Posted
on April 3, 2013, 5:37 pm,
by FichtenFoo,
under Uncategorized.
Rook, Pawn, Fish II, Submariner, Sasha, Skippers, Deckhands, Orb Ship 2nd Ed Preorders »
From our Facebook post 23 hours ago: [the best place for these small tidbits of info so PLEASE "like" us!]
Looks as if everything that I have on preorder is arriving between Friday the 5th and Tuesday the 9th. Which means everything should be shipping be the end of next week. I’m one man, with several hundred boxes to pack and ship…. so please be patient and give me a couple days to get it all done. Thanks all!
Hi everyone. So it’s been about 1 year now since our first official Industria Mechanika product, Ian McQue’s Remora started shipping out. Since then we’ve done two more editions of it and a LOT of other products. Thank you all again for your support. I know the economy is crap right now, but our collaborators, vendors and I appreciate your business and loyalty as many of you are repeat customers, some of whom have bought every kit we’ve released. I know our release schedule is… random at best. I really try to keep the schedule on track, but with different collaborators (with full-time jobs aside from this), casters and vendors all contributing to the same products, plus with 30+ different products in production at any given time, that can be difficult. The holiday season has wreaked havok on it as well, but we adapt and carry on! So without further adieu, the news…
Michael Herm’s Rook »
Sorry, sorry, sorry!!!! This has been pushed back a little more, so for those of your emailing me, concerned that you missed it (about 50 of you so far, LOL!) no worries! I reset the preorder start date to 2.15.2013 (Be sure to click the notify link on the order page to get an email when it’s ready and add our sales@ address to your NOT SPAM filter.) and that should be the last reset.
There was a few items that needed last minute tweaks noticed by the 3D printer… parts that were too thin to cast properly. I love that they check our work to help ensure a great end product! We’re also working on finalizing the box art and I should be able to start on the instructions this week as well. What I don’t want to do is start a preorder-period that ends up extended with production delays. That’s happened a few times and it’s a hassle for you guys. Better we have a good idea on the actual release date and do the preorder start a few weeks (not months) before that. Again, sorry for the delays, but this will be an amazing kit. So to summarize:
Rook/Pawn Preorder Start Date: No later than 2.15.2013 Rook/Pawn Shipping Date: No later than 3.15.2013 Rook Price: TBD (depends on casting/print costs) Pawn Price: TBD (depends on casting/print costs)
Ian McQue’s Waldo First Look »
I’ve been hinting at this one for a while now and finally you can see what’s coming up!
The 1/35 scale Waldo is a smaller airship than the Remora with a hull length of about 14cm/5.5in and width of 5.5cm/3in. It’s more of a tug/maintenance craft than a hauler, but will feature a cargo rack on the transom that you can fill up with all manner of storage. This kit will be a truly multimedia experience with a laser-cut wood deck (prototype seen below), photoetch wheelhouse/roof and details, resin parts, decals, and various threads and wires.
I (FichtenFoo) am working on the master currently which is why I haven’t done a paint-up of many of our recent releases yet. The Waldo is about 60% done I think. I had the hull 3D-printed without details so that I can add those myself. I’m doing it this way mainly because it’s a difficult hull shape and I wanted the laser-cut deck to fit nicely. I also needed the hull to be hollow so that I can add a full engine inside of it since you should be able to see through deck grating, all the way through the ship creating a really nice layered effect.
I expect to be finished with the master in February at which time it’ll go immediately into production. Not sure of the final price yet as there’s a lot of components to price as you can imagine. Hopefully the Waldo will be shipping some time in May. Watch for it to be added to the store for notifications soon!
Red Star 47 Print Materials »
The Red Star’s print materials are going to the printer today and will be back early next week in plenty of time for the release. Here’s a preview and be sure to preorder yours here »
Posted
on December 31, 2012, 2:20 pm,
by FichtenFoo,
under Uncategorized.
The last iMech News update of 2013! Hope 2012′s been good to you and that you enjoyed everything we’ve had to offer in the past 12 months. 2013 is going to be HUGE! More releases, cool new ideas, new collaborators, and more!
So to kick off 2013 with a slightly louder than usual noise… not necessarily a bang, but certainly not a wimper, we’re having a little sale and bringing back one of the favorites of 2012.
Luca Zampriolo’s Kastor 2nd Edition!
The Kastor’s 2nd edition is in production and will be shipping in early February along with the Red Star 47. This edition will be just like the first with the included art-cards, quality casting, photoetch and figures! Preorders start approximately 12:00 Noon (EST) on 1.1.2013. So recover from your hangovers and get your preorders in. I have a looooong notification list and only 50 available this time around.
