Model Monkey Yorktown, Enterprise & Hornet islands ('42)

[ModelMonkey]

Steve,

Are you going to release that Midway CV-6 for Merit? I want to pull the trigger but it seems set u- for Trumpeter.

Aye, Cap'n! Probably tomorrow (Tuesday).

Steve, I stand in awe of the line of products that you have presented to the ship modeling world in what is truly a short time. I have definitely purchased several of your products and can only pronounce myself totally satisfied with each and every item.... I have just been blown away by what we are now being offered and the possibilities for the future.

Bob M.

Thanks so much, Bob!

Hello Steve,

Just to let you know, I tried to buy the CV-5 and CV-6 islands in 1/700 (for Trumpeter) and I got a notification from Shapeways that says "Unfortunately, we are unable to manufacture one of the products in order #xxxxxxx". Both products could not be printed (or so they claim).

Sorry that happened to you!

A little background about cancellations. Unfortunately, cancellation is common for the first purchase of products with finely designed features. The product has to be adjusted by the designer before Shapeways will offer it for sale again. Although every design is evaluated for printability by Shapeways' analysis software when the design is uploaded, it is only after an item is purchased that a human 3D printer operator "print engineer" evaluates the design to see if he or she believes it can survive cleaning and handling. The print engineer then makes a judgment call based upon his or her experience.

In order to be as accurate as possible, my designs usually have very fine features, pushing both my software hard and Shapeways' printers hard. Especially when it comes to 1/700 scale, the first purchases sometimes get canceled due to features that are deemed to be too fine.

But no worries! Shapeways immediately informs the designer when an order has been cancelled because Shapeways has determined the product to be unlikely to survive cleaning due to "thin wires" as they call it. Shapeways sends a rendering to the designer with specific instructions on what to thicken. I make the change the same day I receive notification. In this case, they required me to thicken the tripod legs in that scale to better support the fighting top. I'm thickening them now and will upload the new design shortly.

Please register on Shapeways. For clients who are registered on Shapeways, Shapeways notifies the designer of every sale and any cancellation identifying the purchaser by registration nickname. If there is a cancellation, the designer can contact the registered client and let him or her know when the adjusted design is ready to reorder. Clients not registered are called "guests" and designers aren't notified who placed the order or whose order was canceled.

I hope this helps and hope you'll reorder!

WOW, Steve!!!! These are AWESOME!!!!

I can't wait to get my hands on them!!! I love the detail you are able to get with the 1/350 versions!

Thanks you very much for doing them!!!

Kelley

Thanks, Kelley!

[Guest]

Please register on Shapeways. For clients who are registered on Shapeways, Shapeways notifies the designer of every sale and any cancellation identifying the purchaser by registration nickname. If there is a cancellation, the designer can contact the registered client and let him or her know when the adjusted design is ready to reorder. Clients not registered are called "guests" and designers aren't notified who placed the order or whose order was canceled.

Interesting. Shapeways send out for any order as a guest the information that they informed the designer what is not printable.

Time to register there and here too.

cheers Andi

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks, Andi!

1/700 version 2.0 are ready.

[ModelMonkey]

First printings of these islands are now in the hands of modelers. Kelley emailed to say he received his islands, one of each ship, in 1/487 (Revell) and 1/350 (Trumpeter) scales in good shape.

[TOMLABEL]

Kelley....received his islands...

Indeed!! They arrived yesterday, safely packed in a box and wrapped individually in multi-layers of bubble wrap. Here is a quick pic I took with the phone as I was heading out the door this am. I'm currently out of town at the moment for a long (50th) birthday weekend.

The islands in both scales look fantastic and better than I had imagined they would especially the one in the 1/487 scale!!! The island pictured on the left is the 1/487 CV5, middle is 1/350 CV5 with 1/350 CV6 on right. The pic is "right-out-of-the-box" - before giving them some extra time in UV light (sun) to make sure all is cured and before cleaning the remaining wax that is present. They are now sitting on a window sill that gets the majority of sunlight while I am gone. Once I return, they will receive a delicate wash with Simple Green via soft worn out tooth brush.

These islands are very nicely detailed and should look great on what ever scale available you apply them to.

Kelley

[John W.]

I have started cleaning my 1/350th CV-6 today. It arrived in fine shape - no voyage repairs necessary. I used Leslie's Bleche-White whitewall cleaner and then dish detergent with a soft toothbrush to get the remaining wax off the part, though I didn't see much. Once I am sure all the water is dried, inside and out, I will hit it with some Mr. Surfacer 1200 from a rattle can so I can see what will need smoothing and polishing. After that, all I'll need will be a hull. Hmm, let's see, do I have any laying around? Yes, yes I do. So my in progress HORNET will get a Midway CV-6. Can't wait to see how this boy looks - the translucent nature of the part makes it hard to see all the details. But this is a great time to be building or considering a build of a YORKTOWN class. We have suffered long enough without having a good model in 1/350th. Now, the wallet, er, sky's the limit.

[TOMLABEL]

But this is a great time to be building or considering a build of a YORKTOWN class. We have suffered long enough without having a good model in 1/350th. Now, the wallet, er, sky's the limit.

