As some of you may know I'm dipping into the military dio market w/ a line of hydrocal (plaster) building kits. As I do not know the market as well as the model train market I've got a question for you. What is your favorite material for a building kit to be manufactured in and why? Like I said, my kits will be plaster w/laser cut wood doors/windows but I want to get what your feelings are on this type of kit vs plastic, resin or vacuform.

Thanks for your input.

Randy Pepprock

Ola Randy

I for myself don;'t have a preference really... I have used all the media. I usually have a good idea of what I want and then I start searching for buildings that suit my need. If that happens to be Vacu Form ... no problem then Vacuform it is. If it happens to be hydrocal or plaster then I use that. Same goes for resin too. If I can;t find what I need then I usually make it myself. What I would like to see in plaster or Hydrocal is intact non damaged buildings. Be it city buildings, Village buildings... name it.. I would prefer city buildings (personal preference). The advantage of Hydrocal is that you can damage it yourself... So with an intact building you can keep it intact and detail it as much as you want or you have the choice to damage it as much as you want. Something that is harder to do with Resin and Vacu Form.
Pretty much 99% of all the citybuildings available are damaged. You have some nice facades of citybuildings in your range it would be very nice if there was an intact corner of an appartment building. Currently there is not much available in that area.

Randy,

I've taken a gander at your building offerings....they do look good. To your main question as to "material for a building kit;" I have the following thoughts:

Current materials (Hydrocal): Seems to offer great detail, easy to assemble, allows for "modifications" (I can take a #11 and alter some of the work to suit my needs), however if it's not packed properly, it's subject to breakage. Granted, white, CA, or epoxy will "put things back together." The laser-cut windows and doors will be a huge boon...merely the quality and cleanliness!

Plastic: Mmmmmm....when I think of injected (assuming that's the case) molded plastic, I think of Tamiya's "Brick Wall" set...and I shudder. Con's to that: Harder to modify. Pro's: won't break in shipping. Still....Ugh....

Resin: Hmmmm....Wouldn't this be more costly? Plastic too? Resin can be altered like plaster, but....would your's be brittle? Don't forget about the inherent "issues" with resin....sanding, cutting, cleaning = dust that's not good....at least plaster won't cause cancer??

Vacuform: Miniart(?) has several successful kits. Again, cost: more or less? Cost translates to the $$ I give to you for a kit. The biggest thing about Vacuform that would be a concern is that it's hollow. Were you to create an incredible house face, BUT, I wanted to "punch a hole" in it for a depiction of damage, could I? Mmmm....plaster or resin would be best.

Ultimately, for what my opinion is worth, I'd stick with hydrocal....and package it up proper.

My 2 cents.

Mike

Edit FAUST has a good and VALID point.....WHY is everything "blown up???" Why not give us an undamaged building, make it out of hydrocal, and allow US to "blow it up??" Randy, rethinking things, that may be where YOU'D fit the niche. I love the idea of purchasing a nice building kit and then doing whatever to it to fit my needs.

Another variation of one of the kits I'm going release. Hydrocal, four simple pieces you can glue together & be ready to paint in about 15 minutes.



Randy Pepprock
Berlin45

I think with buildings replicating brick/block/concrete Hydrocal is the best option it's the most realistic and easiest to modify.

I've built with all the different 'flavors' you mentioned and have a preference. I've also made scratch built version of plaster and resin.

I like plaster buildings best. Complete one too. Let me destroy them as necessary to fit a need. Offer ideas with box art or (as you did with your image posted) make the damage fairly generic to support as many story lines as possible.
Back to material -Plaster is easier to work with and more easily customized. As long as detail is there, plaster is my preference.

Resin is second on my list. Not as easy to customize and a bit harder to assemble (hard is relative).

Vacuform is my least favorite.

I also like the plaster buildings, (damaged or not damaged ). Keep On Modelin ! milvehfan

Randy, a couple of issues which are (to me at least) haven't come up. Cost. Not particularly the cost of the kits themselves - but what ithey could cost in P & P. Within the Continental U.S. prices are high, but not excessive. The moment a package is sent beyond the States...

Now, I realize the mail 'issue' is beyond YOUR control, but the materials used, IMO, are an important factor. The lightest and strongest possible - plaster is a delicate material to mail, Resin is far too expensive a material for large structures(and too heavy) .

As to 'utility' plaster is a more forgiving material, however vac-formed plastic shouldn't be discounted - not nearly enough companies do sheets of brick, dressed stone or different styles of roof tiling. As to damaged vs. complete - give me the latter any day of the week. Otherwise every dio ends up broadly similar to every other...

Jim, I've thought about shipping costs and it's a hard one to get around. I guess the good part is at least I've figured out how to pack plaster kits so they do not break (very often) & with a battle damaged building it can usually look pretty good even if you've had to re assemble a part.

As far as damaged vs complete, I can see both sides of the story. IMO approximately the top 5 % of the modelers like to kitbash and create, and yes, they prefer complete, undamaged buildings to work with. For the other 95% it's just outside of what they can or want to do & they prefer something that already has the ravages of war showing. I could be wrong but that's the way I see it.

Thanks again (to all) for the input.

Randy Pepprock
Berlin45

i like the undamaged idea . but that would also up the price of manufactureing and shipping.
how about a bag of the rubble that came from the building , if the modeler wants an undamaged wall the modeler can just glue it together .