I know many of you were waiting until after the holidays to place your orders so that your parcels would avoid the Holiday Postal Armageddon. Now that it’s 2013 and everyone is much calmer (and still alive due to a less than stellar Mayan Apocalypse) we hope you’ll come back and place those delayed orders. As a little more incentive, we’re offering a $13 Coupon Code valid on all IN-STOCK purchases totaling $100 or more. (preorders not included) See below for details. Code expires on 1.5.2013 so hurry!
Like and Share our Facebook Page then
Use Code: iMech2013 & Save $13!
Use this code at check-out. Not valid on any preorder items. Minimum purchase $13 for code use. Code valid until January 5th, 2013.
Hi Everyone! I’m not even sure where to begin this time as so much has been happening. I’ll start off with an upcoming product announcement, detail some changes/additions to the store, touch on the upcoming changes to the “notify me” system, talk about sales, and finally the usual housekeeping in regards to preorders, restockes, etc…
Christophe Desse’s ‘Estafette’ »
If you follow Industria Mechanika or Christophe Desse on Facebook, you may already be aware of this one. For those not in the loop, we present “Her Majesty’s Estafette” by Christophe Desse! Christophe Desse is the same artist that’s bringing us the Red Star 47, Flight Ready, Ground Crew, Aviators and Submariners! In other words, he’s doing a LOT of stuff for iMech and there’s lot’s more to come! Look for this to be available in April 2013.
New iMech Release Schedule »
Speaking of April 2013, I’ve been checking over everything we’ve got in production currently and making a more structured release schedule. This first year of our business has been hit and miss with the release schedule due to various things, but one can either learn from the mistakes or keep repeating them. I’ve always valued the mistakes as they help us evolve. I feel like we’re finally at a point where we can reliably meet our schedule thanks to our now utilizing 4-5 different casting firms and having a backlog of completed projects to pull from. Now we can with some degree of certainty hit our scheduled preorder/release dates. We’ve got 40+ different pieces current;y in production, most of which we’ve not announced! So stay tuned (and start saving) for an amazing 2013!
The New iMech Store »
I don’t know about you guys, but the new store is making things a LOT easier and more organized. One of the new features for those that register with the store is the ability to sign-up for an upcoming newsletter as well as recieve real-time notifications to changed made on the individual products. This means we’ll be phasing out the old “Notify Me” system and start using the built-in store one. You’ll have to register, but it’ll be worth the trouble. This also means that any new product we announce will also be entered into the store system. It’ll say out of stock, but you’ll be able to see the expected release date so you can plan ahead. The main list is at the bottom of the store home page. Here’s what’s listed so far:
The Hornet is back, and this time has an all new pilot sculpted by Christophe Desse! Also check out our new Aviators set to go with it! I’ll have these in stock by December 7th so will be starting preorders now!
First up is the preorder info. I have several casters working diligently on getting these done so that I can get them out the door and into your hands. Deckhands 1/35:Available Now
Deckhands 1/24:Available Now Sasha 1/24:Available now! Barrio 1/24:Avialable now!
Barrio 1/35:Available Now! Chompbot #5, Troopers, Pilots:Now Shipping and Available! The Dustbuster: Shipping by 12.7.2012 Ian McQue’s SkyMark: Shipping by 12.7.2012 Hornethopter: Shipping by 12.7.2012 Aviators: Shipping by 12.7.2012 Dystopic: Shipping by 12.7.2012
Big news everyone! A newly designed online store and two preorders starting on 10.31.2012!
Check out our new online store. The old store software was a good temporary fix, but this new store is a better customizable and scalable solution for the long term. We’ve got LOTS of upcoming plans and new items and this store will be able to accommodate them. Sales and multi-item discounts will be easier to implement and shipping costs, especially to Canada, are more exact and based on product weight. And there’s a new notification system built-into the shop for upcoming items we’ve added to the catalog.
The Sky Mark buoy will be available for preorder on 10.31.2012 (weather permitting… a Hurricane is coming our way and power could go out). The Skymark comes with your choice of LED colors. Preorder here »
Sky Mark Price: $60 USDBuy Two and Save $10!
Miguel Lopez’s Dustbuster Preorder »
The Dustbuster will also be available for preorder on 10.31.2012 weather permitting. This cool little buggy comes with 60+ parts, photoetch and a laser-cut windscreen! Preorder here »
Welcome to another edition of iMech news! This time we talk about the recent iHobby show in Cleveland, OH which I attended last weekend, Ian McQue Sky Mark Preorders, Derek Stenning’s Dystopic Preorders, Orb Ship shipping and build-info, and upcoming restocks.
