"So, why all the rubbish figures???" Topic

Bones, finecast, restic, resins, printed, PVC, so on.

Metal and hips are obviously best, though both equal and opposite.

I'm casting hips. No tooling. So, no tremendous outlay.

Still in rnd but looking at the costs of many of the ones I listed above, why are people not simply casting hips? Apparently people prefer it over many of the alternatives that are available.

I can only assume it's a price thing, but, it's not like they are always going to China either, with many casting resin in the back room.

I have heard of people mixing plastic and resin, but that sounds worse than hips and likely needs superglue.

This has me baffled.

Define "hips" please, H Man.

I am guessing that he is referring to to High-Impact Polystyrene:

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I had hoped a few in the industry may give some thoughts.

No, just the usual suspects.

If you have nothing nice to say, please don't comment.

Suggesting people stifle me for asking a question is pretty low.

I'm not interested in people trying to make trouble or stir things up and will report where necessary.

I understand this topic may fly over some people's heads, as it's about the industry and manufacturing, it's not surprising.

Yes, high impact polystyrene, like grey sprues are usually made of. Properly HIPS, I'm just being lazy.

I've not come across it otherwise, usually other grey figures are resin and require superglue.

And, as people love complaining about the other materials (among other things, apparently), I'm surprised I haven't come across anyone casting hips outside of steel/alu tools (no, not from the hardware store) and injection moulding.

Yet, I have made such figures.

I'm sure people here will happily agree, I can't be that good.

Obviously I won't be going into details of how I accomplished such a feat.

I'm just wondering, to my knowledge, why people haven't been doing it all along.

Bendy bones, snappy resin, liney/blobby prints, what have you.

I'm pretty sure most are more expensive than hips.

I'll be doing some pricing today, so maybe I'll find it will be more expensive than other options???

All I can think, finecast must have been flipping cheap! (Cost for GW.., pre returns.., yeah)

"I'm surprised I haven't come across anyone casting hips outside of steel/alu tools (no, not from the hardware store) and injection moulding."

Because building a home-made injection molding setup would be a real (and expensive) hassle. That's why 3-D printing has become so prevalent for most people. But if you want to get into it, I'd start with the Gingery books… ;-)

No tool or injection moulder required.

I've done some rough sums, and it's sounding ridiculously cheap to me.

Who knows, maybe I am onto something. I'll definitely be pushing further forward and hopefully use it myself, all going well.

A bit too early to take orders, but I may be offering the service, if all goes well. Feel free to contact me, should you need hips casts in Oz. Something concrete to use it for may help me stay focused (I'm supposed to be bringing out a game/s and got distracted, in a good way, looking for casting solutions).

I've been into plastics forever, always trying this or that with little results. This blew my mind. Sure there is some flaw, some reason people don't appear to do it, I'm just yet to discover it.

I hope to have a minimum viable product soon. Actually, I have, but it's was a bit too minimal perhaps. Then I cast half a possessed mutant dude. A minor hickup meant he was not 100%, but I know what happened and it actually answered a question for me.

I'm now doing some sums and further tests to put that knowledge into action in a calm calculated manner. Mad scientist bit over.., for now.

I'm expecting perfect results next time. Plus trying a few other ideas along the way.

Hips boo boo hips, good dog. Woof.

Are you saying you're making 3D printed figures using a High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) filament?

No.

19 to go. (Please be aware I may give false answers)

I'm purposely not saying what I'm doing.

I will say there are benifits over your standard hips figures. There is some give and take. But no 10-100,000s up front. 's got me excited!

All going very well this morning.

What I am actually asking for is any knowledge people may have of figures made in hips outside of traditional tooling and injection.

Do you own any figures that did not come on a typical sprue that could be glued successfully with plastic cement that is used for typical sprue based plastics?

And why you think no body is doing it if they don't exist?

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I am sure I made a topic on these guys yonks ago, but can't find it.

19mm Chinese miners.

There was some interest as 20mm Vietnam.

May be a good candidate for HIPS, as I've done naught with them as yet.

A good smaller size for testing too.

Got me some HO club ladies that have nothing to do with it as well…

It's typically been moulding and casting solutions that have put me off, messy resin, costly metal, crazy alternatives.

I feel the solution may finally be here.

Let me know your thoughts.

Great news.

Near perfect chap with shovel! Only issues are known and expected at this point.

On like Kong, baby!

So, yes, I can definitely cast hips in an effective, cheap, manner.

Other tests will be needed to lower the cost even more.

Sounds like fun to me.

If you have anything you'd like to see made in hips, perhaps even something with undercuts, reach out.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking the miners are a must do.

A simple test shows me a cheap moulding solution is possible.

Steel shmeel.

I have a few other options to test, to it's crazy hat on and back to the bathroom Mr Brown.