Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board

Archive 2014

Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Starline 2500 Miniatures: General Discussion: Archive 2014

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, March 31, 2014 - 02:32 pm: Edit

UPDATED STATUS

Ok, let's not discuss why I slept through the last three months of 2500 reports, and just talk about what's going on.

NEW SHIPS: the revised King Eagle and the metal Kzinti DN were ordered in production lots and we're waiting for the shipment to arrive.

MASTERS: Tony says that he'll have the Tholian PC and CA fixed in a week and sent to Bruce so he can make production molds. Figure a week for shipping, a week to get molds made, a week for casting, a week for prelimninary runs, and a week for production runs so six weeks from today those two ships should be on sale.

The Tholian DD and fixed Kzinti NCA next after that.

MASTER MOLD: We need six ships to create the next master mold. We currently have one prototype ready to go into a master mold (Tholian TK5). Matthew says that the Orion BR is on his desk. Matthew is sending to prototype tomorrow the Orion CA, BC, BCH, and DW, along with two new "fancy 2400s". We're days away from the Klingon B10 and Augmented BATs also going to prototype. That should fill the first master mold and maybe most of another one. A couple of other ships in advanced state (Tholian DN, Orion DN) could make the second master mold complete.

So you could be looking at 9-12 weeks on those.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - 01:52 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 15 April 2014.
================================
SHIPS ENTERING OR IN PRODUCTION
=
2500 Kzinti Dreadnought in metal: 7 April received a shipment that was brilliantly great. 14 April received the missing DN engines. We will put these on sale shortly.
=
2500 Romulan King Eagle revision: This ship is on hold while Bruce tries to locate the KE1 mold. Assuming he can find it, we may or may not go ahead and sell the KE3s on hand but probably won't make more. Nobody can figure out why Mongoose did a new three-part KE instead of continuing to use the old one-part KE.
================================
MASTERS BEING REVIEWED:
=
2500 THOLIAN CA, DD, PC: One rebuilt master of each is on its way to Bruce, who will decide if it can be used as a prototype in a new master mold. If not, we will have to reprototype these.
=
2500 KZINTI NCA: 7 April Bruce found the masters and is sending them to Tony to have missing phasers added. Then this can go back into production. Basically, every NCA ever shipped (by Mongoose, after ADB rejected the design) was missing phasers.
================================
SHIPS READY FOR MASTER MOLD
=
2500 THOLIAN DN: plastic printed prototype on hand but probably cannot be used due to connector issues. Or maybe Bruce will decide that the three pieces can be glued together and cast as a one-piece model?
=
2500 THOLIAN TK5: approved prototype is waiting for more ships to join it.
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED
=
2500 ORION Battle Raider: Prototype on Matthew's desk; will be sent to ADB with next batch of prototypes. It might or might not be approved.
=
2400 FEDERATION CAR, KLINGON D7K: These are 2500s rescaled to 2400/3788 size. Prototypes on order.
=
2500 ORION CA, BC, BCH, DW: Prototypes on order.
================================
PRODUCTION NOTES
2500 STANDS: are on order. The straight ones, not the ball/socket ones that Mongoose discontinued.
================================
EXISTING 2500 RESIN SHIPS DISCONTINUED; SCHEDULED FOR LATER CONVERSION TO METAL
=
2500 Klingon C8 Dreadnought: told Bruce to move forward with conversion to metal. No progress so far.
=
2500 Romulan Condor dreadnought: Needs to be converted from resin to all metal. status pending
=
================================
NEW CGIs IN PROCESS
=
2400-2500 KLINGON HF5 heavy war destroyer, ROMULAN SabreHawk heavy war destroyer: New ships ordered from Seattle; no progress this week. They will be done in both scales.
=
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod) and Heavy Freighter (four pod): Ordered from Seattle; no progress this week.
=
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: 8 April asked Sandrine to confirm the centering notch for the deckhouse; no answer this week. Once she confirms it, we can sent this to prototype.
=
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS: 8 April sent back extensive modifications list.
=
2500 LYRANS: To be started soon.
=
2500 ORION dreadnought: 4 April, posted corrected version which still has rear phaser-3 arc problem. Waiting on fix from Sandrine.
================================

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Friday, April 18, 2014 - 03:59 pm: Edit

STAR FLEET ALERT
18 APRIL 2014
NEW 2500 PRICE STRUCTURE
=======
When ADB, Inc., became solely responsible for the manufacture and distribution of the Starline 2500 range of pewter starship miniatures, we conducted a top-to-bottom review of the manufacturing process and pricing structure. ADB, Inc., has today implemented a new strategy for manufacturing, pricing, and distributing this product line. This does NOT affect our other product lines.

DISTRIBUTION: These will now be distributed solely by mail order from our Amarillo, Texas facility. We will no longer be able to sell these to wholesalers or retailers because (to make any profit at all) we would have to raise the unit prices far beyond what any customer would pay (e.g., $20 for a cruiser). The actual cost of manufacture turned out to be higher than the original prices can support.

AVAILABILITY: If it's on our shopping cart, it's in stock in Amarillo and will ship within a day or two.

