Tooling a
full set of die-cast steel molds for one model is expensive.
The tooling investment for a 1/18-scale model car can be in the region
of US$100,000 to $200,000, depending on the complexity of the model and
the number of components.
This is the cost to produce in China, the same would have cost double or even triple in developed countries.
A set of 1/18 scale molds consists of twenty to thirty large and small blocks of steel molds.
The most complicated and also the largest piece, which can weight over a ton, is the mold to cast the main body due to its three-dimensional contour.
It requires, at minimum, several months or even up to a year of engineering work to produce a complete set of steel molds.
Once the mold is made, the product is cast in a split-second by injecting the molten metal into the mold cavity with a high-pressure casting machine. Hence, large quantities of products can be manufactured continuously and precisely, and the life of a mold tooled in high-grade steel can be as much as one million “shots,” or die-castings. It is therefore the most economical way to manufacture model cars in a large quantity, and all mass-market, toy-grade die-cast model cars are manufactured in such steel molds in order to make the product as cheaply as possible.
However, if the intended selling quantity is only a few thousand pieces, then a steel mold is also the most expensive way to manufacture the product because the investment in the tooling is amortized over a smaller quantity.
Divided by only a few thousand pieces, tooling costs alone can get as high as US$40 per model car.
This is the cost to produce in China, the same would have cost double or even triple in developed countries.
A set of 1/18 scale molds consists of twenty to thirty large and small blocks of steel molds.
The most complicated and also the largest piece, which can weight over a ton, is the mold to cast the main body due to its three-dimensional contour.
It requires, at minimum, several months or even up to a year of engineering work to produce a complete set of steel molds.
Once the mold is made, the product is cast in a split-second by injecting the molten metal into the mold cavity with a high-pressure casting machine. Hence, large quantities of products can be manufactured continuously and precisely, and the life of a mold tooled in high-grade steel can be as much as one million “shots,” or die-castings. It is therefore the most economical way to manufacture model cars in a large quantity, and all mass-market, toy-grade die-cast model cars are manufactured in such steel molds in order to make the product as cheaply as possible.
However, if the intended selling quantity is only a few thousand pieces, then a steel mold is also the most expensive way to manufacture the product because the investment in the tooling is amortized over a smaller quantity.
Divided by only a few thousand pieces, tooling costs alone can get as high as US$40 per model car.
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