BrickArms News and Notes

Discussion of custom parts made for the Castle Theme
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Chaotic Good
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Post by Chaotic Good »

I agree. In fact, after having looked more at the current climate, I would say that the (Oh why did I even say this...) 'Golden Age' has begun.

Considering AreaLight, UA and of course Pharazon, it's safe to say that, despite the current problems in the market (If there were no LAS it would be much better) it's the greatest time possible to be a LEGO fan.

But back to casting; the reason many people turn to this is, because it is (And I know from experience) much cheaper, despite being harder, to use resin rather than ABS Plastic. There are many tutorials and instructional videos for casting, but none for preparing your sculpted piece for an plastic-injection machine. That's the main problem. And the cost, of course...
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Damien
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Post by Damien »

I don't think anyone 'prepares' a sculpted piece for injection. The method is either designing the piece in a program like CAD and sending it to a professional tooler (like Will of BrickArms does) or designing the piece and having someone else translate the design into a CAD-type program for a professional tooler (which, I believe, is what BrickForge and Little Armory do).

You can't really inject plastic into a custom mold unless you have equipment like Will does.


In any event, I think a lot of people realize that resin casting being 'cheaper' is something of a facade. In the beginning it looks cheaper. But if you're doing it as a business, you may quickly find out that in the long term, it's FAR more expensive. That's the difference. Going into ABS injection costs far more money upfront, but the return on that investment is also far higher and the upkeep costs far lower.

It's a trade-off. If you're doing custom molding as a side-hobby with no intent to 'get too big' then yeah - resin seems like a viable option. If you want to play with the big boys, though, you need to pony up the dough at the beginning and get the same equipment as said big boys.

However, that isn't to say resin casters aren't worth buying from, so I hope no one takes it that way. Despite the errors in production common to resin accessories, the biggest names in resin casting have very clear standards for their items. Of the Arealight and UAS items I own, it's clear that those packing the orders made sure faulty pieces never left the shop, and certainly that they never got into customer hands. That's certainly important for instilling confidence in buyers of resin accessories.

Back in June I actually reviewed UAS's new resin items, and I stand by it -- they're fantastic items, resin or not.
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Chaotic Good
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Post by Chaotic Good »

To be honest, I was persuaded a while ago; just keeping the debate alive.

But that's an interesting idea. It's a good point, too; that things that seem cheaper in the beginning do become more expensive if you take it to bigger business.

Pretty much, I can't add anything more now; I think you pretty much summed it all up.

Speaking of CAD, though, I'd forgotten that. I saw someone do that sort of thing over on another forum once, though I think they made the molds that way, and then cast it in resin, I think, but I'm not sure.

Pretty much, though, ABS injection does offer two choices; you can either make your own molds and injection, like Will does, or you can engage an external company to do your injection for you, I think, like Jeff over at LA does. Either way, however much it costs ($5000 I think it cost Jeff once, I read somewhere) it certainly gives out a much better long-term investment, as you said; if you do it for selling the result. If not, resin (As you pointed out) is cheaper in the short term.

Well, thanks for all that. I guess now I have to go back to working out how to keep on at my own resin casting...

But back on topic, the rapier does seem to be my favorite item, too; it's more a unique idea, since most other shops have done swords. No-one so far has done a rapier, though, so this looks set to be my favorite BA item.
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the enigma that is badger
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Post by the enigma that is badger »

Chaotic Good wrote:Speaking of CAD, though, I'd forgotten that. I saw someone do that sort of thing over on another forum once, though I think they made the molds that way, and then cast it in resin, I think, but I'm not sure.
If you're referring to this, that's 3D Printing. I believe it does make use of CAD files for the design, but the item itself is not a solid injected accessory. Rather, its produced by superimposing layers of hardened paper over one another to create a solid object (hence "3D printing"). Again, works well enough for small scale projects, but nothing that could scaled up and still be economically viable.
Chaotic Good wrote:Pretty much, though, ABS injection does offer two choices; you can either make your own molds and injection, like Will does, or you can engage an external company to do your injection for you
Will does both actually: he cuts smaller aluminum molds using his home CNC machine to produce prototypes and limited-edition items but then also has a professional tooler cut larger steel production molds that are then injected by a separate molder for mass production. The steel molds can hold up to the stresses placed on them by thousands of injections, and Will's tooler can perfectly match any TLG color in terms of the color of the ABS plastic used to inject the accessories. This makes for accessories that are true to the design with each injection and match the rest of your TLG components both in terms of minifig accessory aesthetic and color.

The production molds follow a typical ABS custom accessory format, but Will is the only custom accessory designer to cut his own molds and inject items that are solid ABS, making BrickArms prototypes and LE items of exceptionally high-quality and allowing him and BrickArms beta testers to really make sure an item is going to the high degree of accuracy and playability people expect of BrickArms accessories. They also let Will explore a large number of interesting different color and plastic combinations, such as more the more flexible plastic TLG uses to make some Bionicle parts and trans-colored plastics.
Chaotic Good wrote:the rapier does seem to be my favorite item, too; it's more a unique idea, since most other shops have done swords.
Well firstly, when work began on the BrickArms historical edged items several months ago, no similar items had been on the market for several years, and part of the decision for Will to explore these items was to fill the niche for historically-accurate weaponry that had been effectively abandoned. By going in this direction, Will wanted to let both new and veteran builders to the hobby add some great new custom Castle-inspired items to their collections.

