Pendraken Miniatures Forum

Wider Wargaming => General Discussion => Topic started by: old smokie on 22 May 2016, 09:54:03 PM

Title: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: old smokie on 22 May 2016, 09:54:03 PM
what would be the cost of getting some WW2 10mm vehicles made ?
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: jimduncanuk on 22 May 2016, 10:52:48 PM
Quote from: old smokie on 22 May 2016, 09:54:03 PM

what would be the cost of getting some WW2 10mm vehicles made ?


Absolutely nothing if you ask Pendraken nicely and sufficient Forum members support such a request(s).

Start your request(s) here:

http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/board,4.0.html

Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: old smokie on 23 May 2016, 02:43:32 PM
saw that

just want to know what it would cost to commision some vehicles
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Leon on 23 May 2016, 04:55:03 PM
Vehicles are quite expensive compared to a figure sculpt or conversion, so I'm not sure it would be viable for folks to commission them.  You'd be looking at £150-£200 once you've included the moulding costs, which is fairly high for one model.  For ourselves, we can reduce the cost per model by having several of them in a single mould, but it's still over £100 for each one.  That's fine if it's a Pz III or a Sherman, as we'll sell plenty of them, but there's a lot of the less popular vehicles that we'll possibly never recoup the costs on.  It all balances out in the end though!

What were you looking for out of interest?  It might be something we've got on the medium/long-term radar already?
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: paulr on 24 May 2016, 03:28:59 AM
Quote from: Leon on 23 May 2016, 04:55:03 PM
... £150-£200 ...

:o :o :o
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Techno on 24 May 2016, 04:41:43 AM
Are you shocked 'cos you think that's a high, or low, figure, Paul ?  :-\

Cheers - Phil
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Ithoriel on 24 May 2016, 04:45:22 AM
Perhaps shocked at the realisation of the size of the investment Dave and Co have made in creating the extensive catalogue they now have!
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Fenton on 24 May 2016, 05:00:31 AM
I actually would have guessed about £300
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Sandinista on 24 May 2016, 06:04:43 AM
I bet the sculptor still gets paid not much more than minimum wage

Cheers
Ian
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Steve J on 24 May 2016, 06:13:50 AM
As a professional modelmaker for 30 years, this sort of job would broadly break down as follows:

- Research the project and get scale drawings (unless they are supplied).
- Work out a conversion scale from the drawings to 1/144th (which can be a real pain, believe me).
- Procure appropriate materials for barrels etc.
- Agree with Dave & Leon minimum sizes of parts to factor in skrinkage in the moulding process and mould flow.
- Make the damned thing!

For arguments sake let's say this whole process took 8 hours from start to finish:

- At minimum wage rate of say £8 p/h = £64.
- At a realistic freelance rate of say £20 p/h = £160.

In reality you can never cover your costs as the whole process would simply be too expensive (in my experience). You do it for some moeny to help buy more toys etc and for the fun of it.

Hope this helps explain some of the issues involved in getting stuff like this made?
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Orcs on 24 May 2016, 06:39:34 AM
Quote from: Sandinista on 24 May 2016, 06:04:43 AM
I bet the sculptor still gets paid not much more than minimum wage

Cheers
Ian

Have you not Seen Mrs T with her Ferrari and matching horsebox   ;D

Apart from a very, very few people in the wargames industry, most are not making a fortune
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: fsn on 24 May 2016, 06:53:59 AM
To be fair, Mrs T's fortune comes from her range of "Practical First Aid in Emergencies" books and lectures tours.

I don't know where she gets her inspiration!
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Orcs on 24 May 2016, 06:55:35 AM
Quote from: fsn on 24 May 2016, 06:53:59 AM
To be fair, Mrs T's fortune comes from her range of "Practical First Aid in Emergencies" books and lectures tours.

I don't know where she gets her inspiration!

She married Phil for his accidents.  :D
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Wulf on 24 May 2016, 09:29:21 AM
Hmm... my KV-13 ambitions have been put on hold...

