Crew chairs: Any experience with vacu-forming?

[REMOVED]

You know Scott, it might be possible to make a two part resin mold of the form and then use a oven and/or heat gun and press styrene (or whatever plastic you use) more like they do for mechanical veneer pressing........... or possible using a strip heater? You can buy a makeshift strip heater for 30 to 50 bucks.. Just a thought............. u might want to look up veneer or chair steambending to get some ideas for forms/clamping.

[PNGwynne]

A really intriguing thread, Scott.

Is 5,000 the magic number for China mass-production? I've talked to Doc about this before, trying to get him to do brunette "WW" heads. Could customs shops (say, Dida & Doc Mego) collaborate on items to reduce the pressure of capital & production costs?

I think the chairs are a great idea, both for Trek & WGSH. Lord knows, if Wayne Foundation furniture was dupicated, I'd buy a set in a second even if pricey--I've always liked the furnishings better than the playset!

[megoscott]

I know the mold itself is in the $5000 range and the production numbers are in the 3,000-5,000 range. As I've had it explained to me by others in the biz, you wouldn't just do a single chair in that mold. It might be a mold with a chair, a console, a gun...an assortment of parts to get the most out of it. So there's that.

Certainly, with the number of Trek dolls out there you could see maybe selling 3-4 to an average collector? Maybe? Be optimistic and say 5 chairs---that'd mean you'd need 1000 collectors who need seating for 5 in order to sell them all. Plus, Diamond is going to make a bridge with stools.... I just don't know that the numbers make sense.

[PNGwynne]

I see you point about quantity.

I guess I was thinking that such seating might also be used for Dida sets, Batcaves, & HoJs, not to mention customs. After all, didn't the CTVT captain's chairs do well?

[megoscott]

I think there's plenty of need for a nice, versatile, stylish chair, sure, but the Dida budget is a bit stretched to take that risk after investing what I did in the vinyl parts.

[livnxxxl]

Like the Nike slogan "Just do it".

[jwyblejr]

I know the mold itself is in the $5000 range and the production numbers are in the 3,000-5,000 range. As I've had it explained to me by others in the biz, you wouldn't just do a single chair in that mold. It might be a mold with a chair, a console, a gun...an assortment of parts to get the most out of it. So there's that.

Certainly, with the number of Trek dolls out there you could see maybe selling 3-4 to an average collector? Maybe? Be optimistic and say 5 chairs---that'd mean you'd need 1000 collectors who need seating for 5 in order to sell them all. Plus, Diamond is going to make a bridge with stools.... I just don't know that the numbers make sense.

Most would want at least four chairs. You figure two for Chekov and Sulu,one for Uhura and one for Scotty. Maybe a fifth for Spock but most of the time he just stands for the most part.

[fembot]

You might want to check out this link, it shows how to build a homemade vacuum form table
Building a Vacuumform Table
it also has info on how to get the plastic ready to use as well
Vacuumforming Plastic

[megoscott]

So, I've been talking with a local mold maker who makes electroplated steel
molds for injection molding plastic professionally. An interesting guy with a
dangerous looking shop and a relationship with an injection molding facility in the Bay Area. He's worked for the computer and medical fields tooling
high tolerance plastic parts for 30 years and really knows his stuff. He's
saying that he could make a short run of crew chairs for about $5.00 each. It seems to me this would be preferable to the vacu-form idea. Less work and better results.

This is a photo composite of what I want to make, but the base pole and feet
would probably be closer to the original Trek stool with a straight post, and they'd be in black or blue. He'd
make a prototype before making the final mold.

Do you think a presale on this is feasible? I wouldn't want to do it unless I was certain the costs would be covered upfront. I think If I can get 500 chairs presold it would do it, but I'm leery. Seems like there's been a lot of frustration with presales on the china stuff.

[Mikey]

Scott, since I sold off most of my collection, I personally wouldn't want/need one ... But, for a long time I was nuts about anything Mego Trek and was big into Trek customs ... so I think my opinion on this is valid .....
$5.00 apeice for the injected moulded chair above would be fantastic.
I don't think you'll have any problem selling 500 of them.
My opinion,
Make stickey threads in other Museum forums with your proposition.
I'll bet there's a lot of people out there who would buy these that don't even read the customs form.
Stick a stickey thread in Buzz, General Buzz, Marketplace and Sci Fi.

Also, to help cover the upfront expense (if you choose) contact some Mego Museum sellers.
For a "peice of the action", they might make up the difference after all is said and done.

m

[JediJaida]

Crew chairs: Any experience with vacu-forming?

Heck, I'd be willing to buy a few!

Who says that these have to be used exclusively for Trek dioramas?

They can be used in just about any kind of setting that's from the 20th century up.

They can be spray painted any color besides the base color, and it can't be too hard to make cushions for them.

Let me know if you decide to go ahead with them, dude. I'll definitely be buying them.