Plastic moulding process

[Rik Lightstar]

Archon and Kickstarter projects in general are a "One and Done" approach to production.

 

Having backed their Chronicle X project, the detail on those is good but isn't noticeably better than GW stuff, probably a bit worse if anything. That's not to say its bad, but not special.

 

Rik

[Arkaniss]

Just a quick addition to this talk of mould costs I want to make - this topic comes up a lot and many people are surprised about the expense of a mould. As far as I've seen no-one ever mentions that for the tolerance and accuracy required as well as paying the price for a suitably skilled worker/setup will add to it, it's not just a material cost.

 

If you want product 'A' to tolerance 'X' it will cost so much, and the further you increase the tolerance requirement the cost will go up. A large proportion of a price for a mould is of course the hefty chunk of material it's made from, but paying for the capability and skill of the manufacturer is not an insubstantial slice. As bespoke or very low quantity orders they will have a larger cost than if GW ordered thousands of them, which is not a realistic option naturally!

 

... well, unless GW does indeed plan on selling Rhinos until the heat death of the universe

[GreenScorpion]

Just a quick addition to this talk of mould costs I want to make - this topic comes up a lot and many people are surprised about the expense of a mould. As far as I've seen no-one ever mentions that for the tolerance and accuracy required as well as paying the price for a suitably skilled worker/setup will add to it, it's not just a material cost.

 

If you want product 'A' to tolerance 'X' it will cost so much, and the further you increase the tolerance requirement the cost will go up. A large proportion of a price for a mould is of course the hefty chunk of material it's made from, but paying for the capability and skill of the manufacturer is not an insubstantial slice. As bespoke or very low quantity orders they will have a larger cost than if GW ordered thousands of them, which is not a realistic option naturally!

Tolerance is important and cutting good moulds is expensive if we want high precision, but most of the cost is from the machinery itself and not the person using it. Skilled workers are still way cheaper than heavy precision machinery by a large margin and in many cases I have seen throughout my career, most of the skill comes from the machine and the worker is basically the cheapest resource available that can be trained not to lose fingers or damage the machine (fingers are secondary, the safety of the machine is the highest importance here).

[gorg_graggel]

Archon and Kickstarter projects in general are a "One and Done" approach to production.

 

Having backed their Chronicle X project, the detail on those is good but isn't noticeably better than GW stuff, probably a bit worse if anything. That's not to say its bad, but not special.

 

Rik

I have the impression that they have longer term plans with those. While most sets are still in 'late pledge' mode, the first of the Rampart kits is in their shop without the pledge moniker and with a higher than KS price.

 

The quality is comparable to GW. I just brought them up because of that and because they divulge information regarding their process, so people have something to look at. :)

[USNCenturion]

Why then did they release the new tactical kit around 2013 only to then release the whole Primaris line a few years later? The first tactical squad apparently lasted over 10 years unless there was a mould replacement in between. I can’t believe Primaris wasn’t in the works in some regard when that tac squad update was released; i think there is some tension there between the high cost of the moulds and the desire to make up the cost of it, versus a whole new line releasing to put that mould out of action.

 

I think helping to understand that can address a weird branch-off to these mould questions. It doesn’t seem so cut and dry if they were willing to basically kill a whole sprue/mould before it recouped its production cost. Why also don’t they do it for other things?

[Bung]

Why then did they release the new tactical kit around 2013 only to then release the whole Primaris line a few years later? The first tactical squad apparently lasted over 10 years unless there was a mould replacement in between. I can’t believe Primaris wasn’t in the works in some regard when that tac squad update was released; i think there is some tension there between the high cost of the moulds and the desire to make up the cost of it, versus a whole new line releasing to put that mould out of action.

 

I think helping to understand that can address a weird branch-off to these mould questions. It doesn’t seem so cut and dry if they were willing to basically kill a whole sprue/mould before it recouped its production cost. Why also don’t they do it for other things?

There are other reasons for Primaris.

The Space Marine Line was done. There wasnt much to add to the Kodex and to keep.people buying Space Marines there had to be something new.

Edited February 24, 2021 by Bung

[Rik Lightstar]

Because a Marines troops option will sell in sufficient numbers.

 

Also, it's quite feasible that the preceding mould was coming to the end of its life, at that point a redesigned Tactical Squad will certainly bring in additional sales over what you'd expect from just continuing to produce the previous one.

 

There's no scenario where GW would go any amount of time without being able to supply their biggest seller.

 

Rik

[N1SB]

Why then did they release the new tactical kit around 2013 only to then release the whole Primaris line a few years later? The first tactical squad apparently lasted over 10 years unless there was a mould replacement in between. I can’t believe Primaris wasn’t in the works in some regard when that tac squad update was released; i think there is some tension there between the high cost of the moulds and the desire to make up the cost of it, versus a whole new line releasing to put that mould out of action.

 

I think helping to understand that can address a weird branch-off to these mould questions. It doesn’t seem so cut and dry if they were willing to basically kill a whole sprue/mould before it recouped its production cost. Why also don’t they do it for other things?

 

 

Because a Marines troops option will sell in sufficient numbers.

 

Also, it's quite feasible that the preceding mould was coming to the end of its life, at that point a redesigned Tactical Squad will certainly bring in additional sales over what you'd expect from just continuing to produce the previous one.

 

There's no scenario where GW would go any amount of time without being able to supply their biggest seller.

 

Rik

 

This literally sounds like how I use so much Agrax Earthshade that I have 2 bottles at any given time.  Even before 1 is half-empty I make a point to buy a back-up pot.

 

Also, thanks to Brothers Crix and Rik asking and answering, it totally illustrates GW's decision making process.  Marine-related projects just get signed off before anyone can blink, the spice must flow.