The Imperial Shipyards
Imperial Creative Engineering => Dioramas => Topic started by: DocOutlands on February 11, 2014, 01:33:56 PM
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Production Platform 3 is about to launch a Kickstarter campaign to bring to life a series of action-figure scaled diorama pieces. You can preview the details here (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/261489313/1049140820?token=9fcfd58e).
Some of you have seen our items before and know the quality of our work. We want to step up our game and bring something out that while not movie-accurate (like the Galactic Merchants offerings), is movie-evocative and useful in a wider range of applications. We also have our eyes on future pieces to develop and make available. Check out our Kickstarter preview (we plan to have a video produced by the weekend) and keep an eye on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ProductionPlatform3) for more announcements.
But at the end of the run, ya gotta ask yourself... Would you like to see these walls standing behind your custom figures??
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Now they look impressive. I'm keen.
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Even better - we got ahold of the file and my CAD artist discovered they are not featureless on the backs ... we have TWELVE panels, effectively. She is currently hard at work preparing them for printing.
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;D
AWESOME
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You name a price, I'll name my paypal account.
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Doc, how do these all fit together? I would love to get my hands on a set. Any flooring planned later down the road. I have a ton of questions. Just great to see this getting off the ground.
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The way I am structuring the Kickstarter is thusly:
Goal $ - Gets one wall panel and one floor panel 3D-printed in high-detail.
Initial design-work has already been done on a blank/featureless 6"x6" interlocking floor-tile. *RIGHT NOW* the designer is working on creating a textured version of the floor-tile using a purchased design. There is a tab-n-slot system that - according to our modeling program - allows the floor tiles to lock together from any side.
Initial "proof-of-concept" work was done on the first wall panel earlier today to identify unprintable areas. I think a couple of the guys will be happy to hear the first panel will have exposed piping. 8) The walls will have a tab-and-slot system similar to the floor tiles so that they interlock, as well.
We are planning a ceiling series, as well, whose interlocks will work with the walls in the same way the walls and floors fit together, allowing dio-builders to put together a complete one-sided corridor of a strip of floor tiles, wall tiles, and ceiling tiles that all lock together, or an alcove display of a floor, 2 walls at a right angle, and a ceiling. Today has me convinced this is VERY possible.
Stretch-goal 1$ - Adds another wall panel into production.
Stretch-goal 2$ - Adds another wall panel into production.
Stretch-goal 3$ - Adds another wall panel into production.
...and so on.
Our initial plan was a series of one floor-tile and 6 wall-tiles. We may modify this plan slightly, by adding floor tiles in as stretch goals, either alternating with the wall tiles or have them occur as pairs - every stretch goal unlocks a floor AND a wall tile. Plus, we discovered our wall panels are actually double-sided, adding to the number of potential walls we could offer. I'm leery of overextending our first series on the Kickstarter campaign, though. If the demand is there, we can always come back later and run a series of *new* floor and wall tiles.
PLEASE go ahead and ask questions, Tamer (and everyone else)!! That way, if *we've* missed something, your questions will catch it and we'll get it addressed BEFORE we are 5 miles up the river in Injun Country!
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Here is a look at our current detailed floor tile (it could work well as wall detail, too!) with additional blank tiles in place alongside. I'm not totally satisfied with the current results - we're going to look at it again tomorrow and try another approach. But you can get an idea as to where we're heading from this.
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Project announced on the front page. I left a comment on your kickstarter preview too. I was ready to back this puppy, turn it on! :D
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thats stellar work. i mean wow that is VERY impressive. can't wait to see more.
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Saw that, Tamer! Gave me a good morning laugh - I can tell you are READY!! 8) We're going to put together a sales video to go with the Kickstarter campaign to show what we do, can do, and plan to do.
IMPURGE - *as of yet* the wall panels are ONLY computer models. The purpose of the Kickstarter will be to let us have them actually physically created so that they can be molded and cast and sold into the hands of people like you and Tamer and Chewie. (I say that, because I would LOVE to see Chewie shoot a few panels of a Rycroft Enloe story on some of our wall & floor tiles!)
