Hi Guys

Time for another quick update and I think some of you might like this one. its a vtol craft for VOID

it is being moulded now so the initial launch will be at salute not long then.

its big, 40cm long, 38 wide from tip to tip, armed with large chain guns and 2 big mlrs pods, capable of holding 20 troops with ease, which means vehicles too...

here is a pic but there are more at the link below.


vtol

Nice one, so how much do I have to increase my budget for Salute by?

a very good question... and one I cant yet answer. until we have finished makign the moulds we wont know the production costs for each model, bearing in mind there are about 60 peices! (about 30 metal and 30 resin... ish) I expect it to come in at about £125-150 so not cheap, but then its not small either... though if we can get the price down we will...

steve

Is this going to be for any particular faction, or is this going to be a "generic" VTOL?

for a specific faction

no doubt you want to know which... but do I tell you this is the question??

well I guess I cant keep you in suspense for too long. Viridian... though no doubt you might be able to wangle a Junkers reclaimed model there will be more large scale stuff to follow this year with any good fortune. the crew will definately be viridian.

steve

what!!??

whom do you expect to buy this?

how much of them do you expect to sell 3 ???

Im sorry if it seems a little expensive, but production isnt exactly cheap. Naturally we do expect it to sell or we wouldnt have produced it, and the final price will be representative of the market value.

it is intended to be a collectors model, for enthusiasts, model makers and collectors, it was never intended to be a "toy" in the sense that a plastic kit might be. I dont expect many people to buy it to play with in actual games, though some will no doubt use it as a centre peice, an objective or as serious eye candy, and it will have rules for its use for certain scenarios.

Im afraid its just not cheap to produce something like this, I cant go into details but you can guess how much a master model of this quality costs to have made... it is as it is, and as I said if we can do it cheaper we will, but I am guessing this guide is a close one.

if you need a comparisson model of similar quality/size then please go and check out forgeworlds Marauder destroyer, its about the same size, though lacks the kind of interior detail this vtol has and its priced at £175. my estimate is £25-50 less than that, and personally I prefer this VTOL as a model.

steve

I gather it's Resin, then?

Cheers, Steve, you really try to be the Forgeworld of Urban Mammoth, don't you?

It's lookin' gorgeous, but I'm afraid it's too costly for my own broke self to afford right now. But if you still have any in a year or so, I might give 'em a shot...

P.S.: More piccies would be appreciated. Show us that interior!

all the images we have have been posted on the wip page, if you follow the link on the initial posting you will find them all. when I have more, particularly a whole craft with under carriage, and flying stand, Ill be posting them.. will be about 2 weeks to make the moulds though, as its a long old process.

it is resin, and white metal. the resin is a urethane that behaves much like plastics, so it wont shatter easily, and its not at all brittle, infact you will be suprised how durable these parts are.


steve

Duh. Me stupid, me not see link. Me just crawl out of cave, never mind me. Thanks...

Looks fantastic but sorry, way to expensive for me too. Wouldn't it be easier and hopefully cheaper to make it a more conventional plastic kit (like those aircraft kits or those tanks from the great bad company from Nottingham)?

Maybe I can use it as inspiration to build something on my own using plasticard...

Vulture

Inah... m afraid the start up costs for something like that for a model this size would be about £6000 for the model, then 7k for each sprue, and with about 10 sprues needed for the 70+ peices.... then packaging, marketing etc etc... well if we had 100k we probably wouldnt invest it in one plastic kit... can you imagine how long it would take to get any investment back!! sorry maybe a small tank... but not a huge beast like this.

one of the benefits of resin is its actually cheaper unless you have a huge huge market... particularly for big things like this... and this is really big.

steve

OK, don't have a clue about cost for molds and such, was just an idea.

Vulture

not many people do... shame its so expensive we would be happy to go for it if it was viable, injected plastic is very cheap to produce in quantity, and fast too..

maybe on a smaller kit.

steve

its a really cool model but it somehow strickes me as a bit old skool because it has all those hard-angled shapes and such. so although it is cool it jst seems to me like it just flew out of the eighties....

IMO this is what makes it fit into the general viridian design - just have a look at the terrasaurs and behemoths.

Vulture

You mean like maybe the way the Viridian marines look a bit like the colonials in Aliens?

*cough* 1986 *cough*

Well I still think its a nice model.

Well, with all the retro going on especially in music, I think it's a good thing, as long as we don't get the shoulder pads back...

Well, there is a whole new generation of gamers out there, who hasn't had the chance to live in the 80's.

That's what getting old does to you...

