# Anyone here work in the plastic injection molding business?



## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

I am curious to what it costs to set set up to mold a simple body.
Two molds, one for the body and one for the glass.
Anyone?
Scott


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## boss9 (Apr 19, 2002)

Noddaz, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't there a post about this on the JL DC board just when the slots came out? I think one of the JL employees or designers was on the board and posted prices on that subject. If I remember rightly, the price was well north of 100K.
Thanks...


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

Ok.... Can we use 100k as a base line for a basic body?
Scott


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

If it's 100K for a basic body, that explains why there were so many releases of the original releases of Tjets & Snap Ons in different colors. If so, I guess we're in line for another release or two of the "current" versions of the latest. Oh yeah, what was the total # of Batmobile versions done before when they wrapped up with the chromies? :freak: rr

Keep 'em coming RC2! :thumbsup: rr


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

boss9 said:


> Noddaz, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't there a post about this on the JL DC board just when the slots came out? I think one of the JL employees or designers was on the board and posted prices on that subject. If I remember rightly, the price was well north of 100K.
> Thanks...


That seems awfully high, especially when you consider that many of the T-Jet bodies JL has done are almost exact copies of the original Aurora body. I can pretty much guarantee you that PM didn't design their own Willys, GTO, Firebird, Vega, etc... from scratch.

To design a body from scratch is probably expensive, but creating tooling of an existing body is probably a fraction of that. It's really not much different than what many resin casters do, except on a larger scale...

Slightly off-topic, but when you really stop and consider what a great portion of PM's early business was, it was nothing more than copying stuff that was already done, recreating things that were no longer protected by patents. The company is founded on the resurection of a defunct company, Topper. Polar Lights thrived on copying old model kits. And their slot cars are simply copies of 30 year old designs.


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## M.Ousley (Jul 16, 2004)

Hey guys, I am in plastic injection molding. Hope you don't consider me a troll for the one post, but if any of you are serious about making a mold, I can help you get set up. I would think $100,000 would be a bit much, but it really depends on the size of the mold and how many cavities you want to run. (eg 2 cavities=2 car bodies at once) 

I would think you could get a mold like that setup for around $50,000. Our company is QS9000 certified (major automotive certification). We also have all electric machines which means higher quality and better repeatability than hydraulic machines. If you are interested in getting a mold together and making some parts, drop me a line at [email protected] or call 865-988-5661 and ask for me. Thanks and good luck!


Michael Ousley
GreenLeaf Industries
Lenoir City, TN


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

Hi Michael,

Glad you are here. Ahhh..... great an expert  How accurate can injection molding make wheels?? Except for the original TJET wheels most of the injection molded after market wheels I've seen look great but the truness of the wheels leave much to be desired.

Roger Corrie
Virginia Beach, VA


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## M.Ousley (Jul 16, 2004)

That would mostly depend on the molder. If you get a second rate company that has low quality standards, then the wheels will definately not be top notch. One of the parts we make go in a dialysis machine, so we have very high quality standards and are capable of making parts with very tight tolerances. If the wheels are not true (out of round?) then that seems to be a cooling problem (ie the parts are removed from the mold before the plastic sets up enough to make a true wheel). We ran into a similar problem when we were molding plastic drinking mugs. If we removed the cups too quickly, the mug handles would warp because the plastic hadn't had adequate time to setup.


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## M.Ousley (Jul 16, 2004)

So, anybody want to make some Slot Car parts?


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

Now the reason for my thread...
It seems the math doesn't want to add up here.
We will take $50,000 for one body as a base line to set up a mold and make one run of 12,000 bodies.
That breaks down to $4.17 cost per body. 
Now this does not take into account the other molds that make this happen.
Bumpers and glass molds.
I can't believe that JL would have more than $2 cost per body complete. Bumpers, glass, body and paint.
The chassis is another story altogether..... :freak: 
So, what do you think?
And my reason for asking?
I am interested in doing a run of bodies if it is economically feasible.
(But it doesn't seem likely...)
Scott


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## Piz (Apr 22, 2002)

Yes , at $50,000.00 dollars a body the numbers don't add up for JL, BUT remember Jl has these things made in China, and the reason for that - it is probably less than half of the $50,000.00 a quailty USA company like M.Ousley runs. If the price were even close don't you think JL would use a Domestic company and save big time on the shipping/importing end.


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## SCJ (Jul 15, 1999)

noddaz said:


> We will take $50,000 for one body as a base line to set up a mold and make one run of 12,000 bodies.
> That breaks down to $4.17 cost per body.


Your math doesn't work out, as the numbers you've plugged in aren't correct.....or at least this would be my guess.


I would bet PM/JL is paying somewhere in the $25K range per car (including glass & bumpers) for molding (It's China after all) and will produce or have the ability to produce closer to 25,000 ~ 50,000 bodies from said mold...hence the reason we see the same car in different colors so often, they have to pay for the mold. Again, this is just a guess, but probably closer to the numbers your trying to run through your equation.



---------------------------
www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


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## M.Ousley (Jul 16, 2004)

That isn't really how the pricing works. Of course you must have a mold to make parts, but after that point, the only cost you incur is the machine time needed to make the parts. So really, it wouldn't be $50,000 / 12,000 cars = $4.17 / 1 car. Instead it would be more like $.50 / 1 car (for machine time). Granted, you would need to make enough of a profit off of sales to pay for the mold. Keep in mind that the $50,000 was just an estimate--it could be less but it could be more. 

I could get a much more accurate quote for you (for free) if you would like to ship a sample car body to us for us to review. We could quote building a mold and also the price per part if you are serious in your interest.

Also, there are molds called 'family molds' where more than one part can be made at once. So theoretically you could make several car bodies at once. That would be much more economically feasible as machine time would be used more efficiently.


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

noddaz said:


> Now the reason for my thread...
> It seems the math doesn't want to add up here.
> We will take $50,000 for one body as a base line to set up a mold and make one run of 12,000 bodies.
> That breaks down to $4.17 cost per body.
> ...


Scott,
What bodies are you interested in, what quantity, and do they require licensing?

Dan


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

lenny said:


> Scott,
> What bodies are you interested in, what quantity, and do they require licensing?
> 
> Dan


I was interested in doing a remake of the Eldon Ferrari Dino...
Except I wouldn't call it that...... 
Scott


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

So what would you call it Scott??

Roger Corrie
Virginia Beach, VA


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

vaBcHRog said:


> So what would you call it Scott??
> 
> Roger Corrie
> Virginia Beach, VA


"Vintage race body for your Thunderjet Chassis"
Generic enough? I would definitely have to stay away from the "F"
word or possibly incur the wrath of an Italian car company that is not "Fiat"...
Scott


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## M.Ousley (Jul 16, 2004)

Just checking back in to see if there is any interest in making some car bodies? Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] if you have any questions. :thumbsup:


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

noddaz said:


> "Vintage race body for your Thunderjet Chassis"
> Generic enough? I would definitely have to stay away from the "F"
> word or possibly incur the wrath of an Italian car company that is not "Fiat"...
> Scott


...And Mattel, which has the Ferrari rights...


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