PRICES: In most cases, these have gone down. For a few large ships, they will go up. From now on, each ship will get its own price based on its cost of manufacture. We will not push every ship into a one-price-for-all packaging system. Prices will range from $5.95 to $19.95 (higher for battleships).

OVERSEAS: A new shipping option for miniatures (of all types) is available on our shopping cart that gives customers a more accurate cost ($24.95 to Europe for up to 18 miniatures from any of our ranges). Previously, the cart charged the rate for the largest flat-rate box (over $60). We then changed it to the much lower actual cost, but this left many customers confused and reluctant to order.

PACKAGING: We will no longer sell the ships in sets or boxes. We will sell only individual ships. Players will be able to design their fleet (for any of our game systems) and then buy exactly what they need.

QUALITY CONTROL: ADB, Inc., has always had a very high standard for quality control and has not had any significant returns of 2500-range ships dispatched from our warehouse. Our casting facility has always had a very low rate of defective ships that reach Amarillo.

ALL METAL: We have eliminated all resin ships from the range and will replace them with identical ships cast in pewter. The resin ships had insurmountable quality control and production delays.

NEW SHIPS: The 2500 range will continue to grow. As this Alert is dispatched, we have almost a dozen new ships in the pipeline: Kzinti DN in metal; Tholian PC, DD, TK5, CA, DN; Orion BR, DW, CA, BC, BCH, DN; Klingon C8 and B10 (in metal); Augmented Battlestation (in metal); and several more.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, May 29, 2014 - 01:59 pm: Edit

MINIATURES PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A summary: updated 29 May 2014
This covers all 2400s, 2425s, 2450s, and 2500s.
=====
There are a series of steps, and things can go wrong at every step, meaning that step must be done over or that the item must even go back to previous steps and repeat them. It is easy to say: This step takes 2 weeks followed by 1 week for this step and 3 for that step so we’ll have it ready by X date but the reality is that sometimes steps take longer or must be done over and sometimes there are not enough ships ready for the next step (e.g., getting prototypes made) and sometimes there are too many ships ready for the next step (e.g., getting molds made). There are also interruptions. If any key person is sick, busy, on vacation, or at a game convention, you can add extra days or weeks to the schedule.
=====
STEP 1: SHIP SELECTION
This is a combination of what ships the sculptors want to do, what ships Matthew wants Sandrine to do, what ships are needed for the next ACTASF book, what ships we think will sell, what ships are easy to do, and what ships players want. Obviously we could sit down and pick 20 or 200 ships but as the sculptors cannot do more than a few each month there is no point to do more than they can handle. Once a ship is picked we pick a sculptor and send them whatever data we have and they need.
=====
STEP 2: CGI (SCULPTING)
Most ships are done CGI. Sometimes a ship is modified by a master modeler which effectively counts as sculpting. For example, the Kzinti NCA and its missing phasers are being "sculpted" rather than CGIed because we already have a metal master. ADB has no control over how fast sculptors do things other than gently reminding them to get it done.
=====
STEP 3: APPROVAL
I review it, Steve Petrick reviews it, Bruce Graw (the head of the casting house) checks it for production issues, and we post the CGIs in the BBS for people to comment on. This takes at least a week and maybe half of the time the ship is sent back to the sculptor to be done over.
=====
STEP 4: PROTOTYPE
Once the CGI is approved Mongoose sends it to a prototype house, which prints it on a high resolution 3d printer. This takes at least a week, and once Matthew gets the ship (if he approves it) it takes several days for it to reach Amarillo and be approved. This step has a problem in that most times we need to send several ships at once, so if one ship is the only one finished it may wait a bit for some friends to join it on the trip to the prototype house.
=====
STEP 5: MASTER MOLDS
Once ADB has and approves prototypes, these are sent to the casting house. (Remember that prototypes come from three sources: Mongoose, Seattle, and metal ones made by Tony Thomas.) Bruce inspects them (and may reject some as impossible to cast; these then go back a step or two and are done over) then takes those prototypes that work to a mold company for a Master Mold. (This is a special expensive mold that holds one copy of several ships.) It can take one to three weeks to get a master mold and it’s very hard to get more than one done at once.
=====
STEP 6: SPIN AND APPROVE MASTERS
Once the Master Mold is back, it’s put into the spin-caster and metal masters are produced. Two sets are sent to ADB. The results can be approval, problems sent to a master modeler to be fixed, or rejected outright and sent back to an earlier step to be done over. If approved, one set it sent to a master painter to have images ready when production ships arrive.
=====
STEP 7: ORDER PRODUCTION MOLDS
If the masters are approved, then a set of them (usually eight) goes into a production mold. (In some cases, it takes two or three production molds to make one ship, since it doesn’t work to cast pieces of very different sizes in the same mold. The B10 takes five different molds.) In theory it takes a week to get such molds, but if the mold company is backed up it can take two or three. It gets worse because the mold company won’t make more than a few at a time because they need to serve many customers. So even if eight ships pop out of the master mold just fine, they may be sent to production molds in two or more batches a month apart. The selection of which order to do them in is a marketing decision based on what’s needed for what game, what else is being released, etc. We might actually hold a given ship back a month because game stats for one or more game systems may not be through playtesting.
=====
STEP 8: INITIAL PRODUCTION
Assuming that all of this works, the production mold arrives at the casting house and a few spins are made, and a few samples are sent to ADB. In rare cases, we may discover an issue that sends a ship back a few steps, even to Step 2.
=====
STEP 9: FULL RATE PRODUCTION
Assuming we approve those, we order a production batch from Bruce. Once the production batch arrives, it is run through the Quality Control Committee and those that pass are put into inventory. Jean then photographs them and announces them as ready for sale. Here there is another bottleneck issue. Even if eight production molds arrived on the same day, it’s unlikely that the casting house could in a reasonable time do production runs of all of them. More likely, some would be produced for immediate sale and others would follow by a few weeks in a second batch.
=====
FINAL WORDS
As you can see, it’s a multi-step process, and every step may have to be done over several times (or might work the first time). Just keeping track of everything and what step it is on is a management chore (and one ship actually got lost for 21 months). Sooner or later, a production batch of a new ships arrives at the warehouse and is officially released. It is impossible to predict when a given ship will appear because it is impossible to predict what will happen at each step. The point of managing the system is to keep enough things moving forward that a steady flow of new items is released. Without having to deal with wholesales, we’re very likely to not promise any specific release date until we’re very close (say, the end of Step 8).

