"Vacuformed Walls" Topic
11 Posts
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Glenn M | 10 Sep 2014 4:16 p.m. PST |
So once upon a time there was a company that made Vacuformed walls for dungeons and stuff. Is there any interest in something like this in the present? My hope was to sell sheets of walls, and maybe resin cast doors and décor to go with it. The walls would be 3 6" sections per sheet. I'd like to do a lot of themes, my initial thoughts would be a mine/cave set up, one or two themed dungeons, and maybe a general sci-fi wall set and a giger wall set. While I currently can't get a good pricing idea as I have to see how well this works in practice, just curious to whether people would purchase something like this. |
cloudcaptain | 10 Sep 2014 4:32 p.m. PST |
I loved Wild Walls. I would be game to buy some. Might want to cater to 15mm and 20mm as well unlike the original line. |
Glenn M | 10 Sep 2014 4:40 p.m. PST |
Some of the walls would be pretty scale independent. I suppose the key there would be having multiple scales of doors and such. |
20thmaine | 10 Sep 2014 4:42 p.m. PST |
Sounds like a great idea – if the price is right then what you describe would be tempting. |
Glenn M | 10 Sep 2014 4:51 p.m. PST |
Pricing is hard as I don't know what all the expenses would be like, while I have access to a vacuforming machine from a friend, it becomes challenging as eventually I'd need my own, plus costs of the wall sculpts, plus the plastic costs, etc. I simply don't have a clue how much they'd be. I want to do everything I can to ensure they are both inexpensive and detailed. The reality is most walls on the market are boring, being the same brick pattern or fieldstone over and over, I like my fantasy dungeons to have some fantasy in them lol. So, I will try my own hand at doing some sculpting, I know I can do the caves and the giger myself, at least enough designs to get started. Make a couple samples to see how they look. I have a few ideas for tutorials for different dungeon methods. |
Cacique Caribe | 10 Sep 2014 4:59 p.m. PST |
I tried to get a very respectable manufacturer (Applied Imagination International Inc./Precision Products) sold on the concept once, back in 2007, when I was still into 28mm. TMP link Background discussions: TMP link TMP link TMP link Anyway, things with the manufacturer started off really, really well. However, when I was suddenly forced to pass the torch over to a buddy (the designer) because I was going to be away to do disaster relief work for several months, things simply fell apart. And the buddy kept the prototypes somehow, nor did he make anything out of them to test out viability. TMP link So I got nothing out of the attempt but lots of disappointment and embarrassment. I wish you guys much, much better luck in your endeavors!!! Who knows. Maybe Applied Imagination International Inc./Precision Products might respond well to another approach (from a team that doesn't involve me). Dan TMP link TMP link |
Glenn M | 10 Sep 2014 5:11 p.m. PST |
CC, well my biggest hurdle will probably be getting the sculpts done and finding a reliable source of plastic sheeting that lets me keep the price down. I'd love a larger former, but baby steps. I'll probably keep this hobby level at first, but if things go well I'll move a more professional level. I will not be bothering with floors. At least not at first, it simply isn't worth the time. Making floors from foamcore and such is simple as heck, if people want I'll put tutorials up for stuff like that with the walls. |
Sgt Slag | 11 Sep 2014 7:27 a.m. PST |
Glenn M, How about making your own sculpts, making your own vacu-former, etc? Do it as a hobby project, for yourself, to help determine costs to manufacture. This will give you a retail cost to make, for low volume productivity. You can only reduce the costs from there. A vacu-former is not terribly difficult to make, and a Shop Vac can supply the necessary vacuum. The real limiting factor is the size of the oven you have to soften your plastic sheet inside of -- that, and timing it so that you pull the plastic before it gets too soft… Tutorials can be found on the Instructables web site. There are likely tutorials available on YouTube.com, as well. Cheers! |
20thmaine | 11 Sep 2014 7:35 a.m. PST |
Glenn M : That's a good idea re: tutorials on how to do floors etc. Amera have some articles on how to paint and base their vac-form buildings, and it's very inspiring to see what can be achieved with a little time, patience (and a modicum of skill). |
Glenn M | 11 Sep 2014 9:04 a.m. PST |
I'll be doing the XenoWall sculpts myself, I actually hope to find the time to start them today. And to start, I'll stick with borrowing one. While I know hobby ones aren't super complicated to build, his has a built in heating element and vacuum system which is dang convenient. I like providing tips to make things better, floors are easy, as are ways to make most things better easily. I'll probably do painting guides and stuff too if this becomes something worth while. |
javelin98 | 11 Sep 2014 2:25 p.m. PST |
I had some of the sci-fi Wild Walls, and I thought they were great! I sold them off when I got out of 28mm gaming, but I would love to see some done for 15mm scale. |
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