Next Update
over 6 years ago – Fri, Aug 04, 2017 at 04:21:49 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Production Update!
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Jun 01, 2017 at 08:35:58 PM

 STATUS!

We wanted to let everyone know where things stand on the production front.  Production is moving along well, but just a bit slower then anticipated so we weren't able to start things off when we wanted.  Though well underway we had a bit of a misstep on what was to be produced first.  Instead of the Tech Centre being first in the que, the Doctrine Centre's production was setup first.  We were away for the first part of May at Recon down in Orlando so this wasn't caught in time to get the Tech Centre further along.  Since there were a good number of Tech Centre only orders we had hoped that we could have been sending those out by this time.  But alas the best laid plans, as they say.  All the freebies are being produced in house, and we have been busy with those as well so they can be ready to go as the core items come available.

Phase II Design Work

On the Phase II front we are working on a couple designs including a fusion power plant and our ode to Blade Runner.  We will also have a station for the MAGLEV along with additional Elevated Hwy components to flush out more of the infrastructure accesories. We are looking to include initial renders of a few of these in our next update.  As always if you have ideas for designs you'd like to see please let us know so the line can be as responsive to the needs of the community as possible.

Till next time, happy gaming!

Team Phalanx 

PRODUCTION PHASE!
about 7 years ago – Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 11:22:38 PM

 PRODUCTION SCHEDULE

The production process has begun! We are moving the masters into production starting this week.  We had a meeting this morning with the resin foam casters to set up a schedule on their end so as to prioritize the larger production runs first.  

Production Order for Foam Resin Casting (Based on size of run):

• Tech Centre
• U.N.S.C. Doctrine Centre
• Optigami Cooperation Tower
• U.N.E.P Headquarters
• Turnista Tower
• Koenig Tower

In a perfect world we had hoped to have entered this stage toward the end of March. Even though we have slipped a few weeks we are still going to try our best to start the delivery process of some pledges by the end of May, which was our original target month. What this means is as the building and accessory inventories come in we will look to fulfill on the fly versus waiting for every piece to be completed.  This process will, more than likely, take us from the end of May till the end of June to complete, and we certainly appreciate your patience as we worked to get everything out to you as a Backer.  We will be handling all of the Freebie item production here in house, and we plan to have some images up of those masters soon. 

PHASE II UPDATE

As we can we have been working on the modeling for Phase II.  We have received inquiries as to the timing of Phase II, and as it stands right now it is looking like it will be August for the Phase II KS.  In fact it might actually launch somewhere around the anniversary of the start of the Phase I campaign.  The plan on this end is that while production is taking place we will use that time to get the design process into high gear so we can begin sharing renders and getting your feedback on the designs.  This way we can have the new designs in place and ready to go by late summer.   As of right now the focus of design work has been for infrastructure accessories and buildings, including but not limited to MAGLEV Station, Elevated to Surface SmartHighway Transitions, Fusion Power Plant, Industrial/Factory Complexes and a few other designs we will announce at a later date.

TUTORIAL VIDEOS

We have a few Backers who backed at the Mayor's Office level so that they could receive their pledges ready to go out of the box.  During the time we are getting their pledges ready we will be videoing tutorials on different techniques you can use to really get the models to pop.  We will show both a quick paint technique, as well as techniques to take the models to a higher level of detail depending on your tastes, abilities and/or time constraints.  Once these are ready to post we will place them up on our YouTube channel and shoot out the link so you can reference back to them at your leisure.  

Thank you again for your support of this project. Happy Gaming!

Team Phalanx

Pre Production Update Part 2
about 7 years ago – Thu, Mar 09, 2017 at 11:29:25 PM

 Final Assembly 

Instead of just showing all the models finished we thought you might like opportunity to see behind the curtain a bit.  We decided that since the UNEP Headquarters building was still in its semi assembled state we could show you how the model goes from being printed in multiple parts to its final master model state for casting.  Plus, of all the buildings we had up on the KS this one had the most hidden behind the scenes, so to speak, so its an opportunity for you to see more of this model then the initial front only render has shown to date.

Overall the prints fit nicely together with little post modeling needing to be done, but when needed a gap can be filled or small repairs made so the final model comes out as envisioned.  You can see a change that we have made from the previous images shown of the Doctrine Centre.  We switched resin color and composition to the gray, while that may not seem to be a big thing, the devil is in the details. In that this resin formula gives us even sharper surface details then the previous generation of resin. Of course everyone out there using this printer wants to have the newest and "bestest" so there have been times we have had to wait on resin to arrive due to the overwhelming demand they have had for the product. Though it seems now that they have caught up so we can pretty much stay well supplied, it did present some challenges when we initially switched over.

We'll keep the updates coming, so stay tuned for Part 3, with images of the UNEP Headquarters completed, plus more!

Team Phalanx

Pre Production Update Part 1
about 7 years ago – Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 11:41:06 PM

 Where Things Stand

We have been busy little bees, and have been remiss in getting out a new update.  We would like to have two updates this week so this one will be Part 1 of 2.  We have just the bottom half of the Koenig Tower left to print.   So all master models will be completed this week with final assembly so we can begin the mold making process in earnest.  

One of the reason for the delay is that we went back and modified a couple of the buildings to make improvements in the functionality of those designs. We had showen in a previous update how we made the modifications to the Doctrine Tower to allow for disc magnets to hold the parts together while in use, an allowing it to come apart for easy storage.  In line with those modifications we have gone revised the Gemellus Suites and Koenig Tower to allow for the use of disc magnets as well. This upgrade will also apply to the Elevated MAGLEV Highway sets so they can lay flat in the box for easy storage when not in use.  From this point forward, as we plan for Phase II, we will apply this system where it is needed.  We are striving to make all the designs as storage and game table friendly as possible.  

Production Sneak Peek

As was stated during the campaign the genesis of this project started with a conversation between us and Collins Epic Wargames, back on 2013, to produce dramatic small scale city building models that actually looked like they belonged in a city for their project Polyversal.  When they were going into their Kickstarter campaign back in the Spring of 2016 they asked us if we could design and produce a KS Exclusive model that could fit in their box set version of the game.  Keeping their size and budget constraints in mind we designed a small Executive Spaceport measuring 107mm x 103mm at the base and 93mm at its highest point.  

This model is in production with delivery scheduled in March.  We have took the base of this structure and had it cast in the self skinning foam resin using the same process that we will used for its bigger cousins to come.  With a few models of the base in hand now we wanted to show the production cast off so you can get an idea what is to come with the larger buildings.  

We have received question regarding weight and how that may effect the shipping cost of products like this.  We certainly appreciate that concern and have done our best to explain how this type of resin gives us a very lightweight, yet tough product, that should give years of good service on your table. In the image below you will see the above base on a scale reading 2.4oz.  This equates to 68.03g for all those using a proper system of weights and measures. ;)

The perimeter walls around the top of the base taper to just over 1.5mm in thickness, and these walls filled well and gave us nice edge results in the cast.  We are extremely pleased with the results on this piece, and are really looking forward to seeing the larger buildings come to life in the same way.

Part II 

In the next update we will have images fully assembled high resolution masters for you to have a look at before they go off to be molded.  Along with an update on the timing of the production runs.  Then once we have the models out the door we will be getting back to Phase II designs so we can start previewing what will be coming up next.  Remember this is a community centered product line so if you would like to see something in Phase II please let us know, and we'll see what we can do.

With regards,

Team Phalanx