Scratchbuilding/casting/selling needed parts - is it worth the time?

[Monty]

It's obvious that we have a lot of talent on this board, many of whom have incredible scratchbuilding abilities. I'm curious whether any of them would consider creating solutions to well-known "issues" with certain model cars (e.g. grille area on Revell's 1969 Mach 1) making resin casts from a master and selling the copies.

Would the effort that goes into providing the solution be offset by enough financial gain to make it worthwhile? (The Mach 1 grille area is just one example. I'm sure you could think of dozens of other, similar things that could've been designed better.)

That poor Mach 1 desperately needs help with that blunt front, and my personal forays into scratchbuilding have been less than satisfactory over the years, hence my question.

[Scale-Master]

Depends a lot on what you value your time investment at.

[Harry P.]

I don't mean to be a wise guy... but if anyone thought it would be worth the time and investment, they would have done it by now.

[kenb]

Designing and casting parts is a very time consuming thing to do, and takes alot of talent as well. I have a 1:22 scale R/C tugboat that I made a fiberglass hull for and resin cast my own port holes and water tight doors for along with a bunch of other small tidbits. It was quite a job to make the masters, they have to be perfect because any imperfection shows up. Been working on this thing for over 5 years on and off. I'll cast my own parts, nothing major for some car projects but would never even consider trying to do it for profit. Remember, spend the time to get perfect masters built. Cast the parts using quality resins and equipment (expensive). Then try to sell for a profit. Time and money vs how many of these parts do I have to sell to break even or make a profit. Ken

[diymirage]

but as a joint effort it may be worth it

lets say you have created the perfect grille for said mach 1 and you decide you want a few resin copies for future builds, there may very well be resn casters on here that are willing to take your master, create a die and sell the resin copies (whether they want to share the profits is a different story)

that way you spread the load some

[Darin Bastedo]

What you suggest, is basicly what the resin and other aftermarket companies already do. Believe it or not, though it is not the mastering and casting that is the issue many times but the selling and maketing of the product. I have worked on many such projects, and many others have been proposed and decided against doing them. Many times there is something that sounds like a no-brainer that upon futher study turns out to be bad Idea.

A better front end for the revel mustang sounds like a great idea, but what you need in reality is a new body. Part of the problem with that front end is that Revell based it on the tooling for their 70 mustang which has way too mich crown in the fenders and hood which thows off other critical demensions. In otherwords even if you re-designed the grill, it would still be wrong until you fix the fenders and hood.

[Casey]

Would the effort that goes into providing the solution be offset by enough financial gain to make it worthwhile? (The Mach 1 grille area is just one example. I'm sure you could think of dozens of other, similar things that could've been designed better.)

It's tough to say if and/or what the return on such an effort would be. You'd personally have the satisfaction of knowing you helped a lot of other people make their model more realistic and accurate, but if you're looking for monetary benefits, that's not as easy to determine.

I am of the opinion that most people who create masters (the part(s) of which copies are cast) do so for the love of the hobby, and not for financial gain. I have no problem with anyone trying to make or making money off of their effort, but I suspect most people do not, and many probably don't care if they do anyway.

I also believe that mastering the part is almost always more difficult than having copies cast. There are a few talented casters who knock out nicely done parts and conversions on a daily basis and who have perfected the process. When you are modifying or scratch building something like the aforementioned Mustang grille, often you have nothing in scale to use as the basis for your work, so most people bow out before even getting started. Even fewer see the project through to completion, taking whatever steps are necessary to make the part as accurate as possible.

In short, it's almost always a labor of love IMO.

[Darin Bastedo]

Darin, You do know that the '70 Mustang tool is completely different from the '69 Mustang tool and is even a different scale, right?

It is a different scale yes, but it is based on the same I/10 scale tooling master as the 1970 mustang was. (very similar to how the 1/25 1969 Camaro and the 1/12 1969 are related) that is why both mustangs share the same flaws in the overall shape of the front end and nearly every detail. It has been repeatedly confirmed by several people involved with the project too.