Was: Re: [DSII] Genre - now about mini. production - sort of OT

> Michael Llaneza wrote:

OT, but FYI

The big rubber "puck" molds miniature companies use for spin casting (how
they make metal miniatures) cost a few hundred dollars - maybe a bit
more or less depending on size, the amount they purchase at one time, etc. One
mold might be set up to produce, say, 20 small metal sprues of 6mm troops.

An injection moulding tool ("tool" is the technical term for a mould) for 20
sprues of 6mm figs set up the way GW does them might cost $20,000 or
more.  Plastic moulding is a PRICY proposition - that's why only *big*
companies with *lots* of sales ever jump into it in a big way. Something like
a plastic base for FT models is within the possibilities of a smaller company,
'cause you can package one with each ship model, but for individual troops,
people rarely purchase enough of any one (unless you
make only 1 or 2, but consumers don't want that - we like variety) to
make
it worth while.  That's why GW has moved to producing multi-part plastic
troop kits for 40K and WHFantasy - they get the efficiencies of
injection moulding and the customers get figs that can be posed in many ways
for variety. In the long run, you can produce plastic molded figs a lot
cheaper than spin casting, but you have to make thousands and thousands. Spin
casting is financially viable with small runs. Also, spin casting is
a more forgiving process from a detail point of view - because the molds
are rubber, you can have undercut areas on a model that are impossible in
plastic moulding - so your metal figs tend to be *much* more detailed.