Ian McQue’s Sky Mark Preorder Date, Price »
The Ian McQue Sky Mark buoy will be available for preorder on 10.31.2012 aka Halloween! I received my tests of both the photoetch and the resin so expect unpainted build-up pics next week some time. Watch the Facebook page for the usual first-look. This kit comes with two large frets of photoetch for construction, brass rod, and blinking red LEDs for those wanting to light it.
Sky Mark Price:
This little guy is best in pairs IMO so we’ll offering the kit’s first edition of 100 kits at $60 each or two for $100 USD + Shipping. We suspect these will go fast due to the amount of notification requests, amount of Remora’s sold, and the low price. They should be shipping some time in November.
We’re getting close on Dystopic! I should have the first batch of resin in a week to two. After that I can begin the instruction sheet and boxing. I’m having two casters work on this to keep the costs as low as I can manage. We’re estimating that Dystopic will cost $210 USD + shipping. What you get though is well worth it! A large 1/6 scale figure kit overflowing with fine detail and texture, wire, decals, laser-cut clear flower, and possibly PE as well. We’ll start the preorder event on 11.5.2012 as by then we should have a better idea of the final costs.
I received the initial samples of the Orb Ship resin this weekend as well as the production photoetch frets. It’s going together really well and I’ve already got the lighting done and the laser-cut windows in place with their PE frames. Check out the video and images of my pre-release build below.
Originally we had planned for the canopy to be a vacuformed piece. Well, that didn’t work out so well so we’ve decided to go with a resin canopy. Blappy is doing an amazing job on it so I thought I’d share the results.Production is ongoing but we hope to be shipping these in about 3 weeks from today.
I was invited by one of my distributors, Tom Grossman of Tag Team Hobbies, to come to the iHobby Expo in Cleveland, OH and display, sell some of our wares. The show was a lot of fun and the Tag Team guys couldn’t have been nicer. I got a chance to meet some of you, shocked a few that didn’t realize that I am also FichtenFoo, and got some great ideas from the other exhibitors for future releases. Here’s a few pics.
Luca Zampriolo’s Kastor Hovertank is going back into production this week. We should have them restocked in about 4-6 weeks so watch this space and fill out the Notify Me to get an email when the restock preorder starts.
First up is the preorder info. I have several casters working diligently on getting these done so that I can get them out the door and into your hands.
Deckhands 1/24: Waiting on casts. Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual. Should be this week! Sasha 1/24:Available now! (waiting on new batch of casts coming this week) Barrio 1/24:Avialable now!
Barrio 1/35:Waiting on casts. Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual. Should be this week! Chompbot #5, Troopers, Pilots: Waiting on casts. Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual. Orb Ship: Shipping on Monday 10.22.2012!
Upcoming Preorders »
Upcoming preorder items:
Dystopic (11.5.2012)
Dustbuster (Nov.?.2012)
Ian McQue’s Sky Mark (10.31.2012).
Restocks! »
Sasha 1/35, 1/32: Next batch coming soon for preorder! Hornethopter: Lots of interest in this little beastie after we sold the last 10 at Wonderfest. I’ll attempt to restock these in October…. need to get some of our new scheduled releases out the door first and get the new pilots and pilot set cast. Kastor: Same as the Hornethopter… planning to restock this one early December 2012. In production now!
Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available for preorders.
Jake Parker’s wonderful Chompbot No. 5 and the two Chomp Trooper/Pilot sets are coming soon! Preorders will begin on 9.14.2012. As a special introductory offer, you can save $10 when you order both the Chompbot #5 and Chomp Trooper sets before 9.28.2012 midnight EST. You must select the two-set option on the Chompbot #5 order page to get this offer. While supplies last!
The Chompbot #5 comes with 59 Resin Parts, Decal Sheet, Pins, Clear Canopy, 2 Pilot Figures, and detailed colored instructions with a free mini-poster on the reverse side! Preorder here 9.14.2012 »
The Chomp Troopers Set comes with 4 figures, instructions, and a photoetch fret for weapon straps and the bayonette blade. Preorder here 9.14.2012 »
The Chomp Pilots Set comes with 2 figures, a Standing and Seated Chomp Pilot. These are perfect for making traditional armor and aircraft models infinitely more awesome! Preorder here 9.14.2012 »
Lots of news to go over today as I missed showing off a few things last week.
Frankenstein Printwork »
The artwork for Adrian Smith’s Frankenstein‘s box and instructions are at the printer and thankfully will be here in time for the 8/7/2012 release date. Frankenstein sports an awesome 49 resin parts, chain and real chain mail! Check out the samples below and click here to preorder.