Second, as an owner of all the custom items to which you're referring, I can definitely state all of the BrickArms swords are unique, distinct pieces that are markedly different from anything that's been produced before. Will brings his own considerable design skill and aesthetic to each item he designs, and all of the BrickArms accessories, these historical edged pieces included, embody his unique vision for accurate, high-quality accessories. As can been seen with other custom items, even when two designers approach the same concept, the results often differ considerably. I encourage the building community to select whatever custom items they feel best compliment their MOCs.

As both Damien and myself have said, the more custom items on the market, the wider the options for builders to pick what works best for them!

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Post by Chaotic Good »

the enigma that is badger wrote: If you're referring to this, that's 3D Printing.
Ah, hold on...I recalled recently it was on FBTB here.

But I agree now; the wider range of customs out there on the market, the wider the choice. The current choice of designs is substantial, so I for one feel that the choice between, say, LA or BA is immaterial. It's the fact that we have a choice between them that matters.

So finally, and perhaps stop myself debating with experts in this craft :wink: , I think I can finish with that.
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Post by the enigma that is badger »

Chaotic Good wrote:Ah, hold on...I recalled recently it was on FBTB here.
That's 3D printing (stereolighography to be exact) as well, as is indicated in that thread. It's of higher-quality (using resin rather than paper) than the one used to make the Shako I linked to above, but still isn't solid ABS plastic. Those are certainly the most polished resin pieces I've ever seen, but again, nothing that could be ever mass produced in a way that's cost effective.
Chaotic Good wrote:perhaps stop myself debating with experts in this craft
No worries. Really, everything I've learned has been pure osmosis from Will. Now he's the REAL expert when it comes to this stuff!

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Post by Pharazon »

Chaotic Good wrote: 'Golden Age' has begun.
Let's not forget the work Kaminoan has done with his resin casts.
Damien wrote:In any event, I think a lot of people realize that resin casting being 'cheaper' is something of a facade. In the beginning it looks cheaper. But if you're doing it as a business, you may quickly find out that in the long term, it's FAR more expensive.
I'm starting to agree with that. I fortunately had the luxury of sage advice directly from Kam when I started the resin molding process. It saved me heaps of time and investment. He's what I refer to as a "super cool dude" which is a very short chapter in my book (yes it's a pop-up). Still, with the expense forseen and if nothing else the time of silicone/resin casting, even I have looked in to ABS toolers in my area to check the balance between investment and sustainability. An awful big leap for our UAS operation at this juncture though.

Chaotic is right. Despite the few nefarious characters that frost the mood, at the moment there does seem to be a new age of hobbyists' accessories selection that will keep us all in debt for a while.
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Post by Aharown »

Interesting thread. I knew that injection molding was more expensive up front, but I didn't know that resin was more expensive in the long run, although that makes sense. When I first got into model railroading years ago many manufacturers had resin kits, but many of them of gotten out of it since. This would explain why (as well as the quality issues).

I like all of the new parts, the bayonet and particularly the rapier. I've never ordered custom parts before, but I could see myself getting some of these!

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Brickarms prototypes

Post by Seikfreid »

Love the prototypes!! They're historically accurate and they look really cool. I'm gonna have to get a bunch- if they aren't sold out.

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the enigma that is badger
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Re: Brickarms prototypes

Post by the enigma that is badger »

Seikfreid wrote:Love the prototypes!! They're historically accurate and they look really cool. I'm gonna have to get a bunch- if they aren't sold out.
Glad to hear you like them! Castle accessories are new direction for Will Chapman and BrickArms, but the overwhelmingly positive reaction of the Castle community to these items has shown Will people are excited to see BrickArms expand into new genres of minifig accessories.

However, these items have not yet been mass produced, and as such are not yet available for purchase from the BrickArms website. Will is currently working with his tooler to develop a new production mold that will include many of the great new BrickArms accessories that have been showcased the past few months, and that does include a few items I think Castle fans will like.

Don't worry; when these items are available, you'll read about here ASAP!

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BrickArms Rapier (production version)

Post by the enigma that is badger »

Since folks seem stoked for this one, I thought I'd share this pic of the production version of the BrickArms Rapier:

Image

The blade is flat and thin but is still strong enough to hold up to a good deal of pressure. Use it in your MOCs or cocktails! :wink:

Release date is still in flux, so I can't give a specific time when this will be available for purchase. That said, Will is working with his tooler to perfect a new production mold, and when there are new BrickArms accessories available, including this Rapier, I'll certainly let everyone know about it!

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Post by Chaotic Good »

Chaotic Good wrote:Awesome!
I say it again: awesome. That's all I can say, really! :D
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Post by shmails »

This looks great! I have always been a fan of Brickarms, and the more diversity that is offered, the more excited I am to see what is coming next.

I can just imagine all the new custom minifigs that these will inspire. Thanks for the update!
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Post by KuvarBlodøks »

DO WANT!

Seriously, when that's available I'm gonna want to order at least 10, maybe 20. :D
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Post by Lamanda2 »

Beautiful. It meshes with the new Pirate line oh so greatly. 8)

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