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, April 19, 2014 - 03:55 pm: Edit

Not that we know of. We send stuff through the US post office with whatever customs form they tell us to use. Nobody at the Post Office ever offered us any options and (when we asked) none of them had any clue what we were trying to find out.

I have heard no end of funny and not so funny stories of the British postal delivery system. (We have them about our post people, too.) Seems to be a totally random thing about how it gets delivered, even nearly identical orders to the same address a few weeks apart. Sometimes the post office just drops it in the mailbox, other times you get a postcard to drive 14 miles to "Parcel Force" and pay a ransom for your package. We have no idea why that happens or how to stop it. Maybe you could look into it on your end and tell us the magic formula? There has to be some kind of "customer support" phone number or email address available for the Royal Mail.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, May 05, 2014 - 05:12 pm: Edit

Prototypes received and approved for Orion DW, BR, CA, BC, BCH. Sending them to Bruce along with Tholian TK5.

Bruce has several other prototypes on hand, and we will discuss how to proceed. There are enough for one master mold, I am not sure if there are enough for two. We'll send what we can forward when Bruce reviews them.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, May 06, 2014 - 01:16 pm: Edit

At this point Bruce has or soon will have 13 prototypes:

2500 Orion DW, BR, CA, BC, BCH: All are one-piece and more or less good to go.

2500 Tholian DD, PC, CA: Metal masters that did not work retooled to go back into system as prototypes. Should work.

2500 Tholian TK5: one-piece new prototype that should work just fine.

2500 Tholian DN: unlikely to be workable, uses the kind of long-bar/groove connectors that failed in the PC/DD/CA series. I am going to let Bruce take a look but I'm 90% certain that Mongoose will have to do this one over again.

2500 Kzinti NCA: fix missing phasers and weak wings. This one may not be there yet.

2450 Klingon D7K and Fed CAR: These are the first 2500s resized as 2400s (shrunk from 3125 to 3788 scale). We have concerns about the connectors and the parts divisions, but want Bruce to look at them before we just reject them. These were the last ships that went to prototype without ADB seeing the exploded view of the parts. We'd have put a stop to the way they did the D7K and I am 70% sure it's going to be dead on arrival. The Fed is a 50-50 deal. Nobody really knows if the struts are strong enough.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, May 08, 2014 - 10:48 am: Edit

We have 13 masters on the way to or already at the factory. Figure 4 more days before they get there, call that 12 May.

Bruce will put some of those into ADB Master Mold 2501. I am not sure how many will fit, maybe eight. He will drive that over to the mold factory on the 13th. It will take about 7 days to get the master mold back, call it the 20th.

Then Bruce will spin the master mold (one day) and sent us samples on the 21st (five days in mail, they arrive the 26th). We will review them (an hour) and notify Bruce which ones are good enough to go into production molds. The production molds for some of the eight(?) will thus be ordered on the 27th, and will take 7 days to get back (3 June). Then a day for production, overnight some samples, two days for a production run (ship the 9th, a week for them to arrive at ADB (16th), a day or two for us to put them on the cart (photos, product descriptions, news releases and promotion). Call it new minis on the cart on or about 18 June. Give or take. I did the same math on the other board 5 minutes ago and got the 12th of June so who knows, somewhere in there.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, May 12, 2014 - 07:08 pm: Edit

2500 RESIN DREADNOUGHTS

We have the following RESIN dreadnoughts in stock today:

16 Klingon C8
21 Romulan Condor
15 Kzinti DN

If you want these, order the metal one and use special instructions to tell Leanna that you want resin. She will manually lower the price to $14.95 each.

These will (probably) be the last resin DNs ever made. (Then again, if they sell quickly, we might ask Bruce to make a dozen more.)

