Casting car bodies

[Cjent]

This is really great news, Ted and Steve. I know it will be a successful project and will fill a void we we have had for a while now.
CONGRATS! :clap: :banana-rock:

[gedgeman]

I have an ERTL 1968 GTO I can send you.
Where do I send it?
-John

[pfuetze]

awesome news, Steve and Ted!

[mgs75thmeu]

Do yourself and the rest of us a favor Ted, Don't overburden and overwork yourself to the point where you stress yourself out with all these requests! These guys are going to have to realize that these take time and you need some of that, TIME, for yourself too. PM me your Paypal address please.

[Tsooko]

Thanks again Guys and gals.
I am looking forward to helping out the 1/43 slot car community.
Pm sent Bill.

Cheers Ted

[FatUSStig]

Based on all of your post and photos of your awesome casting, this is very good news for all of us! (As Bill is alluding to, maybe not so good for you and your free time...lol)

[sirslotsalot]

Ted,

How about a Brinks armored truck full of money to spend on slot cars. LOL!!

[Broman62]

[masmojo]

It's Kinda Sad that the guys who do Resin casting can't make it work for some reason? I have seen'em come & Go. Some guys really pour their hearts into it, but on more then one occasion after buying too many casts I could see why they did not make it. Sometimes it's simply a burn out, sometime they quickly figure out how little money there is in it!! There is a learning curve and it's a bit expensive. Lib's Resin's were always first rate, so if he trust's you then you are doing something right!

I have ton's of casts that are still waiting to be finished, but I will add my name to the B210 list!!!

[Tsooko]

Kihm
I never thought of casting an armatured car... I wonder if stores will accept 1/43 scale dollars. :think:

Bromann: What can I say? Thanks buddy I'll try that.

I hear you Kevin. Lots of reasons to quit but i don't intend to. I like casting cars and got most of the equipment ready to go. It's not like I am doing something that I wouldn't be doing anyways.....Just a bigger audience.
I spent over a hour talking with Lib on the phone last nite and we agree on a lot of stuff. I learned a bit more about casting too.
Changing a hobby into a business sometimes means you have to get a new hobby but I don't intend to do that either. I hope to provide you guys ( and Myself ) with nice bodies. 1/43 scale needs them.

Cheers Ted

[LibertyFLHTC]

A few years ago my son wanted to make something that was contributory to the 1/43 slots and he decided to do resin casts. These were sold thru R-D as R-D products. I tried to warn him there wasn't much money in it and it would take up a lot of his time. Long story short, he decided he didn't want to do it anymore and at that time I couldn't let the resin side of R-D disappear. I bought his equipment and paid him as the bodies sold. Made some process improvements along the way.

It took a while to realize, but having a machining side and a resin side to the business plus working a full time job just didn't leave any rest hours in the day. Also, it was discovered that resin and cutting oil does not mix - period! The molds are to costly to have one ruined by getting contaminated with cutting oil. The decision was made to hand off / sell the resin business to Trey as at the time he was turning out some good stuff. I still do not know what happened with Trey, but I do know he is in possession of many molds for resin and glass plus some mold boxes, etc. It's good that Ted already has most of what he needs so he's not starting from scratch.

Please do what you can to support Ted. The materials are not cheap and resin casting is labor intensive to produce good quality products.

[dreinecke]

A few words of encouragement and caution:

