Federation Commander

I was reading a thread at the Miniatures Page Forum about these Inap alien miniatures :

http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/aiinap.htm

Notice how the same minis are available in both "solid" and "cloaked" forms.

I was wondering if it would be possible for ADB to offer Romulan miniatures in cloaked format as well. I imagine how cool would be to be able to represent a cloaked Wareagle or Sparrowhak with a transparent version of the miniature instead of just a counter next to it.

I don't speak for ADB at all, but I think the biggest obstacle for that is the fact that plastic miniatures cost A LOT to have made. They are normally injection molded and the standard order is somewhere in the 1000s for one ship.

Not that I wouldn't love to see more plastic minis made, I'd just prefer dozens more metal ones to one new plastic one.

Note: IIRC, ADB doesn't have the Zocchi ships made, they buy them from Lou himself.

Other companies (you know the ones) have access to huge amounts of cash and a VERY large market, so if one model or line of models fails to sell, it's not a big hit to their profits.

Sllarr wrote:I was reading a thread at the Miniatures Page Forum about these Inap alien miniatures :

http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/aiinap.htm

Notice how the same minis are available in both "solid" and "cloaked" forms.

I was wondering if it would be possible for ADB to offer Romulan miniatures in cloaked format as well. I imagine how cool would be to be able to represent a cloaked Wareagle or Sparrowhak with a transparent version of the miniature instead of just a counter next to it.

I'd love to have a few of these myself. Would be very useful.

-M.

I don't speak for ADB at all, but I think the biggest obstacle for that is the fact that plastic miniatures cost A LOT to have made. They are normally injection molded and the standard order is somewhere in the 1000s for one ship.

Not that I wouldn't love to see more plastic minis made, I'd just prefer dozens more metal ones to one new plastic one.

Note: IIRC, ADB doesn't have the Zocchi ships made, they buy them from Lou himself.

Other companies (you know the ones) have access to huge amounts of cash and a VERY large market, so if one model or line of models fails to sell, it's not a big hit to their profits.

That is why I posted the Inap Aliens example. I would not say that OldCrow is a larger company with access to a bigger market than ADB. The website mentions that those models are made of some type of transparent resin, not plastic.

Wow. Shows I can't read. *insert egg on my face emoticon here*

While they would be cool. I doubt I would buy any. Part of having minis for me is the modeling aspect, and leaving something clear (not to mention the pains of cleaning it up) just isn't my thing.

But, to each their own.

If you cover them with a clear coat it should not be so bad to maintain.

I agree with you on the modeling aspect, but I also enjoy the "wow" effect miniatures bring to the game table and I think this concept would significantly improve the visual experience of a game with Romulans.

I am thinking about experimenting with the clear Bird of Prey from Johnny Rockets (if I can get one). It is out of scale with ADB's minis but should be enough to test if it would be worth the effort.

Whilke the initial impact would be cool... I don't think I'd be all that keen to have "cloaked" minis. Much as with Paul, the big draw for miniatures is painting them.
It'd kinda defeat the purpose to have clear resin minis that:
A) Dont need to be painted
B) Can only be used at certain times
C) Would take valuable "WAGS" [Wifey Alloted Game Spending ] from the minis I do collect/paint.

I've seen those miniatures around (I think they're called Johnny Lightning). Always been tempted, but I don't think I need a "battle damaged" Enterprise from TSFS.

If you have trouble finding one, let me know and I'll see if the local ACE Hardware has any left.

Once upon a time, I had some Romulan miniatures painted black to represent cloaked ships. Got the idea from Chandler Archibald, who took it a step further and painted his minis black, then flicked a paint brush at them to make a starfield. Would also work with craft "glitter" dusted on wet paint and sealed with a top coat.

Kind of an inglorious use of a miniature when you consider the cost, but if you have a few extra Rom minis around, it can be nice to have a few. The few I had have since been repained in my standard Rom paint scheme. If you try it with the intent of fully painting the mini later, I'd advise against the glitter...might be hard to get off.

Sllarr wrote:That is why I posted the Inap Aliens example. I would not say that OldCrow is a larger company with access to a bigger market than ADB. The website mentions that those models are made of some type of transparent resin, not plastic.

I happen to be a Tech at a Thermial Injection Facility and we call all our plastics Resins. I can't find anything on old Crows Site one way or the other wiether this is a Injection molded product or if they are mix and poured.

With Rapid Molding Techniques and advance in Cad/Cam mold making it is getting cheaper, but, the problem is finding a compnay still in bussiness to run them. Last I checked you could probably have a single pull mold made (for somethiing like a CA) for about around 7 to 10k but it would on make about 1000 cycle before it need to be replaced. Do the math. Just building the mold is going to cost you about $10 a model, before you bought resin and manpower to run it let alone paid to have the figure digitized or created in a 3D Cad Software.

Pretty sure the Old Crow stuff is the mix n pour stuff. Frankly, in the non-professional circles, anything called "resin" is usually the mix n pour stuff rather than the injection molded stuff, though sometimes the terminoligy is used pretty loosely (but on the other end -- poured resin referred to as plastic rather than vice versa).

Personally, I think a range of cloaked Romulan ships would be quite cool, and I'd buy some at least for the money Romulan ships...

Damon.