Federation Commander

Will using the standard Fed CA miniature work for making the Agincourt?

Sure. Technically, there are some minor exterior differences, but, yes, that works just fine.

Indeed.

The only really noticeable external difference between the CAD Agincourt and the stock CAR heavy cruiser is the special sensor dishes. The extra drone launchers are there on the Shapeways mini, but so subtle that some folks miss them.

People have been waving their hands and saying "this one is the CAD" and just using a CA mini for decades and that's just as valid now.

Shapeways just presents an opportunity to do dedicated minis for odd variants like Agincourt, for the folks who want them. that's often the same folks who would have gone to the effort to kitbash one in metal before - Again, not really necessary, just something cool some folks will choose to indulge in.

Well, decided on getting the metal CA and sensor dishes. While Shapeways had the CAD, it doesn't have the CAD with the engraved hull grid that the all my other 1/3125s have. Now, if my tax refund would hurry up and get deposited.

Well, shoot. It looks like the somewhat random presentation order of products on Shapeways zinged us again.

We always offer all Federation ships in both 1/3788 (Starline 2400 size) and 1/3125 (Starline 2500 size), both with the grid and in "classic" smooth versions.

The Federation CAD Agincourt in 1/3125, with the grid, is here:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/YSMKW ... d=70476966

In the current listings, it was on the next page, after the 1/3788 size ones.

If there is ever any doubt next time, please ask us and we'll get you to where you want to be. Jean usually responds within hours to most contacts and I check Facebook frequently and this board and the legacy board at least daily.

It's not a problem; I won't be ordering for a couple of weeks yet. But it's good to know I can it without have to do conversions.

Will, is the primary hull grid on the FUD miniatures deeper than on the white plastic? I was not happy with the grid on the white plastic miniatures I got from Shapeways.

Not really deeper but much better defined, in my opinion.

Having ordered both FUD and white plastic, I have to say that FUD looks significantly better. White plastic is good for well shaped playing pieces. But detail is lost because of either the rough finish if it isn't polished, or from the polishing. It is not a "wrong" choice, but probably isn't what you want if you want to see the detail.

FUD, on the other hand, provides a much more uniform finish that allows the various details to show through. I got a KR in FUD, and all of the details are well-defined and clear. In fact, depending on the age of the mold, the details could end up looking better than a metal mini. If you want a model show-piece, then you probably want to get FUD.

Just my experience after ordering a handful of ships.

The digital models for the ships are identical, regardless of the material the customer chooses.

As the others note, if you want crisp definition on fine things like the shield grid, then Fine Detail Plastic (formerly known as FUD) is the way to go. It is a completely different printing technology and more-involved in the production side of things. It therefore costs more, but offers more surface quality and detail.

Versatile Plastic (formerly known as Strong & Flexible) is not intended to be a high-detail material. It is aimed at durability and lower-cost, while still yielding ships that are certainly recognizable and can be made quite nice with extra work (some folks have made masterpieces out of Versatile prints).

As new technologies enter into Shapeways' offerings, there may eventually be a high-detail offering that is also affordable like Versatile, but not yet.