Dreaming of starting my own vacuform model line......

let me think about this one for a bit.



(thinking)


joe

With so many good injection molded kits available & more of the less popular/obscure aircraft being kitted every day, especially by Eastern European Co's, I personally don't see a big demand for vac form kits. But if that's your dream, I hope you fulfill it & wish you great success. And, a big THANK YOU for your service to the Country. Stay safe & God Bless.

Regards, Rick

Good luck to you!

Here's what I'd like to see, all in 1/72 scale:
Nieuport 12
Albatros C-III
Cessna 172
Cessna 182

That's just off the top of my head. For the biplanes, engines, struts, props, and guns are available as aftermarket pieces from Tom's Modelworks, Aeroclub, and Roseparts, so you'd only need to do the fuselage, wings, cowling, wheels, and control surfaces.

Generally speaking, people make wooden forms for the vacuum forming machine to pull the warmed plastic over. This is called a male mold. From what I understand, better detail can be had with a female mold, where the warmed plastic gets sucked into a cavity instead of over a form.

I'm not sure how one would go about making a female mold for vacuforming. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Good luck to you, and God bless while you're in Iraq.

I would love to see the following in 1/72:
Beech King Air (C-12)
Beech Starship
B-23
DC-9
Boeing 737
Bombardier Global Challenger
Cessna Citation V, X and Mustang
Thanks!!

Thanks for the advise and help,
I don't plan on becoming rich with vacuform, But if I can do my part and make some decent kits that are hard to find or ones you'll never find that would be ok enough
I'm going to try and put the most detail I can and have decals and small detail parts as well.
I just wanted to see if any of you had any planes on your wish list , maybe I could help someday. Thanks

First let me thank you and all the other guys over in Iraq for the great job you are doing.

I am a great proponent of vacuumform model buillding and wrote the original how to book for Kalmback in 1984. I still build about 50% of my models from VF kits of which I have about 300 unbuilt and at least 100+ built. As for my choices for VF models I would have a personal preference for 1/72nd scale and the following favorites: Convair XB-46, Martin XB-48, Convair YB-60, Boeing B-15, and Douglas B-19. I currently am focused on building the limited production/prototype A/C that appeared in the U.S. Air Force. I doubt that you would have any competition in the way of injection molded versions of these A/C.

The biggest problem you face in producing such VF's is the bulk of the model building community are afaraid to tackel such models. I have no idea how to stimulate interest in such kits in the current modeling community. Possibly just advertising on the web and consulting the current VF modeling web site may be sufficient to develop the market.

Richard

First of all I think people are just affraid to try them, or they are looking for more detail without all the extra work. I have never finished a vac kit yet but before I came to Iraq I was working on a combat models C-141B and I was doing well. It wasn't the easy glue and paint and done kind of model. This is my first vacuform kit and I can't wait to continue it when I get back. I want to try and make Vacuform kits more known to people. I'm sure there are people who think about buying one but don't because they don't know much about them. They don't have them in most hobby shops and there is'nt many books writin in the last 15 to 20 years on them. and even the internet has limited info. The other thing is detail..panel lines , vents , rivets, decals , and other details the vac kits don't usualy have and most builders don't want to put the effort into one. But the best thing about Vac kits is they don't make these aircraft any other way (injection molding) so vacuform is the only way to get what you want. One things for sure if they had a decent set of instuctions that would help.

C-12R Mech,
I do a lot of resin master making, moldmaking and resin casting. If you find you might want a hand with some detail parts, Maybe we can do a deal. Email me at the link below and we'll talk a bit about it.
Cheers mate - and stay low.

ok i have thought long and hard about it.

a detailed (as much as vacuform kits can be) b-18 would be my choice.



joe

A couple of comments about available VF kits to the general audience. The Beech King Air was released by Rareplanes in 1/72nd many years ago. I have the kit and it is an excellant model with all the fine details that one would expect from Rareplanes. The B-18 has been available for many years from the Execuform Model Company. It is a basic female molded kit and will need a lot of effort to detail it out. I am familiar with Execuform kits and they make up into very good models. The kit has excellant clear parts and a very good set of 1/72nd plans.

Rareplanes is no longer producing kits so anyone wanting one of their releases will need to find it at a model sale meeting. The execuform kit costs $18.95 and can still be purchased from Execuform, P. O. Box 347, Cedar Glen, CA 92321. Telephone (909) 337-6672

Richard

Richard,

How would you rate different companies' products in terms of quality and detail? For example, are the kits you mention by Rareplanes and Execuform typical of the quality for other kits by those manufacturers?

On the other hand, are there any manufacturers to avoid? I've heard that kits from Combat Models (I think) are pretty bad. Any others?

Regards,

first off i think you have an execellent idea people like me im sure are always messing up a canopy are some other part of an aircraft i have built vacum boxes but havent got it perfected yet its hit or miss for me usually miss personally i build bigger air craft if i had the chance i would love to have a p-40n in 1/32 scale keep up the good work and god bless you for serving our country

For what it is worth I am on my first vac form kit - the Dynavector Javelin. Initially I felt that I had made a wrong move but as I progress I find that it is a very enjoyable exercise, being demanding of ones skills and as a result much more easy to keep at than some of the conventional injection kits. With V/F you have to think and improvise and at the end there is much more of "you" in it than the other type of kit. So with a good bit of PR V/F could take off. By the way thanks to you and the other chaps - not everyone in the UK is anti USA - some of us even support our own troops!!!

