2021 - December 25
New Product
- Cruiser Builder
- Heretic Engine
- Rudder S (light cruiser option)
- Bridge Options
- Tsar Bridge
Design Changes
- Revised Light Cruiser design
- Added bridge options
- Added 3x thruster options
- Added 4x side armour options
- Added detachable keel
General Improvements
- Made the keel on ENG light cruiser detachable so that it can be shipped by L. Envelope – saving shipping costs for client.
2021 - December 19
New Product
- Statue
- Wolf
- Eye of Behelit
- Heretic Symbol
- Special Effects
- Spikes
- Boils
- Tentacle
- Heretic Cruiser
- Infested rear armour plate
- Spike statue
2021 - November 29
New Product
- Prow – Jaeger
- Armour – Gothic
- Bridge – Asymmetric Crane
- Bridge – Catapult
- Bridge – Cyclops
- Heretic Weapon Spires (addon)
- 20cm steel chain
- Torpedo effect set
General Improvements
- Heretic weapon spires will now come bundled with Heretic Weapons
- Black and White decals will be provided as default on purchase of all ships M5 and larger(Light Cruiser)
- Pre-schism weaponry will be discontinued once stocks are exhausted
2021 - November 12
New Product
- K4 | Heretic Cruiser
- Prow – Broadleif
- Armour – Curved
- Armour – Plating
Design Changes
- Eagle Prow L now has torpedo holes
2021 - November 07
New Product
- M2 | Imperial Grand Battleship
- Bearded Axe Prow
Design Changes
- The ‘handlebars’ on the Gunprow were removed and was widened. The large version can now be shipped by envelope
2021 - August 25
New Product
- 7x Logistic Corp Modules
- 1x Corvette set with stand adaptor
- 3x Slimline weapons
- 4x Turrets in XL and L size
- 2x Decals in black & red
2021 - August 10
New Product
- Bridge Options
- Expansion Bays
2021 - July 02
New Product
- Waterslide Decals
- Heretic Weapon Bays
2021 - June 13
New Product
- M6 Escort Missile Frigate
General Improvements
- Removed [Gift Cards] functionality and refunded the few who purchased it with ‘super coupons’ with no expiry date. It created a lot of headaches where coupon users would insert coupon codes into clearly marked gift code input fields. This would result in the error [Gift code does not exist] and an unhappy user.
2021 - April 25
New Product
- Engineering Corps
- M3 | Battleship
- M4 | Cruiser
- M5 | Light Cruiser
- Battleship Parts
- M3 Expansion Bay
- Prow
- Knight
- Mech
- Gunprow
General Improvements
- Removed Apple/Google [Pay Now] button on individual product page
- Added new prow size [ML] that sits between Medium and Large prows. It will be used on M3 class ships.
- Added prod variation image for saint prows
2021 - April 11
New Product
- Gift Cards
- Imperial Prows:
- Shunt
- Snowpiercer
- Battleship Parts
- Keel [L]
- Tower [L]
- Diagonal Spire [L]
- Spires
Design Changes
- The new spires will replace the old ‘fire control towers’ packaged in with purchases. I might throw in one or two of the older towers during the transition period.
- Modified design of cruiser
- lowered funnel height so that it is a better statue platform
- removed ‘printed in place’ guns on wing tower so users can place custom turrets.
- recessed the protruding arches on top fore section so that slimline weapon bays look better on them
General Improvements
- Added Gallery page, basically my Instagram feed.
- Added Captcha to my form/enquiry submissions because of uptick in spam
2021 - March 28
New Product
- Custom print & design commissions
Design Changes
- Modify Saint/Holy Book prows so that they can fit spinal gun attachments
2021 - March 21
New Product
- Turret (x3 sizes)
- Wirbelwind
- Tiger
- Torpedo
- Prow Guns (x3 sizes)
- Dora
- Dora Tri-barrel
- Junon
- Junon Tri-barrel
- Armbruster
- Dreadfaust attachment
- Slimline Weapon module
- Quad broadside
- Hex broadside
- Twin turret bay
- Triple turret bay
- Ordnance:
- Tau-Ceti Fighter
- Tau-Ceti Bomber
- Tau-Ceti Transport
Design Changes
- Modified pre-schism hangar bay (var. A) to have finer inlay
General Improvements
- Added 32 SKUs to the accessory category. That is nearly a 50% increase to the range – pushing the accessory SKU count over 100. I don’t fully understand how I was that productive this week but lets hope it continues.
