New Masters for WW1 and 2 fans

[fsn]

Put me down for some of those Lancias.

Will they be available in October?   

[Leon]

Will they be available in October?   

Probably not, so you'll need to get a new signature picture sorted for those... 

[fsn]

As a serious question, what are the steps involved in getting a something on the market? I know very little about the process, but there does seem to be a lot of juggling of moulds, masters  and casting dwarves.

How long from concept to photo on the site?

(Answer in 1000 words or less in black ink. Show all workings.  10 marks.)

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

 

Probably not, so you'll need to get a new signature picture sorted for those... 

[Leon]

As a serious question, what are the steps involved in getting a something on the market? I know very little about the process, but there does seem to be a lot of juggling of moulds, masters  and casting dwarves.

How long from concept to photo on the site?

(Answer in 1000 words or less in black ink. Show all workings.  10 marks.)

It really depends on what it is, but the basic process is:

Figure sculpted ---> put into master mould ---> master castings produced ---> production mould made ---> figure goes on sale.

The delays come about for a variety of reasons. 

- Any masters which contain plastic need a low-temp mould producing, so we send those down to our friends at Kallistra to do, and we need to have a full mould's worth before we can do that, so we sometimes end up waiting on more masters to fill one.

- Similarly, we need enough masters to fill a regular mould, although it's very rare we don't have enough here!

- The master castings need to be checked over and sometimes need puttying or small repairs to them.

- We also do a lot of moulds and casting for other companies, so this can delay our own stuff when we've got a lot on for someone else.

- Plus all the general day-to-day stuff, and not having the spare time to get things prepped, cast off for the production moulds, blackwashed or photo'd for the website.

[Fenton]

You get at least one mark for putting your name at the top..


Can I ask what other companies you cast for?

[fsn]

Thank you for that. My question was genuinely one of interest in the process. Whatever I whinge about the c-word, there are no complaints.

What's the "size" of a regular mould? Presumably it can take more single figures than say limbers? Presumably the moulds also need to be themed? You couldn't put a set of Byzantine cataphracts with a T35, 'cos you'd have to cast them at the same time?

As I say, I am genuinely ignorant of the process (and I think I have demonstrated that) and am interested in the mechanics of it all.

[UZero]

As I say, I am genuinely ignorant of the process (and I think I have demonstrated that) and am interested in the mechanics of it all.

I was lucky enough to visit the Citadel factory in about '84 and watched them spinning some of the figures up - still have the dwarf with blunderbus dressed in safari jacket and pith helmet that had been cast. Fascinating process.

[Leon]

Can I ask what other companies you cast for?

The contract casting side is a separate company, and our main contract customer is Warfare Miniatures, who produce the fantastic 28mm League of Augsburg range, sculpted by the rather talented Clibinarium.  We also do work for Colonel Bill's, Burns Miniatures, Eagle Figures, and occasionally Mutineer Miniatures.  On top of that, we did all the moulding and casting for the Oathsworn Dwarf's which were on Kickstarter recently: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oathsworn/oathsworn-heroes-of-the-dwarfs  Those ones are exceptional sculpts, although casting up the 6400 Dwarf's was fun!

There's a few other odds and ends, but those are the main ones.

What's the "size" of a regular mould? Presumably it can take more single figures than say limbers? Presumably the moulds also need to be themed? You couldn't put a set of Byzantine cataphracts with a T35, 'cos you'd have to cast them at the same time?

The moulds are all 9" in diameter, and you can fit around 35 x 10mm figures in them, and upto 16 x 28mm figures.  Other things vary depending on size, and more importantly width.  Everything is placed around a central circular sprue, so you can fit more of a march attack pose than say a firing one, because the figure takes up less space.

One day I'll get around to making a 'How's It Made' guide or something along those lines.

[fsn]

Thank you. The "how it's made" would be very interesting.

[O Dinas Powys]

Thank you. The "how it's made" would be very interesting.

Definitely! 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Thank you gentlemen I will put the other version of the Lancia on later hopefully

Looking forward to seeing the other version. One question though will the model be cast with a separate tray or will that be cast with the cab/chassis?

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

[Leon]

Looking forward to seeing the other version. One question though will the model be cast with a separate tray or will that be cast with the cab/chassis?

Most likely with the cab/chassis I'd think.  It looks like it might already be attached on the model as well.

[fsn]

One day I'll get around to making a 'How's It Made' guide or something along those lines.

If you're too busy, here's an outfit that does "how to" videos. I think we'd all appreciate their efforts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8B9erdk0go

[mart678]

I will put a picture on later today showing the other variant and the Cab attached to the Chassis

Martin