Re: [NetEpic ML] Plastic or Metal

From: Kelvin Henderson <kx.henderson_at_...>
Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 14:43:36 +1000

At 12:37 AM 2/5/02 +0000, you wrote:
>Hi gang,
>
>I brought this up to GW/Fanatic's staff some time ago and their
>explanation was that plastic is as expensive or in some cases more
>expensive than metal and that is why they don't do more....Anyone with
>more knowledge of figure design/production want to put me right because as
>a leyman I would ahve thought plastic has to be cheaper?
>
>Cheers

The cost is in the set-up. I have had a long talk to Nic from Eureka
Miniatures about this and he told me the cost is in the set-up, not the
materials. A plastic casting unit costs in the realm of $250 000Aus to
purchase, with each of the aluminium moulds to be used for each sprue
costing between $20K - $30KAus to set up. Sure, the plastic you use to
pour into the mould is next-to-nothing in price, but the set-up costs you
incur are apparently phenomenal. On the flip-side, the metal you pour into
the mould for a metal mini is quite expensive compared to plastic, but the
set-up of moulds is cheap (they're a rubber compound) and the cost of a
centrifuge unit to cast it with is only in the area of $500 -
$5000Aus. MUCH cheaper.

The outcome of all this is that if you KNOW you'll sell, say half-a-million
units of a plastic kit (as GW does), and that you'll use the unit to make
others, then the setup for running a plastic casting unit pays for
itself. If you can't afford to play out for a plastic casting unit and are
not sure you'll reap your money back, then its a huge gamble. As a result,
most smaller companies resort to metal.

The plastic casting units are huge, industrial machines that cost a fortune
and require specialist training. Metal casting on a small centrifuge can
be done in the shed out the back (I know, a friend of mine is doing it
now), needs little training and costs peanuts (relatively speaking) to set-up.

THAT'S why GW claims plastic isn't as cheap as people think. Sure its not
cheap to set-up but once you've got the units, the moulds last almost
forever (they are a machined aluminium), the plastic costs almost nothing
and you can change the moulds as you need to so you can make lots of
different minis.


-Kelvin....

"Oh no! Waspinator is pinned
     like Iron Butterfly!"
Received on Tue Feb 05 2002 - 04:43:36 UTC