- Added a new range of weapon modules that I will call ‘slimline’ for now. I like chunky ships, but there are situations where a slimmer, simple profile is necessary by design.
- I am not sure where I will put the turret options. The simplest solution for me & the customer is to have the default standard turret – and the other options as an add-on. The only downside is that it creates waste if the customer doesn’t have a use for standard turrets.
2021 - March 14
New Product
- Flying Bases
- Citadel 60mm flying bases
- 35mm stem for 60mm magnetized flight stand
- 32mm third-party flying bases
- 20mm slotta base w/ attachment for ordnance
- Ordnance:
- Torpedo
- Heretic Transport
- Heretic Fighter
- Heretic Bomber
- Pre-schism hangar bay: variants B & C
Design Changes
- The rear flag on the battleship is now detachable
General Improvements
- Order turnaround time has been reduced from >6 days to 1.6 days on average over the past two weeks.
- Started offering third party bases at a 50% markup. I might have to raise it further depending on demand. I don’t want people buying in bulk. I would have to start managing supply chains and rely on partners who may not want to sell to me (I’m looking at you GW). It also defeats the beauty of this business: a zero inventory, print on demand service.
- Marder prow option now appears for B-ship and Cruisers. The issue went unnoticed for a week. Need to improve my QA testing as products become more complex with multiple dependencies.
2021 - March 7
New Product
- Pre-schism weapon bays
- Hangar
Design Changes
- Minor design revision of battleship & cleaned boole on peg hole because Chitubox can’t slice messy booles.
General Improvements
- Re-added Terms & Conditions checkbox on checkout page
- Changed message to: “Paypal currency conversion is terrible. You can save 2~3% with even a basic credit card.”
- Purchased Bambi BB15V dental compressor (£372) – it will be used for resin casting and airbrushing
2021 - February 28
New Product
- Carrier Titan [M1 Class]
- Prows
- Marder Prow: size S/M/L
- Prow flags
Design Changes
- Hollowed out 0.5g (out of total 4g) of the new [Expansion Bay] module. This is important because it affects the balance of the ship.
- Smoothed surface of [Statue – Shield] and put a frame around the shield edge
General Improvements
- Start using postal collection service from Royal Mail.
- Pro: Increase order turnaround speed. I don’t have to stand in line at 8:00AM in the morning for the 2-hour window that the RM collection office is open for.
- Con: I will have to absorb the (£0.75 per package) collection fee.
- Increased post-processing from 2 -> 3 steps. The newly added step involves methylated spirits in a sealed container for 2 minutes at 40°C in the ultrasonic cleaner. It gives the models a purple tint. Residue removal increased from 90% –> 100%. Further testing required to see how it affects strength of parts.
- Battleship Parts can be shipped by large envelope
- Update prow product image
2021 - February 21
New Product
- Carrier Titan [M1 Class] (50% complete)
- Marder Prow: size S/M/L (66% complete)
- Battleship parts:
- Expansion bay
- Lion L statue
- Invigilator statue
- Cruiser Parts:
- Dome M
- Crane M
Design Changes
- Smoothed surface of Eagle Prow L
- Enlarged Beacon Angel by 20%
- Re-modeled flame of ‘Burning Book’ prow so that it is easier to paint.
General Improvements
- Set up Elegoo Saturn printer (£425). I can now produce Titan class ships
- Massive increase in ship strength & durability.
- Pro: strength without compromising detail, raises brand value.
- Con: expensive custom resin will double production cost. Additional step required in cleaning process to remove oily residue = increase in solvent cost.
- Validated using drop tests
- Renamed ‘Statues’ product to ‘Battleship Parts’
2021 - February 14
New Product
- Premium Weapon modules:
- Twin Plasma Cannon Var.B
- Cruiser Parts
- Turret L
Design Changes
- Reduced height of Turret M so that it is compatible with GW lance bays
General Improvements
- Prints will now be processed using an ultrasonic cleaner (£75).
- Made mobile experience snappier. It accounts for 60% of all traffic.
