Where do some of those lost kits end up ? Lost tools . . .

[Greg Myers]

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/11/04/australian-model-maker-loses-tooling-with-close-of-factory-in-china/?refer=news

[bigphoto]

Very sad. As with so many of our U.S. companies that have tooling overseas could cripple our hobby should something happen.

I realize that it is much "cheaper" to produce models but I hope that there are legal agreements between the model company

and producer to secure the tooling in case something like that.

[Hypermung]

Do you think the Chinese will care?.... I'll bet a pound of peanuts these same moulds will end up with another manufacturer & clones will soon undercut / ruin the lucrative market that Biante has built up over the years.. Biante have also been VERY specific about the accuracy of the livery decals for each team, something the Chinese will never give 2 hoots about... It's very sad that Biante have lost their moulds, but hey, if they weren't farmed out to China for cheap labour in the first place, then they would still have them, wouldn't they????

[Eshaver]

Very true ......................... Ed Shaver

[Junkman]

The company filed for bankrupcy. I don't know how this works in the USA, but elsewhere, including in China, an administrator is appointed, all assets are seized, and then the list of debtees is paid off with the proceeds of the liquidation of said assets, minus tax. This includes the tools. So whoever buys them now can produce models with them. Or scrap them. Or do whatever he pleases.

Should Biante own any copyrights or patents, they can then try to sue whoever produces models from those tools. In China. Have fun.

[Chuck Most]

When Aurora went belly-up, didn't Monogram buy the molds? A few of those kits were reissued by Monogram, but many suspect the majority of them got scrapped.

[Casey]

When Aurora went belly-up, didn't Monogram buy the molds? A few of those kits were reissued by Monogram, but many suspect the majority of them got scrapped.

Yes, that's the story. What wasn't being used was scrapped. We know they kept some of the monster tooling, and I think a few of the vintage sports/race car tooling, too?

And then there's the Racing Scenes tooling at the bottom of Lake Erie...

I don't know what the laws are in China, but think of all the tooling which was lost, damaged or destroyed while it was still in the U.S. I'm going to guess that only a small fraction of the tooling for say, Monogram kits was sent to China for production, but if someone knows how this actually works, I'm all ears.

Let's not hit the panic button over ONE company's experience.

[Modelmartin]

The often told story of the Aurora tooling is that when it was being shipped to Monogram via rail there was a derailment. The molds sat out in the elements long enough to get rusty and corroded. Old tooling like model car injection molds from that era were made up of dozens of different parts and shims to align them all. Any corrosion in there will totally screw it up and it is a huge job to fix them. Modern molds are generally cut from one block of steel because computer controlled milling and EDM (electro-dischrge milling) can handle it. Some older molds suffer from warpage due to corrosion in between the parts that make up the mold. They don't need a train wreck to ruin them!

[Eshaver]

Andy, that's what happened to the Revell Hi way pioneer molds as they were improperly stored outside in Venice California back in the day. I'm surprised they were ever resurrected . I even have one of the Original Ford Model T's too. Ed Shaver

[Dr. Cranky]

China still doesn't respect copyright or intellectual property rights, so it would not surprise me . . .

[Eshaver]

China still doesn't respect copyright or intellectual property rights, so it would not surprise me . . .

An they sure as heck don't respect anyone besides themselves neither ! Ed Shaver

[Dr. Cranky]

They represent the worst of Capitalism morphed into a work-enslavement that hasn't been seen since . . . well, since slavery. You work cheap, or you don't work at all, and if you don't work at all, there's no place for you in society.

American business have taken advantage of that and now the effects are quite obvious in both the economy here and in the rest of the world . . .

[Guest masterbuilder]

It's very sad that Biante have lost their moulds, but hey, if they weren't farmed out to China for cheap labour in the first place, then they would still have them, wouldn't they????

Guess that brilliant cost-saving plan went and Boomeranged on the Aussies now didn't it.....

[Erik Smith]

With the price of scrap metal lately, the molds will probably get sold, melted down and turned into molds for new dollar store toys.

[Eshaver]

They represent the worst of Capitalism morphed into a work-enslavement that hasn't been seen since . . . well, since slavery. You work cheap, or you don't work at all, and if you don't work at all, there's no place for you in society.