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, May 20, 2014 - 04:25 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT (SUMMARY): 20 May 2014
This lists only ships which are in the production pipeline. Any ship not listed here is a possible idea for future production. Your suggestions are welcome but we cannot deliver every new ship next week. Even a high priority ship can take at least three months from origination to release.
================================
PROTOTYPES BEING REVIEWED:
=
2500 THOLIAN CA (missing Book One ship): PROGRESS: Mongoose did this as a two-piece prototype which went into a master mold but the masters cannot be cast as the pointy-parts are 100% defective. Tony Thomas converted it into a one-piece ship and did one which was used on 14 May as a prototype in ADBMM2501.
=
2500 THOLIAN DD (missing Book One ship): PROGRESS: Mongoose did this as a two-piece prototype which went into a master mold but the masters cannot be cast as the pointy-parts are 100% defective. Tony Thomas converted it into a one-piece ship and did one which was used on 14 May as a prototype in ADBMM2501.
=
2500 THOLIAN PC (missing Book One ship): PROGRESS: Mongoose did this as a two-piece prototype which went into a master mold but the masters cannot be cast as the pointy-parts are 100% defective. Tony Thomas converted it into a one-piece ship and did one which was used on 14 May as a prototype in ADBMM2501.
=
2500 KZINTI NCA: Tony Thomas is doing a new prototype from an existing master, which includes adding the lost phasers and strengthening the wings. This has not yet reached Bruce.
=
================================
2500 THOLIAN DN: Mongoose did a three-piece prototype which cannot be cast because it uses the failed "ridge and trough" joint system. Bruce is checking to see if this can be turned into a one-piece prototype or have the joints converted or if it has to be re-prototyped.
=
2500 THOLIAN TK5: this prototype is ok and in the hands of Bruce Graw but there was not room for it in ADBMM2501 so it is on standby for ADBMM2502.
=
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED:
=
2500 ORION Battle Raider: PROGRESS: Prototype received 5 May, approved, sent to Bruce. 14 May we think it went into ADBMM2501 but we won’t know for sure until the mold comes back.
=
2450 FEDERATION CAR: 20 May there was not enough room in ADBMM2501 for this ship.
=
2450 KLINGON D7K: 20 May engine mounts rejected, must be reprototyped after ADB sees an exploded version with proper engine bump/hole connectors.
=
2500 ORION Heavy Cruiser: PROGRESS: Prototype received 5 May, approved, sent to Bruce. 14 May we think it went into ADBMM2501 but we won’t know for sure until the mold comes back.
=
2500 ORION Battlecruiser: PROGRESS: Prototype received 5 May, approved, sent to Bruce. 14 May we think it went into ADBMM2501 but we won’t know for sure until the mold comes back.
=
2500 ORION war destroyer: PROGRESS: Prototype received 5 May, approved, sent to Bruce. 14 May we think it went into ADBMM2501 but we won’t know for sure until the mold comes back.
=
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser: PROGRESS: Prototype received 5 May, approved, sent to Bruce. 14 May we think it went into ADBMM2501 but we won’t know for sure until the mold comes back.
=
================================
PRODUCTION NOTES
=
2500 STANDS: ADB now has 10,000 Mongoose flight stands in stock.
================================
NEW CGIs IN PROCESS
=
2400 KLINGON HF5 heavy war destroyer: Expected this summer from Seattle; will be done for both 2400 and 2500.
=
2400 ROMULAN SabreHawk heavy war destroyer: Expected this summer from Seattle; will be done for both 2400 and 2500.
=
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod): Expected this summer from Seattle; will be done for both 2400 and 2500.
=
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: 20 May got the deckhouse mounting notch approved but have to check the engine mounts.
=
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS (missing Book One unit): PROGRESS; 20 May got revised CGIs that look great and posted them.
=
2500 GENERIC Heavy Freighter (four pod) (missing Book One ship): Expected this summer from Seattle; will be done for both 2400 and 2500.
=
2500 LYRANs: Will be worked on when earlier ships move forward.
=
2500 ORION dreadnought: 20 May new version from Sandrine seems to have fixed the rear phasers, posted for public comment.
=
2500 ROMULAN Vulture: CGI started by Mongoose before contract modification. 20 May got a new CGI draft from Sandrine and posted it to website.
=
2500 Klingon SD7 Strike Cruiser: Mongoose is working on this. Details and SSD sent to Sandrine on 1 April 2014. On 20 May she asked if I had gotten a copy and I told here "not yet".
================================

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 - 06:01 pm: Edit

WEEKLY STATUS REPORT

We don't have Master Mold 2501 back yet. We assume it will include the Tholian PC, DD, and CA along with the Orion CA, BC, BCH, BR, and DW, but that won't be confirmed until we have the mold back. Getting molds is NOT a "drop it off one take pick it up a standard number of days later" process but is a "drop it off when you can and get it back when they're done" basis. So we should have it before next Tuesday but nobody can predict that. When Bruce gets the mold he will run masters and send them to me. Film at 11.

I have today told Sandrine to send the Klingon B10, Klingon SD7, Romulan Vulture, and Orion DN to prototype. The BATS will get a very minor fix and then will probably go with that batch. We should have those in Amarillo within two weeks and Bruce should be sending Master Mold 2502 to the mold company in three or four weeks. The Tk5 will go into that mold, hopefully also the revised Kzinti NCA that Tony is working on. All of those parts will be more than enough to fill Master Mold 2502 even if some prototypes don't work. Whther there are enough to fill Master Mold 2503 is not clear at this time but it should be close.

