I know that the subject of mastering a CX has come up before and think that SVC had stated that it wasn't economical at the current time.
Just wondering though... if that is a Federation CX in Adam's art for the SFB G3 cover, would it be possible (and practical) to issue a "warp nacelle only" conversion to change a CC to a CX?
I'm honestly not sure if the shape of the engines is the only difference. OR if mastering a couple of engines rather than the whole ship would actually make it any more economically feasible. Seemed worth asking though.
I suspect that the initial response might be that X ships are not yet a part of Federation Commander, and I'm genuinely not sure how many people buy up the minis anyway for either game. So if the answer is "still not an effective business proposition" then I do understand!
Federation CX?
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Steve Cole
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Here are the issues.
1. Adam's art is cool, but it cannot be printed in 3d prototype machine. Somebody would have to do it over. Adam (last I heard) has never even tried to build a model that way and doesn't know how. Somebody offered to do it for $500. In theory you could do just the engines but I doubt it would cost much less and it would be tricky to make sure the parts fit.
2. Once you have the model, you have to print it in a 3d prototyper, convert the hard wax into metal, make a master mold, and then make a production mold. That's about seven hundred to a thousand dollars.
3. A given ship sells for $8. We get about $3 from the wholesalers. The production cost is about a dollar, so that's $2 theoretical profit per ship. it's actually less than that as overhead costs and manual labor costs and packaging costs are not included. Maybe $1.50 per ship profit, maybe $1.25.
4. Do the math. You'd have to sell 1,000 ships at $1.50 per ship profit to break even.
5. We sold 200 copies of the Fed CX in three years.
1. Adam's art is cool, but it cannot be printed in 3d prototype machine. Somebody would have to do it over. Adam (last I heard) has never even tried to build a model that way and doesn't know how. Somebody offered to do it for $500. In theory you could do just the engines but I doubt it would cost much less and it would be tricky to make sure the parts fit.
2. Once you have the model, you have to print it in a 3d prototyper, convert the hard wax into metal, make a master mold, and then make a production mold. That's about seven hundred to a thousand dollars.
3. A given ship sells for $8. We get about $3 from the wholesalers. The production cost is about a dollar, so that's $2 theoretical profit per ship. it's actually less than that as overhead costs and manual labor costs and packaging costs are not included. Maybe $1.50 per ship profit, maybe $1.25.
4. Do the math. You'd have to sell 1,000 ships at $1.50 per ship profit to break even.
5. We sold 200 copies of the Fed CX in three years.
The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander
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Steve Cole
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