The Ship Model Forum

This is the 'Admiral' class battleship HMS Camperdown, shown more or less as completed 1889. The model was 3D printed through Shapeways. This is my first time 3D printing and my first time making a digital model. The main ship is my own design, small boats are from Masters of Military. My model building skills do not hold a candle to the incredible work that usually graces this site, but I figured I would post the result. Shapeways 3D printing is very impressive in detail, but there are some drawbacks. The sides show some stepping, which I did my best to clean up, however I was afraid of ruining the side details. It is less obvious in person than in the pictures. Also the Shapeways acrylic can't be masked - the paint just pulls off the hull. So most of the ship is brush painted (poorly!) Anyway, despite the struggles the result is promising and I learned much for future attempts.

Congratulations! What wonderful ships those victorian Ironclads are!
Maybe a bit of shading would bring her even more to life?

That is some very impressive 3D work - this is much more detailed than the Shapeways stuff I've seen before.

I find that a good primer, like the Tamiya spray cans, do a good job on these figures. I didn't have a problem with paint peeling after that.

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"Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news." - Cave Johnson, Portal 2

Most of the models on Shapeways in this scale are not very impressive, but there are a few good ones. I have purchased the Masters of Military 1/1250 battleship Katori, which is quite good in detail although masts and small guns are very thick. My ship might be pushing Shapeways design limits for wall thicknesses in a few spots - they are not as strict if you are not selling the model to customers through their shop.

I will try the Tamiya primer next time. Also if anyone can recommend tools to get in and sand away the stepping on the sides without screwing up the raised details - I tried using some abrasive sanding sticks from the hobby store, but they loose their grit so quickly that they were basically useless.