General / Approaching Final Week / Timeline
about 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 22, 2020 at 02:00:07 AM

Good evening all, hope everyone is safe and well, now that Easter half term is out the way and my children are back at... home school ~_~ it's time for an update! 

Thank you again for all your wonderful comments and support, the project is going really really well, I'm staggered by the amount of backers, over 600! We are creeping up on the 2nd and last stretch goal to upgrade the 10-4 pledges with a £4.00 voucher code for the pledge manager, this can be used to claim a free 32mm mini or go towards the cost of any other scale or add-ons.

As we approach the final countdown, da da dun dun, I just want to share with you all a bit of a timeline for the project following the end on 30th April, what's going to be going on once the campaign goes quiet in the weeks/months following it's end, you can expect updates at regular intervals in line with the timeline as/when things are happening.

Timeline

Campaign Ends 30th April 2020.

May 2020: Pledge manager opens

For anyone who missed this, I will be using BackerKit as my pledge manager (https://www.backerkit.com/for-backers for a little info for those unfamiliar with pledge managers) this will open around 2 weeks following the end of the campaign, around May 15th. You will recieve and e-mail with instructions on accessing the PM. You will then be able to confirm your selection of miniature(s) and add-on anything you would like to your pledge, pay for shipping and all importantly make sure your shipping address is correct! 

May/June 2020: Pre-production

Pre-production is basically a series of prints that will identify any minor changes that might need to be made to miniatures before production in order to achieve the best results, cuts will also be tested for fitting and production layout. While this is going on I will be busy busy sculpting the super secret surprise mini for those who have very kindly supported the project above and beyond. 

May 2020: Confirmation for production numbers

Whilst the pledge manager will remain open until fulfillment is imminent for address changes etc. If I could ask that all pledge selections and add-ons are confirmed by backers by the 30th May 2020, this is so I have a solid number of each miniature that needs to be produced. 

June 2020: Production

Miniatures will begin production in batches, rather than waiting for everything to be produced and shipped in one big go (nightmare!) pledges will be made up, quality controlled and shipped as and when they are ready.

July/August: Pledge manager closes

Around the end of July/start of August the pledge manager will close ready for shipping at the start of September 2020, any additional charges will be collected (add-ons, shipping) and your shipping details locked in.

September 2020: Rolling fulfillment starts

Rolling fulfillment will begin based on your backer number, this is penciled in to start in September 2020.

September-April 2021: Fulfillment period

Once fulfillment begins the estimated completion for production and shipping is penciled in for April 2021, I will be able to give a better estimate once final backer count is in and production numbers are confirmed.

Quick reminder; Pledges over £60

Pledges over £60.00 will be gifted a surprise miniature not seen in this campaign, a new sculpt especially as a thanks for supporting me and my campaign above and beyond! You will be able to choose based on your pledge below; 

Pledges over £60.00 32mm surprise

Pledges over £80.00 32mm or 54mm surprise

Pledges over £100.00 32mm, 54mm or 75mm surprise

***This won't appear in the pledge manager, to whom it applies; I will confirm with you which scale you would like to recieve***

Thank you again for all your support, take care and stay safe! 

Pete

This Week / General / Cast Photos
about 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 15, 2020 at 03:41:09 PM

"Stop working it's Saturday," "Is it???" 

Hello guys, as groundhog day continues for most of us during lockdown I hope you all had a good weekend even if it was no different from the rest of the week!

Big thanks for the support again, funding pace has dropped off since the Early Bird closed which was expected, what wasn't really expected is that it is remaining consistent at about 12-15 new backers a day over the last 4 days which I'm really pleased with! We are edging towards the free plinth for the Teller unlock!

More 360 renders should be uploaded towards the end of the week.

Just a side note looking at pledge data, I have several backers pledging over £100.00 and quite a few pledges between £50.00 and £100.00 which is really unexpected but super awesome, over the next few weeks I will be looking at adding a little something to say thank you for that level of support.

Cast photos

I'm struggling if I'm honest as I have no setup to take proper pictures and only have my mobile phone to do so, I've just got the one okay-ish snap of previous casting in 35mm that didn't come out a total blur, I might try and put some paint on her if I get a second which may help with clarity as the resin has a slight sheen to it which is reflecting a lot of light, undercoat with a wash might help, if anyone has tips please let me know it would be greatly appreciated so I can get some decent pics sorted. And yes, she is on a bird box on the kitchen table.

Fun fact;

Since launching I have recieved a whole bunch of messages from crowdfunding experts who can definately increase exposure and funding with no upfront cost, sweet! Not a single one can answer even the most basic of questions regarding my product, the miniature industry or who my audience is, my favourite answer on the latter is "tabletop game enthusiasts who browse Kickstarter." 

