RE: Metal minis vs. Plastic

>Jon, what about the new wonder plastic mentioned in the last 
>Ragnarok?  The one where you can use existing white metal moulds to 
>produce plastic figures.  According to that little article its 
>cheaper than existing plastics models.  Ral Partha bought the rights 
>but I've heard nothing more about these plastics.  Did you ever 
>consider it or is it a case of the volumes just not being right for 
>that kind of investment?

There are a number of factors here; firstly, yes, Ral Partha is supposed
to
have bought all the rights, presumably so they can use it and no-one
else.
Any further info on this from anyone would be helpful!
Secondly, the actual cost of the metal is still only a (smallish) part
of
the production cost of a miniature - the mouldmaking, casting labour
etc,
all amount to a major part, which would be the same if using the
spin-cast
plastics. The other problem I can forsee is that if you get a miscast in
the plastic (as you inevitably do with metal, especially with fairly
complex and intricate figure poses as many of ours are - the sculptors
don't try to make it easy for the caster) then you have wasted that
plastic. Metal miscasts go straight back in the melting pot!
I strongly suspect that when everything is analysed, these new spincast
plastics won't REALLY be much (if any) cheaper than metal figures for
the
reasons above. Their only real advantage will be for sale in areas where
metal figs are undesirable for whatever reasons (legal, age of customers
etc.).
[This is all IMHO, of course, and further information would always be
interesting...]
> 
>> As to the original question about Matchbox cars and other toys,
remember
>> that most of these are produced in the Far East (at virtual slave
labour
>> rates), and made in hundreds of thousands, or even millions. We
produce at
>> most a few thousand of any one model over the life-span of a certain
item,
>> and each one is produced by a highly trained and (fairly!) well-paid
>> caster. The economics differ by several orders of magnitude. Think of
a
>> bog-stock Ford against a hand-built sportscar....
>
>Buy a whip..That'd do the trick.  No more uppity casters.

Dave, our caster, will see you about this (normally he has to pay good
money for that sort of thing.....)

:)

Jon (GZG)

>_______________________________
>Niall Gilsenan,
>Dublin Institute of Technology,
>Cathal Brugha.St,
>Dublin 1,
>Ireland.