Should we make a ceiling tile as part of the initial set?
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This is great Doc, I would definitely be interested in these.
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Just added a poll to this thread. Would appreciate everyone's input.
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I love these. The wall and floor panels are genius.
I like the idea of ceiling panels, but can only think those will make setting up and viewing the diorama harder.
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I love these. The wall and floor panels are genius.
I like the idea of ceiling panels, but can only think those will make setting up and viewing the diorama harder.
i agree but having the option available that much better and that much potential sales. besides a ceiling panel could be used for anything with right customizer.
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So cool that you are doing this! I have been following along on facebook but wanted to get in here and vote.
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Thanks for the input folks - keep it coming. Master Sprywalker, thanks for making it a point to come vote. I'm thinking we have a real shot at making an amazing showing with this thing. My artist has given me some teaser peeks at what is happening and it is AMAZING to me to watch how this stuff is coming together.
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And a huge thanks to TAMER for that front-page love! Getting the word out to as many forums and communities as possible about this kickstarter is going to be a herculean task...
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Miracle-worker, I tell you!! Here's the floor-tile design for the kickstarter set, FRESH from the artist! It is 6"x6" and interlocks in all directions. Currently, it is just over 1/8" thick. We are going to work on modifying it so that all the designs come out to a standard thickness.
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And a huge thanks to TAMER for that front-page love! Getting the word out to as many forums and communities as possible about this kickstarter is going to be a herculean task...
Your welcome, things like this make us all glad we are action figure collectors and customizers. This has been a gap that Hasbro has not filled and one we all want.
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Cool - I mentioned this at Yakface too.
And I'd love to include these items in my photonovel series... things like this are a true treat.
As for ceiling panels - I don't think those are necessary, personally. I like walls for sure - floors are just a bonus but I like the idea of as much versatility as possible with the walls/computer things. The only thing I don't care for on the floors is the interlocking feature because it will always look like part of the flooring section is "incomplete."
So in the end, I'm mostly interested in the walls. :)
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Chewie, THANK YOU! The folks like you who have to struggle to find ways to build sets for their photo-novels are one of the driving inspirations for this effort. If I can make it easier for a photonovelist to build the set they need to tell their stories, then maybe we can all enjoy more stories.
I've updated the Kickstarter preview due to a question I received about product sizing. Seems I've posted how big the pieces are everywhere *BUT* in the Kickstarter document! That's been fixed.
I'm thinking today we may rebuild the mock-ups in order to do some photos showing why we opted for the 6" square tiles and include them in the video. I have some large 1" grid paper that should do the trick. Also, I'm hopeful I can get some other video material written and shot (today??) so I can get started putting that together.
At this point, I can tell you the Kickstarter WILL HAPPEN. The designs we're getting are fantastic and I want them in MY collection! Based on the level of excitement and interest from people I don't even KNOW, there are others out there who want them as badly as I do. What remains to be seen is - can we crowd-fund it? I got lucky on the designs, both in acquiring them and in the ability of my artist to quickly and easily rework them into suitable format. What remains - secure funding to print the tiles through Shapeways, secure funding to make the molds, secure funding to cast the tiles (both as rewards for YOU as backers & future orders ... because once people see Chewie or Sprywalker or ANYONE else build a display with a set, they'll have to have one!), and ship them. Out of all that, getting them printed is the biggest expense - and that is varying fairly widely, depending on the amount of detail on the panel.
In the MEANTIME, I'm casting parts for customers and watching molds get used to the point some are starting to come apart! :P
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No problem - glad to offer what I can...
As for using Shapeways, the *only* concern I have is their products have had some granular properties with them. I've bought some cantina chairs and a cantina bar - both look good, but translated better for the "gritty" look of Tatooine really well and may be a bit more rough than one would hope for computer consoles/etc. Just food for thought.
