Our 1st. Modern building is available.

You folks have been asking for modern diesel era buildings, well this is the first of what we hope will be a new series of modern buildings.  You have already seen some teasers.  This is just a simple blue steel building, but don’t let the simple looks fool you.  There are many optional doors and windows that can be added to this kit so you can make it uniquely your model.  We thought we would start off with the most basic of structures.

The bridge

I’ve got a side job building a bridge for another professional builder out of Tennessee. It’s plastic and I’m told its one of the best out there. I’m learning a lot. Mostly how not to design a bridge kit. This thing is a mess. There is no logic behind how it’s built, at least from the stand point of how to make something go together straight and strong.

Also all the flash and cleanup of parts as you remove them from the sprue. Some of the parts are so thin that I’ve snapped a couple during the clean up. Most of the box beams still need to be cut at specific angles. Why not mold them correctly in the first place. I was told 20 hrs to build this. More like a hundred.

I can’t wait to get back to cardstock.

Wood's mill update

Sorry its been a couple of days since posting about the mill but it moves forward.

Working on the fiddly bits, primarilly the wheel itself. Lots of clearance issues that will have to be tested. I started by modifying the wheel I had made for another model but I’ll likely do most of it from scratch. The hardest part is the troughs that catch the water on the wheel. They are at a pretty severe angle between the two wheel faces and I think it will be hard for many people to model well. I could of course just make it a paddle wheel but that’s not prototype. Anyway I warned that it would slow down. This happens often with kits where 90% of the design happens in 10% of the time and the last 10% takes 90% more time.

The Photo Studio is now available

I know it seems like it takes forever for the next kit to come out, but I’d like to share some statistics with you folks.  Since September of 2014, we have averaged 1.2 kits released per month.  Here’s what they were and how they sold to date.

09/30/14 Union Hotel (6)                  10/31/14 Hotel Bruce (8)            11/21/14 Rural Church (20)

11/22/14 National Stove (16)           11/23/14 Clyde Puffer (23)          01/29/15 Creeky Roofing (13)

02/05/15 Girder Bridge (30)             03/01/15 Wheelwright Shop (21)  04/26/15 Corn Crib (11)

05/24/15 Coal/Grain Elevators (8)    06/22/15 Carolina Casting (11)    07/18/15 Photo Studio (6)

I’d like to hear of another manufacturer (Not Chinese) that brings you more products.  OH, by the way, if these statistics mean anything, you will be getting more BRIDGES, CHURCHES & BOATS.

One last stastistic and then I’ll shut up.  Of the list above, the girder bridge has sold 30 kits at $5.95 each.  That’s a total income of $178.50.  Even a relatively simple kit like this has at least a hundred hours in the development.  You do the math.  That’s a buck seventy-eight an hour.  I gotta look for a job in China!