We need SHAKO's

[woody64]

I have also this nasty shako problem with my french soldiers.

I will try to make some out of cylinders with a rasp. I've shown that already in another therad ...

Is there any form designer willing to make that out of resine?

Andreas

Edit Bonaparte:

For those amongst us who don't know what a shako is, here's a description from wikipedia:

A shako is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually peaked, sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with some kind of ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise, and often has a feather, plume, or pompon attached at the top.

[Fordo]

Is there any form designer willing to make that out of resine. I would praise someone who made a resine for Shako's.

[woody64]

I've taken a look on www.brickarms.com and sent a question if the production of custom shakos is possible.

Let's look for the answer ...

andreas

[Bonaparte]

I've taken a look on www.brickarms.com and sent a question if the production of custom shakos is possible.

Let's look for the answer ...

andreas

I'm interested in their answer.

But I fear that they are not allowed to make an identical shako as the one from Lego.

[Mister Phes]

What about the Minifig Customization Network? Would someone there have such skills?

[Fordo]

Woody said "custom shakos" So he would prabably alter the colour or scratch off the Lego logo.

What about the Minifig Customization Network? Would someone there have such skills?

Yes RecluceMage is a great caster but has only done Starwars and Castle stuff maybe you could PM her.

[Mister Phes]

Yes, by all means invite Ms Mage to this thread and see what she can tell us!

[Fordo]

I have just send her a PM and asked her to join and discuss this with us if not I'll relay the messages.

The message I send her:

Due to the short supply of the Pirate Shako's we (the pirate fans on EuroBricks) were looking for an easier way to acquire them and we were disccusing it when I brought up your name due to your excellent casting skills. I was wonder if you could cast a Shako for us, I'll provide a reference pic. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2545 Also we'd like if you came over to the pirate fourm and discussed it with us. Thanks for your time.

[woody64]

I'm thinking more on a shako looking like this:

http://www.hat.com/Curr/boxrafre.jpg

With this shako we have the possibility to build a lot of different soldiers of different armies.

Maybe the moderator can split this discussion into an extra one, since that is an important topic to discuss.

from brickarms I got this answer:

Hello,

I've read in your FAQ your molding technique.

Since I'm in a LEGO minifig discussion group where often the availability of helmets as shown in the links below is asked, I wonder if that would be possible with your technique.

http://napnuts.tripod.com/napwars/rafre.jpg

http://media.peeron.com/ldraw/images/0/100/2545.png

Would that be possible? At which costs?

Hi Andreas. The image in the first link does not come up for me. However, the helmet in the second image can be done with injection molding. That being said, minifg helmets are one of the most difficult items to mold due to the incredible tolerances required, and the requirement that they fit tightly, but are also easily removable.

It would cost you well into the thousands of dollars (USD) for tooling to produce the mold, as well as hundreds of dollars to produce the prototypes for testing

Thanks a lot for the quick answer. Oncemore the link.

http://www.hat.com/Curr/boxrafre.jpg

Is that something you can imagine to add to your portfolio if there is enough interest?

It is possible, but not very likely. I'll let you know if I do.

[jamtf]

Due to the scarcity of the item I decided to fit some of my soldiers with the plain old black top hat. Not the real thing but it works... a little. Or give them a hairpiece or a bicorne / tricorne instead. A conquistador or morion helmet works also but these are getting more expensive too.

[Bonaparte]

Maybe the moderator can split this discussion into an extra one, since that is an important topic to discuss.

This topic has been splitted!

Personally, I would be willing to buy non-Lego shako's as long as they are identical to the official Lego shako.

Because the official shako is plain black, it can be easily decorated with paper for making a distinction between different factions. The main reason is because I already own 350 official Lego shako's and I don't want to mix these with a non-official version that looks different. I believe it is important we agree on this first before convincing a modeler to start producing them.

We should also work on a "business case", so we can convince a modeler to start the production of shako's. If we want to convince someone to start producing shako's and pay the initial costs for starting a production, he will need a good idea about the size of the potential market because this person wants to make some money! So how much money would you guys be willing to spend on these shako's? What would be an acceptable price per item (knowing that the current price on bricklink is around $2-$2,5 with only very low quantities available per shop)?

[Tanotrooper]

I think 1dollar/euro would be a good price for most collectors, since we need to buy them in bulk.

I made a design for the English shakos, which I will post asap.

Gaetano

[Mosana]

I'm fine with the shakos just being the same as Lego ones. I can paint the plumes or stick on badges or cords if I want.

[Fordo]

I would be willing to pay $1-2 per Shako as long as their in bulk.

[woody64]

I would be willing to pay $2-3 per Shako as long as their in bulk.

Interesting. I thought more people will vote for a more french looking shako then for the original.

But nevertheless, I also think 1EUR could be a good price.

But more interesting is the quantity to attract a possible molder to create some base forms.

I will need between 20 and 30 shakos.

Andreas

[Fordo]

I will need 150-300 Shako's.

[woody64]

Due to the scarcity of the item I decided to fit some of my soldiers with the plain old black top hat. Not the real thing but it works... a little. Or give them a hairpiece or a bicorne / tricorne instead. A conquistador or morion helmet works also but these are getting more expensive too.

Not so wrong in some cases:

Also the british 1801 infantry regiments had such top hats.

[Tanotrooper]

you can easily sand down a top hat (makes me remind of top cat lol) to a very straight shako.

I would love to see the french shako instead of the official one. Then I only need the official ones for straight shakos.

I would be interested in buying 10 to start but that will rise when I have more bodies.

Gaetano

[Fordo]

Sanding kinda takes awhile when your doing it for massive armies, so I personally wouldn't use the Top hat, decaling 80+ men takes a long time.

[Mister Phes]

Not so wrong in some cases. Also the british 1801 infantry regiments had such top hats.

I've seen them used for sailing too.

Read more about them

[woody64]

Yes you will find them also on ships with the classical british red/white uniforms for the soldiers and I think also with blue/white for the marine officers.

http://www.britishempire.co.uk/media/cigar...tteoldpart2.htm

http://www.napoleon-series.org/images/mili...lMarine1815.jpg

[jamtf]

Some of the sailors on the ships in Pirates of the Caribbean and the Horacio Hornblower series wear them (the black top hat) too. That is where I got the idea from. X-D

[Scouty]

If I had the right supplies, I could make a bunch. But alas, I don't, and the supplies to make these are quite expensive.

[Capn Frank]

I too am in need of shakos. Pretty soon, i'll need 29 shakos to complete all the headgear of the 55 marines on the USS Constitution :-/

and my brother will need about 100 shakos 8-o

There isn't even close to that many shakos available in the US on BL :(

I found this website called the minifig customization network.

They suggested cutting up a top hat here to make a shako. |-/

Don't think i like that idea much.

But the part i'm really interested in is silicone molding talked about here in another one of their forums.

I think i may have to experiment with silicone molding. Seems reletively cheap.

P

[woody64]

I asked back at the Lego online shop for this shako but they answered that this part isn't available any longer.

So we are in the need to find a silicone molder willing to make some forms and to sell them ....

Andreas