Hey everyone!

So, a couple weeks I finally bought the MC80b "Mon Remonda" from Mel Miniatures Shapeways store (Yay!). It finally arrived today, so I thought I'd give some first impressions.

Out of the box:

Wow! The miniature was a bit bigger than I had originally expected. Detail is great (I bought it in Black High-Def Acrylate). The plastic is a little soft, but nothing to worry about. The ship matches what source material there is (not much, unfortunately), so that an extra plus for me.

A quick scrub, and it is off to being painted.

First bit of paint:

Here is the ship, with a layer of primer and, on top, a layer of Testors Flat Light Aircraft Gray. As you can see, it's a pretty big ship:

For those who are interested in buying this ship, I hope this helps. I plan to buy another in the future, possibly in Frosted Ultra to see the difference in quality. More updates to come as I begin painting on the small details.

Very nice, the MC80B just keeps missing the cut for my orders. It has started out in my cart half a dozen times, but Mel keeps coming up with things I really want in my collection, so it gets bumped to get the order under budget. Keep posting pictures. Nothing makes me want to pull the trigger on a new model, as much as seeing a cool paint job take shape!

15 hours ago, RyonOlson said:

Hey everyone!

So, a couple weeks I finally bought the MC80b "Mon Remonda" from Mel Miniatures Shapeways store (Yay!). It finally arrived today, so I thought I'd give some first impressions.

Out of the box:

Wow! The miniature was a bit bigger than I had originally expected. Detail is great (I bought it in Black High-Def Acrylate). The plastic is a little soft, but nothing to worry about. The ship matches what source material there is (not much, unfortunately), so that an extra plus for me.

A quick scrub, and it is off to being painted.

First bit of paint:

Here is the ship, with a layer of primer and, on top, a layer of Testors Flat Light Aircraft Gray. As you can see, it's a pretty big ship:

For those who are interested in buying this ship, I hope this helps. I plan to buy another in the future, possibly in Frosted Ultra to see the difference in quality. More updates to come as I begin painting on the small details.

When you get time, can you get an overhead shot of those 3 ships?

Perhaps after the next stage of painting.

Will do! Next stage should be done by this afternoon, if all goes well.

Very nice! Cool to see more EU ships on the table!

16 minutes ago, Alpha17 said:

Very nice! Cool to see more EU ships on the table!

I'm a huge fan of the EU. Have been since I was a kid. Now I can reenact some of my favorite battles! I'm working on creating a campaign based on the hunt for Zsinj from the Wraith Squadron novels.

Just now, RyonOlson said:

I'm a huge fan of the EU. Have been since I was a kid. Now I can reenact some of my favorite battles! I'm working on creating a campaign based on the hunt for Zsinj from the Wraith Squadron novels.

That would be awesome, though it'd be a shame to tear apart an SSD model to make the Razor's Kiss / Second Death for a scenario.

2 minutes ago, Alpha17 said:

That would be awesome, though it'd be a shame to tear apart an SSD model to make the Razor's Kiss / Second Death for a scenario.

So true! I'll probably make a plastic-card mockup of the ship. For the Iron Fist I'll be buying Mel's SSD. I'm tired of waiting for FFG to make one, haha.

what model did you buy, panelled or not? (can't see on the photo)

I went for not panelled in FUD, seems better but a bit more painting work on it. wonderfull model anyway

I pulled the trigger on one, with the panels, in premium WS&F with the Subjugator yesterday.

MCs are so much fun to paint. You can go Canon, or even completely organic, and they look amazing!

This baby will probably get a manta ray style paint job. I've been wanting to try one with a deep blue color scheme for a while now.

3 hours ago, gounour said:

what model did you buy, panelled or not? (can't see on the photo)

I went for not panelled in FUD, seems better but a bit more painting work on it. wonderfull model anyway

I got the one without paneling. Kind of by accident, but it looks really nice, so no complaints.

25 minutes ago, cynanbloodbane said:

I pulled the trigger on one, with the panels, in premium WS&F with the Subjugator yesterday.

MCs are so much fun to paint. You can go Canon, or even completely organic, and they look amazing!

This baby will probably get a manta ray style paint job. I've been wanting to try one with a deep blue color scheme for a while now.

That sounds awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing it when finished. This is my first MC, so I'm going to stick to the standard scheme. I might do something off-the-wall with one of my 3 Home One types, though...

Small update (no pics yet, sorry):

The ship is mostly painted. All that remains is a dark-color wash (Still not decided what color to use) and a layer of dull coat to seal everything. Pics should be up soon. I've been having some trouble with sending pics from my phone to my laptop (The phone's ancient, haha). If I can, I'll have them up tonight.

I'm glad that you were able to get it in the high def acrylate. When I ordered mine, they said it couldn't be printed part way through production.

On 5/26/2018 at 2:12 AM, FoaS said:

I'm glad that you were able to get it in the high def acrylate. When I ordered mine, they said it couldn't be printed part way through production.

