Model Monkey News

pascalemod · Post by **pascalemod** » Thu Oct 11, 2018 5:08 pm

Have you ever built anything for soviet warships? Im trying to find somewhere the soviet 1:700 AA guns to buy. Namely 37mm twin B-11 (V-11) and songle 37mm 70-K. They are just shielded guns with canvas on top...

Both attached. W canvas cover they are fairly easy I think to make...

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Thu Oct 11, 2018 5:41 pm

Thanks for the message!

Presently, I regret to report that I am not accepting requests for new projects. But other designers might. You can make your request here: https://www.shapeways.com/forum/f/3d-de ... quests.92/

Thanks again!

Really enjoying your Washington build.

EpsilonZer0 · Post by **EpsilonZer0** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 10:20 am

ModelMonkey wrote:Happy to announce nameplates for aircraft and armor subjects have been added to the catalog. There are now more than 480 ready-to-print nameplates for popular ships, submarines, aircraft and armor models available.

Link: https://modelmonkey.wixsite.com/modelmonkey/nameplates

Don't see a name you need? Requests for other names are accepted. Please limit new nameplate requests to nameplates you actually intend to buy.

Nameplates feature raised lettering and include a raised, decorative rope border.

Nameplates are available in several real metals (brass, bronze, gold-plated brass, rhodium-plated brass, and silver) as well as inexpensive, paintable acrylic.

Most, but not all, existing designs are sized to compliment 1/48 scale aircraft, 1/35 scale armor, and 1/700 scale ships. They can be enlarged to better compliment other scales upon request.

Got this enlarged, in a USN font, and rhodium plated brass. Turned out great

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Fri Oct 12, 2018 3:59 pm

Thanks so much for posting the photos!

Nothing like a nameplate to add a touch of class to a well-built model.

Here are a few more recently-printed products in gray resin.

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sat Oct 13, 2018 10:09 am

1/72 scale model aircraft fans! Stands to pose you model aircraft in-flight are now available. They are available in black, white, green, red or blue. Other colors are available upon request. These can be also be re-scaled upon request.

There is space on the stands' base for a custom nameplate or other decoration.

Link for single-engine jets: http://shpws.me/QM8e
Link for other aircraft types: http://shpws.me/QM8g

For single-engine jets:

For other aircraft types:

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:23 am

A few more products printed, all in 1/200 scale:

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:13 pm

More...

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:19 pm

More...

HMS Hood funnels in 1/350 scale. What appears as lines in the photos are actually rows of fine rivets (look closely).

1/700 scale Fletcher class anti-Kamikaze mods (Bofors tubs and director deck house).

1/720 scale USS Independence CVA-62 island, 1965-1971.

Later today, photos of newly released 1/350 scale HMS Belfast funnels and 1/125 scale 5"/38 cal. Mk.30 "double knuckle" mounts will be posted.

Miguel · Post by **Miguel** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 2:09 pm

One question Steve

Are those 1/350 Hood funnels with the same detail as the earlier FUD I got from your shop?
Because they look really good

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:26 pm

Hi Miguel,

Thanks for your patronage!

Gray resin is a newer technology than that used by Shapeways so products printed from the same design do look different. The Hood funnel models 3D-printed in gray resin you see in the post above are created from the same basic CAD file offered previously from Shapeways. Yes, IMO, gray resin does look better, and better captures the detail included in the CAD design. Compare the surface rivet detailing of the 3D-printed gray resin funnels in the posts above to this photo of one of Hood's real funnels:

All those rivets make for a very large CAD file, larger than what Shapeways can accept (the file can't be bigger than 65 MB). Because of this, my Hood funnels sold by Shapeways were offered separately, and the Shapeways' funnels were broken into upper and lower sections. Modelers buying from Shapeways had to buy each section by itself from Shapeways, then assemble the funnels.

Gray resin products are not available from Shapeways. All of the gray resin models I offer are printed by me, not Shapeways. Because the gray resin printer I have has no CAD file size limitation, I can print the funnels fully assembled as a pair.

Just recently, I made a slight change to the Hood funnels' CAD file uploaded to Shapeways. The Hood funnels of my design sold by Shapeways in all available scales are now fully assembled, too, but each funnel is still offered separately by Shapeways due to Shapeways' CAD file size limitation.

