"Bottleneck Renedra ?" Topic

it looks like Renedra is becoming the bottleneck of the 28mm plastic revolution

just found this quote on the Conquest Forums

"Unfortunately we have a few delays with the release of the Infantry. They will probably be about another 3-6 months. The 3-Ups are still in the preparation stage before resin moulding and then we have to wait for our production slot at Renedra. We are in a queue along with about another dozen or so box sets from other manufacturers. Renedra are really busy at the moment but doing their best to fit us all in.

Regards,

Mike"

the list of Renedra customers is getting long :
Warlord Games
Perry's
Conquest
Victrix ???
FireForge
Immortal ???
Gripping Beast
as far as i know/guess

all have been announcing new boxes/projects, but the release rate seems very slow

if you look at the Renedra site (http://renedra.co.uk/history.html) i count 7 person max

Alex

I see what you mean.

The only thing is it's such specialist work its not worth anyone else opening a company to do the same sort or work. For your average company 7 small clients is not a lot.

Maybe, Renedra should expand.

I wonder if the long timescale is partly just due to the process of creating steel moulds being more time-consuming than making rubber ones. This sort of delay has always been the norm with 1/72 plastics.

Nevertheless Redendra do seem to be the only guys moulding hard-plastic figures in the UK at least. Busy times for them.

Renedra is currently handling business for:

Warlord
Perry
Mantic
Gripping Beast
Immortal
Conquest
Fire-Forge
Avatars of War
And Renedra's own bases and accessories

Another UK tooling shop does Victrix and Plastic Soldier Company

We will be doing our new plastic in the US (in Massachusetts actually right down the road from us) – and with the new process we're putting in place we might be able to help some of the other new plastic companies get their work done here.

All the best,
Tony

Tony Reidy
Defiance Games
defiancegames.com

I can confirm that Renedra do the tooling and moulding for lots of companies, and its a small (as in number of employees) business.

I tried to visit Terry when I was considering starting up plastics, and he was always too busy, so I went to the 3d printing route, and then casting the resin masters in rubber moulds for white metal castings. I am quite happy with this, as it has lead me to use scans and 3d printing of parts for accuracy!

Tooling does not have to be done by the same company who does the injection moulding, but it can help. There are numerous companies who can do the same job as Renedra, based in the UK, and a visit to one of the trade fairs will put you in touch with at least 10 businesses who can quote for the service.

Armourfast are made in the UK by a specialist plastics moulding company, who sub-contract out to the industry as far as I can see.

there are other toolmakers out there if you look.