starline 2400 series minis that ADB has done in the past); "3125" Scale (the same as that used for the Starline 2500 minis made in tandem with Mongoose Publishing, primarily for A Call to Arms: Star Fleet); and "Omni" Scale (which work in either scale, or are for units which would not fit neatly in either category).

Some of the designs are inherited directly from ADB's limited access to the Paramount/CBS Franchise, such as the Federation Constitution-class heavy cruiser and the Klingon D7 battlecruiser; others are created for one of the "TV empires" as they appear in the SFU proper, such as the Romulan Vulture and DemonHawk; while yet others belong to "SFU-native" species and empires, such as the Seltorian heavy cruiser and destroyer.

(In the SFU setting, the Tholians were once masters of the M81 Galaxy, until they were violently overthrown in a galaxy-wide revolt; the Tholian population in the Milky Way is descended from a group of exiles which fled M81 during that era of turmoil. The Seltorians were an insectoid "enforcer species" genetically-engineered by the Tholians to enforce their Will; however, once they found a way to break the infamous Tholian web, they turned on their masters and set out to pursue them to our galaxy.)

 

[Sgt_G]

The 1:3788 scale is the original scale invented by Lou Zocchi who did the first Star Trek / USS Enterprise miniatures. That ship is exactly three inches long. The 1:3125 scale was what Mongoose used so that the minis could be larger / more detailed. One of the differences between the old Starline 2400 (and previous 2200 / 2300) series and the Mongoose 2500 series is the older ships (which were hand-sculpted) did not always size well to each other. With the Mongoose designs, we on the ADB discussion board tried very hard to size all the other ships to "fit" with the Federation Heavy Cruise (aka USS Enterprise). With the new Shapeways minis, ADB is asking the 3D-CAD artists to re-size ships to fit better in both scales.

And a disclaimer: Neither I nor Nerroth work for or may officially speak for ADB. We are merely players and fans, admittedly ones who have had a lot of input to ADB products.

 

[publiusr]

Tholian designs really need this tech:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/540926/3-d-printing-breaks-the-glass-barrier/

The Doomsday Machine and Great Crystalline Entity as well.

 

[Sgt_G]

They can do the Doomsday Machine (and already did, in metal -- search the ADB store for STARLINE 2400 MINIATURES > General Miniatures > Planet Killer), but they can't and won't do the Crystalline Entity because that's from TNG. They can only use TOS/TAS ships and anything they invented in-house.

 

[Sgt_G]

I can't find the posting now, but I recall seeing someplace where Steve Cole said it's his plan / desire to add 12-20 new ships to the Shapeways store the first of every month.

Obviously, things can and probably will happen that could interrupt said plan. A sculptor could miss a deadline, or drop out of the project altogether, a design might not pass Shapeways' error-checking, market forces could say that it's too many too often, or who knows what. But at this point in time, it does appear he's on-track to keep to the plan in the short term.

Again: I do NOT work for nor speak for ADB or SVC.

 

[Kor]

Very cool ships. I was never able to get into the tabletop Star Fleet games, since I couldn't find anyone else in my area to play them. But I might get some of these and paint them, just to display.

Kor

 

[Solariabsg25]

Tholian designs really need this tech:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/540926/3-d-printing-breaks-the-glass-barrier/

The Doomsday Machine and Great Crystalline Entity as well.

They can do the Doomsday Machine (and already did, in metal -- search the ADB store for STARLINE 2400 MINIATURES > General Miniatures > Planet Killer), but they can't and won't do the Crystalline Entity because that's from TNG. They can only use TOS/TAS ships and anything they invented in-house.

Yes, ADB had the advantage that they were able to expand as they did their licencing based on the Franz Joseph Tech Manual, and were able to cut a deal with Paramount. Anything movie-era onwards are a no-no (although the X-Ships were influenced by the movie designs).

FASA because they did their deal directly with Paramount were stymied as they were able to fill in the gaps when there was just a movie every couple of years, but once TNG came along, they were hamstrung as they could no longer do anything that would interfere or be contradicted on-screen (even though some FASA starship designs did appear on TNG displays).

I got out of SFB a number of years ago unfortunately as there were literally no players anywhere near me willing to learn the rules. I'd definitely use the miniatures for the new RPG as Modiphius have no interest in making starship miniatures, and these will fit right in.

 

[Sgt_G]

I got out of SFB a number of years ago unfortunately as there were literally no players anywhere near me willing to learn the rules.

You may want to check out ADB's other games. Federation Commander (kind-of sort-of but-not-really SFB-lite), A Call To Arms, and Armada. Combined, their rulebooks are probably thinner than SFB's rulebook.

 

[Solariabsg25]

I have most of Federation Commander, which I played with my kids until they drifted away from it. I may dust it off again.

 

[Sgt_G]

ADB just uploaded 20-some-odd more ships as an out-of-cycle bunch as part of the store kick-off. From here on, the plan is for them to upload on or about the first of every month. With any luck, they'll have a ton of Lyran ships ready for August.

 

[publiusr]

I'd love to see a large B-10 model--from a refit era--just to see how well it could be done.

 

[Sgt_G]

If you mean to look like The Motion Picture or TNG ... again, ADB's license does not allow them to do anything after TOS/TAS, nor do they want to.

 

[publiusr]

Oh well. I liked the designs in Starfleet Command and Klingon Academy.

 

[Nerroth]

A third wave of designs has been posted to the Shapeways storefront, including a sprue for the Federation Thunderbolt gunboat (or fast patrol ship).

In the "standard" SFU timeline, Star Fleet decided against fielding gunboats - which had the unfortunate side-effect of preventing the Federation from building their own "civilian" variants (outside of Orion space) later on. Other Alpha Octant empires (to include the Orion Enclave) built gunboats firstly as military units, and were able to benefit from using the civilian models to help rebuild their economies during peacetime.

However, the Feds did start building Thunderbolt flotillas over in the "dark future" timeline, which the wayward survey ship Darwin encountered/created during a highly classified incident which took place at a key point of the Andromedan invasion.

 

[Sgt_G]

ADB uploaded 50+ more ships to their Shapeways store the other day. Sadly, there's still only the Federation heavy cruiser (in two sizes) and the gunboat Nerroth mentioned. The Lyran got a lot of love this time around.

 

[Nerroth]

For anyone with an interest in how the Shapeways project has unfolded, a number of the people involved called in to this week's Star Fleet Universe On Call podcast. It's listed as Episode 440.

 

[Sgt_G]

ADB is uploading 56 items for this month's release. This includes a few non-ship items. It does include the massive Klingon B-10 four-engine battleship, and the Federations GSC Galactic Survey Cruiser which is a modified Heavy Cruiser (aka Enterprise) with long-range "scout sensors".

 

[Sgt_G]

Steve Cole posted that they have about 75 (seventy-five!!!!) more miniatures they plan to upload on Monday, 2 Oct 2017.

 

[Lawn Dart]

Are there any pictures of painted ADB Shapeways miniatures anywhere?

 

[Sgt_G]

Yes, on ADB's site, on ADB's FaceBook, and of course on the Shapeways site. Not many Fed ships on Shapeways because most of them are available in cast metal.