(It's the only one of my favourite World of Tanks vehicles I can't find anything remotely representative for. And, yes, it is real, it's the prototype that was developed into the IS.)
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: old smokie on 24 May 2016, 10:49:16 AM
@ Leon

looking for the following vehicles & quantities

                                                  Qty Required
le SPW U304 [f]                                 54         
le SPW U304 [f] 2cm Flak                     7
mSPW S303 [f] Pioneer                      16
mSPW S307 [f] PAK 40                        4
zugkraftwagen S307                           16
le FH18 Lorraine 10.5cm                     12
SFH 13 Lorraine 15cm                        13
Reihenwerfer mSPW S307 [f] 8cm         6
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: GrumpyOldMan on 24 May 2016, 11:26:29 AM
Hello Old Smokie

Maybe you could approach some of the Shapeways designers? Here's some halftracks which work out about 3 quid each. Or you could get some done as masters in better quality prints and have some moulds made up and cast from.

http://www.shapeways.com/product/7MQPUXMNS/1-144-sdkfz-11-closed-x4?optionId=59634445&li=more-from-shop (http://www.shapeways.com/product/7MQPUXMNS/1-144-sdkfz-11-closed-x4?optionId=59634445&li=more-from-shop)

(http://images4.sw-cdn.net/product/picture/625x465_13875117_8565938_1460438215.jpg)

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Wulf on 24 May 2016, 12:14:38 PM
I do constantly search Shapeways as best I can - but the search facility there is abyssmal. I did recently find a collection of Vickers Medium tanks in various scales though...
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Leon on 24 May 2016, 05:07:12 PM
Quote from: old smokie on 24 May 2016, 10:49:16 AM
looking for the following vehicles & quantities

                                                 Qty Required
le SPW U304 [f]                                 54         
le SPW U304 [f] 2cm Flak                     7
mSPW S303 [f] Pioneer                      16
mSPW S307 [f] PAK 40                        4
zugkraftwagen S307                           16
le FH18 Lorraine 10.5cm                     12
SFH 13 Lorraine 15cm                        13
Reihenwerfer mSPW S307 [f] 8cm         6

Thanks for the list, I'll have a look at what we've got on the longer-term radar.  I know there are some U304 conversions coming on the base model we've alreadty got, so we might have something of interest.

Quote from: Sandinista on 24 May 2016, 06:04:43 AM
I bet the sculptor still gets paid not much more than minimum wage

You're right, the amount of work that goes into them is crazy.  We did use a different modeller a few years back, paying around £250 for a single tank, but whilst the models were outstanding, we'll never make any profit on those items so it doesn't make sense as a business.

Quote from: GrumpyOldMan on 24 May 2016, 11:26:29 AM
Maybe you could approach some of the Shapeways designers? Here's some halftracks which work out about 3 quid each. Or you could get some done as masters in better quality prints and have some moulds made up and cast from.

Shapeways is a good option, a lot of the guys on there are doing the designs as a part-time job / hobby, and are able to produce things much cheaper sometimes.  Commissioning a 3D designer specifically for your own stuff would probably be more expensive than traditional modelling though, I've paid £100's for a 3D design, then the same again for it to be printed out at a high resolution (not Shapeways stuff).
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: old smokie on 24 May 2016, 06:18:51 PM
QuoteThanks for the list, I'll have a look at what we've got on the longer-term radar.  I know there are some U304 conversions coming on the base model we've alreadty got, so we might have something of interest.

ooh shiny  =P~ look forward to seeing them, any news on the Brunswickers yet
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: Leon on 24 May 2016, 06:33:25 PM
Quote from: old smokie on 24 May 2016, 06:18:51 PM
Any news on the Brunswickers yet

Nothing yet, we've been delayed on a lot of things recently unfortunately.  We're getting closer to releasing the Prussians, then the Brunswickers will follow on shortly afterwards.
Title: Re: Cost of getting vehicles made
Post by: paulr on 24 May 2016, 06:36:51 PM
Quote from: Ithoriel on 24 May 2016, 04:45:22 AM
Perhaps shocked at the realisation of the size of the investment Dave and Co have made in creating the extensive catalogue they now have!

Spot on Ithoriel