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Chewie - that is a valid concern. *Most* of the items I have purchased from Shapeways have been in the "White, Strong & Flexible" materials, which does have a very distinctly grainy surface texture. However, I have bought some items in Frosted Detail material that seems to have a very smooth finish like I am hoping for. I'm going to have a small sample of the floor test-printed, now that we have a pretty solid design. (That also has the added benefit of opening up the wargame/minis market to us...)
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Cool, I was sure you were aware of that -- sounds like you're on top of things!
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I'm *trying* to be!! I want this to come out better than anyone expects and more successfully than *WE* have dreamed!! My measure of success is when a backer gets theirs in, sets it up, and calls or IM's 5 ppl they know to say, "THESE ARE SO COOL!!! YOU MUST ORDER YOURS RIGHT NOW!!" When we make something that fires the imaginations of our customers like that - we are succeeding.
So with that said, PLEASE don't hesitate to ask questions about how we are handling something or suggesting a way for us to consider. We don't know everything - we've gotten where we are by stumbling along blindly and relying on the kindness and instruction of strangers who have become friends along the way. If you see a pitfall we're rushing toward, let us know! (I consider the graininess of the WSF material a pitfall and am glad Chewie brought it up. It has its place, but the slick, finished wall of a starship is NOT IT!) If you see a way we can make things easier, more fun, more useful, faster, etc - let us know! We truly appreciate the interest that represents. 8)
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Doc this is just awesome, I really like that you have done the walls in this design it gives so many possibilities not just for SW but any kind of Sci Fi be it a building structure or starship interior.
Ron
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Work on this project continues, mainly as we try to get a design that is thin enough to be affordable while still be printable on Shapeways.
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Work on this project continues, mainly as we try to get a design that is thin enough to be affordable while still be printable on Shapeways.
You might like listening to our podcast with Twelfth Parsec for his Space Trees. He lists some sites where it was way cheaper and better product than Shapeways.
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I downloaded the podcast yesterday - it's on today's schedule. "Better results cheaper" is a definite plus, in my book.
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For those of you who don't follow PP3 on facebook (for shame!!), here's an update on this project!
My CAD artist delivered this to me today!! It is 6"x6"x1/8" thick. You can see the slot on the underside for a connector-piece to allow multiple tiles to join together, as well as a wall-to-floor adapter. This could be either an industrial-area floor or, as it is made up of smaller units, used to accent another piece with a smaller area of grating. She wants to know if this is the type of look desired.
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this is looking great Doc and oneday i might actually afford something like this to finally realise my Clone Barracks dio
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For those of you who don't follow PP3 on facebook (for shame!!), here's an update on this project!
My CAD artist delivered this to me today!! It is 6"x6"x1/8" thick. You can see the slot on the underside for a connector-piece to allow multiple tiles to join together, as well as a wall-to-floor adapter. This could be either an industrial-area floor or, as it is made up of smaller units, used to accent another piece with a smaller area of grating. She wants to know if this is the type of look desired.
I've become much more fond of Google+, but I dig your work, Mike. I'll definitely keep my eye on this, looks very promising!
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I need to figure out how to use Google+ for folks who want to dump Facebook, honestly. I've started on Pinterest and am looking at Instagram, as well.
Jay, I know all too well what you mean, sir!!
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Fresh from my artist! This is our first floor and wall panels that are even CLOSE to functional. We backed up from what was devolving into a dead-end with the other designs and my artist came at the project fresh from scratch. This is 6"x6"x6" and should give a really good figure display! We're working on an overall "theme" for the walls and want to get at least one done to include a door and one with panels. While we are a long way out from launching anything like a crowd-funding campaign, we *are* making some huge strides in that direction!
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My artist also took the time to work on my Iconic Box and came up with a couple of designs. Yes, they are HOLLOW with REMOVABLE LIDS!! They will most likely be included as stretch-goals as part of the crowd-funding program to bring the wall-panels to life.