I have sent an email to Will about the jumbo freighter but it won't be done in time for 2502. Maybe it will become the final piece of the 2503 puzzle. I have also asked Bruce to make a final decision on the problematic Tholian DN prototype so we can either fix it or replace it.

As you know from that big blog post, every step of the process includes the possibility that the item did not work and needs to be done over or fixed or something, so it's not an exact science.

Right now I am hopeful to see the Master Mold 2501 batch of eight ships released about July 1st and another batch of ships sometime in August.

Jean, please repost to the various suspicious websites.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, June 07, 2014 - 04:29 pm: Edit

Straight out of the master mold

orion dw-c.jpg

orion br-c.jpg

orion ca-c.jpg

orion bc-c.jpg

orion bch-c.jpg

orion fleet-c.jpg

Tholian dd-c.jpg

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 - 03:15 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 10 June 2014
This lists only ships which are in the production pipeline.
================================
PRODUCTION MOLDS ORDERED:
2500 THOLIAN DD (missing Book One ship): Release in July.
2500 ORION Battle Raider: Release in July.
2500 ORION war destroyer: Release in July.
2500 ORION heavy cruiser: release in August
2500 ORION battle cruiser: release in August
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser: release in August.
================================
MASTER MOLD 2502 PLANS:
2500 THOLIAN CA (missing Book One ship): Tony Thomas is trying to do a prototype that will survive molding.
2500 THOLIAN PC (missing Book One ship): Tony Thomas is trying to do a prototype that will survive molding.
2450 FEDERATION CAR: this is a 2500 rescaled to 1/3788. Release in September.
2450 KLINGON D7K: this is a 2500 rescaled to 1/3788. Release in September.
================================
MASTER MOLD 2502 CANDIDATES FOR ANY EMPTY SPOTS IN 2502, OTHERWISE IN 2503:
2500 KZINTI NCA: Tony Thomas is trying to do a prototype with stronger wings and correct phasers.
2500 THOLIAN DN: may not work, takes a lot of space, high risk
2500 THOLIAN TK5: should work just fine
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED:
2500 ORION dreadnought:
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship:
2500 Klingon SD7 Strike Cruiser:
2500 ROMULAN Vulture:
================================
CGIs UNDERGOING FINAL FIXES BEFORE PROTOTYPES ORDERED
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS
================================
CGIs OF NEW SHIPS UNDER REVIEW:
Gorn Battleship
Orion Slaver
Kzinti Battleship
================================

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 - 03:43 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 17 June 2014
================================
PRODUCTION MOLDS ORDERED:
2500 THOLIAN DD: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for July.
2500 ORION Battle Raider: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for July.
2500 ORION war destroyer: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for July.
2500 ORION Heavy Cruiser: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for August.
2500 ORION Battlecruiser: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for August.
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for August.
================================
UNDER REVISION: These three ships will get priority spots in Mold Two when available.
2500 THOLIAN CA (missing Book One ship): Tony Thomas is working on a new prototype with steel pins and better epoxy.
2500 THOLIAN PC (missing Book One ship): Tony Thomas is working on a new prototype with steel pins and better epoxy.
2500 KZINTI NCA (defective ship): Tony Thomas is working on a new prototype with stronger wings and corrected phasers.
================================
SHIPS SENT TO MASTER MOLDS
2500 THOLIAN DN: We have a problemtic prototype of this ship. We may or may not try putting it into Master Mold Three or four.
2500 THOLIAN TK5: We have a prototype of this ship which is just fine and will go into Master Mold two or three.
2450 FEDERATION CAR: Bruce accidentally lost this and Mongoose is doing a new one for Master Mold Two.
2450 KLINGON D7K: We have a prototype of this ship which is just fine and will go into Master Mold two.
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED
2500 ORION dreadnought: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype.
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype. Release for Christmas?
2500 Klingon SD7 Strike Cruiser: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype.
2500 ROMULAN Vulture: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype.
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS: 13 June told Sandrine that her fix was ok and it could go to prototype.
================================
EXISTING 2500 RESIN SHIPS DISCONTINUED; SCHEDULED FOR LATER CONVERSION TO METAL
2500 Klingon C8 Dreadnought: Bruce is trying to figure out if he can do this without a new prototype.
2500 Romulan Condor dreadnought: Bruce reported that he had a pristine resin unit he would use as a prototype in Mold 3 or 4.
================================
NEW CGIs IN PROCESS
2400 & 2500 KLINGON HF5 heavy war destroyer: Waiting for prototype from Seattle.
2400 & 2500 ROMULAN SabreHawk heavy war destroyer: Waiting for prototype from Seattle.
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod) & HEAVY FREIGHTER (4 pod): Waiting for prototype from Seattle.
2500 LYRANS: Future project. Release probably next year with ACTASF book 2.
2500 NEO-THOLIAN NCA: Sandrine sent a design on 4 June. I didn’t think I liked it but then I did. Posted on 17 June 2014.
2500 ORION slaver: 11 June posted for public comment. Rejected by the crowd, new version done, not yet posted.
2500 GORN Battleship: Posted those on 13 June, looks likely to be approved.
2500 KZINTBattleship: Posted the classic and one-notch design. Collecting comments.
================================

