spsmiler Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 On 12/07/2024 at 10:17, rue_d_etropal said: Many of my designs have featured on layouts seen in magazines and at exhibitions including York. I am (slowly) building some of them at the moment - and very peeved at the thought that they might not be available to buy again at a later date. So far I have a dozen passenger coaches (and a large retail building,) and eventually I was planning to buy as many again. I'll be candid and add the phrase 'slowly, as my budget allows'. Trains that are not available elsewhere, such as classes 501, 502, 503, 306, LNER / NER Tyneside units and more. Plus items from other Shapeways shops, such as Volks Railway carriages, buildings, escalators, London Underground style signals ....... I was also looking to try out your street tramway track. I do not have a 3D printer but might (one day) have to get one. Apart from the VAT / import duty issues (not a fault of anyone here) my biggest gripe has been the 3D print material, but that is not something that Simon Dawson had any control over. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium nick_bastable Posted July 15 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, 3rdboxcar said: Well it is pretty definite, I just got my creditors notice from a firm of solicitors in Wilmington DE this morning handling the bankruptcy with passcodes for a zoom meeting being held in early August. I got the same letter today, odd as have not used shapeways for years and they owed me nothing, suspect they just took the customer list and will contact everyone 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdboxcar Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 (edited) 6 hours ago, Quarryscapes said: Christ, how much were you raking in from sales to be classed as a creditor? They owe me $43.94 for June payday and one order for July that got shipped, [I am not holding my breath] thankfully nothing ordered that was not shipped, so no customers for me out of pocket but I suspect there will be quite a few customers in other shops that put in orders that were not shipped. If my sales were an indication of business then things have been slower for quite a few months. Just ordered a resin printer today. Edited July 15 by 3rdboxcar 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 15 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 15 6 hours ago, spsmiler said: Apart from the VAT / import duty issues (not a fault of anyone here) my biggest gripe has been the 3D print material, but that is not something that Simon Dawson had any control over. Eeerrr it is, the choice of material is that of the owner not Shapeways. It has been mentioned to him that it is an awful product to use many times in the past, but it fell on deaf ears. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spsmiler Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 1 hour ago, chris p bacon said: Eeerrr it is, the choice of material is that of the owner not Shapeways. It has been mentioned to him that it is an awful product to use many times in the past, but it fell on deaf ears. I wonder whether other materials would have been much more expensive? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 16 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 16 10 hours ago, spsmiler said: I wonder whether other materials would have been much more expensive? The other materials are more expensive but give a better quality print. The % markup on Shapeways costs is also set by the owner of the STL hence the high cost on substandard material. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 21 hours ago, nick_bastable said: I got the same letter today, odd as have not used shapeways for years and they owed me nothing, suspect they just took the customer list and will contact everyone Pretty much standard practice. Liquidators don't have a lot of resources to dig into who is owed how much. They should know what they think is owed from the accounting system, but the accounts are sometimes inaccurate when the firm goes bust, especially as dishonesty can have occurred. So they write to people who may be owed (which will include past suppliers and customers) and ask them to claim, and they advertise in certain papers to pick those whose name may be missing from the accounts. They then have to filter out false/dubious claims, sell the assets for whatever they can and pay the creditors pro rata (if there's any left after preferential claims like the taxman and employee rights, and of course their own fees) 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spsmiler Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 (edited) I wonder .... as a customer, will I get a letter from the liquidators? I am not owed anything. I've just remembered that my wishlist included some Southend Pier Railway carriages from one of its shops .... I wonder where (if at all) they will now be sold. Edited July 16 by spsmiler 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted July 16 Author Share Posted July 16 I had this letter this morning from the Shapeway forum: MousaModels, buzzzmore started a new conversation with you at Shapeways 3D Printing Forums. Business Proposal - MyMinifactory/Only-Games Hello there, My name is Rhys, Business Developer from MyMinifactory and Only-Games. I would like to make you a proposal regarding sale of your STL's on MyMinifactory and physical Print on Demand through Only-Games. Please let me know when you are free to chat :) My email address is: rhys@myminifactory.com All the best, VIEW THIS CONVERSATIONView All Your Conversations Please do not reply to this email. You must visit Shapeways 3D Printing Forums to reply. This message was sent to you from Shapeways 3D Printing Forums because your preferences are set to receive email when a new conversation message is received. 