In answer to multimedia the Rareplanes kits and the Execuform kits are quite consistant in their quality. Except for the first few kits by Rareplanes their vacuumform (VF) models are very well detailed. Probably the best surface detailing and fit of any of the VF model companies providing 1/72nd kits. All of the Execuform kits I have are of the same quality in that they are basic, well formed shapes with possibly only the control surface outlines impressed in the plastic. Plans provided by both companies are in excellant detail and can be considered sufficient for constructing and detailing the model. Additional reference sources are listed on the plans provided by both companies. Late Rareplne releases provide either plastic or metal detailing parts such as landing gears, wheels and propellors where appropriate. Execuform does not provide these items.

Other VF companies that provide good kits are Maintrack (Project X), Esoteric, Wings, Eagle Talon, Aeroclub, Frank , Koster , Falcon and late releases from Airmodel. Early Airmodel, all Combat kits, K.R.Models, ID Models, Airframe, KPL and Anderson kits are major construction challenges and will usually require additional reference material to support corrections and detailing. Airways, Formaplane/BMW and Sanger/Contrails/Sutciffe provide variable quality kits with average plans and construction help notes. Again you will usually need additional reference material to correct and detail the basic kit.

I have no experience in VF kits in other scales or of WWI vintage as I only build 1/72nd post 1930 era models. Based on articles I have read Dynavector provides good 1/48 scale VF kits as does Koster and Aeroclub.

Hope this provides some insight into the VF arena. If you want specifics write me direct at mats.man@cox.net

Richard

Richard,

Thank you very much for the run down of VF kit makers. I've been intrigued by vacuumform models since I first read about them in FSM in the late '80s.

I haven't tried one yet, but there are still some very neat kits that aren't available in injected or resin forms.

Regards,

What would I like to see a kit of?....

1/48
Piaggio P.180 Avanti

1/32
Beech D-17 Staggerwing
Antonov AN-2 Colt

Thats just whats coming off the top of my head at the moment.

90 more days left here till I go home and start the ball rolling. So far I'm getting all the info I can off the net about Vacuform machines "build your own"
Plastic,rubber,resin casting white metal and Decals. From what I've seen the surface detail is poor on vac kits. I guess to get the best detail on the surface is to use a female mold during the process. I have high hopes that my finished kits will have decent suface details........I hope, and I'll try my best. I also need to have the resin and white metal details as well as decals so the kits are at least complete.... I've got alot to do.
My goal is to get into injection molds someday, probley after I win the lottery.
Those machines are not cheap.
Lee

You know what, this is a good business to start, but this also requires enough or more financial investments. You certainly need some business partners to pursue this. There are also some guidelines that you need to understand when it comes to this kind of business, which I recommend that you should focus on your business name first before you enter in this business with competitive markets. There are business or brand name suggestions that you can use like this one http://eatmywords.com/ which I hope you care to check for it, this will really have a big help for your business.

I started-failed, started-sold and currently run my own business.  I have been running my current business for 14 years now.  

I would assume you are young being in the military, under 30 perhaps.  You have time.  Take it slow, do not borrow a bunch of money from a bank or family/friends.  Start part time from your home and let your business grow naturally.

You will learn quickly where your niche is and what products to sell.  You may find that after starting, the money will be in vacuform accessories instead of kits, or custom one off parts or you may find 3d printing is the way to go.  Just go slow, do not force it by buying a bunch of equipment on credit before you know if there is a demand.

No need to pay a lawyer or service at the start to create a legal entity, or pay for an expensive website or register as a business.  When your part time endevours can match and more important exceed your full time income, not sales but actual income you can draw from the business after paying all monthly expenses, that is the time to decide to go all in and get a corporate entity etc.

I have seen too many startups spend a bunch of money on lawyers, developers, websites etc before making one penny of profit.  Who cares if you are an s corp or c corp or LLC if you are not making a profit. 

Also there is a difference between making money and making a profit.  Amazon has been in business for over 20 years and is only now showing a profit.  Moving billions of dollars around is not making a profit, its what you hold onto that is the difference.

Find your local Score chapter.  Just do a seach for local Score chapter.  These free groups are full of business owners who are willing to offer advice on starting a business.

Randy and Route, this thread is 13 years old and the original poster no longer a member of the forums... I just hope th man came home in one piece and is doing well today.

stikpusher

Randy and Route, this thread is 13 years old and the original poster no longer a member of the forums... I just hope th man came home in one piece and is doing well today.

 

 

Now I feel a bit silly.  Oh well.

Oh no worries, as long as you don't expect a reply.

Some good advice there, guys.

Lots of topics still out there. My suggestions:

• 1/72 Yak-28. Has been done in injection but the reviews on the kit were negitive.
• 1/72 WB-57 The longest wings I've ever seen compared to the aircraft's length.
• 1/72 YF-17 only an expensive resin kit out there. 

First off- Thanks to you and all your comrades for your service!

 

Second off- I have heard there is a saying in model making. How do you make a small fortune in model making? Start out with a large fortune!

 

Be careful and think this through !

 

Rob

 

 

Guys... look at the age of this thread!!! And if the name "anonymous" appears as a poster, that means they are no longer on the forum... 

13 year old thread! That's a lot of pages to go back to! I try to check the dates before I post on a subject just in case.  

plasticjunkie

13 year old thread! That's a lot of pages to go back to! I try to check the dates before I post on a subject just in case.  

 

Ya think? Somebody had to look real hard to find this zombie... you would think that something more recent could pique their interest and have inspired a reply...

stikpusher

Randy and Route, this thread is 13 years old and the original poster no longer a member of the forums... I just hope th man came home in one piece and is doing well today.

 

 

Yeah,, I understand, just a bit curious if someone may have the same concern, which we can certainly categorize each idea from then and now. I just expressed my thoughts which I think some may have the same needs today.. By the way, God Speed for the original poster.

New member. One contributed post. Link to a website unrelated to this forum but loosely related to starting a business. Reply to 13 or whatever year old post.....

Most likely a spammer, not worth any of our time commenting on.

So here I am commenting. Eek.