3D resin sourcing ~ 6 months time

[horati0nosebl0wer 19626xp 1]

I got to thinking about the long game influence of armed conflict on our hobby and it came to mind that metal minis might become scarce in the future in lieu of printed ones on cost (or could they reach parity).

From our collective experience with supply chain issues from The Event will polymer resins be affected by current events? Where do the components that make up the polymer resin come from? Are bio-based resins a reasonable alternative for use? What are the best plant based oils for use for the reain polymers and will the production of said product be affected by war in Ukraine? (Look at sunflower oil prices and see what I mean)

[evilstu 15298xp 1]

Interesting question. Given the sterling reputation of the BOW/OTT forum I will seek to set aside all political discussion and will reestrict myself to an economic analysis and respond to your question with the facts as I see them #NotAnExpert #JustMy0.02

Relevant facts:

– Russia is presently under heavy trade embargos, effectively reducing global supply of oil by 7m barrels per day. Global capacity cannot be stood up in the short term to meet this level of shortfall, so the price of oil has therefore increased substantatively.

– Oil derivative products (ie plastics) will likely also increase in costs if they have not already (might take longer to flow through the supply chain). Most/all of these costs will need to be passed on to end consumers.

– Metal prices have already increased. Again, costs will be passed on.

– Transportation costs will increase due to higher fuel prices, these will again be passed on via higher prices down the supply chain to end consumers.

– Given no-fly zones etc travel routes around eastern europe will be distorted, requiring longer travel routes to be used to transport cargo ibn some instances. This will mean more fuel used, more pay for crew/employees, more depreciation/wear and tear on trucks,/planes/possibly ships (sorry not across how maritime law & transport routes in the Black Sea are being impacted if at all?). Again, costs will be passed down through the supply chain.

– General inflation. This will vary on a country by country basis depending on relevant factors but broadly speaking prices will tend to increase across the board on most/all goods due to higher transport costs.

– Printer resin that i’ve seen has all been manufactured in China, so I wouldn’t imagine manufacturing would be impacted, but note higher shipping costs and perhaps inputs?

 

On the topic of 3d printer resin, I’ll hand you over to Goobertown Hobbies as he’s a chemist in real life…

 

So where does this leave us?

– Metal figures will be more expensive

– Plastic figures will be more expensive

– Resin manufactured figures will becoe more expensive.

– Hobby supplies will become more expensive

– 3d printers and print resin/plastic filament will also increase in cost.

I’d say on a ‘per mini’ basis, 3D prints will tend to get cheaper comparatively given the above.

So what should we do?

– If anyone has been holding off on diving in on a large purchase of minis, it might be cheaper now than it will be later on. Keep in mind also that the money you have stashed might come in handy for other purposes in the near future – everybody will know their own situation best.

– Second hand minis – people may dump unwanted stuff for the extra cash or because they are moving ‘back home’ until things calm down, so there might be a higher supply of pre-loved minis about. Conversely, there might be increased demand for these as people seek to save a few dollars on their hobby budget.

– Be understanding when mini manufacturers are forced to increase their prices – Most manufacturers are small companies run by gamers/hobbyists. They won’t get any joy from passing on the higher costs knowing it will cut some people off from the hobby, but they have bills to pay and their own responsibilities too. Show them some support if you can.

– Maybe consider working on your pile of shame/pride rather than going for the new shiny thing?

– Instead of focusing on spamming out large volumes of tabletop-quality horde armies (has a moment of quiet self-reflection…) try to spend longer on each mini and get them done to a higher standard. This way you are effectively ‘saving’ hobby money as there will be less minis/paint etc required to fill the same number of hobby hours.

– actually spend some time gaming rather than just painting if you don’t want to spend money. I know, actually gaming? Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Or is it just me 😉

Hope everybody’s doing OK! If you aren’t then please bear in mind that’s fine and understandable, we’re all here for you if you want to chat. Cheers!

 

[ced1106Participant 6224xp 1]

Corvus miniature said, and this was before the conflict, that metal prices were going up to the point that they had to switch to Siocast to keep prices from increasing.

> – Printer resin that i’ve seen has all been manufactured in China, so I wouldn’t imagine manufacturing would be impacted, but note higher shipping costs and perhaps inputs?

Well, that answered my other question. (: Do you think that 3D printing technology is advancing fast enough that we don’t know what materials we’ll need or can choose from next year? Resin’s a fair change from plastic filament, and I’ve seen 3D printing use a wide range of materials, from foodstuff to steel! Yet Siocast is another new technology, allowing casting in-house, without resorting to metal?

[horati0nosebl0wer 19626xp 0]

This is precisely what I love about this community. I didn’t know and have gotten a flood of info that has honestly helped me wrap my head around theissue as it might impact hobby. I’ll continue enjoying mine as I can and finish off my PoOP (Pile of Overwhelming Potential) a little at a time.

[captainventanusParticipant 4936xp 0]

Prices will increase and have increased. In the short – to medium term it might be hard to discern what the specific causes are though if that ever is possible really.

Resin prices have been increasing over the past year. The reason I observed this was because around 15 months I first started to think about getting a resin printer so recorded prices of all the things I would need to run it. Although I only got one in October 21 by that stage I had a good idea what it would cost me and (because I’m that sort of person) I record all the data to get an idea how much it ‘costs’ me to print what minis. More out of interest than anything else.

Over that time period the price of resin (as in how much you would actually pay for it) increased and availability of specific types/colours/sizes went down (though you can always get something if you need it).

This might be down to supply chain is, that wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume.

It might be down to the increased uptake of 3D printing as a result of better tech, cheaper prices, more stls, so more resin is being bought and supply slowly dropping versus demand.

I have no idea how much resin is being produced and what the expansion of the market is. Its probably not more than a niche within a niche, but still bigger than before.

The price varies with colour/type so right now standard grey is noticeably more expensive – and I would think that this is the most popular colour – than say translucent ones. The higher price might just be down to more demand of a product that is produced in the same quantities as other types.

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