The VTOL is a great model, but the costs are justified for the size and detail, but it surely is only for people with a big wallet.

How about doing a modular kit like the Urban War buildings from TFT, where you can buy additional stories, each time you can spend money again?

I know this might be a little difficult to implement on vehicles, but the principle is good IMO.

thats an interesting concept... Im not sure how it would work with vehicles, except if we provided a shell, with could be upgraded depending on which vehicle type you want. it works for tanks, transports and infantry fighting vehicles, but Im not sure it wold be possible for flyers like this one...

we may look at smaller kits though, not all will be of this size and stature.. and presumably smaller kits with less parts will cost less to produce...

Ill have a word with all at UM and see whats on the cards for VOID vehicles wise.

steve

Dude... F117 Stealth Fighter, anyone?

misunderstanding! mayan king

I like the kit very much! It's gorgeous
I'd rather buy 5 Vtols than 1 valkyrie, because the Vtol has a design of its own and the other one is just a cheap/uninspired copy of russian/star wars gunship/ german WW II glider

I know very well how much developing and sculpting of such a kit costs

No question the kit is worth 150 pound

and I know how much models from forgeworld cost

but

GW has a huge market with their minis, and they can afford to develop such collector models for very few fans

I'm not sure this is the case for UM!

So why bringing out such a costly model at this time?

a good question... the market for Urban War/VOID and related products is growing rapidly every day, and we are of course doing our utmost to develop the market all the while for the near future...

to us its an investment that we are certain will bring a return... even if that return isnt today

steve

well congratulations if so
I join your hopes!
I don't like to cry every time a miniature manufacturer dissappears
and a loss of void minis would be disastrous. I prefer competition(quality improvement) and hate monopolism (high prices)

by the way, since helms klamm closed in cologne, I have to travel 50 km to get void minis. Won't you do something about that?
Spiel Essen once a Year is only for people with good frustration tolerance

and VTOL:

how about some marketing strategy to get back investment soon, like
ending with month. 31. 200? all orders for Vtol 30% off and free shipping?

there may well be an incentive for the launch, a it will be at salute, where people have no shipping I may well extend that, or there may be a competition... or there may be another package... who can tell but yes once the kit is ready to launch there will be a "invitation" of some description...

steve

I'll buy one!! Its awesome!!



i think its actually better to come up with neat stuff to attract people, instead of waiting on the people to come before you come up with neat stuff

WOW, steve.

but all these fighters that have the stealth tech were created like before i wqs born so naturally that would look ancient

Awesome model. Its crying for the a real garage kit treatment, airbrushing, pastel chalks, the works.

yeah I love painting vehicles, so Im really looking forward to painting this beast up... Ive even got my artists oils out ready.

steve

Airbrush? Pastels? Oils? Me no speaky lingo...

OMG!!!
I just saw the post and after the wife threw cold water on me and I was able to calm down, IU can only say......I gotta get one of those!!
Absolutly beautiful!!
Kinda stealth, kinda Space: 1999 'ish. I Love it!

Ok Now that I'm calm... when is Salute? How soon after it can we expect to see it available for those of us on the wrong side of the pond?

Floyd

Hi Floyd

well it will be available from the 23rd, as an introduction offer you will get a post discount if you buy it for shipping that week as the guys at salute get to take one home post free I thought I would extend that inpart if not in whole to everyone else who buys one the same week

Ill anounce that on my newsletter later this week. o join that you will have to visit my site and follow the links. www.thefiguretrader.co.uk

glad you like it anyway

steve

Hi All,


I saw this MONSTER at Salute on Satuday........and yes......it's amazing.....expensive yes.....'useable' in a game....not sure For the price it's huge, the thing in 'the flesh',(or should that be resin), is ten times better than the pics on the Website.......but I didn't know you were selling them at Salute , I would have definately brought one!!!!!! I'm a real sucker for LARGE vehicles , anyone remember the HUGE tank for the long dead WARZONE, I've got one....never used it....but looks great.

I say keep up the good work. I kinda like the idea that these are not mass produced plastic kits.


On another tread, I do like the idea of some modular ruined building for UW. Stacking boxes kind of thing. I'm just about to start building a 'urban' board for the game and have run out of TFT UW bits! Anything new coming out in this line?????

Hi mate

sales were orders only, we are shipping when the instruction sheet comes back from the printers... so your still in time to catch the salute promo of free postage if you want one.

more images coming in a mo, but in a new short thread.

more terrain is coming, we have had loads of trouble with moulds of late, and as such have fallen well behind schedule, but we will have more UM terrain soon. Ill post news when we have some.

steve