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This is a repost of what was posted in MERCS: Recon Update #149 when they visited the factories in China. I found it interesting and the information is useful to some people to understand what goes into this process. This has been one of the more detailed examples that I have seen given recently so figured I'd share it for references and discussions.

ZibO Visit

We’ve meet with the owner of ZibO several times, but this was the first opportunity we had to see his newer facility. Benjamin is a native of France with a degree in material engineering. He also has sculpted in the past so knows a great deal about what makes a mini good.



The process of getting a mold ready to be a mold is much more complicated than we were aware. It is much more machinist workshop than casting facility. These are pictures of the mold pieces as they are received. These are Warbands’ molds. These metal molds have already been processed in a metal casting facility. The process starts with a resin, then moves into a reverse ceramic process that the metal is poured over to create the molds.



When ZibO gets pieces like these, they machine them down so they fit (much like puzzle pieces). These are the pieces that get ground down and cut to shape. This early part of the process is much more of an industrial machine shop.



These pieces are fit into the cavity of a metal press (see image), the metal press and the metal mold puzzle pieces make up a mold. The mold is then vented and tested (more on that later).



When a mold is tested it is placed into a PVC machine like this. The material is poured into the machine, this section here melts the material and pressures the material down into the mold. Things we learned here helped us in our conversation and evaluation of Ningbo’s process. We had planned the order of all the meetings to really arm us with information on how the entire manufacturing should have went so we could troubleshoot Ningbo’s process.

We learned quite a bit that would help us in our later visits. A machine needs to be on for about 3 hours before the mold is hot enough to receive the material to get good impressions and the pressure must be constantly adjusted during the warmup period. If manufacturers do not take enough time, you get minis with soft impressions (in particular, you get flat faces…sound familiar). It often has nothing to do with the mold, it has to do with properly allowing the machine to process through the bad minis.



ZibO recycles their wasted plastic back into kibble that can be processed by the machine again. Miniatures are made up of 70% new and 30% recycled plastic. And this is where their use of ground down and recycled bits helps them. They don’t feel like the warmup is a complete waste. The machine has to be tweaked and ran until it ejects the sprue naturally with little pulling.


Recycled plastic in the foreground. New (white) plastic in the background.

ZibO has people present at this step to approve when the molds are ready and when the actual production of the minis begins. Every other piece before that point is then collected by them and taken to grinding. This means no inferior minis can slip into approved minis. He says even with them this is always a problem. And that is why they must be present in the factory so often. It also points to the importance of just a few individuals in important spots that can make or break the quality check.

When pieces are finished they are collected, parted, and assembled. We can’t really offer any pictures of these areas in either factory because other company minis were being assembled.



The step ZibO really excels at is the double checking of the process. The owner is a sculptor with a degree in material engineering. He marks the test presses versus the PU’s. PU’s are the early resins that the ceramic is based off of. They represent a perfect cast and he compares the early test presses and marks issues with a red marker.



Benjamin looks at every first injection and compares it to the PU. He also does consistent QC spot checks on every production mold during production. Anything he finds that is troubling he marks in a red pen. It can be lack of detail, a bubble, thin material, or even if he feels it will have trouble maintaining rigidity.




He then goes back into the metal mold pieces and fixes the molds. This can be grinding or drilling down into the mold more or it could be filling the mold more and in extreme cases it can mean remaking the mold.

I was surprised they were surprised it looks much more like a machinist workshop.

I know how these facilities work and what machinery they need and I have not done a miniature ever.

 PsychoticStorm wrote:
I was surprised they were surprised it looks much more like a machinist workshop.

I know how these facilities work and what machinery they need and I have not done a miniature ever.

I think it was probably along the lines they didn't expect that so much machinist work was done in the mold prep and that it wasn't done out of house. I can see where some people have the impression that it would just be classic manufacturing look and expect that facilities are mostly injection casting machines. They probably didn't expect that much prep work having to be done for the mold itself so that it would work in the machines.



They were probably expecting to have most of the machine work done off sight or someplace else and they would see more of completed plates like #6 and #7. Realistically it is better and easier to do that all in-house since that means you have better control on what pieces to group with what items.

I like that 1/6 doll skeleton!

At one point there was talk he was going to sell just the skeleton but I don't think it happened. We haven't gotten any of the smart dolls because I'm waiting for the electronic one, which can be remote controlled by your smart phone, that he has been working on. My wife does own a couple Iplehouse dolls though.

I'd be interested in it as an unassembled kit, if it comes up again. Oh, well.

Very interesting!

Good read! other way of doing the mould (or postiches) that are inserted in the frame/cage is with electro erosion process, like the factory i am working on is doing.

Diference is that this method, where they pour the metal over the ceramic is cheaper and faster, but is more brittle, you have to manage the mould with care , is like aluminium, you can deform it easyly.
because of this it wears down faster,, you can do like 500.000 onjectiosn with no problem.

In the other hand, electroerosion is more expensive and takes more time, but lasts "for ever", because you are not using poured metal, you are making the postiches with tempered solid steel.

Anyway, for wargaming/hobby product, making poured moulds is just fine.

electroerosion or direct milling in tnto the mould is for real time massive products for massive consume, as maximum i would use the method for generic hobby parts that could be selled for a long time, "timeless generic objects"