Trying to find cheap skulls. Lots and lots of skulls...

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StarFyre

Active member
welll...

I use skulls alot on bases for my lizardmen, some of my D&D creatures, and for my FW bloodthirster and chaos dragon bases, I want tons (espec the BT)...was thinking of covering a lot of the base in bones around a summoning circle but due to his size, could need 60 or 70 of them...

I will get details for the contact i\'ve had with the company who said they would make them if we provided a sculpt.

Sanjay
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

Well-known member
i\'d like a few (about 100 tops i think) but i\'m pretty fussy. they\'d have to be realistic-ish. the gw ones are the best i\'ve seen in my opinion.
 
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minimaker

New member
Some sources for skulls:

http://secure.nxco.com/fortress/cgi-bin/fortstore/commerce.cgi?cart_id=1140642363.38367&product=Accessories&pid=33
($10 per 60 - resin)

Walls and other decorations of skulls:
http://lanceandlaser.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=LAL&Category_Code=F
Ang a flamingo with skulls for garden decoration :)

Different types of skulls
http://www.freebooterminiatures.de/shop/index.php?s=0034d5e8d741d9a5232e3a78d39af40a&act=SHOP&CODE=03&WGP=3&art=230
Humand ones 2 Euro per 6

I wouldn\'t bother trying to get skulls cast. I\'d contact one of these companies and make a deal with them. With the quantities you need you should be able to get a nice price.
 
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StarFyre

Active member
hmmm

Ok..so it turns out my quote was from fortress figures:

Quote from Jeff @ fotress:
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Yes I have done a lot of casting for other companies and individuals.

You would be sculpting a new skull I presume?

I would make a 25mm scale skull for $115.56 tooling + $0.07/skull.

This assumes a standard scale skull. If it takes substantially more metal the price would need to be adjusted according to the mass of the piece. I\'m also assuming we could sprue the skulls together for easy sorting and counting.
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So if we needed too, we all could split the $115.56 USD cost...then each of us has to pay $0.07 USD per skull for however many we want...

Is that better than the resin skulls they have? Can anyone sculpt a good skull for us? :) hehe

Also, i\'m still worried that anyone using these for GD entries may be disqualified if using the fotress regular skulls incase they think realize they are not GW...

BAsed on the link provided..the 10 sprews of 6 skulls for 10 USD comes out to 60 skulls for 10 USD, or about 17 cents or so per skull. At 7 cents/skull for what he would charge us....it\'s much better if you order a hell of a lot over time, since you\'d make up (eventually the portion of the initial cost he charged).

A follow up from him:
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the tooling is a one time fee that includes mastering the figure, casting several masters and then creating a production mold. You can then order as many parts as you like after that.
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Sanjay
 
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minimaker

New member
Jeff Rodman is a great caster. Good choice.

Just did a quick calculation. Going from the price of the resin skulls you\'d need 1156 skulls to break even if you want to have them cast yourself.
Going from the freebooter skulls this would be about 445 skulls.

This is without the extra costs of postage for sending the master, sculpting and any discount you might get for ordering large quantities.

I saw the number of 10.000. Check with Jeff if this will take extra tooling or not since his production mould may wear out. Also make sure you get paid by all interested before ordering. I\'ve seen it before that people get excited at an announcement and pull back at the last moment. :(

Oh, one more idea, since jeff also has the resin skulls you could ask if they can be used as masters for the metal cast moulds.

Would you not get disqualified for using cast brandless skulls?
 
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darkartminiatures

New member
This is starting to sound interesting :) It might even be possible. I would consider buying around 300 depending on the type of skull(s) folk decided on. ;) a variation would be nice. What does everyone one else think?
 
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StarFyre

Active member
minimaker....

if we each split the initial cost...and have one of us sculpt the skull or 2 designs..(and that person does it free of charge :D ) then the overhead goes down per person..did you factor that into the calculation? LIke if each of us had to pay 15 USD for initial cost and postage for the person whomever sculpted it and shipped to them on....

Well, my main preference is 2 types...one missing lower jaw bone and one with...similar to the GW skulls or the ones from that site on that base...regular 25 mm scale (whatever GW or reaper scale is).

But for 2 styles, does that mean we have to pay the overhead twice? i think we do since each would be a unique mold...we can ask him about that...
so that could raise cost...but if it\'s enough people i think i\'d still be interested. If we decide on just one type of skull..I am 100% in already since I really do need 500 or 600 over the next few years of painting projects...(possibly) so for me..it\'s not a waste.

(note, you will see all my minis, competition entries, etc drowned in skulls :D )

Sanjay
 
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minimaker

New member
did you factor that into the calculation?
Click to expand...
Yes. The number of casts needed to get to break even stays the same independent of number of participants. By the way, I made a miscalculation with the Freebooter skulls. Forgot it was in Euro, not dollar.

But for 2 styles, does that mean we have to pay the overhead twice?
Click to expand...
You need to check that with Jeff. Different casters calculate their costs differently.

By the way, another consideration. Resin skulls are lighter which saves in postage and diorama weight. On the other hand, mould wear out quicker. So you need to check with Jeff how many he expects to be able to cast.
 
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marineboy

New member
Here\'s another supplier:

War Gaming Miniatures. 100 resin-cast skulls

GBP 10 for 100 skulls ... about 0.17 USD a piece + shipping with no upfront costs.

I\'m not familiar with the skulls and the picture is pretty bad. I have, however, bought Black Cat alien terrain bases in the past hánd have been satisfied with the quality -- few holes in the casts and good+ sculpting.
 
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StarFyre

Active member
minimaker

The # of skulls you need isn\'t independent..overall yes, but not for an individual :)

So each person doesn\'t need to get over 1000 skulls. If I get 500 and someone else gets 300...then the remaining people just need like 300 total to make that up. Each of us don\'t need 1000s.

Sanjay
 
Wren

Wren

Member
I\'d be careful with bead products like the ones in one of the ebay links. I think beads can be a great source of basing elements, but they can also not be the right answer. No one who\'s replied so far seems that interested in the bead option, but for the benefit of lurkers, my thoughts on beads...

Size is the first issue - I\'d go to a local bead shop with a human mini and make sure the skulls weren\'t way too big. I bought some insect and animal beads that are a little on the large size for bases I wanted to do because I neglected to do that.

Quality is another issue. Cheap beads are usually made with plastic. Beads of any material are made to look good as a bracelet or whatever, not to be viewed/photographed in extreme detail as we do with minis. There\'s generally enough detail there that a good painter can paint in the rest, but that may be more work than you want for a given project. Mould lines are common, and not always as easy to remove as on the materials minis are made from. The material is likewise an issue if you want to chop things up and modify them. All beads have holes in them, which depending on placement and what you want to do with them can create more work for you filling them in.
 
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