New Hornethopter Pilots Set »
First I must apologize to Christophe Desse for not posting these sooner! He redesigned the Hornethopter pilots based loosely on my original hand-sculpts for the first few editions. The seated pilot will be available with the next release of the Hornethopter, while all four will be available as a separate set. No idea on price yet, but expect them in the store within 6-8 weeks.
Fish Sub Pilot Beginnings »
Christophe Desse is also busy designing a pilots set for the original and upcoming MkII Fish-Shaped submersibles. The next edition (6th) of the Mk I may not come with the figure, (as it won’t be ready in time for the next edition) but the first edition of the Mk II will and a sub pilots set including the seated pilots (for those that purchased the first 5 editions of the Mk I sub) will be available for everyone around the time of the Mk II release. Below you can see the base figure. Other pilot versions will have an old-timey tank-top swim suit style, hats, breathers, etc…
Derek Stenning’s Dystopic Update »
Not much new to show here, but I wanted to let everyone know that Dystopic is coming soon! The print will be done in 4-5 days I’m told, then clean-up, then onto production. We’re still looking at October for a preorder/release. Below you can see how the parts-breakup will look. Each color is a separate printed kit part.
Futuristic Loader Update »
A few new images of the Futuristic loader. I brought up that there was no leg support for this heavy lifter so the team collaborated and came up with this great-looking result. I’ve added it to the calendar as a tentative November preorder/release.
First up is the preorder info. I have several casters working diligently on getting these done so that I can get them out the door and into your hands.
Adrian Smith’s Frankenstein: Shipping ~August 7th Preorder Frankenstein here » Ian McQue’s Remora 3rd Ed: Shipping ~August 7th Preorder Remora here » Deckhands 1/35: The box of casts was lost in the mail almost 6 weeks ago. We’re working on the next batch as fast as we can. Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual.
Deckhands 1/24: Waiting on casts Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual.
Upcoming Preorders »
Upcoming preorder items: Chompbot #5, Chomp Troopers, Sasha 1/24, Barrio Guy 1/35, Barrio Guy 1/24, Orbship, and Dustbuster.
Restocks! »
Sasha 1/35: Next batch coming soon for preorder! Hornethopter: Lots of interest in this little beastie after we sold the last 10 at Wonderfest. I’ll attempt to restock these in August or September…. need to get some of our new scheduled releases out the door first. FichtenFoo’s Fish-Shaped Submersible: Gave the master back to the caster to start molding for a 6th run! Planning to restock this one early Fall 2012. Kastor: Same as the Hornethopter… planning to restock this one early Fall 2012.
Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.
Hello again everyone and once again, Happy Anniversary to us! Be sure to read the anniversary blog post and enter our giveaway! Now onto the news…
Scott Roberson Orbship »
First up, I finished the detailing of the Orbship master parts. I can’t stress enough just how large this thing is in 1/48 scale. The ship is also hollow which will allow for some great and easy lighting to be done! The photoetch is underway and should be completed within the next week. We’re trying something new with this release and that is laser-cut windows. If this works out, you can expect more laser-cut add-ins for future products such as pre-cut window glass, hornethopter wing panels, wood decking, etc…
The first sample of Frankenstein is on its way to me, should have it tomorrow or Tuesday. Once it arrives I can start on the instructions and box-art. Thankfully my caster has a LOT of different sized boxes and was able to pack him into a box, nicely padded, with a little room to spare which will then fit into a postal large flat rate box. I was worried he might be too large to fit, but now that’s one less thing for me to worry about. Preorder Frankenstein here »
1/35 and 1/24 Deckhands »
I’m sorry to say that there has been some production delays on these. About a month ago I readied 30+ preorder boxes for shipping with lables and customs forms filled out and ready to go expecting a batch of 35 of the 1/35 scaledeckhands from one of my casters in the mail. It never arrived. Since then he’s been having trouble remolding the hand on one of them which has made the delay worse. He expects to have the molds ready in a few days and will be making additional-molds (more than usual) to speed-up the process. We’re terribly sorry about this and are working to remedy this as fast as possible. Obviously all this extra time has pushed back his work on the 1/24 scale deckhands as well, but I got two samples from him the other day and they’re awesome! Here’s a pic:
First up is the preorder info. I have several casters working diligently on getting these done so that I can get them out the door and into your hands.