In my opinion, gray resin is a superior material to Shapeways white acrylic "fine detail" plastic for the following reasons:

- Gray resin surfaces are smoother. Gray resin does not use any waxy support material during printing. With gray resin, there is no waxy material for the modeler to have to clean up. Shapeways' white acrylic "fine detail" plastic uses waxy material to support overhanging features during printing. When the waxy support material comes into contact with the resin during printing at Shapeways, the waxy material is hot and deforms slightly. This means that there will be a rougher surface texture any place on the model where the waxy support material comes into contact with the acrylic resin.

Instead of waxy support material, gray resin uses physical structural "sprues" to support overhanging features during printing, normally at the bottom, rising upwards from a 3D-printed "tray". The sprues also provide strength during shipping. The sprues and tray can be cut away with a common cuticle clipper.

- Gray resin does not use any mold release agent like that needed to cast resin products. Thus, there is no mold release agent to clean up.

- Gray resin has no casting block that must be cut or sanded away by the modeler.

- Gray resin print lines are finer. Gray resin surfaces do have print lines, a natural characteristic of any current 3D-printing technology. If you look very closely at the Hood funnel photos, you can see some running vertically between the rivets. But the gray resin print lines are far less noticeable, and generally disappear under a coat of paint.

- Gray resin accepts enamel paints, including Colourcoats, as well as acrylic paints such as Tamiya, Model Master and Vallejo. Alclad2 paints work well with gray resin and so do Molotow paint markers often used by modelers to paint fine details.

- Gray resin costs less. For smaller items, the cost difference is pretty small. But for larger items like the 1/350 scale Hood funnels or a set of 1/350 scale turrets, it is significant.

Gray resin is by no mean perfect. There are still some characteristics, like print lines, that will be overcome as the technology continues to mature:

- Gray resin 3D-printing is still a very slow process. A pair of gray resin 1/350 scale Hood funnels takes about 7 hours to print. But as you can see from the photos, they are worth the wait.

- Sprues don't work with some designs. Some models, like cage masts, have a geometry that just doesn't work with sprues. The mast would be destroyed while trying to cut away the sprues.

- The gray resin printer is smaller than the printer used by Shapeways' to create models in white acrylic "fine detail" plastic. That means that some models I offer through Shapeways are just too big to be printed in gray resin. This includes some 1/350 scale superstructures and 1/72 scale Balao class submarine fairwaters.

- Even though gray resin is less expensive, very large models, like 1/96 scale Arizona fighting tops, can still be comparatively expensive because of the amount of resin required and the extraordinary time required to print them.

Hope this helps!

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 6:40 pm

HMS Belfast fans! For those who prefer identically shaped and sized funnels, a set is available for Trumpeter's 1/350 scale kit 3D-printed in gray resin. The funnels are detailed with accurately numbered and positioned rivets and detailed port-side access doors. The rivet pattern for the forward funnel has additional rivet detail near the funnel cap, consistent with photos of the actual funnel.

For fans of Lindberg's classic 1/125 scale Fletcher class "Blue Devil Destroyer", sets of accurately shaped, highly detailed early- and late-type 5"/38 cal. mounts are available in gray resin. Here's the set of late "double knuckle" mounts featuring detailed gun captain blast hoods:

mister me · Post by **mister me** » Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:57 am

ModelMonkey wrote:HMS Belfast fans! For those who prefer identically shaped and sized funnels, a set is available for Trumpeter's 1/350 scale kit 3D-printed in gray resin. The funnels are detailed with accurately numbered and positioned rivets and detailed port-side access doors. The rivet pattern for the forward funnel has additional rivet detail near the funnel cap, consistent with photos of the actual funnel.

Model Monkey 1-350 HMS Belfast Funnels a.jpg

Model Monkey 1-350 HMS Belfast Funnels b.jpg

ouch ! already bought extra sprues from trumpeter when their aftermarket service was still active.

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 10:38 am

Thanks for your other purchases!

Here are are few more recently produced models in gray resin, right out of the printer, one very large model (1/96 scale) and two small models (1/700 scale):

Post by **ModelMonkey** » Sun Oct 28, 2018 3:21 pm

Here's the 1/96 scale Arizona/Pennsylvania/Nevada/Oklahoma Main Top. The rivet and reinforcing strap detail is accurately different than that of the Fore Top: