Inside Wargames Factory!
05-Mar-2008 We thought it would be fun to give you a "first hand" tour of Wargames Factory with some pictures of who we are and what we do!First up is a shot of Art Director and lead sculptor Tim Barry at work:
Free Form is an incredible software tool that allows us to not only sculpt figures digitally, but once sculpted, the files can be prepared for export for injection mold tooling. The haptic device provides a force feedback mechanism that mimics the feeling that you would have in pushing against actual clay. It literally pushes back against your hand! Tim is a traditional sculptor who has fallen in love with digital design and Free Form allows us to be incredibly exact with a "what you see is what you get" part unlike more traditional tooling methods which are really more of an art than a science.
One of the most exciting parts of Free Form is that it allows us to both "see" and fix any undercuts in the parts we're designing. For example, here is a side view of the Roman Centurion showing the parting line and the two halves. As you can see, the parting line is very organic and flows with the shape of the sculpture. As Michael and Alan Perry mentioned (Perry Miniatures) when speaking about their plastic American Civil War figures (highly recommended!), 2-part injection mold tooling is very unforgiving on the sides of models. Free Form allows us to get very precise in this area to make sure the final detail is as clean as it can be for 2-part. Chain is especially difficult to model in a 2-part mold that unlike a spincast metal figure mold has absolutely 0% "flex" in it -- but we believe we've achieved a very nice solution here. Notice how the dagger and the leather straps that attach the dagger to the belt are sculpted to cover the very side of the model -- the same way that Games Workshop uses straps and other "bits" to hide the parting line on the side. Keep in mind, too, that the figure's multi-part arms and shield will cover almost all of this small side area.
To give you a sense of what this same figure looks like as a miniature:
Depending on your screen resolution -- this is actually a bit BIG compared to the 28mm figures! ;-)
Next up, we wanted to show you what a figure looks like when it is sent to the mold designer. Here is the body for the Cornicen/Signifer as it appears when a parting line is attached and all undercuts are eliminated:
Next up, we wanted to show you what a figure looks like when it is sent to the mold designer. Here is the body for the Cornicen/Signifer as it appears when a parting line is attached and all undercuts are eliminated:
As you can see -- the parting line is VERY organic and flows around all the detail. This is what the mold designer uses to place the figure and add gates and runners (the places where the plastic flows through the injection tool and enters the figure). We use an independent mold design company to figure this out for us as it is the most technical aspect of what we do. Mold design is key to the whole process. Once this is finalized, all we have to do is send the files to the high-speed mill and start cutting the steel! (Well, it's a LITTLE more complex than that!) ;-)
Next, we move onto cutting the actual steel with what we affectionately call "The Beast":
Next, we move onto cutting the actual steel with what we affectionately call "The Beast":
Why "The Beast" -- well, let's show you:
Here's "The Beast" with Wargames Factory CEO Tony Reidy as a reference point! Tony was none too thrilled to have his ugly mug posted all across the World Wide Web -- but on the flip side, anyone going to Cold Wars this weekend who wants to know more about what we're doing -- here's what he looks like!
The reason you need a 10 foot tall machine to mill 1 inch tall figures is partially due to the close tolerances and detail in these parts. The Hwacheon mill (info here) is VERY heavy and that cuts down on vibration so that you get really clean cuts. It also has a VERY fast spindle speed -- which allows it to spin very, VERY teeny, tiny cutters at VERY fast speeds to cut through the steel and duplicate exactly the fine, fine detail in our sculpts. For example:
Here is a cutter that goes into this HUGE mill:
The reason you need a 10 foot tall machine to mill 1 inch tall figures is partially due to the close tolerances and detail in these parts. The Hwacheon mill (info here) is VERY heavy and that cuts down on vibration so that you get really clean cuts. It also has a VERY fast spindle speed -- which allows it to spin very, VERY teeny, tiny cutters at VERY fast speeds to cut through the steel and duplicate exactly the fine, fine detail in our sculpts. For example:
Here is a cutter that goes into this HUGE mill:
And here's a close up on the tip of the cutter:
This cutter is .15mm -- for our figures we are going to be using cutters down to about .1mm (or about 1/2 again as SMALL as this one!) For each box set of figures, we'll go through about 10-20 of these tools depending on the size of the set and level of complexity. The nice thing is that the mill has an automated tool changer -- so if you know that you are going to be using a .01 end mill and you definitely KNOW that some of them are going to break -- you put 5-10 in the changers and the mill will automatically swap them out as it uses them up. This way we can run 24/7 and keep churning out great figures for you!
We are outsourcing the first few sets of figures, but a little later this spring we'll be bringing this machine in house so that we have more control over the process. We're currently on the hunt for a great mold engineer -- so if you know anyone, let us know here!
SO...what do these teeny little cutters and BIG machine get us...detail like this:
We are outsourcing the first few sets of figures, but a little later this spring we'll be bringing this machine in house so that we have more control over the process. We're currently on the hunt for a great mold engineer -- so if you know anyone, let us know here!
SO...what do these teeny little cutters and BIG machine get us...detail like this:
Granted, old Martha Washington isn't the most EXCITING miniature on the planet -- but the point is that we are using the same technology used by the US Mint to mill these figures! The combination of heavy equipment, high speed milling, and high precision cutters merges to result in excellent detail.