Adrian Smith’s Frankenstein: Shipping ~August 7th Preorder Frankenstein here » Ian McQue’s Remora 3rd Ed: Shipping ~August 7th Preorder Remora here » Deckhands 1/35: The box of casts was lost in the mail almost 4 weeks ago. We’re working on the next batch as fast as we can. Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual.
Deckhands 1/24: Waiting on casts Once I receive them I’ll box and ship immediately as usual.
Upcoming Preorders »
Upcoming preorder items: Chompbot #5, Chomp TroopersSasha 1/24, Barrio Guy 1/35, Barrio Guy 1/24, Orbship, and Dustbuster.
Restocks! »
Sasha 1/35: Next batch coming soon for preorder! Hornethopter: Lots of interest in this little beastie after we sold the last 10 at Wonderfest. I’ll attempt to restock these in August or September…. need to get some of our new scheduled releases out the door first. FichtenFoo’s Fish-Shaped Submersible: Gave the master back to the caster to start molding for a 6th run! Planning to restock this one early Fall 2012. Kastor: Same as the Hornethopter… planning to restock this one early Fall 2012.
Fill out the Notify Me to get info when a preorder is available.
Because without our customers, collaborators, and vendors this past year wouldn’t have been the success it became. For those that don’t know, my name is Michael Fichtenmayer aka FichtenFoo and I started Industria Mechanika about 1 year ago. Let’s call the anniversary July 22nd as that was the date of the first post I made upon launching the website, but it started a few weeks earlier when I called one of my casters asking if he had time for potentially a LOT more kits… I started this because I hoped that since my Fish-Shaped Submersible and Hornethopter had done so well, that perhaps there was a niche I could fill in the form of original concept model kits. I figured that I’d be lucky if I did 6 releases a year (most my own designs) and luckier if I could talk anyone into collaborating to create some original designs as well.
Well, I had no idea then that a year later we’d be booked for major releases well into Fall of 2013 and have more talented collaborators emailing me than I know what to do with (actually I came up with something… more info to follow) and having to bring on two additional casters to keep up with the demand. I probably work 10-12 hours a day on iMech related things, (sculpting, emailing, sales, collaborating, scheduling, vendors, shipping, packing, graphics, panicking, etc…) but when you love what you do it doesn’t feel like that at all. The response to this idea has been amazing and overwhelming and I appreciate all of the hard work everyone’s been doing to help produce some really cool, original pieces.
We’ve had some growing pains, but I’m the type that learns from mistakes so everything that could and has gone wrong has certainly been educational, but also quickly solved. Plus I try to be as up-front and transparent as possible if I realize something’s going wrong. (usually via Facebook) The biggest problem has been production delays. Since we’re producing resin kits, it takes a little longer to get product out the door than if we were doing plastic kits. Resin casting is an art and a science… not always an exact science, but my casters also learn from their missteps so that each edition is better than the last. I’ve brought on 2 additional casting houses to keep up with the demand and schedule. We’re about 2 months behind my original schedule, but that’ll be fixed shortly with the upcoming (and close together) releases of the Dustbuster, Chompbot, Orbship and Frankenstein. We’re also working on those restocks so don’t feel like you’ve missed something. If it sells well, we’ll definitely produce more!
Client Work
One part of the business I didn’t expect was to be doing client’s production work for their own product lines or for Kickstarter “rewards”. Client work sounds like a drag, but our clients are very cool and want the same kind of original product designs that we’re already producing for our own store so it’s a lot of fun. They give us the rough idea and I connect some of our concept artists and model-makers and set them to task collaborating on the releases. Unfortunately I can’t disclose any of the clients we’ve been doing stuff for until September when one of their lines launch, but it’s some cool stuff that I think you’re going to love and created by some of the iMech collaborators you already have come to know.
Anniversary Random Draw Contest
I was wondering what to do for our anniversary besides my long winded rant above… I decided that a random draw giveaway would be fun and a way to give a little back to our customers. So here’s how it’ll work… simply fill out the form below, click submit, then share the Industria Mechanika Facebook page with your friends (optional, but appreciated!). Easy enough! We’ll put the names into a hat and I’ll have my girls pull out the names of the winners, then post that on YouTube and here for you to see.
The Grand Prize will be a 4th Edition Hornethopter kit which will include new pilot sculpts by Christophe Desse. We’ll also be giving away 1 Sasha (1/24 scale), 1 set of Hornethopter Pilots (when released), and some Kastor Art Card sets (5) and Remora prints (2).
To enter just fill out the following form. Contest is over on August 1st 2012 at 12 noon EST.
[Contest Ended. Thanks Everyone!]
Thanks!
Again, thanks to everyone, customers and collaborators alike for making this a great first year!
