Sunday, 30 September 2007
production runs fine so far....
the first ours of mate home production ran quite well. let´s hope for this to continue...
Thursday, 27 September 2007
Boxes...
The master is almost done, so I will be able to work on the mold soon...
Let me share some insights into my print shop formally known as living room in the meantime:
Let me share some insights into my print shop formally known as living room in the meantime:
Thursday, 20 September 2007
Back on track...
Mates,
today the new material arrived and I found some time to work on the master body.
Hope for the best!
das mo
today the new material arrived and I found some time to work on the master body.
Hope for the best!
das mo
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Bad weekend...
Actually my weekend started great. Coming home from work a big package blocked my door. It was few gallons of Smooth Cast 305 that I ordered the other day. I didn´t expect it to arrive before the weekend, so I switched plans from printing the boxes for the mates to casting mates. So far so good...
First I broke the master. Fixing the master head in the master body, I managed to break off the whole front of the "collar". Great! Well, at that point in time I was not too frustrated, because I still had the mold, right.
So, get ready for casting. The first two bundles came out fine. When I started the third one, it was getting dark and cold outside, so I decided to continue inside with an open window for the necessary fresh air. 30 minutes after having poured the resin inside the molds, I realized that the resin did not transform into a solid smooth white toy but a slug-soft something, which actually decided to join the silicon mold here and there. It tooks me several ours to clean the mold. It was not perfect, but I hoped for a good next cast anyway... So - mates, when the SC manual tells you that this resin needs to be kept dry even during the casting process - believe it. It sucks water even from the air like a black does and ruins cast and mold!!!
Next day I gave it another try. This time I used a lot of release agent to be sure that everything goes well. Air was dry. Let´s do it! After the standard waiting time of 30 minutes, I entered the room and was really happy to see a solid white material. This happiness ended quite abrupt, when I demolded the body and realized that parts of the mold stuck on the cast.
So - here I am. No master, no mold and only few casts, which are not perfect enough to become the master for a new mold!
I will get back to you, when I have a clue on how to continue....
das mo
First I broke the master. Fixing the master head in the master body, I managed to break off the whole front of the "collar". Great! Well, at that point in time I was not too frustrated, because I still had the mold, right.
So, get ready for casting. The first two bundles came out fine. When I started the third one, it was getting dark and cold outside, so I decided to continue inside with an open window for the necessary fresh air. 30 minutes after having poured the resin inside the molds, I realized that the resin did not transform into a solid smooth white toy but a slug-soft something, which actually decided to join the silicon mold here and there. It tooks me several ours to clean the mold. It was not perfect, but I hoped for a good next cast anyway... So - mates, when the SC manual tells you that this resin needs to be kept dry even during the casting process - believe it. It sucks water even from the air like a black does and ruins cast and mold!!!
Next day I gave it another try. This time I used a lot of release agent to be sure that everything goes well. Air was dry. Let´s do it! After the standard waiting time of 30 minutes, I entered the room and was really happy to see a solid white material. This happiness ended quite abrupt, when I demolded the body and realized that parts of the mold stuck on the cast.
So - here I am. No master, no mold and only few casts, which are not perfect enough to become the master for a new mold!
I will get back to you, when I have a clue on how to continue....
das mo
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Way forward...
after taking a decision on how to do the packaging last night, I ordered lots of resin this morning. Finally! I decided to go for the Smooth Cast 305 one, which some of you should know from the designer toy forums. It is pretty expensive, but the quality rocks and the solid material will provide you heavy customization potentials.
Tomorrow I will start collecting the different items for packaging. The boxes will be illustrated manually to give this custom toy a adequate package.
I´ll keep you updated!
das mo
Tomorrow I will start collecting the different items for packaging. The boxes will be illustrated manually to give this custom toy a adequate package.
I´ll keep you updated!
das mo
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Issues, issues, issues,...
Mates,
the funny part of my project is over and I am currently trying to find ways to cut down production costs. The resin is quite expensive, but as I do not want to go for a lower quality one, its hard find a solution on this. Apart form that some traders only sell to companies and shipping costs are almost unacceptable high for heavy chemicals.
As recognized by other toy makers before, getting the packaging done on your own is tough. I am fan of fancy packaging, so I am trying to put some additional time and money into that. I hope people will appreciate that! ;)
When those things are handled, I can finalize my pricing calculations and inform the toy world about mo´s mates going on sale!
Until then I hope that you will work on the templates. Can´t wait to see what you have in mind when looking at the DIY!!!
Best Regards
das mo
the funny part of my project is over and I am currently trying to find ways to cut down production costs. The resin is quite expensive, but as I do not want to go for a lower quality one, its hard find a solution on this. Apart form that some traders only sell to companies and shipping costs are almost unacceptable high for heavy chemicals.
As recognized by other toy makers before, getting the packaging done on your own is tough. I am fan of fancy packaging, so I am trying to put some additional time and money into that. I hope people will appreciate that! ;)
When those things are handled, I can finalize my pricing calculations and inform the toy world about mo´s mates going on sale!
Until then I hope that you will work on the templates. Can´t wait to see what you have in mind when looking at the DIY!!!
Best Regards
das mo
Friday, 7 September 2007
Decision taken...
the little fellow was baptised "mate" in a fancy ceremony last night! ;)
"DIY mate" will hopefully be joined by some other mates soon ...
Stay tuned!
"DIY mate" will hopefully be joined by some other mates soon ...
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
Templates for Bundle 1...
I just prepared templates for those of you, who plan to customize the little fellow*.
Template for the can head.
Template for the basic head.
I am looking forward to all your crazy ideas!
das mo
* I still have not decided about the name! ;(
Template for the can head.
Template for the basic head.
I am looking forward to all your crazy ideas!
das mo
* I still have not decided about the name! ;(
Both versions side by side...
I sanded off the second body yesterday. This is the two versions you will be able to put together with bundle one. I actually plan to put few caps in different colours to the box.
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Master Piece
This is the master piece I modelled using a knid of ceramic powder thats simply needs to be mixed with water to cast a solid block as a starting point:
Welcome to the documentation of my current toy project
Mates,
after thinking about launching a website to document some of my projects and being very much afraid of fighting code and scripts, I go the easy way and invest my time in toymaking instead!
After being fascinated by designer toys since I came accross the first Monsterism series (www.monsterism.net) by Pete Fowler years ago, I spend lots of time enjoying products and documentations of this art form.
As I am drawing cartoons and characters since my childhood, I was stunned when realizing, how much is going on in toy design discussion boards, such as http://forums.kidrobot.com/ and http://forums.rotofugi.com/index.php . Being inspired by artists and introduced to the how-to´s and materials, I started to model my first toy this summer.
This blog is meant to document the path of trials and errors and from a bucket of materials to a toy!
Enjoy and please get back to me with feedback at any time!
das mo
after thinking about launching a website to document some of my projects and being very much afraid of fighting code and scripts, I go the easy way and invest my time in toymaking instead!
After being fascinated by designer toys since I came accross the first Monsterism series (www.monsterism.net) by Pete Fowler years ago, I spend lots of time enjoying products and documentations of this art form.
As I am drawing cartoons and characters since my childhood, I was stunned when realizing, how much is going on in toy design discussion boards, such as http://forums.kidrobot.com/ and http://forums.rotofugi.com/index.php . Being inspired by artists and introduced to the how-to´s and materials, I started to model my first toy this summer.
This blog is meant to document the path of trials and errors and from a bucket of materials to a toy!
Enjoy and please get back to me with feedback at any time!
das mo
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