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 - 05:10 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 24 June 2014
This lists only ships which are in the production pipeline. Any ship not listed here is a possible idea for future production.
================================
PRODUCTION MOLDS ORDERED:
2500 THOLIAN DD (missing Book One ship):
2500 ORION Battle Raider:
2500 ORION war destroyer:
2500 ORION Heavy Cruiser:
2500 ORION Battlecruiser:
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser:
In the case of these six ships, Bruce Graw reported on 9 June that he was sending the master to the mold company. As of today there is no word of the molds being ready.
================================
2500 THOLIAN CA (missing Book One ship):
2500 THOLIAN PC (missing Book One ship):
2500 KZINTI NCA (defective ship missing phasers)
In the case of these three ships, Tony Thomas is modifying the masters to produce a new prototype. No word from him on these ships being sent to Bruce but they will be first in line for Master Mold Two.
================================
2500 THOLIAN DN: We have a prototype of this ship that probably will not work but might try it in Master Mold 3 or 4.
2500 THOLIAN TK5: Perfectly fine prototype waiting for an opening in a master mold.
2450 FEDERATION CAR: Prototype accidentally lost by non-ADB person. Matthew ordered a new prototype that has not arrived.
2450 KLINGON D7K: Perfectly find prototype in line for Master Mold Two.
================================
2500 ORION dreadnought: On 11 June Matthew sent for a prototype which as of 24 June has not arrived.
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: On 11 June Matthew sent for a prototype which as of 24 June has not arrived.
2500 Klingon SD7 Strike Cruiser: On 11 June Matthew sent for a prototype which as of 24 June has not arrived.
2500 ROMULAN Vulture: On 11 June Matthew sent for a prototype which as of 24 June has not arrived.
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS (missing Book One unit): Approved on 13 June to go to prototype but Mongoose has not yet sent it, as they’re waiting on enough to make a batch.
2500 GORN Battleship: 24 June gave Sandrine a final fix and cleared it for prototype.
2500 KZINTI Battleship: 24 June gave Sandrine clearance for prototype.
2500 Romulan Condor dreadnought: Bruce has a pristine resin copy he will put into Master Mold Three or Four.
================================
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod): 24 June no news from Will McC.
2500 NEO-THOLIAN NCA: Posted on 17 June 2014 to favorable reviews. Next step is to decide a scale.
2500 ORION slaver: New CGI posted on 18 June. Needs a few minor tweeks not yet sent to Mongoose.
================================

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 08, 2014 - 03:07 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 8 July 2014
This lists only those ships which are in the production pipeline. Any ship not listed here is a possible idea for future production.
================================
MASTER MOLD STATUS
MM-2501: Got this back, 6 of the 8 ships worked.
MM-2502: This will have the two failed ships from 2501 and the two 2450s, some stuff Bruce needs to do for someone else, and whatever else will fit. That might include the Tholian TK5 and Kzinti NCA, but probably not the Romulan Condor.
MM-2503: This will have whatever ships are available and will fit. Most of those ships will come from the prototype batch that is long overdue from England (Klingon B10 and SD7, Orion DN, Augmented BATS, Romulan Vulture). In theory it might include revised prototypes that failed in MM-2502.
MM-2504: Late this year or early next year, including the Kzinti and Gorn Battleships, whatever hasn’t found a spot in MM-2502 or 2503, anything we have to do over from MM-2502 and MM2503.
================================
PRODUCTION MOLDS ORDERED: I am increasingly frustrated with the mold-making company, although the owner is in ill health and not working full time. Even so, the masters were sent on 10 June and here we are on 8 July with no molds but a suggestion that they might be ready tomorrow or sometime this week (two previous promises were not kept). A good guess is to allow 14 days from mold delivery to the first three ships on the shopping cart and two-to-four weeks for the other three.
2500 THOLIAN Destroyer: July release
2500 ORION Battle Raider: July release
2500 ORION war destroyer: July release
2500 ORION Heavy Cruiser: August release
2500 ORION Battlecruiser: August release
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser: August release
================================
MASTER MODELLER REVISIONS
2500 THOLIAN CA: 7 July Tony reports that the ship is in progress and will be completed any day now, then sent to Bruce, who knows it has priority to go into Master Mold Two.
2500 THOLIAN PC: 7 July Tony reports that the ship is in complete. When the CA is done it will be sent to Bruce, who knows it has priority to go into Master Mold Two.
2500 KZINTI NCA: 7 July Tony reports that the ship is done but waiting for the Tholian CA before shipment. This ship is not on the "must go into master mold two" list but will be done at the first opportunity (mold two or three).
================================
PROTOTYPES ON STANDBY
2500 THOLIAN DN: We have a prototype but the connector system has failed every previous time it was used. Bruce wants to try it in a master mold but ADB has told him not to use it unless it is needed to fill a master mold.
2500 THOLIAN TK5: This prototype is on hand and will go into master mold two or three, whichever has room.
2450 KLINGON D7K: This prototype is on hand; it is a 2500 ship rescaled to 1/3788. Current plans are to put it into Master Mold Two with the Fed CAR and release the pair in September, but delays for the CAR at the prototype house may smash that plan.
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED
All of these prototypes were ordered on 11 June and should have been here long before now, but we’re told that the prototype machine broke and is being fixed. Extent of the delay is not known.
2450 FEDERATION CAR: This prototype is was lost by the casting house; it is a 2500 ship rescaled to 1/3788. We want it for September release but we’ll see. A new prototype was ordered, but if it is delayed much more we may have to reschedule the whole schedule.
2500 ORION dreadnought: Waiting (too long) for prototype.
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: Waiting (too long) for prototype.
2500 GENERIC Battlestation with augments: Waiting (too long) for prototype.
2500 KLINGON SD7 Strike Cruiser: Waiting (too long) for prototype.
2500 ROMULAN Vulture: Waiting (too long) for prototype.
================================
EXISTING 2500 RESIN SHIPS DISCONTINUED; SCHEDULED FOR LATER CONVERSION TO METAL
2500 ROMULAN Condor dreadnought: Bruce reported that he had a pristine resin unit he would use as a prototype in master mold three or four.
================================
NEW CGIs IN PROCESS
2500 GORN Battleship: Cleared for prototype on 24 June but not sent yet by Mongoose.
2500 KZINTBattleship: Cleared for prototype on 24 June but not sent yet by Mongoose.
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod) and HEAVY FREIGHTER (four pod). Will sent new CGIs on 7 July. These are being reviewed.
2500 NEO-THOLIAN NCA: Sandrine sent a design on 4 June. I didn’t think I liked it until I finally did like it. Posted on 17 June 2014. Discussion of the scale continues.
2500 ORION slaver: CGI posted on 18 June, under review.
================================
FUTURE SHIPS
2500 LYRANs: We will talk about these later.
2500 and 2400 ROMULAN Saberhawk heavy war destroyer
2500 and 2400 Klingon HF5 heavy war destroyer
================================
END REPORT

