TGG1 - Update #108 – Production Update + New Painted Minis + A Visit to the Foundries

As the summer heat rolls in (on our half the globe, that is), we hope that you are getting ready from some great vacations and that you'll have plenty of time for your favourite hobby. And for those of you who are still patiently waiting for their TGG parcel, it's time to start making room on your painting shelf! The majority of remaining TGG Rewards Selection will be shipping out in the next few weeks!

For us, June has definitely been spin-casting month. The last few remaining models of the campaign are now being moulded, prototyped or cast (scroll down for details). It has also been a very special time for the core of the Raging Heroes team, as we spent several days at the spin-casting foundry (more on this below).

You'll be excited to know that we've also significantly increased the resources of the packing and shipping teams for July, as the vast majority of the remaining shipments will be dealt with during this month.

In this Update, you'll also see that the flow of painted minis is increasing, which also means that we'll soon be at a place where we can use these images for the Artbook and finish this part of the TGG project as well.

Don't forget that you can always keep an eye on the status of the production on this page:http://www.tggks.com/what-is-in-each-wave/
 On it, you will see the date on which the document was last updated. We update it whenever we get new stuff in. Then, simply scroll down to Wave 3. Everything that's in green is ready to ship.

New Available Minis

Now in stock:

• JB Artilleries 1, 2, and 3 
• KST Artilleries 1, 2, and 3
• IE Artilleries 1, 2, and 3
• The KST Mecha
• The Jailbirds Motorbikes 1, 2, and 3

We assembled some Artilleries so that you can share in the fun:

To be honest, we were not so sure how our Artilleries would fare. Hadn't we created too many of them? Would they make something interesting to look at on the gaming table? In fact, right after the campaign, we thought that we had made a mistake there.

But now, that we have the casts in, our feelings got completely turned around: the Artilleries are among the most life-like and expressive sets of the whole TGG range. Not only will they make really nice-looking and vivid Artillery pieces, but it's more than that. If you want to give more life to your troops or create unique and lively dioramas, you'll definitely be able to go nuts thanks to the many servants body parts and accessories provided in the TGG Artillery kits.

And oh, by the way, you'll find that the little IE tank-like as well as the KST and JB walker-like artillery mounts look really cool in the (so-to-speak) flesh!

 While visiting the foundry (more on this below), we also saw the very first KST Mechas removed from their moulds right before our eyes. We could not resist and immediately assembled one. It is a big one, with a fabulous diesel-punk feel!

Casts in Progress

We've approved the prototypes for the following kits, and so they are currently being cast:

• The Mecha JB (see images below)
• The Mecha IE
• The WereSheWolves (KST)

Here is a quick and rough assembly of the Mecha JB prototype.

Here is a quick and rough assembly of the Mecha JB prototype.

Here is a quick and rough assembly of the Mecha JB prototype.

Here is a quick and rough assembly of the Mecha JB prototype.

The guys at the foundry had a bit of time on their hand and so they got into some kit-bashing. They added KST bits to the JB Mecha and tried some alternate posing... We thought you'd like to see this and see how flexible the posing is.

Kit-bashing and re-posing the mechas

Kit-bashing and re-posing the mechas

Upcoming Prototypes

The following models are being prototyped right now, and should be ready for approval this and next week. As soon as they are approved, they will be cast.

• The IE and the KST Bikes are all cast, but we are still waiting for the riders
• The KB, KST and IE Trikes and their riders.

The Remaining Items

So this leaves us with the large-sized mascots and the 54mm models of Freedom Fighters Raven (JB), Svetlana (KST), and Nertha (IE).

If your Rewards Selection is held back because of one of these 6 models, you can contact us and we'll try to arrange something so that we can send you everything that's ready except for these models, and ship these large-sized model(s) separately for a shipping fee which we'll keep as low as we can.

Large size Jinx is about 60mm tall / 2.4 inches

Large size Charlie is about 45mm tall / 1.8 inches

 

New Painted Minis

They are many more minis being painted as we write this update. But in the set below, we definitely think that Foxy and Elektra steal the show. What do you think ?

→ Foxy Dynamite, Jailbirds Infiltration Specialist

 

→ Commander Elektra Eisenstein, Armoured Division (KST)

 

→ Ash, Tank Gunner and Lucky Lucy, Spotter (Jailbirds)

 

→ Iron Empire Heavy Troop Box (remember that everything is ball-jointed for maximum 'posability', and each box contains many extra items for ultimate customisation)

 

→ Iron Empire Regular Command Group Box (remember that everything is ball-jointed for maximum 'posability', and each box contains many extra items for ultimate customisation)

 

→ Iron Empire Regular Troops Box (remember that everything is ball-jointed for maximum 'posability', and each box contains many extra items for ultimate customisation)

 

→ KST Regular Command Group Box(remember that everything is ball-jointed for maximum 'posability', and each box contains many extra items for ultimate customisation)

 

→ Iron Empire Regular Troops Box (remember that everything is ball-jointed for maximum 'posability', and each box contains many extra items for ultimate customisation)

 

Visiting the Foundries

As mentioned earlier, our key activity this month was visiting our partner foundries, which meant travelling abroad.

Spin-cast resin KST Mechas

We first went to the United States to visit our spin-cast resin foundry. We stayed there several days and got to know each other and learned more about each other's processes. We then moved on to the United Kingdom and visited our metal foundry.

Preserving the 3D-printed masters with a cold-cure silicon mould

We cannot thank them enough for the warm welcome with which we were greeted. It was great to finally meet in the flesh the people who've all worked so hard to produce all the TGG1 miniatures, and it was quite special to see our creations be cast and be removed from the moulds before us. 

Explaining why the Raging Heroes metal casts have virtually no flash

Here's how: many tightening points for a tight fitting mould

Our visits were also a wonderful opportunity to discuss and evaluate many new ideas and opportunities for workflow improvement throughout the entire process.

Metal casts quality control

 

We had never before allowed ourselves the time away from the studio to make this trip. In the end, it was incredibly worth it, and just a few days later, now that we are back, we are already seeing positive results. And so, we will likely do a follow-up trip later this year.

The TGG moulds are all carefully stored at the foundry

 

That's all for today 

So once again, we wish you a great summery July. We will continue to work hard on the TGG so that everything is ready as quickly as possible.

As mentioned above, don't forget that you can always keep an eye on the status of the TGG production on this page: http://www.tggks.com/what-is-in-each-wave/  On it, you will see the date on which the document was last updated. We update it whenever we get new stuff in. Then, simply scroll down to Wave 3. Everything that's in green is ready to ship.

And if you want to know more about what's going on at Raging Heroes, we are posting a new cool update on the TGG2 kickstarter (Update #26) within the next couple of hours.

Thank you for your continuing support and please don't hesitate to send us pics and feedback about your TGG minis.