I have looked into mel's website often, seen some of his stuff on the threads, most notably gotmituns' venator. I was wondering what other models of his are commonly in use and how you all enjoy them. I am on the edge of buying a seperatist ship to augment my rebel fleet and I wanted some feedback on how you guys liked his ships. Basically, this is a thread to show what models of mel's you have, how you like them, show pictures of them, and most notably celebrate the creativity of mel who brings us ships that ffg cannot yet bring. So, this one's for you mel, thanks for your hard work.

I should be ever so offended Gearing up for a Strike Cruiser, and some Tie Strikers, U wings, cargo shuttles, and maaaaybe something else like a hammerhead or the like. We'll see how it goes. But his stuff aaaalways gets a lot of looks when it's on the table, and for good reason. Love the high end stuff, love it to pieces! I can't say enough good things other than 'thanks a ton, mate!'.

I love these so so sooo much. May pick up a type VI some time.

Assault MC80, yes please!

Surpirsingly big MC30, I'd use it as an assault frigate if I didn't have the Mk.I's.... still might honestly

VSD's when I'm feeling fluffy.

my GSD: because despite the fact that I have 2, I hate those ships with a passion.

Doin' them before they were cool. And they still look great. Gotta nab some more Avengers to replace my Tie X1 (don't like them much either).

One of those are Mel's, the others are FFG's, take your pick But I've also painted 4 of Mel's ILC's at this point.

I have just ordered the Sundered heart modified CR90 in FUD (frosted ultra detail) and the C-ROC Gozanti Cruiser in FUD. I'm using the sundered heart to give more variety to my fleet and the C-ROC will be used on a scratch built space dock I'm making.

I would love to get the Assault Frigate MK I and Dreadnaught one day.

I don't have any pictures handy, but I've bought quite a bit from Mel's Shapeways shop.

Two Vindicators, Mon Remonda, Liberty, Nebula SD, Wingless Lib with the panel lines, Four alt Dreadnoughts and the IDS I mod kit.

Needless to say, I love Mel's work and gladly contribute to his retirement fund.

sweet, thanks for the pics guys. hoping to see a sep ship, but keep the thoughts rollin

Unless you are VERY skilled, I'd avoid the separatist ships, the model process can leave excessive flashing that needs ALOT of work to clean up.

Get the providence carrier if you really want one.

Most popular ships to get would be star destroyers, and smaller frigates. The idea is to buy something you know wont be released down the line.

I'd also like to clarify something I thought of: I'm not knocking Mel in ANYWAY! I love his dedication and pride in his projects, but there are just some things that can't be 3d printed in one whole piece and expect to come out perfect.

cool, thanks for the advice. the providence was high on my list anyhow so I will keep that in mind

Here are my Vindicators... One is converted into an anti squadron heavy cruiser. They are printed in FUD. As a matter of fact everything I get from Mel's is printed in FUD. It's the only way to go (for me anyways).

I built a Star Destroyer battleship from the Revell snap-rite Imperial Sat Destroyer model and bits form Mel's shop...

The bridge is form Mels ISD1 mod set and the turrets are from Mel as well.

The forward structure the middle turret is sitting on was scratch built using Mel's starship panels.

way cool on the big isd man

Here it is next to a ISD and VSD...

It's abut 3200 meters...

that thing's huge man, you should be proud

I own a few Mel's ships (the Vindicator, the revised dreadnought, and a light cruiser) and my only complaint is that his "Armada scale" is enormous. Everything is way too big. Even FFG's sliding scale is a bit better, as shown with the different sizes for the light cruiser.

I wish I had gone with the 1/7000 stuff instead, particularly for the dreadnought and Vindicator.

He also, sometimes, has very large keyholes (be wary of the Vindicator in particular). Other times (the dreadnought) he has basically no keyhole protrusion. So it's a mixed bag.

Still, his stuff is over all quite good, particularly if you can paint (I just prime mine).

gottcha, i have a buddy (mcworrell) who is dabbling in painting so i could task him with such an undertaking.