Aye!!!

Thanks to all here who made that happen!!

Kelley

[aptivaboy]

You. Rock. These are awesome.

[Admiral John Byng]

Happy birthday Kelley (if it is your 50th birthday you refer to)!
These look great! I am strapped for cash right now but I am waiting for some money from my late (and much missed!) mother. She would have given me a stern look if she could see what I intend to spend it on.

[TOMLABEL]

Happy birthday Kelley (if it is your 50th birthday you refer to)!

Thanks, Admiral!!! Yes, its the big 50th birthday... At least I don't think I feel 50 though.

I justified mine as a birthday present to myself.

Now, I just have to come up with a justification for the 1/700 - 719 versions.

Kelley

[ModelMonkey]

Thanks, John, Kelley, Bob and Admiral!

After initial 1/700 rejections, Shapeways has been able to successfully print these islands in 1/700 and 1/719 scale. Finally. Having worked out some bugs with Shapeways (made my hair hurt) and making some further tweaks to strengthen the tripod in those scales (can't have broken tripods, can we?) , I updated those designs to include the exterior electrical cabling. Since these are effectively new designs for Shapeways, the Shapeways site will say "First to Try". And if the B Team is on the printers or Neptune is in the wrong orbit, they may be rejected yet again. But since they have been able to print some, confidence is high.

A 1/200 CV-6 is coming. It's taken much longer than expected but will be out of the design zoo shortly. Every re-scaling requires some redesign to take advantage of proportionally thinner features. That's what I'm working on, thinning things like splinter shielding and decks. It's tedious and time-consuming and hard on the software (modifying complex curves = crashes) but worth the effort.

Hornet CV-8 is also in design right now. Thanks to some great references (original builders plans!) and advice from you, it's looking very, very, very accurate. Yep, killer.

Kit photos: Scalemates.com

[MartinJQuinn]

Hornet CV-8 is also in design right now. Thanks to some great references (original builders plans!) and advice from you, it's looking very, very, very accurate. Yep, killer.

Well then, I'm glad I didn't get any further with this:

[Admiral John Byng]

Nice paintjob Martin! That hull shows the problems with shape that kit has. The Merit hull is so much better except for you know what.

[ModelMonkey]

Well then, I'm glad I didn't get any further with this:

Nice work, Martin!

My 14 year-old son Joel has that kit and we'll be building it together someday, after "all things Star Wars" and "the world revolves around Star Wars" subsides a bit. Did I mention my son likes Star Wars? All my kids do. Amazing how much they've taken to it. If your family is like ours, how many times have you seen Episode 7 now?

On the other hand, perhaps my shop's new motto should be "Rescuing Modelers from Trumpeter's Mistakes Since 2015".

[MartinJQuinn]

Well then, I'm glad I didn't get any further with this:

Nice work, Martin!

My 14 year-old son Joel has that kit and we'll be building it together someday, after "all things Star Wars" and "the world revolves around Star Wars" subsides a bit. Did I mention my son likes Star Wars? All my kids do. Amazing how much they've taken to it. If your family is like ours, how many times have you seen Episode 7 now?

On the other hand, perhaps my shop's new motto should be "Rescuing Modelers from Trumpeter's Mistakes Since 2015".

Thanks Steve. She's been sitting around for sometime. Maybe a new island will spur me to do some additional work on her.

Yes, we are Star Wars fanatics. I saw Star Wars in the movies at a teenager, and have been hooked ever since. We have the BluRay of Episode VII, and it's been watched multiple times already. We are also fans of the animated "Clone Wars" and "Rebels" series. Can't get enough Star Wars! Looking forward to Rogue One in December!!

And yes - that should be your new company mission statement!

[JTninja]

Looking forward to getting one of these soon!

Martin, you should look into joining the 501st legion

[TOMLABEL]

Nice work, Martin!

Agreed!!! I look forward to what you do with this one now that a accurate island is going to be inbound soon. Based on Steve's CV5/6 islands in hand, I am eagerly anticipating this one!!! I will be using your pic as a painting reference most definitely.

Kelley

[Guba]

How can I get a CV-5 island? Did I miss a link?

[MartinJQuinn]

How can I get a CV-5 island? Did I miss a link?

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/Model_Monkey

[MatthewB]

Something I have been wondering, Model Monkey:

Have you ever thought about doing a combined set of 3D printed parts, and integral PE?

This is something I am doing with the HIMJS Nagara bridge and detailing parts (I may just do the entire kit).

I made the bridge so that you can either print the whole thing out as a single piece (save the roof, and the guard rails on the platforms), or so that it has cutouts and grooves for PE parts (Which I need to come up with $120 to have etched) so that the PE is more easily installed and blended with the kit.

Rather than having the PE parts sit square on top of other parts, I have them so that they sit in the grooves, or indentations, which can then have a small amount of putty cover the gap to create a flush fit.

I was thinking the CV bridges would be an excellent part with which to use that concept (with all the splinter shields and railing installed, and with all of the structural supports underneath overhangs.

MB