Plastic is the future!

[horati0nosebl0wer 20526xp 1]

A thought came to me from a suggestion on YouTube as to how reliant our hobby is on oil and Chinese production. This thread isn’t for personal feelings but an analysis of geopolitics on the supply chain impact of the industry we gain entertainment from. Getting the ball rolling I’ll share the video that kicked things off for me.

My initial interest was the material cost going up for injection molding in the PRC as well as general costs for shipping. As a further point for consideration I’m curious to know what kind of impact this has on other plastic production companies (Archon, Reaper, Siocast operations?) Aside from that will this be a blip for metal mini makers just for shipping and lead people back to loving pewter?

[grantinvanman 10130xp 0]

GW still does their core plastic casting in UK; only their terrain lines are in PRC.

Also, the number one use for oil extracted here in Alberta is … the plastic pellets that are used to make things out of plastic. And we do a lot of oil. Like, it’s the whole economy. Or people would make you believe it.

Metal I can’t see making a comeback in any real way, sadly. Too heavy for shipping is reason number one. Molds burn out, and need to be remade, for another. A plastics mold last forever and ever and ever.

Resin, proper resin, is similar to metal with mold process. Siocast is an abomination (think GW Failcast…).

The Hormuz situation will resolve, somehow, despite it heating up right now. No more wars? NO! More WARS! So much winning…

 

[limburger 22444xp 1]

The shareholders sure as heck aren’t looking at alternatives to ensure this disruption doesn’t affect production.
All they care about is how to maximize the profits by selling their current resources for maximum profit.
That’s why we are in this situation.

They did not learn from the pandemic by increasing local buffers and looking for alternatives.
Well … they learned how much profit they could increase by citing supply chain disruption.

Look forward to an increase in prices for plastic minis in the near future as the increased cost is passed on through the supply chain.

And don’t expect those prices to go down once this insanity has passed.

[collins 16604xp 1]

You’re right, the problem will pass but the rebound time will have a significantly longer tail and by the time you might be in a position to return to last know good state everyone will be used to the higher prices and a box of marines will be circa £60 (as an arbitrary made up price) and there will be little incentive to reduce the price.

[Wolfie65 1275xp 0]

As far as I’m concerned, 1-piece metal miniatures are still the gold standard. As for molds wearing out, Minifigs from the 1970s are still available, I just got a good-sized box of them a few weeks ago and the casts are as crisp as you please. Hard plastic is fine if it doesn’t go to the extremes shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxtk2KhDgrs 2 hours to assemble 1 Ogre-sized figure consisting of 46 (!) parts….

Resin and 3D prints are just too fragile to hold up to serious gaming in the long run and while the extreme undercuts and ultra-dynamic poses made possible by 3D printing do look cool, they also make painting such figures very difficult, since you cannot reach some parts of the miniature withe even the skinniest paintbrush and even air brushes or rattle cans cannot be aimed at them without creating massive overspray. In such cases, your best option is to flood the area with the dark color of your choice, plunging the undercut into deep shadow and not paint what you cannot see.

[athelstane]

@Wolfie65

I agree wholeheartedly.  I have been banging on for ages about how expensive plastics are already, when you factor in the assembly of so many.  Seriously,  you have to give your spare time some value, £20 per hour?  A extra ten minutes putting together a figure is another £3.  And that’s at £20 per hour!!!!

I wish I hadn’t lost my copy of Donald F Featherstone’s ‘Wargames’ with its section on how to cast lead figures. ( Is his book the equivalent to our hobby of Isaac Waltons ‘The Compleat Angler’ to fishing?)

• This reply was modified 9 hours, 17 minutes ago by athelstane.

[pagan8th 14455xp 0]

I still have some molds i got from Prince August decades ago.

3 Dwarf’s in a mold, 3 elves, 3 Napoleonics and a chess set.

Still got the casting stuff and some metal too. From what I recall there were a lot of failures.especially thin weapons, bows and the bayonets on the rifles.

[limburger 22444xp 1]

every material has its advantages and disadvantages.

I suspect that with modern technology like 3D printing it is much easier to keep master moulds for metals in production.
Sure, the mould might break, but as long as you can re-create the master production is possible. When you rely on handsculpted masters then things aren’t so easy, unless you convert it to a digital format.

Heck, the simple fact that we have alternatives is a good thing.
Likewise companies that can offer multiple materials will find it easier to survive temporary supply issues too.

[Wolfie65 1275xp 0]

@athelstane – I remember a time when the average price for a metal figure was around $ 2.00, plastics about $ 1.00 per basic infantry trooper. And I am still highly suspicious of anything that goes beyond that – which today is everything….Plus, we now have the very bizarre situation that plastic figures often cost MORE than metal figures, which, I suppose, is something you have to expect living in upside-down Clown World…I have several of Featherstone’s books, including Complete Wargaming and do cast figures on occasion when it’s warm enough to have the windows open. Which brings me to

@pagan8th – I have LOTS of Prince August molds, almost all of the 25mm Fantasy ones, some 32mm and most of the 40 mm Holger Eriksson Karoliner. They are very well made, last a long time and if you have trouble with them, there are tutorials on the PA website as well as on TheirTube. If thin pieces are the issue, maybe you need to vent the molds or make sure they are somewhat warm before casting.

@limburger – I’m not sure what the advantages of resin minis are. They often claim that the detail is crisper, but I don’t see a difference. For example, Demented Games offered most of their Twisted figures in both a metal ‘gamer’s’ and a resin ‘collector’s’ edition and they look equally crisp to me. Same applies to the few metal figures you can get from Raging Hormones, erm, Heroes. 3D prints have the advantage of being completely independent of any mold-related considerations, but that produces the already mentioned painting difficulties. I have talked to several 3D manufacturers onEtsy marketplace and they have all said that no one gives any thought to how hard it would be to paint a particular figure when it is designed.

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