Done Done Done! (and a bit of a debriefing)
11 months ago – Tue, May 30, 2023 at 08:40:31 AM

Backers! Friends! Its done!

The last bags will get dropped off to the post tomorrow. All tracking has been sent out, but since this info is bouncing between various carriers and backerkit, it might take a few days for it to reach you. 

If you haven't received your tracking within a week, then feel free to reach out to [email protected] and I find that for you.

Debriefing - I will keep this short, promise!

What we would do different

• Dealing with unexpected issues - From Gregg's ankle explosion to botched HVAC installations - there are issues that can't be taken into account when planning a project. The fact that this project was 4-5 times as big as our average project didn't help either, and the only way I see for a small company such as Westfalia to handle this is open communication if it happens, and to extend fulfillment schedules before it happens, i.e. when planning a campaign. 
• QA - We've really pushed the limits with the minis we've made here, but those insane designs can be quite delicate, and we were removing more seconds and broken minis from the production batch than usual. So yes - I'd probably postpone this project by 2 months and redo certain parts.

What went right

• Communication - It's never nice to notify backers when something goes wrong. But playing with open cards and avoiding spins has worked for us.
• The miniatures - I hate bragging, but I brag because these are really exceptional minis!

Known issues

• The hermit horns tend to have some flash inside. We were wondering if we should split them off, but in the end we decided to leave them on and let the backers do some prep-work.
• Hook doll, where is thy knife? Due to a miscommunication between the sculptor and the caster, there is apparently no knife hand for the hook doll. We realized this only when some backers were asking about it... there's no immediate solution for this, but we've sent express dolls to the sculptor to get a new knife hand done. This we can send with new orders/pledges or in a letter, but it will take a while until we get there. With almost 70 pieces of resin per order and more than 50.000 in the project, I am not too surprised this happend. Stil, mea culpa!

Aftercare

• If there's an issue with your oder then please reach out to [email protected]. Our QA team can't catch every bubble, and our fulfillment folks will pack the wrong mini once in a while, but worry not, we're happy to make it right. 
• Please make sure to contact us with your full name and address, and that's especially true for Gorg the Slayer.

Soooo - that's it really, and I have not much to offer apart from a massive 

THANK YOU!

...and some fancy pics obviously. All done by Stevie Hoy / Old School Creative :--)

Cheers,

Kawe

International fulfillment has started!
11 months ago – Wed, May 24, 2023 at 11:57:23 AM

Hi everybody,

We've wrapped up the USA part of the campaign and if you haven't received your US parcel within the next 2 weeks, then you should reach out to us. 

Now we're taking care of the international pledges and I'd like to point a few things out:

1. Please be aware of how your country handles international imports! I know that a lot of rules seem to have changed with pandemics and wars and what not, and there are countries (or at least parts of countries) that expect postal customers to follow the tracking and contact customs when it lands. This happened recently with a stock parcel that went to Berlin/Germany, and god knows what all the other EU countries have in stock for us! So again - please make sure you are tracking your parcel (once you receive that tracking number).

2. I've been asked about import fees and these - again - depend on your country. From my experience are backers in the UK rarely if ever hit with such fees, while others - for example in Belgium - absolutely are. What I mean to say is that this is really out of our control.

Anyways! We expect to send the last parcel in the first week of June, and then we're done with MB.

At least for a while. :--)

Cheers!

Kawe

Progress Update - 58%
12 months ago – Wed, May 17, 2023 at 01:36:11 PM

I just wanted to share a short and sweet update  from Gregg - USA fulfillment, outside of a handful of remaining parcels that need some special attention is complete! (Dragon wings, it's always the cursed dragon wings!)
Overall we are also now 58% complete with fulfillment, and International fulfillment starts this week, and I will make another update concerning the handling shortly.
Please reach out via [email protected] if you haven't received your USA tracking number yet.

Thanks!

Working with Resin
12 months ago – Thu, May 04, 2023 at 12:13:47 PM

Hiya!

Since the minis are now arriving, I thought it would be a good time to clarify a few things about resin. I am sure most of you don't need any of that, but resin behaves differently from hard plastic and requires some prep!

Here is how I treat my resin minis before painting them.

+ I drop them in bowl of water with a few drops of dish soap over-night and scrub them a bit to make sure all the mould release is off.

+ I use instant glue - not plastic glue (I've had a few folks that didn't now that, and oh were they unhappy!)

+ If they have're bend parts, then I hod them under very warm water and straighten them.

As always somebody does is better, so I have linked a video below that covers the topic in-depth.

More soon!

Fulfillment starts now
about 1 year ago – Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 08:49:53 AM

Hey everyone, 

I just wanted to let you all know that we are starting fulfillment today (we have in fact already dropped off the first batch of parcels at the post!) You will get an e-mail notification with your USPS tracking code when your parcel has been shipped.

We expect the total fulfillment to take a few weeks given the amount of packages that need done, but we are on our way! Once the USA part is complete, we will start up on international fulfillment, which is unfortunately a bit of a slower process given all the customs requirements, and other carriers involved. We’re looking into ways of speeding up this process, but at the moment the most efficient method we’ve found is to tackle the USA first in general.

Here is a photo to capture some of the insanity, as we're in the middle of reconfiguring the shop to have a large enough fulfillment area for all of this. 

I will make the next update when we hit international fulfillment. 

Cheers!