A sad day for Shapeways enthusiasts

Hey, if you ask him, he'll give you the files and you can make your own store. So, there's that. Drop him a message.

I posted about this somewhere in the forum about a month or two ago ago when I was looking to buy some Shapeways models. I'm not sure why he decided to discontinue his 1/900 minis because he still has his store and sells them in different sizes.

I have a bunch of his planes but there were more I was hoping to get... darn.

I hope we can keep these going somehow.

When I couldn't get hold of something with props I bought a few of these and they filled plenty of gaps. I wonder if he was having problems with them as they seemed to me to be quite a bit more fragile than what the others are selling. Most of the ones I bought had breakages either when I got them or when I was trying to get them off the difficult sprues. I only intended to use two of each type I got and this was usually the number I managed to 'save' from destruction but it would have been annoying had I wanted all of them (usually sprued 4+).

It would be a step backwards for WAS shapeways, especially as not much new seems to be added these days.

I received the files from Echoco, but I think he said he lost some in the process of taking them down. There are still quite a few. Once you have them, you merely need to load them up to Shapeways. If you have an account with them, at the top left you should see "My Workshop". Click on that and it will show you where you can upload the files...you can drag & drop or use the "Upload" button. Shapeways will auto check the models to see if they comply with their rules (his will for FUD, WSF etc., but not a lot of the metals). Once they are uploaded and checked by Shapeways, you can order them for yourself...no need to open a shop (in fact, I think Echoco asked me specifically to NOT open my own shop).

You don't need to know 3d modeling if you want to just print his designs. I'd like to learn because I'd prefer his formations follow the WaS "standards", i.e. wing-to-tail for dive bombers, wing-to-wing for torpedo bombers with the center aircraft on top etc. I like his dynamic formations, but it makes it harder to figure out which planes are which on the board at times.

I just placed my first order last week for a bunch of aircraft in FED. Pretty inexpensive, actually, and the detail should be awesome. I ordered a couple of UK cruisers at the same time from Roe and they were finished within two days, but the aircraft seem to be taking forever...the order page says it'll be another week. Dang it!

Anyway, if you get the files from Echoco, you don't need to know anything about 3d modeling to place your own order...

Any news on your 1/900 shop?