First poll closed

Well, our first orientative poll is already closed, after 7 seven days open to users opinion. There weren't as many votes cast as to give us an unequivocal guide on trends, but they allow us to get a broad confirmation of our previous intuitions --with some latest hour surprise, as it will be seen.

A total of 37 votes have been cast, of which: - 17 asked for the PzKpfw I A in 1/100^th scale,
- 14 would like to see a Republican AFV instead,
- 4 would prefer the PzKpfw I A in 1/56^th scale, and
- 2 asked for another Nationalist AFV.

Worth to be noted that all the 4 votes for the 1/56 version have been lightning-like cast in one single afternoon, after having been announced the birth of our firm at Lead Adventure Forum. Most of the rest have been dropped along the week, likely coming from The Miniatures Page and Wargames Spain mainly.

So what, now?

As said, these are actually few votes --quite a logical response for a just born firm. However, thanks to them we cant now feel assured enough in our forthcoming planning, that is:

- First of all, let's schedule releasing of the 1/72 version of Panzer I A for mid-October.
- Next, the 1/100 version of Panzer I A will be released by Christmas. Its design is already under study by the mould maker.
- The ubiquitous T-26 has already been entrusted to our designer. Which scale to be produced first, yet to be decided.
- Our initial prejudice toward 1/56 range will be revised thoroughly (again, it's a matter of demand; mould making is so expensive than you have no other chance than refrain yourself until getting assured. Apologies for such an excess of caution).

BTW, some eye candy coming soon. Please spread the word and help our fans list grow!

Panzer I A second prototypes

As explained a few days ago, a 2^nd set of 3 polyurethane resin prototypes of our PzKpfw I A was ordered. Such models would be destined to assembly testing, painting and photo studying by a talented professional painter --allow me some degree of mystery about his identity, for the moment. His work results are to be used mainly for box art designing, and secondly for promotion actions such as reviewing articles, banners, advertising and so.

Today I've been delivered the last one of these prototypes, which have been cast in black resin. I've hurriedly packed them into a parcel and sent it to its destination in Madrid, where the painter is already waiting for the models.

If curious, you can see below how do the prototypes look (sorry for the photo quality, I'm anything but good at this job):

In some days more exciting news about our 1/72^nd scale Panzer I A!

In the meanwhile, let me acknowledge you about a couple of news pieces: first of all, that the original Pz I A design has already been adapted for 1/100 scale too; and secondly we've just started our second Spanish Civil War AFV designing process...

Production design

A second set of 3 prototypes has been ordered --this time, these are to be made of polyurethane resin (PUR) from silicone moulds. Mechanical features of PUR are close enough to those of hard plastic (HiPS) to allow us a testing second step: those 3 prototypes will be delivered to a well-known professional painter, who will check the model from a customer point of view, besides of painting the prototypes and take some high quality pictures on the finished models.

Alongside, the process for obtaining the galvanized iron mould --from which the hard plastic sprues will be produced-- has already started too. We're now discussing prices, terms and conditions.

Both processes (resin prototyping and injection moulding) are working on the following digital, multi-scale design:

This is what the finished model will look like. The design itself is composed by 9 parts (plus an alternate 10th part) to be easily assembled following this schema:

The provided alternate part is no other than the "modificado" tank turret, that was enlargened to fit a 20mm Breda gun. This is how will the model look with such alternate part on top:

Schedule: Hardly ready for release before September --as I feared. Let's take some patience! As a matter of fact, there's still a lot of work left on the www.minairons.eu website, so...

A first prototype

Following some months of hard working, I've finally managed to start a brand new miniatures company, willingly devoted to producing multi-scale hard plastic models and miniatures. It has been christianized as Minairons miniatures (www.minairons.eu) and it's aimed at producing figures and vehicles straightly related to the military history of Catalonia --and the whole Iberian Peninsula.

After some thinking about what range to start with, I've finally chosen a selection of Spanish Civil War vehicles --either armoured or softskins. Therefore, Minairons miniatures' first product is going to be that one whose 3D-printing protoype can be seen next:

That is, a fast assembly Panzer I Ausf. A with two optional turrets: the standard one and the 20mm Breda gun "modificado" turret.

This is quite of a crude first prototype, naturally. PLA 3D-prototyping couldn't provide a better resolution for this particular design, due to some tiny details --nevertheless, it excels at being a fast, cheap method for verifying your model basic characteristics, as well as for checking parts fitting and eventual flaws. Of course, final model will show a perfect detail and surfaces sharpness.

Each sprue will have up to 10 parts for one single model --including both alternative turrets. Packaging of this particular model will include 2 to 3 sprues and a decalsheet suitable not only for Spanish Nationalist tanks, but early German and Kuomintang Chinese too.

Not to be too optimistic about term provisions, releasing should be expected for mid-late summer.

What scale: I would simply lie if denied to have PSC as a model of excellence. It would be my aim to follow closely their path --as long as I can follow it. Therefore, I'm planning to release my models at 1:72^nd scale first, but will produce them later at 1:100^th or 1:56^th too, depending on market response.

This our first model (Panzer I Ausf. A) has nearly guaranteed its releasing in 1:100^th too.