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdboxcar Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 12 hours ago, billbedford said: I had this letter this morning from the Shapeway forum: MousaModels, buzzzmore started a new conversation with you at Shapeways 3D Printing Forums. Business Proposal - MyMinifactory/Only-Games Hello there, My name is Rhys, Business Developer from MyMinifactory and Only-Games. I would like to make you a proposal regarding sale of your STL's on MyMinifactory and physical Print on Demand through Only-Games. Please let me know when you are free to chat :) My email address is: rhys@myminifactory.com All the best, VIEW THIS CONVERSATIONView All Your Conversations Please do not reply to this email. You must visit Shapeways 3D Printing Forums to reply. This message was sent to you from Shapeways 3D Printing Forums because your preferences are set to receive email when a new conversation message is received. I got one as well, looks like they are touting for business, I do not think I will be going down this route as they seem to deal mainly in wargaming / fantasy figures, doing a search for trains / railways etc produces nothing of any substance. They will struggle for replies on the shapeways forum as the site is off line just now and may not come back up. A chapter 7 bankruptcy means nobody touches anything so the web site was probably chugging along on it's own till it falls over or the server providers pull the plug when they are not paid. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted July 17 Author Share Posted July 17 2 hours ago, 3rdboxcar said: I got one as well, looks like they are touting for business, I do not think I will be going down this route as they seem to deal mainly in wargaming / fantasy figures, doing a search for trains / railways etc produces nothing of any substance. Probably the way to go would be to persuade MyMiniFactory to set up a separate section for serious railway modellers. However, I think that selling STL files would be less profitable than full models for the people involved. 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slanjonok Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 (edited) 17 hours ago, billbedford said: Probably the way to go would be to persuade MyMiniFactory to set up a separate section for serious railway modellers. On https://only-games.co/ are already sections "Railway(Coming Soon)" and "Toys (Coming Soon)". Seems that is thier idea to. Edited July 18 by Slanjonok 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdboxcar Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 4 hours ago, billbedford said: Probably the way to go would be to persuade MyMiniFactory to set up a separate section for serious railway modellers. However, I think that selling STL files would be less profitable than full models for the people involved. I agree with you Bill, whilst I am not averse to sharing stl files once you have released them you have no control over them, I gave a file to somebody that had a printer, that was the last I heard from him till found out he was selling my models! How many railway modellers have 3D printers anyway, and if they do they have the ability to draw their own files and are probably not that interested in other models. Whereas the wargame /fantasy figures etc are a completely different demographic, a lot of them have printers but cannot draw so they are happy to buy stl files of figures. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 By all means sell STL files if you want, but at lot of us don't have 3D printer, don't have the funds, or the time/inclination to learn etc but would still like to buy some of the more obscure models that people have been drawing up and offering thorugh Shapeways. Likewise. those who are happy to do the artwork should be able to make some money from their efforts without having to get into the business of printing, marketing and retailing. So there should be a good business case for somebody to to fill the gap left by Shapeways demise. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NScaleNotes Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 Everyone seems to be missing this part of the message BillBedford posted: "physical Print on Demand through Only-Games" The company behind MyMiniFactory/OnlyGames do have a print on demand service and it looks like they already offer customers the choice of either downloading the stl or having some of the items printed just like Shapeways did. It's obviously not quite as polished as Shapeways yet but I'd say watch that space; remember they've got £5m burning a hole in their pockets they can use to make this happen. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spsmiler Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 I do not have a 3D printer so if the items I wish to buy were available, at an affordable price and with reasonable quality then yes I would use MyMiniFactory On the topic of money, their being in the UK would (I hope) mean that carriage charges would be more reasonable than Shapeways plus the tyranny of import fees and courier tax collection handling fees would become history. