Sunday, July 15, 2012

20mm in store now.

 OK, I guess 20mm rounds will sell better than the police car, so I swapped them out.  I got to get a better store someday......... but for now I got what i got.

  The 20mm rounds are 40 bases for $4.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

One Shade of Grey

  Just wanted to mention a little milestone. I found some grey plastic!  It might seem trivial, but it has been a major challenge getting any suppliers to even talk to me. Once they find out I am just some slacker in a barn they stop returning my e-mails. Some places have HUGE minimum orders in the range of 18 tons or so.
   But, I did find this one place that sold me some black pellets. They seem to get remnants from other places on an irregular basis and sell them quite reasonable.  One of those "We cheat them and pass the savings on to you!" type of places.   The only thing they ever had was black. Until now. They actually got in a supply of neutral and a few colors to add. One of the colors is light grey. I am quite pleased because grey seems to be the acceptable standard for stuff and someday my stuff will be grey also.  Things are looking up for sure.

  I also made some special request bases and put them on e-bay. No room in the store till I sell out of something and I think these bases are very obscure sizes for sure.


 These are 20mm rounds. Could be useful for a number of skirmish games. If you want penny sized bases but want plastic with a lip, these will do.

  Also, these pill shaped bases;


  These are 20mm by 50mm cavalry bases. They were ordered for some Nappies and would work good for smaller sized 25mm figs.

  These are on e-bay, and if you are paying attention you are aware that e-bay stuff is a bit higher to make up for the 15% I got to pay them.  If you want these new bases just send me an e-mail with your address and I will shoot you a pay-pal invoice at $4 per pack instead of $4.50 from e-bay.
  I am not expecting a huge demand for these sizes, but you never know.

  And finally the promised review of the Solidoodle 3 D printer. You may have read about it, just a quick google search will reveal countless press releases and articles.

  Here are the pros;
  It takes up very little space, I have not had to modify my work area at all.
  It uses no power or material.
  It makes no noise whatsoever.

  It does have one huge con;  it does not exist.

  I should not try and tell anyone how to run a business because I ain't exactly Einstein when it comes to that topic. BUT, perhaps they could have hired one less marketing guy and actually hired someone to make the stupid thing.  What good does a TON of internet exposure do you when you have no product to deliver?  It took a few e-mails but I got a refund and will look elsewhere for my 3d printing needs. I have to give the Solidoodle a thumbs down.

  I think the phrase is.  " All sizzle, no steak."




  I think I do not say this often enough, but thank you  to all the fine people I have met and who have supported this crazy little ride.

  Have a nice day. 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Not dead yet

 Wow, I have been neglecting the blog of late. It has been some time since I reported so here goes.

  First off, I want to make something new for the store. The 3 D printer has not arrived.  It is over 8 weeks since I ordered it. By the time it arrives a much better and faster version will be available for a lower price. This may be the business model for this company. They take orders and money and then fill them when the price of the product falls and they can pick it up at Wal-mart.  I guess I am being a bit harsh on the guys, but 8 weeks is a long time in todays mail order market.


  I get a lot of requests for 28mm stuff and I figured I would have a go at some 28mm wall flats. Here is one wall section and the roof panel. They measure 4"square and as you can see are pretty much for kit-basher types.



 These are basic enough that I do not need to print them out first. I hope to get these done sometime in the future. I have been getting a lot of small part special requests and it seems this stuff gets pushed back a bit till the paying stuff gets done. Yes the custom parts sell much better than the odd bits I make. It is sort of strange, my extensive market research consists of asking myself what seems neat.

 Other companies make things that I would never think of, like this hand sanitizer I saw in the store the other day.


   Someday I will connect with a smart person and make an equally invaluable product. Till then......

  I have also been doing a bit more tinkering on the resin front and made this nice 1970 Dodge Challenger.  I am drilling the headlights out on my car because I am just a bit strange and like to have lights on my cars. Little LED lights fit in there well. Someday I am going to make resin cars of all the old clunkers I ever drove.  No one will buy them, but I will like it a lot.





  In odd personal news I discovered that employment is highly over rated. In fact  human interaction can be extremely unpleasant even between unmarried people.  After a few weeks I found myself feeling like this.


  You would have thought I was playing Warhammer or something. 


  I soon was finding myself with insomnia, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, torrets, and a condition known as "hot dog fingers". 

  So I did a Johnny Paycheck and now feel like my old self again.



    Have a nice week.   :)