THE HYDROCAL BUSINESS

So, you want to be a model kit manufacturer?

    I've been casting Hydrocal "professionally" since 1984. I am only able to do this artificially, by working out of the basement of my parent's home. So far it has not afforded its own roof!

    Perhaps very foolishly I have openly shared my knowledge with you, my fellow modelers. I have written several dozen how-to articles, conducted insightful clinics, answered all sorts of technical questions openly, and now even provide this information on-line. Much of this knowledge took years to develop the old fashioned way of trial and error. Yet I blab away. On more than one occasion I have been told by my competitors that I inspired them to become structure kit manufacturers!

    So, is that a big hole in my foot? Or have I helped the hobby? Well, financially I may not be wealthy but I keep telling myself it's okay, money is not everything- (none of the women I know, or have known, seem to agree). However, I am rich, very rich, in knowing that people are enjoying my models and techical help. Or at least I hope they are.

    Occasionally, I especially like this on a bad day, I'll go to the mail box and pull out an envelop where someone has take the time to write me a note, just a simple one, telling me how much they enjoyed one of my kits or made us of my castings in building a special model. It's a great feeling. It makes it that much easier to cast the next set or work on some new pattern work.

    Unfortunately, the hobby is graying fast. Go to any hobby shop, model railroading event or swap meet and just look around. There are not many kids entering the hobby. They are back at home in front of their computer screens, playing video games, surfing the net viewing God knows what (certainly not this site!). They wouldn't know the first thing about building a model. Would they? We no longer even teach them the basics in high school wood shop or drafting. And we old guys wouldn't know the first thing about what they are doing. I wish I were wrong and the kids today were excited about this great hobby. There are a few out there but certainly not as many who are able to tackle the many wonderful craftsman projects of my youth. Compare a typical issue of Model Railroader today with one 30-40 years ago! It's a very different hobby.

    All this looks bleak for our hobby. Even bleaker for someone like me who is attempting to make a living at it, at least in the traditional sence of craftsman structure kits. I've got a few years head start on anyone considering entering the market today. Perhaps this is counter productive to my earlier statement regarding my desire to help the hobby. If you can contribute, sure, why not climb on board. But understand that you probably are not going to make much money at it. I think I make about $2 per hour, if that. And there is no benefits package, no 401k, no paid holidays or 30 year reward pins. So, why did I quit the telephone company?

    It's long forgotten who first said this, but it's posed as a question: How do you make $100,000 in the model train business? Answer: Start with $200,000!

Or You Can Always Buy Out the Competition

    I've always prided myself in doing my own work. Or at least the core of it was my own, the Hydrocal patterns, the kit designs, the research. Though I do purchase parts from outside resources like Central Valley, Grandt Line and so on. And I've always poo-pooed those heartless machine-made plastics, or laser cut, or even those CAD drawings. They just don't have that extra human touch of the good old fashioned hand-produced items.

    So I was offered this great deal in the summer of 2002, to buy Jim Haggard's Builders In Scale. Jim's kits not only feature a little Hydrocal, my forte', but they excel in white metal details and laser cut wood. There's also a long list of other high quality components such as scale chain, corrugated and ribbed seam metal roofing/siding, tar papers, laser cut shingles of all shapes and sizes, photo etched items- everything you need to make, at least in my opinion, some of the best craftsman structure kits on the market.

    It was just too good a deal to pass up. I was the perfect candidate to take over his business. Not only do I know how to pick up what he's already got going, the Evening Express kits, the many detail parts and model builders supplies, but I know how to continue on beyond them and bring out new products and kits, not only for Builders In Scale, but the C. C. Crow line too! This is just too cool!

    So forget what I said about those heartless machines! Let's put them to work. Let's see what I can do with them.