Type XXIII RC fittings kit - Who is stepping up?

[RCSubGuy]

I have just received back into my possession the original rubber molds for the Bronco Type XXIII fittings kits.

A lot of people have been lamenting, some very vocally, about how these should be produced and how the people who had them had some kind of duty or obligation to supply them. I've already gone deep into why I will not do so and I won't reiterate that here.

If these are so desperately needed, let's see who will step up to supply them. Molds can get shipped immediately, BUT whoever gets these needs to supply them to everyone, not just a one and done for their personal use. To that end, I'm going to say they're available for $250. Once you prep the molds, produce parts, and offer them to the community, I'll refund the purchase in full.

Sound fair?

What do you need?

• Gobs of experience with rubber molds, casting, production, post-processing
• White metal production experience and equipment
• Access to commercial grade casting resin, mold-releases, etc.

Anyone? Anyone?....

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I have just received back into my possession the original rubber molds for the Bronco Type XXIII fittings kits.

A lot of people have been lamenting, some very vocally, about how these should be produced and how the people who had them had some kind of duty or obligation to supply them. I've already gone deep into why I will not do so and I won't reiterate that here.

If these are so desperately needed, let's see who will step up to supply them. Molds can get shipped immediately, BUT whoever gets these needs to supply them to everyone, not just a one and done for their personal use. To that end, I'm going to say they're available for $250. Once you prep the molds, produce parts, and offer them to the community, I'll refund the purchase in full.

Sound fair?

What do you need?

• Gobs of experience with rubber molds, casting, production, post-processing
• White metal production experience and equipment
• Access to commercial grade casting resin, mold-releases, etc.

Anyone? Anyone?....

That should clear the air and put the issue -- finally! -- to bed. It was a good idea gone bad. Not commercially viable. Lesson learned.

[Ken_NJ]

With a little ingenuity, parts can be made with the kit parts and without the fittings kit. A prop can be purchased from Raboesch. Prop bearings can be bought or supplied by someone. There should be US suppliers for both items. After all, if you are building a submarine, kit or scratch, stuffing electronics in a cylinder to keep them dry, you should be able make what you need from the kit. You may need other items like styrene if building a kit, available from Amazon. And this can be done without a 3D printer.

https://raboeschmodels.com/product-categorie/brass-propellers/?filter_blades=3-blade

[Subculture]

If you get no takers, I wonder if Simon at Prop shop may be interested? The parts could be cast in green wax then investment cast in aluminium, silicone bronze etc. Perhaps not well suited to WTC saddles, but the rest of the bits? R&R and Bob at OTW make good use of this in many of their kits and conversion packages

[SubSteve]

Bob,
I haven't seen the parts produced by these molds but is it possible to scan and make 3D print files for the parts?

[RCSubGuy]

It would be an undertaking, but not a massive one to take all of the stock parts, draft them in CAD, and print in resin. It's not rocket science, but it takes someone with CAD talent and a lot of time. I don't feel they'd be suitable for FDM printing, so even if someone made the files available, people would need to invest in a resin printer

[Nathan]

I'd be willing to give that a shot. I'd need to make the originals from the molds first. And it would take me a long time....

[SubSteve]

I'd be willing to give that a shot. I'd need to make the originals from the molds first. And it would take me a long time....

It would be great if someone had a set on the shelf that could be loaned for the project. Possible triage the parts to concentrate on those really needed.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

I'd be willing to give that a shot. I'd need to make the originals from the molds first. And it would take me a long time....

In that big cardboard box was another, smaller, box containing the masters -- you scan those, you're home free. Don't let this **** die with us.

[SubSteve]

In that big cardboard box was another, smaller, box containing the masters -- you scan those, you're home free. Don't let this **** die with us.

As far as this project is concerned, this is huge! I know it appears to be a limited market but it does exist and to retain the original DNA of the parts is amazing! With many CAD programs you can photocopy or photograph the part and use it to begin the CAD design

[He Who Shall Not Be Named]

As far as this project is concerned, this is huge! I know it appears to be a limited market but it does exist and to retain the original DNA of the parts is amazing! With many CAD programs you can photocopy or photograph the part and use it to begin the CAD design

Bingo. We have a winner.

[Subculture]

Ron Perrott does a cylinder for this model perhaps he would be interested in the patterns, then he could offer a full conversion kit like the Skipjack?

[trout]

I already made the prop bushing mount……..the rest would be easy, I think
.

[NicholasRadzykewycz]

I know a local shop here that has all the fancy polyurethane molding and stuff that can set these up for production if there are no other takers. Production times would be slow as they would likely not put a lot of priority behind them and would make parts as they fit in with other projects for casting.

If you want a really fairly fast answer to the problem, we could do a 3D scan of all the parts out of the mold and that would save all the time and headache of CAD.

[Nathan]

I'm still willing.