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My artist also took the time to work on my Iconic Box and came up with a couple of designs. Yes, they are HOLLOW with REMOVABLE LIDS!! They will most likely be included as stretch-goals as part of the crowd-funding program to bring the wall-panels to life.
YES I WANT THESE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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:D Kinda thought you might...
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Time for a front page update methinks!
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Thanks for that, Tamer! We're pretty excited to be seeing some definitive progress on this.
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Lots of boxes please :)
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Here's what my artist handed me this evening. She has standardized the aesthetic and sizing of the wall panels and is starting with this paneled wall. 6"x6"x1/8"
At this rate, we'll have a complete set of wall and floor panels ready to be turned into master parts by the end of the week!
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if you can get the pricing right mate i certainly will want in on the action (a great display totally enhances a good figure)
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So my artist gives me an entire corridor - 3 different floors, a plain wall, a paneled wall, a door-blank for our existing door model, and a new interior door! This sample display is 18" long, 6" high, and 6" deep. We are looking at an open version of the new door, as well as a reversed panel, so that you can place the door-panel in the middle of a string of floor-tiles.
Our design team is extremely pleased with the current look, but we want to hear from YOU, our customers! What do you like about these panels? What would you like to see changed? Should we just shut up and take your money? ;)
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We haven't neglected the overhead! Here's a fully-enclosed corridor, using 3x floor panels, 6x walls, 3x ceilings, and 1x endcap wall. Using a ceiling *will* necessitate some vertical support elements, so those will be happening soon. The design is modular enough to be stackable, as you can see.
We are probably at about 75% completion of design-elements and we're beginning to look into the best ways to have the masters made. We do have a LOT of fine-detail work to adjust and verify now. We have another wall or two we want to design, possibly as a stretch-goal, possibly as an exclusive-for-backers offer.
Here's our current list of wall designs:
- "plain-jane"
- random access panels
- ordered access panels
- interior door/left
- interior door/right
- security door blank (this has a flat face to mount our existing blast-door model)
- full-grate floor/ceiling
- partial-grate floor/ceiling
- paneled floor/ceiling
That's NINE generic wall-panels. The interior door panels are designed as exact mirror images in order to place them back-to-back to show the action on both sides of the door. They would also function well in a "motel"-style layout with a blank panel, a left door, a right door, and a blank panel. We have these additional wall-panels we would LIKE to get designed and produced as part of the set, as well:
- exposed piping wall
- viewport wall
- large blast-door/pressure-door (least likely to happen at this point
- interior doorway with functional door
We still need to design an industrial column/pillar in order to hold up ceiling tiles and the set could honestly be considered complete.
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Looking great Doc. I can't wait to see some of these printed!
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You and me both!! I've got a couple more wall-tiles I'd like to get designed, 2 different columns for making stacked displays (and thus some detail redesign on EVERYTHING), and maybe some loose "spot decorations" like sloped footers, machinery boxes, and the like. Ideally, i'd like to get 4-6 extra pieces designed to specifically fit into the set.
Which brings me to another thought that I need some serious input from everyone who is even remotely interested in owning some of these. We will be running a crowd-funding campaign, most likely via Kickstarter, to raise the capitol needed to make these walls happen and be available for retail sale. Are you, as potential backers, interested in having access to exclusive backer-only designs, either an exclusive panel or machinery/detail parts?
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I would think that would be cool Doc.
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One of the GI Joe Community folks on Facebook asked about building rooms out of the modular wall system. I asked my artist to prepare a quick look at the possibility. For the roof to be placeable and removable, you will need to use 2 or 4 of the (not shown) connector bars with "ears" that fit into the indentions along the sides of the wall panel. You can then drill holes for dropping in LED light fixtures. (There's an incorrect detail on the door, but the artist was trying to get everything together for me quickly to address Nathaniel's question. It will be corrected before we release the final view.)
Now, if backers are interested, we could create a ceiling panel with pre-designed LED placement options, but then the end-user is limited to lighting based on what our design-team comes up with!
