Happy July Everyone!

The heat dome over Utah, USA has set in for the long haul! We are in the 105 F neighborhood just outside the casting mines and afternoon temps in the shop are hitting 90+. Don't worry though, we take plenty of breaks, stay hydrated and take off early so we don't have too much heat stress to sap our energy and brain power.

Let's talk minis!  We've been diligently chipping away at your models and have some great stuff to talk about today. In this update we have...

Digital File Delivery!!!

Yes! The digital files are in the final prep stage for zips and loading to the distribution platforms. We expect to send your digital files to all backers sometime next week. We will be using the backerkit distribution list since every pledge level received the digital bundle too. For those who specifically ordered the Digital Goblin Box, we will add them to the MyMiniFactory site for you to download there as well. We realized too late that not all backers would want the files or MyMiniFactory spam and we will not be adding everyone's email to the MMF site. If you are a physical backer and want your email added to MMF, contact us and let us know.

Master Resin How To

We've been casting resin for over 10 years now and have built A LOT of models. The process steps through the digital modeling of the sprue, print masters and resin masters (blues).  We will save the resin production process for another update.

First off, we digitally model the sprue. With more dynamic models we have to 'cheat' our way to a 3D shape with a bunch of parts that can be made flat then assembled. We cut the model up into as few pieces as possible (one piece is best!) and lay them out in a poured sprue format. We have to consider how the liquid resin will flow to the lowest point and how the air that is there will escape during the vacuum process.

Next, we print a master part (or several) on our printers. The master prints retain many of the supports because it is easier to clean the supports on a resin master part. These master prints are fitted with a pour reservoir and then go into a master mold of very soft silicone. In the example below, we have printed several of the same masters to make a master mold so that we can make 10-15 master copies of the part quickly. If we only had one master it would take a week to the copies instead of a day.

Once we have our master mold, we make first generation blue castings. We use blue resin in our shop to make sure we never mix a master part with the normal grey resin we use in production. Yes, if you are wondering, we have accidentally shipped older grey masters to customers. A few of you might even have 'first generation' MCDM dragons if you've been with us that long!

The blue masters are then cleaned and replicated in mass so we can make production molds. This is how we 'blow out' the models so we can get the production cavities we need to make piles of the same goblin! We make several production molds for each goblin sprue in order to get to our desired order size in a reasonable timeframe.  In the case of Jagged Edge Hideaway, we will need 550 Loot Goblins so we will make about 6 production molds with 5 cavities each.

We will show the production molding and resin casting process in a later update.

Build and Paint Next Week

Next week beginning at 1pm MST on Monday we will be live streaming every afternoon while we build and paint the Jagged Edge Hideaway models. Paul is going to clean and assemble all the goblins in the box and then paint them throughout the week. 

All streaming will start at 1pm MST and run for 2 to 3 hours, maybe longer depending. We will send a reminder at that time and also on all our social media. We intend to sort out how to load this to our Trenchworx Media channel so you can watch these later if you like.

This is our tentative schedule...

I'm excited to see the streaming next week as we finally get to show off all the goblins and get our hands dirty.

Final Steps to Physical Delivery

We are now heavy into manufacturing of the kits. We think we will be able to start shipping pledges about the end of the month or during the first full week of August. Considering that, we will be closing the pledge manager and pre-order portal in the next week or so. At close we will lock addresses and get ready to ship!

That's a Wrap for this Week

Be sure to tune in a day or two or all five next week where you'll have a chance to talk with Paul while he is building goblins! He might even drop a few hints to the next lair(s) we have lined up. Thanks again, have a great weekend and most of all... STAY COOL!!!

Dave