Wow, didn't know they were having issues. Hopefully they got everything fixed. I noticed that when it arrived, a lot of lattice-work was running through the inside of the ship. Presumably Shapeways modded the design just slightly so it could properly print.

I think the lattice structure was just a side-effect of the material. I have ordered several, and the lattice was always present. Some even Had a few external lattice bits that I had to trim off wit the hobby knife.

Pro Tip... if you get the ship in FUD be sure to set it out in good direct sunlight for about 6 to 8 hours... this helps to completely cure the FUD material (they use ultra violate light to cure the material after the print) and leaches out the last of the oils that seep from the material. And no, to won't' melt; I take my stuff to work and leave it on a paper towel on the dashboard of my car all day long in the Texas sun. It turns the material from clear to milky white and removes the oil resin from the model so painting it isn't as complicated as it can sometimes get with FUD. When I do this the paper towel always has an oil stain under it... which is why I use paper towels on my dashboard. I then scrub my stuff in simple green with hot water. Here is a simple test. Before you sun treat it rub you finger over a large flat area of the model; you'll feel the slippery oil on it... after you sun treat it and clean it off that area should fell squeaky clean.

Trust me on this. I do tons of stuff in FUD for a few years now... ships and 15mm tanks.

15mm FUD tank... E-100

FUD Imperial Cruisers

10 hours ago, Commander Klank said:

Pro Tip... if you get the ship in FUD be sure to set it out in good direct sunlight for about 6 to 8 hours... this helps to completely cure the FUD material (they use ultra violate light to cure the material after the print) and leaches out the last of the oils that seep from the material. And no, to won't' melt; I take my stuff to work and leave it on a paper towel on the dashboard of my car all day long in the Texas sun. It turns the material from clear to milky white and removes the oil resin from the model so painting it isn't as complicated as it can sometimes get with FUD. When I do this the paper towel always has an oil stain under it... which is why I use paper towels on my dashboard. I then scrub my stuff in simple green with hot water. Here is a simple test. Before you sun treat it rub you finger over a large flat area of the model; you'll feel the slippery oil on it... after you sun treat it and clean it off that area should fell squeaky clean.

Trust me on this. I do tons of stuff in FUD for a few years now... ships and 15mm tanks.

15mm FUD tank... E-100

FUD Imperial Cruisers

I did something similar when I bought some of Mel's X-wing minis a couple years back. Works wonders. Also, made it so the paint would stick. Didn't know to keep it out there for that much time, though. I'll keep that in mind for my next purchase.

Rising from the graveyard, the project continues:

Due to my new camera, the pics are a bit too big to upload. Instead, I am including link to a file on Google Drive with them in it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1SXo-Wo3nimSh8CL5ckIseVkNLMx-aRZg

Base coat was done in a Testors Flat Light Aircraft Gray, on top of a Krylon Flat Black primer coat. Flat Light Gray by Model Master was used to create the striping, and Testors Flat Brown and Dark Gray were used for detailing. Engines are a combination of diluted Testors Light Blue and Model Master Flat Light Gray.

I'd recommend doing some touchup around the panels and blisters and them give it a wash. Not bad otherwise

Not bad at all,

but I think you were mistaken in trying to panel what was an unpanelled mini. The stripes idea was the good one, should have continued it, mixing your greys to go gradually from your flat light gray toward your dark grey, why not with a (light) touch of brown with the greys on the bulbs, and a shading in dark grey for underside recesses.

Just my opinion, thought

your colors remind me of US Army desert "chocolate pearl" camo any anyway, so it's fun

On 8/14/2018 at 5:45 AM, gounour said:

Not bad at all,

but I think you were mistaken in trying to panel what was an unpanelled mini. The stripes idea was the good one, should have continued it, mixing your greys to go gradually from your flat light gray toward your dark grey, why not with a (light) touch of brown with the greys on the bulbs, and a shading in dark grey for underside recesses.

Just my opinion, thought

your colors remind me of US Army desert "chocolate pearl" camo any anyway, so it's fun

So, those sections that appear to be panels were actually raised sections on the model. I wanted them to stick out from the rest, so it does give it somewhat of a "paneled" appearance. The paint job is based off some 3D art I found online (Which for the life of me I cannot find anymore haha).

On 8/13/2018 at 6:26 AM, Salted Diamond said:

I'd recommend doing some touchup around the panels and blisters and them give it a wash. Not bad otherwise

Already on the checklist. I've gotten some of the touchup finished, but I still am struggling as to whether I want to do a wash with either black (the usual) or a dark brown / rust mix.

12 hours ago, RyonOlson said:

Already on the checklist. I've gotten some of the touchup finished, but I still am struggling as to whether I want to do a wash with either black (the usual) or a dark brown / rust mix.

When I'm trying to decide something like that, I try both on small sections on the bottom (where no one will ever notice).