Now that you see WHAT we do, we also wanted to show you WHERE we're doing it. As mentioned previously, we have a wonderful relationship with Triangle - a non-profit company that supports the disabled community and "people with ability" (website here).
Not only are we working with Triangle for packaging and fulfillment services, but we are actually moving in with them! Wargames Factory will be co-located at 420 Pearl Street in Malden, MA within the Triangle facility. All of our equipment and employees will work from this location (besides a few remote people we work with from around the world):
See that door in the bottom left picture? That's where all Wargames Factory shipments will leave from to wing their way to you!
Wargames Factory has been in development for over a year now: creating a viable business plan, building industry contacts, securing investments, hiring incredibly talented people, and conceptualizing amazing products to bring to the wargames world. Our relationship with Slitherine and Osprey and the Field of Glory™ license is a fairly recent development that has accelerated our overall plan to bring figures to market. Because of this, we are working hard to get these first figure sets released, but at the same time we are setting up the infrastructure to create future products. Luckily, we have a significant investment in the company that will allow us to bring most manufacturing in house (things like box printing are done by third parties).
We have also completely redefined our process over the last three months to standardize development on the Free Form system. It was a challenge to have the sculpting group switch completely to Free Form and it set our timing back by several months, but at the end of the day it was the right investment to make to create these highly complex figures and molds. We would rather take more time to do it "right" than rush to put out a half-finished product!
We are currently in the mold design phase with the Romans and Celts (and in the sculpting/file optimization phase for the next six box sets) and will be moving into tooling within the next two weeks so that we can get figures ready to ship! As you can imagine, there are a LOT of moving parts here (mold design, tooling, injection, box printing, packaging, product safety certifications, etc) so we want to make sure that everything is on target before announcing definite release dates. To be clear, though, we are weeks away -- not months.
Next week we are launching (in partnership with Slitherine and Osprey) an incredible interactive contest that will definitely bring a smile to your face. (Hint: have you ever wanted free miniatures for LIFE along with the chance to win THOUSANDS of other prizes?) We're looking forward to having some fun with this.
Also, as mentioned above, Tony will be at Cold Wars -- so if you're in the area please feel free to look him up and ask questions or put in your requests for future figure sets. We'll also be making some additional news posts over the coming days with new Workbench pictures and a glimpse at the box art.
We hope this was an interesting read! We're having a fantastic time putting everything in place to create some fantastic wargames miniatures and build a solid foundation for releasing dozens upon dozens of new box sets per year. Please don't hesitate sending your thoughts and ideas and we look forward to hearing and seeing your reactions when the figures are released! We believe you're going to have something to smile about!
Best Wishes,
The Wargames Factory Team
Now that you see WHAT we do, we also wanted to show you WHERE we're doing it. As mentioned previously, we have a wonderful relationship with Triangle - a non-profit company that supports the disabled community and "people with ability" (website here).
Not only are we working with Triangle for packaging and fulfillment services, but we are actually moving in with them! Wargames Factory will be co-located at 420 Pearl Street in Malden, MA within the Triangle facility. All of our equipment and employees will work from this location (besides a few remote people we work with from around the world):
Looks a bit like "The Office" doesn't it? ;-)
Here's some of the Triangle staff hard at work packaging products:
Here's some of the Triangle staff hard at work packaging products:
See that door in the bottom left picture? That's where all Wargames Factory shipments will leave from to wing their way to you!
Wargames Factory has been in development for over a year now: creating a viable business plan, building industry contacts, securing investments, hiring incredibly talented people, and conceptualizing amazing products to bring to the wargames world. Our relationship with Slitherine and Osprey and the Field of Glory™ license is a fairly recent development that has accelerated our overall plan to bring figures to market. Because of this, we are working hard to get these first figure sets released, but at the same time we are setting up the infrastructure to create future products. Luckily, we have a significant investment in the company that will allow us to bring most manufacturing in house (things like box printing are done by third parties).
We have also completely redefined our process over the last three months to standardize development on the Free Form system. It was a challenge to have the sculpting group switch completely to Free Form and it set our timing back by several months, but at the end of the day it was the right investment to make to create these highly complex figures and molds. We would rather take more time to do it "right" than rush to put out a half-finished product!
We are currently in the mold design phase with the Romans and Celts (and in the sculpting/file optimization phase for the next six box sets) and will be moving into tooling within the next two weeks so that we can get figures ready to ship! As you can imagine, there are a LOT of moving parts here (mold design, tooling, injection, box printing, packaging, product safety certifications, etc) so we want to make sure that everything is on target before announcing definite release dates. To be clear, though, we are weeks away -- not months.
Next week we are launching (in partnership with Slitherine and Osprey) an incredible interactive contest that will definitely bring a smile to your face. (Hint: have you ever wanted free miniatures for LIFE along with the chance to win THOUSANDS of other prizes?) We're looking forward to having some fun with this.
Also, as mentioned above, Tony will be at Cold Wars -- so if you're in the area please feel free to look him up and ask questions or put in your requests for future figure sets. We'll also be making some additional news posts over the coming days with new Workbench pictures and a glimpse at the box art.
We hope this was an interesting read! We're having a fantastic time putting everything in place to create some fantastic wargames miniatures and build a solid foundation for releasing dozens upon dozens of new box sets per year. Please don't hesitate sending your thoughts and ideas and we look forward to hearing and seeing your reactions when the figures are released! We believe you're going to have something to smile about!
Best Wishes,
The Wargames Factory Team
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