Nation- (and City-) Specific Victory City Markers

@ossel:

Ok, without further ado…
STALINGRAD

Had some trouble with Shapeways on this one, so it took me a couple of uploads to get it right, but let me know what you guys think.

Man, this one of the best ones you’ve done. Highly impressed by this piece! :-D

I was looking at the expanded view of the Moscow marker (the isometric projection) and I noticed that the section all the way at the back includes some orange lines which I assume are leftovers from the drafting stage of the drawing.  Are they still a part of the file that could affect the output of the marker when it gets 3-D printed?

@ossel:

No, this is simply where I my mouse had passed over those features as I was taking the screenshot  :-D  Shouldn’t affect anything.

Great – thanks!

Ossel & others,

Sorry, but it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been on the site.

@ossel:

Paul,
  That’s definitely an option.

Heck, if you wanted to get the Victory City Marker Set “Donald Trump Edition”, you could drop $480 each for 14K gold!  :lol:

––Nobody would ever mistake me(or my finances) for Donald Trump,…haha. My point was simply that I’ve seen some of the wonderful Shapeways pieces that utilized the least exspensive (and detailed) plastic,…and the result was a very grainy and UGLY finish that IMHO nobody would want.
For me,…I’d rather pay tweo or three dollars each for something that I could be proud of rather than
.25 cents each for something I’d be ashamed to show anyone. Just check out some pics on the internet.
----Here are some pics. Notice the extremely rough surface on the upper wings.

Tall Paul

Ossel & others,

––I must say that I’m extremely happy at the rapid progress that’s been made on this project by Ossel with some wonderful research help of CWO Marc. GREAT WORK, guys!
––I agree with everything accomplished so far except:
IMHO Correigadore, a.k.a. “The ROCK”, which guards the approaches to Manila Harbor would be much more representative for the Phillipines than Fort Drum. MacArthur raised the flag there when he “returned”. It would be cool if you could model a tiny flagpole on “lowerside”. The 503rd Airborne that assaulted the “Rock” thought so much of the battle on this island that it’s name and image were utilized in their shoulder patches.
----Again,…Great Work!

Tall Paul

Thanks for the input and encouragement, Tall Paul.  On the subject of output quality, I agree that it should be very high – it would be a shame for Ossel’s fine modeling to get translated into a rough 3-D print.  In his Reply #71 of April 27, Ossel mentioned that he was planning to order for himself a prototype batch of the finished models to check on their quality, so he will undoubtedly make absolutely sure that these markers meet a high production standard before he starts making them in larger quantities.

As for Corrigedor, it was one of the initial ideas which I mentioned in my Reply #56 of April 26.  The problem with Corrigedor Island would be similar (but to an even greater degree) to the one that we ran into with the initial version of the Honolulu marker, which covered a large geographical area running from Pear Harbor to Diamond Head.  Given how small the markers will be, and given that the modeling is (of necessity) somewhat abstracted, large geographic areas end up looking somewhat generic unless they happen to contain a large and impossible-not-to-recognize structure (as in the case of San Francisco Bay, whose Golden Gate Bridge is instantly identifiable).  Corrigedor Island has an interesting saddle shape, but it doesn’t contain any large iconic structures, so the marker would basically just depict a large island, which would look odd compared to all the other markers (all of which have structures as their defining element.)  Fort Drum, on the other hand, is much smaller that Corregidor Island, so it can be depicted in much more detail than Corregidor; it’s so small that its gun turrets occupy a good percentage of its surface area, so using it would be analogous to modeling a battleship-sized (and approximately battleship-shaped) structure.  It has a very distinctive appearance, and the link I provided leads to some amazingly detailed shots of a scale model of Fort Drum from many different angles, so Ossel will have lots of material to work from in creating a model for it.  But anyway, that’s just my opinion.

@ossel:

Thanks again for the input guys.

Just an update:
I have been working with Shapeways on the subject of manufacturability lately, and specifically the subject that Tall Paul is referring to. The problem I’m having is that some materials (some that people might want, like gray plastic or steel) have different “smallest feature” values, so are giving me errors on upload. I need to figure out if these errors are going to be a problem in production. I’ve thought of maybe increasing the overall scale of the cities, but this doesn’t seem to be fixing it. I’ll keep everyone updated as I figure things out.

Right now, I’m munching on some sourdough for some inspiration for my next piece… :wink:

Thanks Ossel for the update. I hope you figure it out. This would be sad if you couldn’t produce these because of the quality of material. Good luck to you. :-)

ossel & others,

@ossel:

Thanks again for the input guys.

Just an update:
I have been working with Shapeways on the subject of manufacturability lately, and specifically the subject that Tall Paul is referring to. The problem I’m having is that some materials (some that people might want, like gray plastic or steel) have different “smallest feature” values, so are giving me errors on upload. I need to figure out if these errors are going to be a problem in production. I’ve thought of maybe increasing the overall scale of the cities, but this doesn’t seem to be fixing it. I’ll keep everyone updated as I figure things out.

––So far I’ve bought about two dozen different designs from Shapeways and I thought I pass along what worked and IMHO looked the best as far as “materials” that are available.
Let’s use the HBG Minor Factories as an example. For a package of twelve(12) you can get them in the following “material” versions with different levels of detail and price. A link is provided below.

http://www.shapeways.com/model/1085367/minorfactory-x12.html?li=shop-results&materialld=62

(1.) POLISHED STRONG & FLEXIBLE PLASTIC-White
“White Nylon plastic polished to reveal a smooth matte finish” for $11.95

(2.) DETAIL PLASTIC: FROSTED DETAIL
“Matte translucent plastic with fine print lines that reveals small details” for $19.95

(3.) DETAIL PLASTIC: FROSTED ULTRA DETAIL
“Matte translucent plastic that showcases fine and intricate details” for $24.95

––I truly prefer option #3 above as the details are truly AMAZING! I mean you can see and feel the individual rivits on the aircraft wings,…wow!
----And speaking of the HBG Minor Factories I should have pics of the ones that “Allworkandnoclay” should have finished by this weekend.
----I can’t give you any advice on any of the metal materials available as I haven’t ordered any yet. I believe that I would prefer my “City Markers” to be made in Detail Plastic: Frosted Ultra Detail as they don’t need the extra weight and they should be easier to paint if they were plastic also.
––Please continue this very interesting project as I want to buy a complete set.
––Also, as far as delineating the differences between the Capitol cities and the Victory Point cities, I plan on having a small flag flying on the Capital cities.

Tall Paul

@ossel:

Happy Friday Everyone!

SAN FRANCISCO!!

That is sweet Ossel. I wouldn’t change a thing. :-D

Another great marker added to the collection!  Very nice!

Ossel,

––Great Job on the San Francisco City Marker,….well done!

Tall Paul

Guys,

––I’m NOT someone who usually asks “WHEN”, or acts like a cheeleader with projects, but:

I’m really getting excited about this project!
––As I’ve already experienced the awesome detail that is produced on some Shapeways units and the amazing artwork that ossel is producing,….these City Markers" will really be worth having!

Tall Paul

ossel,

––Nice Work!, again Keep up the good work with whatever time you have available to do so. It’s paying off. It won’t be long until you’ve completed them all and wecan purchase a full set of 'em.

Tall Paul

@ossel:

Ok, here’s Warsaw!

I ended up using the Carmelite Church of Warsaw as CWO Marc suggested (as seen here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Warszawa_kościół_pokarmelicki.jpg).

Wow, the Warsaw piece is cool. Can’t wait to see the next piece. :-)

Superb new marker!  It turned out really well indeed.  Thanks for this latest addition to the collection!