Custom Hard Plastic/Resin kits

[GreenScorpion]

I have been thinking about creating a set of modular infantry and vehicles to be usable in the hobby (as a long term thing, not right away), which would be based on a sci-fi story I have written but would be usable in 40k as the likes of AM, R&H...

 

With that in mind, I was wondering if anyone in the forum would know about companies that provide the service of creating custom molds for Hard Plastic or Resin kits, as for a start I would likely have all production done by a 3rd party, rather than investing on the needed machinery locally (which would be very difficult, unless my family suddenly becomes rich :D ).

I would be mostly interested in EU friendly companies, but feel free to leave any suggestions you know of worldwide :)

[Bung]

Maybe ask some small companies like RoboRo ketminiatures or Oroburos Miniatures. They are rather friendly and may help you.

[Fajita Fan]

Is this a one off thing for you or are you looking to create models for sale?  If you have a design to sell and the modelling talent you may as well try working for a 3rd party mini company so that you don't necessarily have to assume the risk of starting another company.  If this is just an army you want to create for yourself just buy a 3d printer, that's so much easier than molds.  Creating plastic injection molds a la GW sprues is a massive investment, I've heard of molds for things like tanks costing $10k+ to create.  

[GreenScorpion]

Is this a one off thing for you or are you looking to create models for sale?  If you have a design to sell and the modelling talent you may as well try working for a 3rd party mini company so that you don't necessarily have to assume the risk of starting another company.  If this is just an army you want to create for yourself just buy a 3d printer, that's so much easier than molds.  Creating plastic injection molds a la GW sprues is a massive investment, I've heard of molds for things like tanks costing $10k+ to create.  

More of something to be sold, at least on the long term (when I said usable in the hobby, I meant overall not just me).

Molds for Hard Plastic are often expensive, setup cost is high but part costs are typically lower (once setup is paid), Resin is overall cheaper for lower quantities, but also has its downsides. Either way, not recommendable for a personal army unless you want like 10000 of each sprue or so for yourself :D

Currently I am checking mostly what is available, so a decision can be made.

I have already been looking at 3d printers for things like quick prototypes and things like shapeways as an initial platform for miniature production.

I am mostly just doing research for now, but you make indeed excellent points :)

[Eddie Orlock]

I believe 'Wargames Foundry' or was it factory (?) out of the UK made commission plastics for people at one time. They might still be in that business.

 

I'd also look up Ben Skinner of trouble maker games, he's done a fundamentally similar thing releasing his range of plastic building parts. I believe he has a british sub-contractor and has worked out some relatively economical mold solutions.

[GreenScorpion]

Thanks for the suggestions :)

 

So far I found this company for Hard Plastic kits: https://www.renedra.co.uk/index.php
They seem to produce the kits for Perry Miniatures, Shieldwolf Miniatures and a few others.

Historical players seem to give good reviews of Perry Miniatures plastic kits
For resin I have seen a few companies that offer custom order services, but most are small companies and I am not sure how reliable some of them would be.

 

I will keep digging, custom resin seems to be the cheapest solution, but if I went with a crowdfunding operation at some point I fear most of those small companies would reach a production bottleneck (the type of things that gets bad fame to some companies on kickstarter).

[NovemberIX]

I looked into something like this a few years ago, at the time my solution was to have a CNC shop machine the molds, and then pass that off to a vendor who did plastic injection molding, of which there was a surprisingly high number locally (though that might have to do with the local abundance of medical, and petrochemical firms).

[Venerable Jazzman]

Ok, from an Ops Manager perspective -

   1  what are you trying to achieve?

   2  what budget do you have?

   3  do you have an actual sales plan, or is just "Yeah, people will want this"?

   4  why will other people want your models? There are lots of good companies already providing bits, with a proven production and delivery methodology. Can you really do that?

   5  have you done any market research to prove that what you think will happen will actually happen?

[GreenScorpion]

Ok, from an Ops Manager perspective -

   1  what are you trying to achieve?

   2  what budget do you have?

   3  do you have an actual sales plan, or is just "Yeah, people will want this"?

   4  why will other people want your models? There are lots of good companies already providing bits, with a proven production and delivery methodology. Can you really do that?

   5  have you done any market research to prove that what you think will happen will actually happen?

Currently the focus is in searching the different available companies to better evaluate point 2, but overall here is the status:

1. what are you trying to achieve?

   Produce and sell a custom set of modular infantry, (possibly not modular) characters and vehicles using my own written sci-fi universe, but in a way that is compatible with typical miniatures like GW or Anvil for example (aiming more for the arm pegs and torso pegs like Anvil). Including both male and female versions, normal humans, mutants and other stuff (as interchangeable parts).

2. what budget do you have?

   Without going into details, enough budget for starting a line of infantry and a few characters in resin with minimum model counts.

   Certainly not enough for Hard Plastic.

3. do you have an actual sales plan, or is just "Yeah, people will want this"?

   The first step I am looking into is to test the waters with some 3d Printed offers through platforms like Shapeways and STL files, to serve as a base for initial feedback and confirmation of the demand from the wide public.

   After those initial steps an initial run of resin miniatures/parts would be done, focusing on the results and feedback.

   Once that is established and proven, a small crowd funding campaign would be done to try and achieve more designs in resin.

   If successful, the objective would be to start looking into the HIPS for a subset of the modules and run a second crowd funding initiative, if the support was available.

4. why will other people want your models? There are lots of good companies already providing bits, with a proven production and delivery methodology. Can you really do that?

   The objective is mostly to appeal to those that love conversions and often find it difficult to find compatible parts that are truly interchangeable between different kits without major modeling work with greenstuff or the likes. Essentially something similar to MadRobot, Anvil or Victoria Miniatures but with a custom set of miniatures, with a different background and look. Not completely innovative as a base concept, I know.

   Obviously one of the challenges would be to build a good reputation from the start, especially by delivering something first and only then try to go for a crowd funding, when it is known that demand is really there and that I can actually deliver what I promise. I have seen a lot of kickstarters for example taint the reputation of companies and that is something you never truly get rid of (although some companies simply continue making money out of it without caring).

5. have you done any market research to prove that what you think will happen will actually happen?

   The market research is where I am currently and what would continue at least through the first stage I described above. There is certainly demand for what I am planning, it is the level of demand that I need to better assess.

Thank you for your points :)

The search for manufacturers is mostly a way to further research for future steps, I am not thinking any of this as short term, it makes little sense to evaluate the needed demand, without having a rough idea of the actual minimum demand that would be required by a company working together with me on such a line of models/parts.

Either way this is not something that would happen from one day to the other, any project like this is a marathon, not a speed race.