Mel's frigate is awesome. I do suspect the space rocks was a recast of that.

Not a chance of it being a recast - the proportions are completely different. Just look at the fore section for a start.

Yeah, comparing the pictures it doesn't look to be a recast.

I dunno, i'm a crappy photographer.

I'd like to get them both in a room together.

Why does the above sentence sound dirty?

I don't know if it's just the photo quality but the Space Rocks Neb looks horrible compared to that picture of Mel's above, though that could be a repaint for all I know.

You're not wrong. Space rocks came pre-painted, with a paint quality inferior to FFGs (therefore inferior to ANY 40K painter worth his salt by default). That Mels was pro painted and custom fitted with lights. Mel's come unpainted and unassembled.

I suppose this gives another reason justifying the review, come to think of it. A comparison of Space rocks and Mels.

Space rocks was a quarter of Mel's asking price, pre-assembled(mostly) with correct bases etc. It was also pre-painted (if it didn't have gloss varnishing /paints i'd have no issue, As Patox suggested i'll satin/matte over it).

Mels likely is a higher quality sculpt, but again, 4X the price, un-assembled and unpainted.

Odd that Space Rocks got hit but "the other company" doing Star Wars ships wasn't. Hope "the other company" remains in business so let's now refer to "them" as "the ship shop".

I have suspicions about that, chiefly that the cause of their shut down involves the wrecks more so than the frigate.

I'm frankly amazed 'the other company' hasnt had a C&D yet as they not only make stuff thats from a 'licence' they (to my knowledge) don't have but they also make versions of designs FFG make (they do see through phantoms still yeah?)

I don't mind either way but i'd imagine its only a matter of time before someone at Disney notices them.

Do you have dimensions of the Space Rocks Frigate?

And who did the LED lit Frigate?

I'll have to measure it when I get back home, the LED lit is apparently a Mel's miniatures.

Given that Mels is under shapeways, and uses 3d printing rather than casting it could be that Disney know, but don't want to get involved. Afterall, they could just go underground and/or distribute the 3d printer files, which disney would have no way to track.

Or I could be overthinking this, and Mel's just lucky.

Mels likely is a higher quality sculpt, but again, 4X the price, un-assembled and unpainted.

Well that fully explains it then, I fully admit that I was too lazy to look at whether the Mel's model came painted or not.

I'd be amazed if Disney didn't already know about that shop, so there must be a reason they haven't bothered with a C&D letter yet, although for all we know they *have* been served one and have just not responded.

That's another possibility. Mel's usually active on these boards, has anyone heard from recently?

Actually, doesn't shapeways work that the users (such as Mels) provide the 3d printer files, and shapeways (the company) handles printing and logistics? Hey Mel if you ever do read this - please let us know ,we're (at least I am) genuinely curious.

Anyway, if that's the case that'd explain how he can keep running.

That's another possibility. Mel's usually active on these boards, has anyone heard from recently?

Probably locked up in a dungeon under Cinderella Castle being interrogated by the Disney World '"Truth Bots".

A few amendments: Mel's frigate is probably nearer twice the price, however still unpainted/unassembled/unwashed (gotta wash models first before you start).

I won't post links, just incase (C&D got me paranoid), but just googling mels miniatures should find it , then search under civil war.

I may should I come into the money have to get the mel variant also. It looks to be a very good model, higher in detail/quality than the Space rocks by an order of magnitude. This said, again I'd like to see them together at some point.

The thing with Shapeways is that they don't actually produce, promote or sell any specific products - they simply provide an ad-hoc 3d printing service to their customer's specifications. Their users upload a 3d design, and Shapeways prints it for them.

That's got to be much harder to police than a company which actually build, advertises and sells copyrighted material in the public domain.

Yeah that, and I must amend again: Mels make 2 Neb B's. a 1/608 which is ~400 can (roughly twice price of SR) and 1/450 (larger, ~400 can per section).

Shapeway shop owners should really change the name of their models so it's not so blatant.

P.S: I posted this message 4 days ago on reddit (permalink here: https://www.reddit.com/r/XWingTMG/comments/3kxqa3/the_beleaguered_rebels_of_the_aturi_sector_rally/cygezfk ) and someone pointed me out to this thread on FFG Comunity. I just wanted to get any suggestion about how can I proceed in this case if someone has suffered the same inconvenience as me. Thanks again.

Yup, we know about that - There are a few threads here on the subject (This review thread was upon request of various community members).

I only got mine after a paypal case, thus far my frigate is one of only 3 I know about that was delivered.

I really want people to let me know who has theirs. You ordered yours 3 days after I ordered mine. Some here ordered previously.

Here's hoping for you. Just follow through with paypal :/

I ordered in late July, I asked for an update in December, no reply, so raised a PayPal dispute a couple of days ago. Really didn't want to do that

Thanks for putting up the review - interesting to see what the thing looks like in its final production form. Also uhh just as an aside, if there are any painters out there who know how to do fiber optic and LED lights and are looking for a challenge, that linked image of the 3D print model is really making me have some ideas haha - hit me up if you want a probably pretty difficult project!

Yup, we know about that - There are a few threads here on the subject (This review thread was upon request of various community members).

I only got mine after a paypal case, thus far my frigate is one of only 3 I know about that was delivered.

I really want people to let me know who has theirs. You ordered yours 3 days after I ordered mine. Some here ordered previously.

Here's hoping for you. Just follow through with paypal :/

Thanks a lot for your feedback and support DariusAPB.

On January 7th ends the period that Paypal has determined for Space Rocks to answer to my request (in the terms I have explained before). I'll keep you posted if you are interested!

Thanks again dudes.

Man, I wanted one in the worst way but couldn't afford it and all of a sudden one day they weren't on Amazon anymore.

Thanks anyways for posting up about it, I wanted to get one and do my own paint job on it.