American business have taken advantage of that and now the effects are quite obvious in both the economy here and in the rest of the world . . .

Virgil, THANK YOU SIR!!!!!!!!!! thank you for spreading the truth . Hopefully a couple of members here will see it an take you on the way they do me . Ed Shaver

[Maindrian Pace]

Not all Biante's fault, almost every new diecast model car in the world is made in China, so who could foresee it.

-MJS

[SuperStockAndy]

Bring those molds and those jobs back to America . "Thats all", Michael Savage

Ditto.

[Tom Setzer]

I hate to hear this about the molds.

I would love to find a video of a kit being

poured or however they do it.

In injection molding the licquid Plastic is blown into the molds at very high presure So that hopefully the plastic will completely fill the mold. Those round impressions you see on the inside of bodies are the locations of the injection nozels.

Back in the Seventies when I was racing Slot Cars as a Pro I was taken on a tour of the Revell Factory and they showed me how the models were made.

There was some talk of me being a spokesman for Revell's Slot Cars, But the Man I raced for shot it down, which was his right as I was Representing his Slot Car Company, and He was paying me to race for him.

CHEERS!

Tom

Edited November 6, 2011 by Tom Setzer

[Junkman]

They represent the worst of Capitalism morphed into a work-enslavement that hasn't been seen since . . . well, since slavery. You work cheap, or you don't work at all, and if you don't work at all, there's no place for you in society.

American business have taken advantage of that and now the effects are quite obvious in both the economy here and in the rest of the world . . .

Am I just glad that I belong to the good guys...

[Draggon]

Off topic Tom, but who did you race for? I ran for Ron Mura during the days of Cukras. I stayed local whereas he was nationwide, as you know.

[Greg Myers]

In injection molding the licquid Plastic is blown into the molds at very high presure So that hopefully the plastic will completely fill the mold. Those round impressions you see on the inside of bodies are the locations of the injection nozels.

Back in the Seventies when I was racing Slot Cars as a Pro I was taken on a tour of the Revell Factory and they showed me how the models were made.

There was some talk of me being a spokesman for Revell's Slot Cars, But the Man I raced for shot it down, which was his right as I was Representing his Slot Car Company, and He was paying me to race for him.

CHEERS!

Tom

In injection molding the licquid Plastic is blown into the molds at very high presure So that hopefully the plastic will completely fill the mold. Those round impressions you see on the inside of bodies are the locations of the injection nozels.

Back in the Seventies when I was racing Slot Cars as a Pro I was taken on a tour of the Revell Factory and they showed me how the models were made.

There was some talk of me being a spokesman for Revell's Slot Cars, But the Man I raced for shot it down, which was his right as I was Representing his Slot Car Company, and He was paying me to race for him.

CHEERS!

Tom

This is a topic I'm sure we'd all be interested in, with many questions to go with it. How many kits come out of one shot? How do they get the trees from molds to chrome plating? How do all the trees come together in the box? How are different parts added or taken away from different trees? How are the molds made? etc.

[robertw]

When Matchbox passed through multiple owners in the 80's some of their molds ended up in Russia. When Revell Germany bought Matchbox and tried to retrieve the missing molds they were told you can't have them back.

[Erik Smith]

How are the molds made? etc.

Put me down in the interested category. I assume modern day masters see a lot of computer work - but what about in the old days? How did Jo Han manage to make such great looking cars 50 years ago? I would like to see a start to finish article.

[Casey]

Put me down in the interested category. I assume modern day masters see a lot of computer work - but what about in the old days? How did Jo Han manage to make such great looking cars 50 years ago? I would like to see a start to finish article.

Member cruz posted a great series of YouTube videos via HobbyLink Japan a few months ago in the General Section, showing how a kit and the mold was designed and produced. Here is the YouTube link to the first video:

Scale Auto Enthusiast ran an article in 2000 or so about how a model was created, and I recall wood 1/10 scale bucks of a '40(?) Ford and the then-new '66 Chevelle SS from Lindberg pictured within the article.

Edited November 7, 2011 by Casey

[Junkman]

The 1:24 Airfix JB007 Aston, Toyota 2000GT and Aston DB6 were last seen from MPC. Were the tools returned to Old Blighty after the run, or are they with Round2, or scrapped?