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - 02:59 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 15 July 2014
================================
SHIPS IN PRODUCTION
2500 THOLIAN DD (missing Book One ship): 10 July molds received. 14 July first production lot shipped to ADB.
2500 ORION Battle Raider: 10 July molds received. 14 July first production lot shipped to ADB.
2500 ORION war destroyer: 10 July molds received. 14 July first production lot shipped to ADB.
================================
SHIPS READY FOR PRODUCTION
2500 ORION Battlecruiser: 10 July mold received.
================================
PRODUCTION MOLDS ORDERED
2500 ORION Heavy Cruiser: 10 July mold was not made by mold company, to be ready later.
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser: 10 July mold was not made by mold company, to be ready later.
================================
SHIPS WAITING TO GO INTO MASTER MOLD TWO
2500 THOLIAN CA (missing Book One ship): 12 July Bruce received new the master. priority for Master Mold Two.
2500 THOLIAN PC (missing Book One ship): 12 July Bruce received new the master. priority for Master Mold Two.
2450 KLINGON D7K: 24 June told Bruce that this was a priority for Master Mold Two.
See 2450 Fed CAR below.
================================
SHIPS WAITING TO GO INTO MASTER MOLD TWO or THREE
2500 KZINTI NCA (defective Book One ship): 12 July Bruce received ship from Tony.
2500 THOLIAN DN: 5 June: Bruce recommended trying to work with this ship. ADB remains skeptical.
2500 THOLIAN TK5: 24 June: prototype still on standby.
2500 Romulan Condor dreadnought: Needs to be converted from resin to all metal. Bruce reported that he had a pristine resin unit he would use as a prototype.
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED:
2450 FEDERATION CAR: 7June: Bruce said he lost the prototype, so I asked Mongoose to get another one made ASAP. 11 June, Matthew said it had been sent. 24 June told Bruce that this was a priority for Master Mold Two and not to do Master Mold Two without it. 15 July Matthew says he should have it next week.
2500 ORION dreadnought: 11 June Matthew sent to prototype.15 July Matthew says he should have it next week.
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: 11 June Matthew sent to prototype.15 July Matthew says he should have it next week.
2500 Klingon SD7 Strike Cruiser: 11 June Matthew sent to prototype.15 July Matthew says he should have it next week.
2500 ROMULAN Vulture: 11 June Matthew sent to prototype. 15 July Matthew says he should have it next week.
================================
READY FOR PROTOTYPE
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS (missing Book One unit): 13 June told Sandrine her fix was ok and sent to prototype.
2500 GORN Battleship: 24 June gave Sandrine a final fix and cleared it for prototype.
2500 KZINTBattleship: 25 June gave Sandrine clearance for prototype.
================================
CGI UNDER REVIEW
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod): 7 July Will sent CGIs which I forwarded to Bruce on 8 July, he approved them.
2500 NEO-THOLIAN NCA: 14 July sent Sandrine instructions to make it bigger and change the wing angle and engine position.
2500 ORION SLAVER: 12 June: Sent notes to Sandrine, who sent a new one back on 13 June, which I posted on 18 June.
================================
end of report

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, July 25, 2014 - 03:50 pm: Edit

TUESDAY STATUS UPDATE
Yes, it's Friday, but I've been busy with Captain's Log.