- New cover photo for Home page and FB
- Added ‘Contact Us’ section on home page
- Set up email forwarding so that I can respond on mobile very quickly
- Add numbering to index image on Cruiser Parts. There are 19 SKUs in that product page and it is hard to find and select the ones you want.
- Added form submission on product page
2021 - February 07
New Product
- Premium Weapon modules:
- Twin Plasma Cannon
- Battleship Statues
- Added 6 new options
- Replacement statues available for purchase separately
Design Changes
- Banners & Flags will be removed from models
- This design issue has been polarizing for customers. An optional add-on just like the clip on weapon banners will be made available in the future.
- Effective immediately – previous model editions are now ‘out-of-print’.
- Battleship:
- Reduced height of balancing holes because gaps between weaponry were showing.
- Added x2 ‘L Turrets’ to the package.
General Improvements
- The following products can now be shipped by Large Envelope and will save shipping costs:
- Light Cruiser
- Premium Weapons
- Large Fortress / Wedge / Eagle prows
2021 - January 31
New Product
- Premium Weapon modules:
- Twin Flak Cannon
- Decorative module
Design Changes
- Scaled up the Light Carrier by 10% so its’ size is more in line with Cruisers
- Added more greeble details to the [Saint] Prow
- Added more details to the [Eagle] prow
- Added more details to the [Wedge] Prow
General Improvements
- Removed [Failed Prints] product category after someone called me disgusting. Efficiency was also up and I was not getting enough print failures to justify maintaining it.
- Reversed my decision on tracked deliveries only after witnessing people purchase £5 goods and pay £13 for shipping. Untracked Large Envelope shipping seems viable and can fit a lot of small scratchbuilder SKUs and costs only £4 to ship. My earlier decision on tracked deliveries was a knee-jerk reaction to Royal Mail experiencing difficulties from a COVID surge that has since subsided.
- Separated [Weapon Modules] into two products. Moved complex weapons that are tricky to print or require assembly to [Premium Weapon Modules]. I did this to provide price transparency. A lot of sellers use bait-and-switch methods to lure customers in with low pricing, but it only ends up sowing distrust.
- Removed “I have read the Terms & Conditions” checkbox on checkout because recent rulings show it is pointless additional step for customers. For it to have any legal power, a new window must pop-up showing the actual terms and conditions, through which the user must scroll through to accept. No-one has time for that, especially when the stakes are this low.
- Added the [Notice] section
2021 - January 24
New Product
- [Failed Prints] product added – primarily for scratchbuilders and as a potential loss-leader
- Cruiser Parts
- 12 new SKUs for scratchbuilders
- Weapon modules:
- Torpedo – forward
- Torpedo – broadside
- Clip on Banner x6
Design Changes
- Balance/stability improvements for all models
- [Cruiser Parts] Resized fire control towers to be thinner
- [Cruiser Parts] Engine x4 is now smaller and ‘snap-on’ modular
- [Weapon Modules] Added drainage channels
- Torpedo tubes removed from all prows (except escort)
General Improvements
- Free worldwide delivery now available
- Changed all shipping options to tracked after losing many packages.
- Redesigned ‘About Us’ page
- Added labels on grouped product images
- Designed & tested waterslide decal prototypes
- Added dimensions to images on [Cruiser Parts] components
- Not happy with final images but they will do for now
2021 - January 17
Product image on December 05
Product image on December 27
Product image on January 17
The above representative product [Imperial Battleship] has undergone several design revisions and render styles over the last month. The key emphasis has been on surviving the shipping process and design modularity.
General Improvements
- All product pictures updated with new renders
- Thumbnails reduced to 10kb PNGs
- Homogenized product photos in blue-grey resin colouring with profile shots.
- Further optimized mobile website load times
- Added banner option to weapon modules
Design Changes
- Ships are now fully modular & customizable.
- Statues will be replaceable, more options coming soon
- Raised up the midsection of Light Cruiser
- Added dimples to centre of weapon bays for easier module magnetization
Beta Service 2021 - January 10
New Product:
- Cruiser Parts – 6 SKUs added
- Weapon Module
- Broadside S,
- Broadside L,
- Flechette added
General Improvements
- Tested layer compositing feature so customers can fully customize their ships and see what the end product would look like.