Starting a miniature company

[fortress miniatures]

I\'m sorry if this is in the wrong catergory..

I have for some time liked the idea of setting up my own miniature company e.g. sculpting my own miniatures, casting them and selling them on like Games Workshop etc.. but alas I have no experience at all in sculpting.

I can only think of 2 ways round this:

1 practice sculpting for a few years and hopefully get good enough to sculpt some sellable miniatures.

2 commission someone to sculpt for me.

With regard to number 2 I would need someone who could either design and sculpt original miniatures or work to designs that I would create. I would also like the rights to re-cast and sell resin copies of these miniatures.

Does anyone know of someone who might be interested in doing this or if not have any idea where I should start to look for someone ? (I am UK based but as long as the person would be willing to post the finished models to me then the offer is open to anyone Worldwide)

At the moment this idea for a company is purely at the design stage but I am very serious about this and would be looking to start in the next few months.

If anyone is interested in doing this kind of work please PM me or reply to this thread with an idea of your prices.

Cheers

Fortress Miniatures :beer:

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

Well first off welcome to the world of wanting to start a miniature company.

Second their is already a company called Foprtress Figures http://fortressfigures.com operateing in the US for quite a few years now you may wish to make a name change. No your not exactly the same but it does save on confusion and will only strengthen you own brand idenity down the line.

As for your number 2 question, there are many sculptores operateing in the UK and around the world as frellance sculptors. Many are highly skilled and have good reputations and then there will be those who may call them self a sculptor but really have no true experiance sculping miniatures and will only cause you much grief in the long run. My suggestion is do your research, have them show you proper portfolios of work already in production..dont go with a guy whos says \"I can do that\" Sculpting something and sculpting a miniature for production are two different things.

Check groups like the sculpting list on yahoo groups for talent and places like the miniatures page. There is no one real place to find sculptors.. most have their own websites and the good ones are booked months in advance.

As for cost, a quality sculpt can cost you the minimum of $300.00 USD and go up from there. In the UK 200-300 pounds is not uncommon for a single sculpt.

Putting that figure into production can also cost a couple hundred pounds.. for mold making and casting and packageing and shipping. Tin right now the majority of pewter is at a all time high. Probably 3 times the price it was 2-3 years ago.

 

[PegaZus]

Hate to be a downer on this, but you\'ll probably be biting off a lot. On top of manufacturing, remember that you\'ll still have to market the company and actually get people to buy them. I\'m sure its not intentional, but a lot of people have a bias towards the GW stuff. That\'s just what they\'ve got and know how to play it.

So, could you integrate what you want to do into an existing set of game rules? Probably, but you\'d have to be careful since I\'m sure the lawyers would love to have some work sent their way.

Now, if you\'re going to go the other way and have just immaculate minis meant more or less for painting only, you\'ve limited your supply of customers.

Course, that\'s doesn\'t answer any of your questions you pose. Still, it could be a greatly rewarding company that you start and build, gaining a reputation, and watching your influence spread. If you\'re ready for the hard work and pain, I\'d say figure out a business plan, go to it, and good luck!

 

[fortress miniatures]

Thanks for the input guys,

fortress miniatures is just my username on this site, like dragon forge stated I will need to change it to get an individual identity.

I know that what i\'m thinking of doing is a major step and will take a lot of time to setup properly but I woud like to give it my best and if it fails at least I can say I tried.

I had thought of maybe designing models to fit into the Warhammer World but I think that would cause problems with Games Workshop Property Rights can anyone confirm this?.

To start off I would be making models aimed just at the painters and then over time (even if this is a number of years) hopefully I would get a good reputation and I could expand into making my own games etc..

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by fortress miniatures
I had thought of maybe designing models to fit into the Warhammer World but I think that would cause problems with Games Workshop Property Rights can anyone confirm this?.

Oh Yes!

 

[Yetie]

I think you would be in danger of copy right laws if you made a new sculpt of say a SM and tried to sell it. However if you were making some orcs and dwarfs etc as long as you marketed it as your own product and didnt say \"you could buy these instead of GW and use them in the same way\". I can\'t see a problem but I\'m not sure its all about intellectual rights, if its something like SM which have been invented by GW then its theirs but i can\'t see how they can stop you making similar models to ranges like wood elves n orc\'s etc. What i\'d do is search for past cases GW have brought to court over copyright and see where the line is drawen in the the sand. Hope it goes alright can never have too many mini companys out there

 

[fortress miniatures]

I think that I would be best to keep well clear of anything too similar to Games Workshop products I really don\'t want a court case on my hands.

I take it that I can still design Miniatures that are the same scale as the Games Workshop ones without any problems ???

 

[Rodnik]

I\'ll offer up my opinions and try to steer clear of being a \"nay-sayer\".

First thing to consider above EVERYTHING ELSE...

You\'re ability to manage money and the business.
You should *always* create a business plan that addresses your competition, your strengths, and your weaknesses---
Along with plans to capitalize on them all. There are several sample business plans on the net---to give you an idea.
A projected cash-flow should always be part of that plan. Be realistic--not optimistic. Take a conservative approach--\"What is the worst and the best and where will I most likely fall?\".
The number one reason for business failure is bad cash-flow management.

The miniature industry is a great place to look for several good examples of how not to run a business. I\'ve seen several great ideas fall apart at the seams simply because the money wasn\'t managed properly.

If you want to get on someone\'s bad-side in a hurry, just owe them money or don\'t fulfill an agreement.


A unique and marketable idea. Like DF was saying--something that gives you an identity of your own.
Figure out what it\'s gonna cost you to start it--then start it.

For any given miniature, you\'ll need a few high-level things:

An idea
A concept artist
A sculptor
A caster
A packager
A distributor/shipper
A customer
QA for all the processes.

You should ask yourself if you can fulfill any of the roles, and when the answer is \"no\", find someone who can. It\'s important to understand, too, these roles can change any time you want, or the business need dictates the requirement. Also, some folks may offer turnkey approaches----casting, packaging, and distributing---for example.

Good luck!
Kev

 

[fortress miniatures]

Thanks for the info kev it is most useful :beer:

Anybody got any idea about how many mini\'s I should start and should they all be of one army type or should I do a range of different armies with 1-2 mini\'s in eachand see which is most popular?

I have quite a lot of idea\'s for armies so hopefully insperation should not be a problem.

Rich (Fortress Miniatures)

 

[Rigged4Mini]

I think alot of the advice people have given should not be taken seriously until you are very sure you will put the effort in running a business.

I would avoid giving advice that could harm you.. so the first question is.. what is your age and do you live at home?

 

[fortress miniatures]

In response to your questions rigged4mini

I am 24 and I live in my own home, I know that I will put the effort in as this will be my third business I also own a miniature painting company and am a partner in a computer retail company which I set up.