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I have a meeting tonight with a potential financial backer who has expressed interest in substantially aiding this project in getting started. So instead of finishing up the update and posting it here, I'll be finishing it up to deliver it as a presentation to him! While his support would not negate the need for a crowd-funding campaign, it *may* very well allow us to get one or even two master-parts made and a mold produced for prototyping and limited production. This means we would be able to show pictures of the actual products in use during our fund-raising period. Stay tuned!
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The modular interiors look great mate I can't wiat to see the actual display once it's done.
Ron
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We were able to meet with our potential backer today before he had to leave town again and showed him our plans. He asked questions, we had answers. We had pictures. We had detailed information on how much financing each of three approaches to the project need and what the monies would go for. I believe he was pleased to note we plan to continue with our Kickstarter campaign, regardless of the level of financing we might receive from him.
He does understand the collector-community mindset, albeit from a diecast vehicle and antique vehicle mind-set. I believe that helps. He's also familiar with my work.
So, overall, it went quite well. He said he would be in touch with us later in the week. In the meantime, we remain committed to not relying on the appearances of golden eggs and will be moving ahead with our crowd-funding plans.
(Ron, that's pretty much the running feeling!! If we can get 2 panels made to cast & show off, we'll be screaming with joy!!)
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Column/arch set.
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Those arches would be GREAT for Cloud City dioramas! And that's great news with the potential backer.
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So when is the plan to print some of these puppies! I am eager to see what they look like in the flesh so to speak.
You are getting us all very excited Do. Keep it going. Off to the front page.
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would love it if you could design a sort of barracks/base set mate
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"Living Area" has been the most consistent response so far, whether it is "barracks," "office," "apartment," or the like. The next most popular response has been "warehouse space." I think a "base/garrison" set could easily include squad-bay, dorm housing, office, and storage walls. In fact, I was looking at a "crew-quarters" layout this week. Keep the suggestions flowing, folks!
Tamer, I hate to keep pouring out design after design without *doing* anything, but as we make our designs to verify what the system can do, we get so excited that we have to share! I've mentioned our discussion with a possible backer that we just had. This morning, another angle occurred to me. We *could* use that backing to have all of our panels 3D-printed in the grainy "WSF" material simply as a rapid prototyping step, with one panel printed in the very slick (and very expensive) "ultra frosted detail" in order to show a finished product. That would let us show the full array of parts in prototype form in the advertising video.
Our project team consists of a project manager, a CAD artist, a QA/QC specialist, a production assistant, and the VERY important comptroller. In addition, we may have an "Angel backer" - we should know more on that later this week. Out of all those, I'm the only one active in any way in the various customizing communities. Our team-members are all Star Wars fans. Our possible backer is a toy-collector. So, we are bringing love of the subject and knowledge of the industry with us - in spades. This will happen.
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Today's first update:
We've designed the floor panels and the tops & bottoms of the columns to interlock from multiple angles so that your floor and wall can meet at any angle and still look good and function properly. Bonus - the top of the column has the same interlock as the bottom so that you can use a floor-tile as a ceiling-tile and still have a secure connection. The final column will have to be split along the vertical to allow us to put details on all 4 faces, so a little glue-work will be required.
This evening, we are going to see about prepping a couple of panels for a low-quality test-print and start dressing up all the panels with the new detail updates.
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I think its time to print something up! Perhaps at least on item to get folks stirred up more if you have the funds. Personally, I think it would be a good idea to get just one item or two out, up for printing, and see what response you get before doing a bunch of other designs. I like em, and love the potential for all of them, but really liked the idea of doing a test print I just read. I also think that the better the quality of that initial test print perhaps the more orders you might get too. I am basically just going from the successful campaigns of both Galactic Merchants and now Custom Space Trees. Keep it coming Doc.
