Lynx7725
06-24-2007, 09:15 AM
Something I came across on a blog which is very interesting.
The following links are to videos that a Japanese commercial figure company (Good Smile) had put up. Good Smile has a factory in China to produce its products. These products are typically high quality anime character figures, and as such are largely 1/8 or similar scale figures.
Although there are marked differences in end products that Good Smile and WotC produces, there are sufficient similarities that I think this is a worthwhile item to show to the people here. My intent is to share some understanding of what is involved in miniature productions.
The videos are in Japanese, so a good proportion of you will not understand it. That's ok, as the images should tell a decent story on their own. There are some reports that the video does not stream well for non-asian countries, so please bear with it.
And so, on with the show!
http://www.hobbylife-tv.jp/hobby-don/070110don.html
FYI, the... BMI-challenged man with the mustache is MAX Watanabe. He's quite well-known in the figures market.
This first clip steps through what is involved in the casting of the figures. It doesn't talk much about the technologies involved, but highlights that a lot of manual effort goes into clipping the miniature parts off spures, care in cooling and maintaining the parts post-casting, sanding them to be smooth (and thus acceptable), and then there's the maintenance effort to ensure the molds have a long effective lifespan.
http://www.hobbylife-tv.jp/hobby-don/070124don.html
Part 2 of the coverage goes into the painting and assembly of the figures. This gets very interesting especially for modellers as we get some ideas into how a commerical firm deals with this aspect. Some very interesting approach to airbrushing and its assorted problem. We also get some insights into how tampo printing is done at an industrial scale.
QC is something that is quite emphasized throughout the process. Multiple checks -- manual, and not really sampling (!) -- are involved at each stage and rejected parts are either discarded or repaired depending on the criteria failed.
The assembly part is quite interesting too. Long assembly lines with each staff responsible for one aspect. Given that some figures can have multiple parts, the assembly line can be rather long. Finally, packing and handling is done manually.
Now, remember that this is meant for high-quality figures that sells for much $$$. Also, bear in mind that Good Smile is known for its high quality; the high QC count contribute directly to this (and the cost).
Thus, this isn't the average AAM miniature production. Still, the videos do demonstrate the process, and we can draw parallels to what happens for AAM. It is well known that in WotC's DDM (and by implication AAM), painting steps add significantly to the cost, and now we are in a better position to know why -- in many cases, it is a manual effort, and you do need to pay the staff who are doing these things. Granted, DDM (and thus by implication AAM) is known to use automated painting for some of its work, but there is still some manual effort.
For AAM with moving parts (tanks or ship turrets), we also must factor in assembly cost. The video does hint at this, but doesn't fully cover this aspect: for mass production involving assembly, many, many people must be employed to ensure the products are (1) assembled and (2) assembled properly. All these translate directly into costs to be borne eventually by the buyer.
I'm not using these videos to praise or condemm WotC's production process because these may not have much in common with WotC's processes in their production factories. What I hope you guys go away with is a better understanding of what is involved.
The following links are to videos that a Japanese commercial figure company (Good Smile) had put up. Good Smile has a factory in China to produce its products. These products are typically high quality anime character figures, and as such are largely 1/8 or similar scale figures.
Although there are marked differences in end products that Good Smile and WotC produces, there are sufficient similarities that I think this is a worthwhile item to show to the people here. My intent is to share some understanding of what is involved in miniature productions.
The videos are in Japanese, so a good proportion of you will not understand it. That's ok, as the images should tell a decent story on their own. There are some reports that the video does not stream well for non-asian countries, so please bear with it.
And so, on with the show!
http://www.hobbylife-tv.jp/hobby-don/070110don.html
FYI, the... BMI-challenged man with the mustache is MAX Watanabe. He's quite well-known in the figures market.
This first clip steps through what is involved in the casting of the figures. It doesn't talk much about the technologies involved, but highlights that a lot of manual effort goes into clipping the miniature parts off spures, care in cooling and maintaining the parts post-casting, sanding them to be smooth (and thus acceptable), and then there's the maintenance effort to ensure the molds have a long effective lifespan.
http://www.hobbylife-tv.jp/hobby-don/070124don.html
Part 2 of the coverage goes into the painting and assembly of the figures. This gets very interesting especially for modellers as we get some ideas into how a commerical firm deals with this aspect. Some very interesting approach to airbrushing and its assorted problem. We also get some insights into how tampo printing is done at an industrial scale.
QC is something that is quite emphasized throughout the process. Multiple checks -- manual, and not really sampling (!) -- are involved at each stage and rejected parts are either discarded or repaired depending on the criteria failed.
The assembly part is quite interesting too. Long assembly lines with each staff responsible for one aspect. Given that some figures can have multiple parts, the assembly line can be rather long. Finally, packing and handling is done manually.
Now, remember that this is meant for high-quality figures that sells for much $$$. Also, bear in mind that Good Smile is known for its high quality; the high QC count contribute directly to this (and the cost).
Thus, this isn't the average AAM miniature production. Still, the videos do demonstrate the process, and we can draw parallels to what happens for AAM. It is well known that in WotC's DDM (and by implication AAM), painting steps add significantly to the cost, and now we are in a better position to know why -- in many cases, it is a manual effort, and you do need to pay the staff who are doing these things. Granted, DDM (and thus by implication AAM) is known to use automated painting for some of its work, but there is still some manual effort.
For AAM with moving parts (tanks or ship turrets), we also must factor in assembly cost. The video does hint at this, but doesn't fully cover this aspect: for mass production involving assembly, many, many people must be employed to ensure the products are (1) assembled and (2) assembled properly. All these translate directly into costs to be borne eventually by the buyer.
I'm not using these videos to praise or condemm WotC's production process because these may not have much in common with WotC's processes in their production factories. What I hope you guys go away with is a better understanding of what is involved.