For the record, I completely and utterly disagree with everything JScott has said, and will ever say

Nah, I get it but yeah, that's one of those 1/7000 type preferences, but I don't want it to change one iota (which is cool as it's an option). It's perfect for my purposes, just like I liked his larger 'Rogue' ships before they were switched back to 'FFG wonky standard'. Never had a keyhole problem, but they generally are recessed more than FFG's which I find aesthetically pleasing. I will note that the tapered fighter pegs are a bit odd until you get used to them and the material gets broken in.

FUD isn't a perfect material either; I had to do a toooon of work on my Mon Cal to bring it up to respectable levels, but that was a printing error, not Mel's. Liquid green stuff is something you may have to consider working with on some select models. No comment on the new black acrylate yet, I'm hoping a strike cruiser makes its way to me so I can see some time.

Ha!

I didn't realize I had made so many enemies.

I think his scale is pretty off if you're going to display the ships. Here are some pics showing how big the Dreadnought and Vindicator are next to an FFG ISD.

Also, I will try to show how big the Vindicator's keyhole is. As the keyhole isn't transparent, it really sticks out. The pic may not quite even show just how much.

My Mel ships are all White Strong and Flexible, which is a lot cheaper. I think it looks fine (and it's easier to get paint to adhere to it), but I know there are complaints about how paint soaks into it. FUD is really, really expensive, particularly for Armada scale ships.

Well now you've gone and done it, I am going to have to get me some of that dreadnought action! (I rather like the large scale too, I tend to paint/wash/paint/wash, and larger recesses take that much better)

the dreadnaught is a tad big, but i like that scale perfectly fine. Can't be too accurate else a cr 90 would be a squadron size haha. i guess its just preference. thanks for all of the pics gues, this has been very helpful.

Mel also makes turrets and stuff for scratch building.

Of course, let's not forget the awesomeness that is Mel's squadrons, especially if you are a TIE Fighter nerd, like myself. My painting might not be up to much (I'm severely out of practice), but the FUD details in every ship I've had from Mel/Shapeways so far as been terrific.

i find your lack of arc-170's disturbing haha

Well in my shopping cart so far (all FUD unless noted):

A dreddie (old style, the ones Vykes has above look a bit too BSG for my tastes...)

A Nebulon-B 2 (who doesn't want their own Secret-Order packed Osprey?)

A black acrylate XQ platform (trying out black acrylate for the first time, I'll post pics on receipt)

Replacements for the ugly stock TIE advanced (Avengers are where it's at)

TIE Droids. Soooo many TIE Droids.

Finally (for SCIENCE), a WSF Bulk Freighter (probably scenery/scenario so not too fussed over detail, but good as a comparison)

Sadly not (yet) in my cart, but sought: TIE Scimitars, TIE Experimental's, Missile Boats (I'm sure I saw these somewhere?)

If it's of use, once I've placed my order I will show you what arrives and loop you in on any issues I come across (so far, fingers crossed, shapeways have been awesome).

ps... I'll be eating beans and ramen this month, but it's worth it amirite?

of course. tell me how the black acrylate is, i think im going to go with that on a sep ship. seems like painting will be easier.

Black Acrylate looks great.

But it does come with a large number of ridges which are the remains of former support rods. There are numerous tutorials on how to remove these, but I couldn't do it and had to return a ship I bought made of that material.

It also smells, but I assume that would go away after painting. But be wary of the support rod remnants. There are pics of what they look like easily found on google and Shapeways.

Edit: I've ordered dozens of ships from Shapeways (mostly Star Trek themed) and although they sometimes have problems when they arrive -- particularly Constitution-class ships and the nacelles -- Shapeways customer service is amazing.

1 minute ago, jscott991 said:

Black Acrylate looks great.

But it does come with a large number of ridges which are the remains of former support rods. There are numerous tutorials on how to remove these, but I couldn't do it and had to return a ship I bought made of that material.

It also smells, but I assume that would go away after painting. But be wary of the support rod remnants. There are pics of what they look like easily found on google and Shapeways.

so for a separatist ship, would you recommend the black acrylate or the standard white?