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Well, Tamer, you - and I hope everyone - will be pleased to know I sat down with our artist this morning and put together a prototype set to have Shapeways print for us. As soon as I can arrange the finding, we'll have 2 panels and a column printed out, along with a corner connector (for both wall-to-floor and wall-to-wall inside corners) and the two flat connectors that secure adjacent panels. As it stands, Production Platform 3 has *almost* enough funds on-hand to manage the prototype printing ourselves. The bad thing is it will take at least 2 weeks from the time we order the printed items until they reach us. In the meantime, we are cleaning up all our designs to meet the details that need to be consistent on every panel - size, connection slots, column footers, and the like. Because of the lagtime we've got now - since "We'd really like to see samples in your hand with real action figures standing on them" is an increasingly common comment - I'm taking some of the pressure off my artist to continue producing update-worthy material. Of course, an animated "walk-through" is something the entire development team agrees needs to happen as soon as possible. I'm now working on the logistics side of the project - finishing up our Kickstarter connection, seeking out experienced advice on crowdfunding, designing the campaign video, and other "support" efforts. In addition, I need to catch up on some pending orders in the store! Naturally, everyone on our project team hopes to see the same success as Galactic Merchants and Twelfth Parsec have had. But achieving that means we have to wait a little longer until we have the right pieces in place so that we are not fumbling along aimlessly. *I* know we know what we are doing and *I* know we can pull it off. But we have to convince everyone *else* of those same two facts. And that is going to take some time.
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Doc, after talking with Twlefth Parsec, he was pretty clear in that Shapeways was very expensive and that there are some other places out there to print your prototypes in a better quality at a cheaper price. I would have to go listen to that podcast again to remember the businesses or sites he used, but it might save you some money.
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I remember he mentioned some alternatives, but yeah - I need to go listen to it again to catch the names so I can check them out.
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We've been running pell-mell so hard the past couple of weeks that getting a good update published has been a little bit of a challenge – by the time I could let you know what we'd done, we'd done more! So with it being the weekend and with a number of other things coming together to create a bit of a calm spot (probably the eye at the center of the storm), I wanted to take some time and bring our fans and followers up to date on several topics.
Angel-backer – this hasn't been resolved yet. The individual who expressed interest in supporting our endeavour had to leave the state due to work-requirements. He has continued to express interest in our “Econoliner” project and wants to discuss it again in the future, once he gets back to town.
Econoliner: Corridors – Holey Moley!! ::RIGHT NOW:: we have six wall-panels (two are a mirrored design to show the door from both sides), three floor/ceiling panels with spots for column ends to snap in, 3 floor/ceiling panels without those points, a column system with both straight columns and an arch, and several snap-in viewports. The connectors have been designed to allow straight corridors, inside corners, outside corners, enclosed rooms and multiple levels. We are awaiting funding to have all the pieces prototyped to check our fit-ups. Once that is cleared, we'll shoot our video and launch our Kickstarter. I also want to have my artist put together a showcase of our existing designs and maybe show how some things look fitted together.
Even if someone handed me the funding we needed to get our prototypes made today, it would be at least 3 weeks before we launched the crowd-funding campaign. Then we'd be the length of the campaign (4 weeks?), a few days to collect the funding, a week to order the materials to make the molds and the resin, and then another week or so to get the first molds made and into production. So, all told, we're a minimum of 8 GOOD weeks out from starting to ship Econoliner: Corridors panels if we could order up our prototypes today.
We are continuing to look ahead to new projects, as well. What about wall panels designed with LED lighting in mind? What about functioning data-display screens? Bunk-rooms with beds in the walls? These are some of the ideas we are looking at for future releases.
Other orders – We spent the weekend working on pulling a number of orders for shipping tomorrow. In addition, we are making progress on shipping quotes for non-US orders. I checked our pile and right now we have just three foreign orders that need pulling for quotes by USPS. (I think there is at least one missing – I'll be rechecking emails this week to verify.) So, if you have contacted me about shipping outside the US, we're working on it. (In general, it is a significant hassle for us to try and teach our local backwoods post offices how to handle foreign shipping!! EVERY TIME!!)
