posted 02-28-2016 08:24 PM               

I have a bit of experience from Shapeways of their material you used but found it to be too grainy. You seem to have overcome that somehow. I assume the parts in Frosted Ultra Detail might be too expensive?

posted 03-01-2016 02:32 AM               

The Frosted ultra or extreme detail material is really perfect for fine parts although very fragile, I broke several parts myself but repairing them with superglue seems to work well. The details on these parts can be much accurate that what you could have with injected plastic.

posted 03-04-2016 07:00 AM               

What you have to do is just to print the pdf files, use a satin varnish for the black panel and a gloss varnish for the anodized aluminium panel. For the aluminium pattern use the pattern as a pattern to cut the panel.

• Aft section
  
• Mid-section
  
• Forward section

posted 05-12-2016 09:32 AM               

Next item will be to complete the details of the forward section and then the LM itself will be finished, maybe this weekend. Will follow the lunar base and design of the Monogram CSM support above the LM.

posted 05-19-2016 01:29 AM               

The various vents around the forward section are then installed.

The EVA handrail is made of 0.25 x 1 mm / 0.01 x 0.04 in stryrene strip. The upper fixture is made of 0.75 mm / 0.03 in styrene round rod.

The last items to be assembled are the RCS thrusters

Finally a complete model with still some work to do like the lunar base and the astronauts. The idea is to fix a pole on the lunar base to which the 1/32 CSM will be attached. This should be finished by July 2019 I hope

posted 06-16-2016 09:01 AM               

All parts are now available on Shapeways in the 1/32 and 1/24 LRV stores and instructions and links to the parts are also available on my web site.

This really completes my work on designing a 1/32 lunar module for almost every mission (to be honest I still need to design the scimitar antenna and the ALSEP quadrant for Apollo 9 although this particular mission is less in demand).

posted 06-21-2016 03:59 AM               

I just discovered through a fellow space modeler that in FUD Shapeways charges $5 per per 3D file as handling fee which means that if you have ten different products in FUD this will cost you $50 plus the price of the material. If you can put these 10 products into a single file, this becomes ONE product and basically you can save $45. So I am working on creating combos for the different versions of the LM. I shall soon offer these combos in 1/32 for the H mission descent stage, then will come the ascent stage, ascent stage interior, J mission descent stage and the LRV. It is a lot of work since you have to puts all part in a limited space and make sure the final file is less than 64 K.

posted 07-02-2016 09:01 AM               

If you buy the entire LM-5 with interior using the combos the price is now 621.32 €, that a 30% sales or you save almost 278 €.

I still need to go back to work and do the same for the J series descent stage and the LRV.

posted 07-18-2016 05:08 PM               

To give you an estimate and a comparison between individual parts and combined parts, this is below what it would cost. Depending on the configuration you want this may vary:

• Individual parts for Apollo 11, no interior: $451
  Combined parts for Apollo 11, no interior: $390

• Individual parts for Apollo 11, with interior: $808
  Combined parts for Apollo 11, with interior: $581

• Individual parts for Apollo 17, no interior: $657
  Combined parts for Apollo ,17, no interior: $502

• Individual parts for Apollo 17, with interior: $1016
  Combined parts for Apollo 17, with interior: $695

• Individual parts for LRV-1, Apollo 15: $202
  Combined parts for LRV-1, Apollo 15: $84

• Individual parts for LRV-3, Apollo 17: $211
  Combined parts for LRV-3, Apollo 17: $101

posted 10-31-2016 09:51 AM               

Black strong and flexible is similar to the white one but orange is polished. I would advice for most parts black since the polished version is difficult on more precise parts (the price is the same anyway). I also noted the BSW is a bit more expensive than the WSF and the 15% becomes interesting for large parts and combos making the final price lower. For small parts it is better to keep SWF.

Modifying all parts takes quite a long time. If you want something special tell me the reference of the part and I will try to fix the material today.

posted 11-10-2016 06:06 AM               

Vincent Meens' Shapeways store is totally out of this world — his designs are all intricately detailed parts for space models. Vincent works for the French Space Agency and has actually given his models to a number of museums, so he definitely knows his stuff.