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium maridunian Posted July 18 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 18 (edited) I'm still looking into ways to resume selling physical models, but have bitten the bullet of selling designs for now. I chose Cults3D as host. They charge 20% on sales, whereas MyMiniFactory charge $24.99 a month for a shop. There's Etsy too (it's complicated). Early sales are promising but as has been pointed out, could be one-offs with my designs now released into the wild .... I have been approached by a wargames printer about physical sales. Their figurines can be very complex, so I see that as a positive qualification when thinking about them printing our boxes and tubes! Mike Edited July 18 by maridunian 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdboxcar Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 9 hours ago, maridunian said: Their figurines can be very complex, so I see that as a positive qualification when thinking about them printing our boxes and tubes! Mike From my learning curve boxes and tubes are far harder to produce than intricate designs, flat surfaces are harder than curved organic surfaces, if the curve or organic shape is not quite right you do not see it on figures as that is the way they are meant to be but if it is not quite right on a coach side you see it. Possibly the reason why there are not many railway modellers resin printing? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain_Mumbles Posted July 19 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 19 We can only hope that the designers make their files available to purchase on sites like cults, ect. I had a huge wishlist and the printing cost was prohibitive. Lets hope we can still support them by purchasing the files someday! There were so many beautiful designs on there. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdh-stbriavels Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Hi, I wonder if anyone can help with a couple of queries on this topic. I'm assuming Shapeways is an umbrella market place website - I've ordered items from Stafford Road Models before via the Shapeways website. With Shapeways demise will Stafford Road Models continue - looking at its Facebook page it just states the models will 'not be available'. I'm not sure if this is permanent or temporary until another channel is found; does anyone know? Second, the reason I was trying to get on to their website is I was trying to see if anyone has a 3D print of a GWR Y3 fruit van in OO gauge. I don't suppose anyone knows if anybody produces such a model? Thanks 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium njee20 Posted July 22 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 22 Shapeways are more of a fulfillment provider. So Stafford Road Models use Shapeways to print their models. Shapeways goes, they have no one to print their models, hence they're unable to provide them. You can order through Shapeways, or you could presumably order through other sites, but the models will have all ultimately come from Shapeways. Of course if Stafford Road Models find someone else to print their models, or decide instead to make their files available, then the models will once again become available. 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdh-stbriavels Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 3 hours ago, njee20 said: Shapeways are more of a fulfillment provider. So Stafford Road Models use Shapeways to print their models. Shapeways goes, they have no one to print their models, hence they're unable to provide them. You can order through Shapeways, or you could presumably order through other sites, but the models will have all ultimately come from Shapeways. Of course if Stafford Road Models find someone else to print their models, or decide instead to make their files available, then the models will once again become available. Thanks. That clarifies nicely 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium maridunian Posted July 26 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 26 (edited) That's the emergency evacuation of my designs, descriptions and photos from the Shapeways site completed. Luckily, their systems have remained running thus far. I have uploaded 70 designs to the Cults3D sharing site, where people can buy downloads for personal use: https://cults3d.com/en/users/Maridunian_Models I've set arbitrary prices to begin with. It will be interesting to see what happens. If I wanted a model that I couldn't otherwise get, then the price of a couple of pints doesn't seem unreasonable. So far as printing for people without printers is concerned, there'll be plenty of contenders to take purchased designs to. I've been speaking to a couple and 247 Developments have already dispatched a successfully printed Shapeways design to a customer. Mike Edited July 26 by maridunian 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knuckles Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 As you probably know I 3D print people's designs through Sparkshot Custom Creations if it interests anyone. Regarding printing another's range, I'm sure some deal could be sorted with split profits, similar to the Shapeways model etc. Send us an email if so. ------ Back to the hunt for a Shapeways replacement. It did seem that there was one called Angle or Angel or something (can't seem to find the link now) but looking at their terms you needed a USA address to become a partner.....which is useless if like me you're a UK resident. 🙄 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
etendam Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Shapeways Eindhoven will make a new start under the name Manuevo after the bankruptcy of the American holding company. The curator of the Dutch company has just announced this. https://bz.nl/updates/doorstart-shapeways/ Ed 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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