Other news – I got called Friday to go back to work for an as-yet-unknown length of time. That means I will be away from home for probably 15 hours a day, 6 days a week. Filling orders will turn into a significant challenge, until we change how some things are handled. I'm going to bring on at least one production assistant. On the extremely positive side, it means I'll be able to foot the bill for the Econoliner prototypes myself on my own schedule, regardless of the potential backer. I am expecting this to last several months. There is the possibility it will last in the 18-month range. This would be good for my bank-account, but means I will have to entrust more production tasks to others. That makes me nervous.
So that's where things are right now.
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I updated the thread with the official name of the project.
Wanted to drop in with an update - Econoliner: Corridors is still plugging along! I got a little time in with my CAD artist last week and we sat down this morning for a major work-session. We have other projects in the works besides E:C, but this is our biggest one underway.
Similar to the way we've designed the viewports to connect to the walls, we've developed a small family of storage bins. (They also have the benefit of working as footers to help lock the wall units into place.) As a bonus, they work well in both directions. Have a look! (Currently, they are solid. We're discussing the possibilities of hollow-cast units with removable doors - no promises!)
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My CAD artist showed me today that these storage bins are, in fact, hollow and can be made with removable doors. So if you wanted to model a corridor with an overhead storage bin disgorging a lethal face-grabbing alien or a horde of fluffy, chirping lifeforms, it will be possible. She has also worked on a "double" set, that looks distressingly like an ice cooler, rather than sci-fi furniture!
At my request, she's also started overhauling EVERYTHING to make a "minor" modification that will enhance the modularity and flexibility of the set...but means EVERY PIECE needs to be modified. Since we're in a holding pattern for the moment anyway, as we await word on prototype funding, we're moving along with refining our products and reaching a bit further out for more detail pieces.
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Have I mentioned we have Econoliner prototypes being printed RIGHT NOW?? VERY SOON we will have the PHYSICAL WALLS in hand to show you with figures standing on them! We expect some minor details to change, depending on how well the details work with figures - like the depressions in the floor not swallowing a Stormie's foot!
(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f204/Productionplatform3/Econoliner/prototypesetup_zpsaeadd237.jpg) (http://s48.photobucket.com/user/Productionplatform3/media/Econoliner/prototypesetup_zpsaeadd237.jpg.html)
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It will be nice to see some of these printed in hand. Update on the front page.
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dare i say you are doing the lord's work here. of course i mean lord vader but regardless this is what customizers/dio builders have been needing for sooo long.
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Thanks, guys! Impurge, I think Lord Vader will be most pleased with my artist for quite some time. She's wanting to tackle a display for the new 6" figures - a Death Star set-up. Of course, my love is the 3.75" line, so if she does it for 6" then she'll have to do it for 3.75" also. ;D
I just want to be clear on this - the Econoliner project is going to happen! Depending on my job situation, I may find it myself, slowly, until the next project finishes and then go into production, or we may set up and launch a Kickstarter campaign to make it happen sooner.
I heard from my printer who is handling the prototype creation and he told me or panels are scheduled to ship TONIGHT! We should have them in hand by the weekend to see how they look and what changes we need to make. Thanks to his help, I made a slight design change that drastically cut the cost of our master-parts. This means a lot of good things for us, including the possibility of aging in another model or two to the campaign, if we go that route.
Stay tuned - and may the Force be with us all!
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Damn that looks impressive and I hope you do tackle the 6" walls that would be awesome.
Ron
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Keeps getting better with every update, Doc. Man, I really need to get back at working on my Transport in Sketchup. I'm afraid I can hardly remember how it works :-\
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The doors are designed so that they are mirror-images of each other, so that they fit together to make a double-sided wall. We've got an idea or two for making them actually functional when put in place, but we'll know more about that once we have the prototypes actually in-hand.
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WE HAVE PROTOTYPES IN HAND!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!
