OK, maybe this is a boring topic, or maybe it will be interesting…

With several of projects lined up I’ve been spend spending a bit of time sorting out mold layouts. Time spent sorting things out has also pushed out the release of the updated Late War Panzergrenadiers (Resistant Roosters) release. We had planned to release this week, but the release has been pushed out to the 15th…

I felt it was better to delay the release a wee bit than to use an inefficient mold layout – efficiency helps keep costs down (and with rising costs for almost everything we need to trim when and where we can).

And now back to my topic: Mold Layouts. Figuring out how to layout a mold is an important, yet fun task. Bad mold layouts make production harder and less efficient. For projects like 15mm WWII infantry figures we have some known parameters – like we know that we can fit 20 cavities into a single 9″ mold. OK, we might a few more or less, fewer if poses are prone and more if all a marching or at attention pose. The next thing we need to know is how these figures will be packed out. Set package configurations (like Resistant Roosters products) or random selections (more like Bloodaxe offerings). Random selections are easy, just group by pose and decide how many molds you want – typically based on expected sales and costs. If we have set pack configurations we need to layout the pack contents and decide how many of each pose are needed to make up the various packs/sets. Typically I pull up Excel and start plugging in values (pose ID, # needed in sets W, X and Y). Then we do some sorting, then we add some fudge factors (spins don’t always produce 100%, so we add Z figures per pose to the mix – After I’ve cast the pattern I’ll have a handle on any problematic poses and will adjust the fudge actor accordingly). By now we should have a good picture of how we want to break tings down by mold – now we add a mold ID and do some more sorting and in the end wind up with a table that looks kind of like this:

Typically I’ll step back and de-focus, so that I can take another look from a different perspective – if things still make sens we are set and ready to make molds. If I ‘see’ some other possibilities I repeat the process until I’m happy with the mold map.

Sometimes this process goes quickly – Few figures and maybe some random selections. Sometime it takes longer – more poses, specific selections and a variety of types (marching, prone, one piece horse and rider or MG and gunner).

And thus concludes todays lesson in the types of things we do around here – ope it wasn’t too boring! If you would like to know more about how we do things, feel free to write, or visit – we are more than happy to discuss how we ‘do’ things.

In hand now are 21 new sculpts – troops in winter kit (autumn/early winter, suitable for use on the eastern front or the Ardennes).

The addition of these new figures (along with a small selection of existing figures) will allow us to offer a few new packs:

Grenadierkompanie HQ
Grenadier Platoon (a new or alternate offering)
Mortar Platoon
MG Platoon

And now that we will have the necessary pieces, we will also offer a Grenadierkompanie pack

The new Grenadier Platoon should include enough (extra) figures to allow for the FoW Command Panzerfaust SMG option.

Greens are in hand and if my schedule allows, a new pattern mold will be made by the end of the week. At which point we will nail down pack configurations and post some pictures. Target release date for these new figures/packs is 4 April 2008 (Little Wars convention).