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Hello Backers! Today we have 14 more Red Wax samples to show, bringing our total Red Wax count to 78 as of today. You can find the full checklist of what has been done and what is left for the factory to do here:
https://www.dropbox.com/…/Fantasy%20Series%202…
As mentioned in the last update, the spreadsheet will continue to be updated and is a great way to visually see the distinctive progress between Red Wax, PU, T1, and T2 samples as they come in. For those worried about sculpts being embargoed or held back to show, please refer to the « Common Questions » section below (which was also mentioned in Update# 41 as well as our website).
(Note: Some of the red wax may have joints that are connected fully due to the pre-moulding/casting phase. They will not be disassembled or loose during final mass production.)
MARCH UPDATE:
As the title says, this update is meant to be the February one, so a March update will be coming once the next batch of red wax/PU samples comes in. In the meantime, I’ll check back in with the factory to see if we can get them to sample out some of the printed material even though we aren’t at the mass production stage yet. Stay tuned!
MORE INFO?
As common questions become prominent on our comment/social media threads, there’s now an added « Important FAQ » section on our website that will compile these questions and answers, to help with customer service topics. It’s not a perfect solution by far, but hopefully will make things more user friendly for all of us, so you can find what you need. As more questions start popping up, it’ll be added to the same FAQ.
https://www.blacklistgamesllc.com/importantfaq
And of course, for quick updates to supplement normal ones, please check in with: https://www.blacklistgamesllc.com/crowdfunding-updates
COMMON QUESTIONS:
For those who missed our December (Update 41) Q&A portion and have not had a chance to review the Important FAQ section of our website (linked above), here are some questions that have been brought up in some of the update threads and answers to them.
ARE YOU EMBARGOING (HOLDING BACK) RED WAX/PU?
No, there would be no point in doing that. Whenever the factory gives us things, I’m more than happy and excited to have something to show you. Frankly, I’m wanting to post everything up ASAP in an update. As you can tell from November, there was nothing to show so instead of posting an update that said there’s nothing to show and here’s « maybe » a date we’ll receive something, I rather just post as soon as something comes in and all at once. I don’t want to take a pool of things and sprinkle it to you to stretch updates, because it prevents you from understanding the flow of production. Not really sure if it adds to anything, but for peace of mind for the couple of backers who mentioned it, I can post pics of the shipping envelope w/date when the next batch of PU samples come in and the date of the photos from the red wax received from the factory when the next round comes in as a date stamp.
Why does it take so long for the factory to do engineering, 3D whites, red wax, PU’s, etc., especially with FS1 being so quick?
Although I can’t speak completely for the factory, here are the facts:
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FS2 has more minis
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We got lucky with FS1 where during the beginning of the pandemic, it worked in our favor as we were one of the only projects the factory was working on, so their response rate and priority was completely focused on us.
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Production for FS2 was during the height of the pandemic, which the factory suffered from weeks and months of unanticipated closures. When they picked up again, it took time for them to get people back to work. We became less and less a priority as bigger projects and more clients were more urgent. This is a business where it isn’t about turn order, but what can generate the largest revenue during such a catastrophic financial hit to many companies. I personally don’t know the details on their end, but you can read about it as what happened during this crisis.
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Though they have been picking up with the work for us, they are at critical mass with production for big companies (you can pretty much guess who all of them are) that have even more miniatures than us and who take priority with their projects and status. This doesn’t mean they don’t care about this project, rather they are just prioritizing what makes sense for their business. We are moving along again and we should see more progress soon.
CAN YOU GIVE A TIMELINE WHEN THIS WILL BE DONE?
No, unfortunately I can’t. I can, of course make a guess but it’ll be based on an average of progress so far and not based on what the factory tells me, which would be completely inaccurate. The factory won’t be able to give me a hard schedule until we hit mass production, and as you can see with the rate in red wax/metal moulds/PU samples, they aren’t able to give me a date on when to expect these in general. Keep in mind that we want this out the door ASAP, but I mean, that doesn’t really give much of an outlook. Once we are able to give some sort of accurate schedule, I’ll be sure to post.
CAN I UPDATE MY ADDRESS?
You should be able to log into your Gamefound account and update your address there. If for some reason while trying to update your address, you are being charged under $1.00 USD (such as $0.40 or another very random increment), Gamefound said that this is not a glitch, rather the re-calculation of where your new address is (even if it’s right next door). Unfortunately, their system won’t allow you to pay for anything under $1.00 so if this is the case for you, please send an e-mail to: addresschange@blacklistgamesllc.com with the subject line « LASTING TALES GAMEFOUND CHANGE ». Please note that this is only for if you have an address change and run into this specific issue.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
As a section for those who would like to know more about the Red Wax / PU process for manufacture production, here is some info for you! For those who aren’t interested or are already in the know, just ignore the rest of this update.
WHAT IS RED WAX?
From the final STL file, the factory creates Red Wax, which are highly detailed prints of each sculpt. These are made of resin and are super brittle, but they capture the most detail of the sculpt. They are integral for the project because that is what they cast the final metal moulds from. If you have a change or revision during this stage it’s very expensive. Unfortunately, the irony is that this is where you can visually see how the sculpt would look at its most detailed. Some sculpts with multiple pieces have to only be shown partially disassembled because the factory needs to keep the part separated, in order to lay out the red wax for the metal mould casting.
MOULD/METAL CASTING/TOOLING
Basically the factory’s ingenuity is to play Tetris with all the miniatures and its separate pieces to make the metal moulds. Since these moulds can’t be altered after the fact, the layout strategy is very important.
As a publisher, you want to have as few moulds as possible because they are super expensive (depending on the size, one metal mould can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 and only fit 3 minis with various pieces). You may end up having a mould of 3 characters and an arm and leg of another mini that’s part of another metal mould! As well, they have to think of the production side.
For example, if you have a goblin that you’ll need to print 5 copies in every box, they’ll most likely try to fit as many on metal mould as possible so when you “print”, you can produce multiples. If on the other hand, they accidentally put that one goblin on a mould with a Cook and a Half Elf Ranger, then if they need to print 5 copies of the goblin, the publisher is forced to have 5 copies of the Cook and Half Elf Ranger, even though they only need 1 of each of those in a box.
One thing that is really important in this phase, is looking out for details that aren’t as sharp or that comes out fuzzy. The factory can chisel sine if the metal moulds to get more details out, though it’s very difficult. Some details like symbols, facial features, and writing on the mini might need this, but even then it’s delicate work for them.
WHAT IS A PU SAMPLE?
Once the metal moulds are complete, the factory will create PU, or Polyurethane prints of each miniature. These are plastic, physical versions that are very detailed, but because the material isn’t the same as the final product, the details are not quite as sharp.
Basically, they take the Polyurethane liquid and inject it into the metal moulds, the same way as they would with the real material. The metal heats up and once ready, the pieces are cooled down, washed, then assembled for proofing. This is so we can view everything to ensure that nothing weird happened during the other phases. I probably don’t have to mention that any edits at this point have to be super vital (which does happen sometimes). Following, they will go into the T1 process/sampling.