We had 4x wall panels and 1x floor panel test-printed for us. VERY promising! Sure, there are some design changes I want to make before we have them produced, but that's the way it goes. We're also still working on a way to make them interconnect reliably and securely. BUT ENOUGH DRIVEL!! PICTURES!!!!
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Very cool Doc. I talked about this and your E Crater store a bit on CAFN last night. Off to share.
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Doc, this looks great.
When you've worked out the little flaws, you'll have a first-class item and I bet it will sell very well.
Cool stuff!
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Love the design, especially the second one with the Wookiee.
How straight are the edges, if I may ask? On my GM set, the edges are a little warped. A little, but visible.
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On our prototypes, there's significant warp on some of them. However, we'll be having them done on Shapeways' "super-machines" which have never shown much warping on any of our orders. My understanding is that this is due to a difference in the processes used.
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Doc, I know you are getting these started up, but have you thought about setting up a campaign to perhaps buy a 3D Printer and handle all the parts of this?
I know Shapeways prints decent, but the cost is pretty exorbitant from what I understand and after your campaign you would have all the hardware you need to keep going on a new project. Just kind of thinking out loud and I am guessing you have thought down these lines too.
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I've considered it - I've even talked to guys who do 3d printing for sale and special-effects folks who use 3d printing. The advice I'm getting is that for what I am trying to do, home/small-biz printers aren't up to snuff yet. Ordering a slick piece from Shapeways is expensive, but it is a one-shot tooling cost, then I have the panel and can make as many molds as I need from that one piece, keeping it stored safely in a fireproof safe. My QA guy looked at injection molding, but that was in the $15k ballpark for set-up, with a minimum piece order. He's working on finding us a CNC shop that will look at what we are trying to do, so we can compare it to a Shapeways order.
The good thing about Shapeways (or any other professional print service) is that they take care of all the setup and clean-up. We don't have to figure out how or where to add support rafts to my models - I'm paying them to do that for me. Same thing for cleaning up the final parts. Plus, I don't have to go through hundreds of dollars of trial and error to learn how the printer responds best. The whole design-team sat down and looked at getting a printer, and we concluded that *right now* it simply wasn't feasible for Production Platform 3 to tackle. It *IS* absolutely an option for the future, if we can find a person who wants to dedicate their spare time to learning the tricks of the 3d-printing trade *AND* a printer that will provide the type finish I require of my parts.
Right now, though, we've got to stay focused on creating models to havemade for us to cast and sell. TWO MODELS on our "gonna do them soon" list are already either in production or are nearing production by competitors! (I'm looking at JrnyFan's Vehicle Maintenance Energizer as one of those! ;D No worries - we've got a list a parsec long to pull from...) That means Production Platform 3 cannot afford to start learning a new technology if we want to get our designs on the market and into the hands of clients ahead of competitors. 4 years ago, I didn't consider myself to have any true competition - because Clint and I were pursuing filling different market-needs, I didn't consider him a competitor - and today we have two, maybe even four. I remind my team almost daily "INNOVATE OR DIE!" If we are slow to get a design out, then someone else will.
That reminds me - I need to pitch a thought at JrnyFan, collaboration-wise...
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All I am going from is what Jrny Fan is showing us and wow what stuff he has been able to print out.
I just hate seeing the middle man get any of this!
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I understand completely and appreciate that! I just found another service provider that offers a number of manufacturing services that I need to check into.
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I'm so excited by this that I'm praying it here in this thread as well as in my Parts thread!
Here's a peek at the rough ad-video for the Econoliner crowdfunding campaign. (http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f204/Productionplatform3/Econoliner/econoliner_zpsaepudyf4.mp4)
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Video is on the front page.
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(http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f204/Productionplatform3/Econoliner/th_econoliner_zpsaepudyf4.jpg) (http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f204/Productionplatform3/Econoliner/econoliner_zpsaepudyf4.mp4)
Naturally, I screwed up the link! Thanks, Tamer!