1) Many casters have come and go. I have a theory that this is for two reasons: their product is not high quality or they don't run it as a real business.
2) Many casters that run it as a business lose their passion for their now-lost hobby. I have been close twice. In these instances, it pays to step back, stop trying to do EVERY car imaginable, and to focus on quality and stuff you love. I've had lots of folks ask me to cast a Yugo - I don't want the car, so my interest is ZERO. It is hard to work on something for months sometimes if you don't love it.
3) Many casters become overwhelmed - get an order from a customer and try to get it out next day. That is one sure way to make yourself fail. I have the following information on my webpage: "IMPORTANT! PLEASE NOTE: Depending on the number or orders I receive in any given week, it can take up to 2 weeks for me to make your kit. Additionally, I only ship orders on Friday or Saturday morning as I live in a rural area and work a real job! Thanks for your understanding!" I get 95% of my orders out in just less than one week, but that is as good as it will ever get. *** Remember, this is NOT your main source of income, your family, or anything else of importance. It is a hobby/business. It is secondary to the wife, kids, house chores, Scouts,Church, and anything else you are into. Missing a kid's ball-game, dance recital, etc. is the easy way for a spouse to HATE your slot cars very quickly!
4) Paraphrasing Lib: "Cleanliness is important!" It's not just part of the Scout Law, but paramount to good castings. That means keeping the shop surfaces, the molds, and anything tied to the master clean. Here's my shop most days:

Mind you, the surface is no longer that pretty, but I keep it scraped clean of resin residue and vacuum the entire shop every time I'm out there. Your wife will thank you for not dragging in little pieces of resin all over the house too. I also keep my molds in a cabinet that keeps them in a cool, dark area. I get excellent mold life, and I never pour more than 2-3 bodies of one mold in a 18 hour period. That's my rule and I get repeated 50-100 pulls per mold.

5) Back to #1: Many casters come and go because they don't run it as a business. The supplies are NOT cheap as Libby mentioned. I use high quality products and pay $500 for a 5 Gallon bucket of silicone and $100 for a 1 gallon kit (2 - 1 gallon jugs of P1 and P2). Mold release is a must in my book as well. I highly recommend getting either Quicken or if you love spreadsheets like me, track all of your costs, sales, etc. Not only do I claim taxes, but it ensures I have money in the account to pay for shipping, supplies, etc. I just shipped a 30 car order to Germany. Of the $1100 from the order, I paid $86 for insured & tracked shipping, and $30 for shipping supplies like labels for each box (they go on a shelf since it is a hobby shop), new boxes for each kit (I do that for ALL my orders) and packing peanuts, tape, tissue paper, etc.
6) Lastly; QUALITY. If you want to last, make a good product. You will still sell a few of anything no one else makes, but if you focus on making a massive selection but can't deliver on a product that is reasonable to make and looks decent - don't bother. I have had more complaints about other caster's products than I care to remember. I have a "wall of shame" I've kept to showcase these. Good night, Nurse! I should take some pictures, your toes would curl. I know of only one of those casters that is still around, and the only reason he is still in business is that the country he lives in is too far for most of us to go to kick his backside for selling complete garbage.

I didn't mean for this to come across as preachy, I have just done it for 10 years now and am still around to tell the tales. When Libby started, I was excited to see more 1/43 starting since I didn't have the time to do it and had been begged for several years from the folks in 1:43 to cater to their scale. Likewise, I'm excited to see what you folks in 1/43 have got going on and think it is a valuable service you offer to this scale. Looking at some of the work you all do is awesome and I don't know many as crazy as Bill that paint things so freaking fast. I think I complete 1 car for each 150 of his LOL, and his paint jobs are still better than mine!

Good luck, can't wait to see this take off for you!

[dreinecke]

Two last things to think about if you are going after a car that is a diecast, you may have to spend some money upfront for it, plus if you want to improve it, you'll need to back cast it first, pop out a few in resin, and then re-cast the master (now the resin one) when done with it. At least 1/43 has about a thousand diecast cars to start with.

Not sure what method you'll be using, but I pressure cast my resin, and vacuum my silicone. If you slush-cast your cars, it may be faster but you'll not be as able to produce perfectly replicated versions every time:

[mgs75thmeu]

Good advice David. The last 3 GT40s I got from another guy were junk. 2 I bought and a replacement were so warped and the roofs caved in I couldn't use them. I think it was because they were packed in little plastic baggies. Would that cause warping?

[Cjent]

Also, be aware that ASCW has a LOT of Kyosho injection molded bodies, all with glass, ready to fit any chassis and no painting necessary. And at a very competitive price! Take a look at our website for what is available and pricing. No use duplicating an injection molded body.