Federation Commander

I order 3 fleet sets of minis from Shapeways in the 7000 scale. I decided to use the Tan Fine Detail plastic and unfortunately, the minis have proven to be very brittle. After talking to Shapeways, it appears that is a known issue and they advised that if I am looking to use these for gaming that I should choose a different material. I didn’t realize at the time that the Tan fine detail is meant more for display than gaming use.

Would anyone help me with a recommendation between White Versatile Plastic or MJF Gray PA12? I paint my own, so I’m not overly worried about the color, but I want something that will hold up to reasonable handling. I broke 4 of the 18 minis just clipping them off the sprues.

I see that the MJF says it is “grainy�, but how bad is it? Would a decent primer help take care of that?

What would you suggest?

That is indeed interesting about the Tan Fine Detail Plastic. It makes me sad. Very few people have complained about its brittleness.

I have customers who order minis in the Versatile Plastic and are happy with it. They do use it for gaming and don't stress about the graininess. They also don't stress as much if one gets dropped.

I have customers who order minis in the multi-jet fusion plastic and are happy with it. It is apparently a bit better for details. They also use it for gaming since it is a bit more durable.

Since you started with the most detail, you may want to take just one step down and try what I think of as an "in-between" material.