The only progrss this week was that the Orion CA, BC, and BCH arrived. They're being put on the cart now.

No news of new prototypes from UK.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, August 14, 2014 - 06:13 pm: Edit

2500 Tuesday Update (two days late because I've been busy).

We got the shipment of CRs in so every ship that's been made is in stock except the NCA which is defective.

No news on prototypes from England.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 19, 2014 - 03:33 pm: Edit

2500 Tuesday update for 19 August

No new shipments (everything is in stock).

No new prototypes. Without them, no new molds and the fall release schedule is trashed.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, August 26, 2014 - 05:05 pm: Edit

This week's update
No word from Matthew that the delayed prototypes have reached him.
Don't blame Matthew, blame the @#$% prototype company.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 - 08:23 pm: Edit

Some progress....

Heart to heart talk with Matthew about sources for prototypes. He's talking to a new one but it seems likely to be 4 weeks before we have prototypes on the ADB conference table and 4 more to get ships on the shopping cart.

Waiting to hear from Bruce on what Shapeways output he could use.

Will has completed the heavy and jumbo freighters. While waiting to hear from Bruce on Shapeways Will is doing the auxiliary cruiser parts for these.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, October 02, 2014 - 11:54 am: Edit

LOGJAM BROKEN: Matthew has new prototypes on his desk, and they'll be on my desk next week and Bruce's thereafter.

2500 masters B.JPG

2500 Klingon SD7
2500 Klingon B10
2500 Romulan Vuture
2450 Fed CAR

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, December 22, 2014 - 06:44 pm: Edit

Photos

Klingon SD7 1.JPG

Orion DN 1.JPG

Orion DN 2.JPG

Kzinti NCA 1.JPG

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 - 03:44 pm: Edit

STARLINE MASTER STATUS REPORT: 17 June 2014
================================
PRODUCTION MOLDS ORDERED:
2500 THOLIAN DD: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for July.
2500 ORION Battle Raider: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for July.
2500 ORION war destroyer: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for July.
2500 ORION Heavy Cruiser: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for August.
2500 ORION Battlecruiser: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for August.
2500 ORION heavy battlecruiser: production mold ordered 10 June, not back yet. Release planned for August.
================================
UNDER REVISION: These three ships will get priority spots in Mold Two when available.
2500 THOLIAN CA (missing Book One ship): Tony Thomas is working on a new prototype with steel pins and better epoxy. Release in September.
2500 THOLIAN PC (missing Book One ship): Tony Thomas is working on a new prototype with steel pins and better epoxy. Release in September.
2500 KZINTI NCA (defective ship): Tony Thomas is working on a new prototype with stronger wings and corrected phasers.
================================
SHIPS SENT TO MASTER MOLDS
2500 THOLIAN DN: We have a problemtic prototype of this ship. We may or may not try putting it into Master Mold Three or four.
2500 THOLIAN TK5: We have a prototype of this ship which is just fine and will go into Master Mold two or three.
2450 FEDERATION CAR: Bruce accidentally lost this and Mongoose is doing a new one for Master Mold Two. Release in September.
2450 KLINGON D7K: We have a prototype of this ship which is just fine and will go into Master Mold two. Release in September.
================================
PROTOTYPES OF NEW SHIPS ORDERED
2500 ORION dreadnought: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype.
2500 KLINGON B10 Battleship: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype. Release for Christmas?
2500 Klingon SD7 Strike Cruiser: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype.
2500 ROMULAN Vulture: 11 June Matthew said this had been sent to prototype.
2500 BATTLE STATION WITH AUGMENTS: 13 June told Sandrine that her fix was ok and it could go to prototype.
================================
EXISTING 2500 RESIN SHIPS DISCONTINUED; SCHEDULED FOR LATER CONVERSION TO METAL
2500 Klingon C8 Dreadnought: Bruce is trying to figure out if he can do this without a new prototype.
2500 Romulan Condor dreadnought: Bruce reported that he had a pristine resin unit he would use as a prototype in Mold 3 or 4.
================================
NEW CGIs IN PROCESS
2400 & 2500 KLINGON HF5 heavy war destroyer: Waiting for prototype from Seattle.
2400 & 2500 ROMULAN SabreHawk heavy war destroyer: Waiting for prototype from Seattle.
2425 JUMBO FREIGHTER (three pod) & HEAVY FREIGHTER (4 pod): Waiting for prototype from Seattle.
2500 LYRANS: Future project. Release probably next year with ACTASF book 2.
2500 NEO-THOLIAN NCA: Sandrine sent a design on 4 June. I didn’t think I liked it but then I did. Posted on 17 June 2014.
2500 ORION slaver: 11 June posted for public comment. Rejected by the crowd, new version done, not yet posted.
2500 GORN Battleship: Posted those on 13 June, looks likely to be approved.
2500 KZINTBattleship: Posted the classic and one-notch design. Collecting comments.
================================

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 08, 2014 - 03:08 pm: Edit

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 08, 2014 - 03:09 pm: Edit

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 08, 2014 - 03:10 pm: Edit

Administrator's Control Panel -- Board Moderators Only
Administer Page | Delete Conversation | Close Conversation | Move Conversation