 | | Re: Hey Brad! Why not rerelease an *unpowered* monorail set?
|
|
(...) Well, the track segments are fairly large parts, which means (I think) the cost of developing the molds is higher. And the track would require at least a three-part mold, because there are studs facing left and right. (...) True. Steve (22 years ago, 17-Jan-02, to lugnet.dear-lego)
|
| |
| | Re: Hey Brad! Why not rerelease an *unpowered* monorail set?
|
|
You could get around that by running your seam down the ceter of the studs. There would still be no undercuts. Thus a 2 part mold. Probably too large a piece with no retun on investment gaurantee. Still sounds fishy to me. (...) (22 years ago, 18-Jan-02, to lugnet.dear-lego)
|
| |
| | Re: Hey Brad! Why not rerelease an *unpowered* monorail set?
|
|
"crunch-o-matic" <naughty.monkey@verizon.net> wrote in message news:Gq5016.G01@lugnet.com... (...) studs. (...) a (...) .... only thing is the studs on the sides of the monorail track are the hollow type which accept things the size of minifig (...) (22 years ago, 18-Jan-02, to lugnet.dear-lego)
|
| |
| | Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
|
|
You might be right if the molds are rigid. It could be done in 2 parts if the mold is flexible like vulcanized rubber or silicon (or low-tech like Knox gelatin and anitfreeze, or even hot glue). They were injected from the center top, you can see (...) (22 years ago, 18-Jan-02, to lugnet.dear-lego)
|
| |
| | Re: Hey Brad! Why not rerelease an *unpowered* monorail set?
|
|
In lugnet.dear-lego, Steve Bliss writes: (snipped) (...) Why so? The studs could be different from the original version: instead of pressed from the top (of the stud), both halves of the mold could press the studs sideways (note that I am referreing (...) (22 years ago, 19-Jan-02, to lugnet.dear-lego)
|
| |
| | Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
|
|
(...) TLC's molds are machined metal (there are pictures in some of the books and examples at Legoland. The track is also "honeycombed" on the bottom. Frank (22 years ago, 19-Jan-02, to lugnet.general)
|
| |
| | Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
|
|
Proof positive that I don't know everything. Frank, in your opinion would you say the "honeycomb" is an inherent part of the molding processing or a way to save on material? Retaining the strength of the unit while using far less ABS? What about (...) (22 years ago, 19-Jan-02, to lugnet.general)
|
| |
| | Re: Monorail track molds? Factory visits?
|
|
(...) Material and weight savings while retaining strength. (...) I believe baseplates are vacuum formed. Vacuum forming is usually a one piece mold and the item must be able to "fall" out. There is another molding process which I guess is vaccuum (...) (22 years ago, 19-Jan-02, to lugnet.general)
|