In addition to this several other creators have been seeking cross promotion as our audience definately share similar taste in product, so if anyone is interested in magnetic cusions or a bowl that stays warmer much longer than an ordinary bowl please private message me and I will link you up! Okay enough of me being a sarky so and so :)

Take care, stay safe! Pete

Quick note regarding the free plinth for the Story Teller
about 4 years ago – Sun, Apr 12, 2020 at 08:43:44 AM

Hello guys hope all are well,

Just a quick one for clarity on the free plinth for the Story Teller as I have overlooked creating a potential situation with my poor wording (really sorry!) I just need to clear this one up as some backers may be wanting to pickup more than one copy as she is an exclusive which has only just dawned on me, I know... *facepalm* 

While copies of the Story Teller won't be limited per backer, the free plinth will be limited to one per backer, per scale, quick example;

You pick;

4x 32mm ST

3x 54mm ST

2x 75mm ST

You will get 3, free plinths, 1 for the 32mm, one for the 54mm and one for the 75mm.

Apologies again for the poor wording and any potential confusion caused, if you would like to know a bit more why I have had to clarify this I'll pop it below.

Take care and stay safe! Pete.

Ins and outs

I'll just briefly explain why/how adding free stuff works from my business planning perspective incase anyone wants a deeper explaination or is just purely interested;

The more a backer commits as a base pledge the cheaper I can offer each miniature, at the highest level my profit per mini goes down versus the lower levels however, this is offset by volume meaning there is still enough money to cover my baseline costs with a little profit.

In real terms the profit for me on a base £40.00 pledge is a little above the profit from the 5 for 5 pledge, if we take into account the Early Bird and her free plinth, and the potential extra free at the 24K goal, the £40.00 pledge only generates slightly more working capital than the 5 for 5, the difference being the value for money returned to backers increases from the 5 for 5, to the 10-4 pledge.

When free stuff is added to a reward the cost is distributed over each miniature in the pledge, for example a £40.00 pledge for 10x 32mm mini's is £4.00 each, per mini. For arguements sake lets say it costs £2.00 to produce each one, with £2.00 working capital generated.

Each £40.00 pledge costs £20.00 to produce for £20.00 profit, lets say the plinth also costs £2.00 to make, each £40.00 pledge with a single Story Teller selected then costs £22.00 to produce, with £18.00 profit, effective working capital generated per mini is now £1.80.

If someone was to pick 10 Story Tellers each costing £2.00 to produce, each with a free plinth, the £40.00 pledge then costs £40.00 to produce, this is disregarding Kickstarter fees and the contribution each miniature needs to make to actually getting it into production, this is obviously not a workable scenario.

Hope this explains a little why I have limited the free plinth, it was never intended to be more than 1 per scale per backer however backers do have the freedom to pick more than one copy which was an oversight and for which I apologise :<

FREE Plinth Unlocked / Thaumaturge Add-on added / Large Pledges
about 4 years ago – Fri, Apr 10, 2020 at 10:19:52 AM

Morning everyone, how are we all?

Just a quick FYI, my working week has become very odd indeed since the UK went into lockdown, the time I have in a day is split up all over the place so I apologise if I'm not answering questions right away but I will get to them I promise!

FREE Plinth Unlocked

We are just over the 18,000 mark now which means I'm giving each copy of the Story Teller her very own display plinth for free, this will be scale appropriate to whichever miniature you select, Kickstarter is fickle and we may dip below this 18K mark (only just over it at the time of writting) if people adjust or cancel pledges throughout the day but it will remain unlocked even if this is the case so big thanks for pushing the campaign this far!

Thaumaturge Add-on added

The Elven Thaumaturge miniature set has been added as an add-on to the main page right at the bottom somewhere beyond the limits of a single scroll action, you will notice her 35mm version is £9.00 which is higher than the other small scale miniatures in this campaign, this is due to the prices in this campaign being "normalized" for ease of working out pledge amounts and making miniature selections, she is priced the same as my backers from her project have paid for fairness to the people who very kindly brought her into existance. Available in 75mm (£24.00) 75mm Bust (£24.00) 35mm (£9.00)

Large Pledges

I mentioned yesterday or the day before (days are merging into one I swear!) that I will be looking at a little thank you for those who have pledged above and beyond in support of this campaign, I have decided on what I'm going to do and it's going to be a super secret suurrrrrprise! The only thing I will tell you is it will be a miniature designed especially for this in the 3 core scales of the campaign 32/54/75, other than that you will have to wait until you open your package, sorry to those who hate surprises! :D

Pledges £60.00 and over 32mm gift.

Pledges £80.00 and over choose 32mm or 54mm gift.

Pledges £100.00 and over choose 32mm, 54mm or 75mm gift.

All the best guys, stay safe! Pete

360 Renders
about 4 years ago – Sat, Apr 04, 2020 at 11:53:04 AM

Hello guys hope you are all well,

I have started to upload some 360 renders to YouTube for those interested, the Story Teller is now up with more to follow over the next few days; I've had such a headache uploading to KS as their encoding is erm... not the best, for max quality I have taken to YT, make sure to watch in HD!

 Massive thank you again for all the support so far! 

Stay safe, Pete