Carcassonne Central

After reading about Jofasa's aluminium meeples, I wanted to try something similar myself. I bought some tin, moulding sand and borrowed a (very) old hot plate from my dad ;D

Moulding sand is a cheap way for making moulds, but it has a disadvantage: you can use the mould only once, because you have to get the tin object out. Fortunately you can use the sand itself multiple times.

Well, after some experimenting I found out that I had to use chalk powder to prevent the mould from being destroyed when I pull out the original object, i.e. the meeple.

(http://redpanda.nl/Mould.jpg)
You still have to be extremely careful!

My tin meeple set is almost complete now. I have yet to finish the meeples (saw the back off, and make the front look better).

(http://redpanda.nl/Meeples.jpg)

Impressive!  Are you going to paint them at all?

So did you mix the chalk with the sand? Or did you just use chalk?
Those look wonderful! Are you going to polish or paint them?

Thanks! I am not going to paint them, but I will polish them :)
I've spent a few hours on sawing and rough-polishing (with a file), if I can find steel wool I can finish them.

(http://redpanda.nl/TinMeeples2.jpg)

I did not mix the sand with the talc. I used a brush to put the talc on the wooden gamepieces ;)

Well I must say I am very impressed! Nice work. Bet you will feel smug when you use them in play!

Those are very nice!

Thanks Chris. Since the forums are on-line again I can post the final results of my pewter meeples :)

(http://redpanda.nl/TinMeeples.png)

Those look fantastic! Thanks for posting your pictures, I was so curious as to how they turned out and while the forums were down I was wondering if we'd ever get to see them.

Wow, these look great.  The tin dragon looks amazing.

Glad you like them! I have to say they look a little better on this picture than they are in reality, because some meeples have some rough edges or dimples. This is because I use the casting sand instead of rubber molds.

Novelty, that dragon was a disaster to get right ;D I couldn't get the mold right, because the sand got stuck between the pointy parts of its tail and neck. It took quite some filing to remove the abundant pewter.

I would like to apply some kind of finish on them, like galvanizing them. Unfortunately it seems this is rather difficult with pewter objects. If anyone has suggestions on how I could achieve nice finishes, please let me know. I don't want to paint them :)

Oh by the way, I made some extra key chains. If you are interested, please PM me. I don't have any experience with sending post to the US, so I would have to sort that out. [/merchant modus]

Are you selling the pieces? Heh!

How about gold plating (or silver plating - that'd be cheaper) these meeples?  Would it work?

Novelty, I've been thinking about that. According to some sources, you first need a layer of copper or nickel  (or both), after that it should be possible to create a silver or gold layer. Sounds too expensive to me, I'm just a poor college student ;D

Yep, the original idea was to offer some meeples for sale, however there are some issues with my latest batch of pewter, so I have to sort that out first. But if somebody would like to buy some, please don't hesitate to inform :)

Somebody asked (click (http://carcassonnecentral.com/forum/index.php?topic=1182.msg17021#msg17021)) whether I could describe the casting process when using silicone moulds. I made some pictures yesterday, certainly not HD, but good enough to illustrate the process...

Silicone mould of the dragon. There is just one runner (big channel where the liquid pewter comes in) and two vents (small channels to let the air out of the mould). The three hexagonal bars are there to keep both parts aligned:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting1.png)

Going to grease the mould with graphite pulver:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting2.png)

After applying the graphite pulver:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting3.png)

I used to grease the moulds with talc:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting4.png)

Melting the pewter, notice the red-hot ring on the hot plate (my camera actually picks up some radiation that our eyes can't perceive):
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting5.png)

After pouring the pewter in the moulds:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting6.png)

After only a few minutes, you can separate the two halves of the moulds. Notice the dimples, this was the first casting - moulds are not yet warmed up:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting7.png)

Other side of the meeples, notice the solidified runners (and pits around it) and vents:
(http://www.redpanda.nl/Casting8.png)

The only problem left are the pits around the solidified runners. The dimples on the other side are almost gone, just by experimenting with the amount of graphite/talc powder, temperature of the pewter, etc...

It's really nice to see this process.  I appreciate the photos.  Merit point for you!

Thanks Chris ;D

Ok, I think I should be able to solve the problem with the dragonmould now. I didn't create risers in the mould, and I think I should...

(http://www.redpanda.nl/Dragons.png)

I just ordered a disc sander, because I'm so tired of sanding and polishing...

It arrived last week, it really is a useful tool :). I tweaked the casting process some more; when using pewter with 95% tin, it works fine now. I made a new set of meeples, and some other stuff (big meeple with an embedded Neodymium magnet, some dragons... ;D)

(http://redpanda.nl/NewMeepleSet.png)

(http://redpanda.nl/NewMeepleExtra.png)

If anybody would like to order some stuff, please send me a PM :). Shipping costs to the USA are 2,85 Euro up to 100 gram, 5,70 Euro up to 250 gram. An entire set (14 meeples, so 8 normal, 1 large, 1 mayor, 1 farm, 1 pig, 1 builder, 1 wagon) weighs about 200 gram.

 :o :o :o

Um...wow!!!

I would be interested in a full set of metal meeples. Those look amazing!

PM me when you have a chance and we can discuss further.

Those are truly fantastic.  I would be very excited if you made them available to me, either a complete set of meeples, a keychain or both.  Besides adding a 7th player, it would be an awesome addition to my near complete set of carcassonne goodness.

---tom

Thank you for your kind words :D. A few people have asked me about the costs, so I thought it would be a good idea to mention it here, and some background info.

The meeples are casted from 95% tin, this is a rather expensive material: about 35 - 40 Euro per kg. A finished set consisting of 14 meeples weighs almost 200 gram, but some more is needed because of the runners, vents, and eventually the sanding. This means that just the pewter itself for a set costs me about 8 - 9 Euro.
I started with casting in moulding sand, but switched to silicone moulds. These can be used multiple times, but are of course more expensive to create. From melting the pewter, to greasing to moulds with graphite- or talc powder, to cutting off the vents and runners, sanding and polishing it, it takes me a bit more than two hours to complete a set. Furthermore, keep in mind the costs of the silicone moulds and sanding discs / machine.

Finally, there are the shipping costs. Worldwide I can ship up to 250 gram for 5,70 Euro. All in all, a price of 30 Euro including shipment seems reasonable to me. For this amount I'll add a key chain or a magnet, the choice is yours!

By the way, it is also possible to order single meeples, like a dragon, key chains or magnets. Just PM me :)

Would it be possible to get a dragon instead of a keychain or magnet as the bonus meeple when buying the set?

Yep, however there are two problems:
- A dragon weighs about 65 gram, and since the complete set weighs about 200 gram, this is just a little too much for 250 gram. The shipping costs up to 500 gram are 10,45 Euro already, up to 100 gram it's 2,85 worldwide.
- The dragon is still a very difficult figure to cast. I'm still dealing with shrinkage, even though I added some risers. Therefore, only 1 in 8 or 9 dragons are casted successfully, while the ratio of other meeples is about 3 in 4.

[Offtopic] Just added the word "meeple" to my on-line dictionary, it kept suggesting "steeple" or "steeples" ;D

My set just arrived.  They look great and I hope to share some in-game photos shortly.  Thank you for making such a specialty, hand made product available to us!

I wonder what looks I will get when I bust out my custom meeple set at game night?  This is WAY nerdier than having lucky dice. :-D

The only thing nerdier than bringing your own custom pewter meeples is bringing them in a custom case. ;D

My pleasure, I like the thought that my sets are used in countries far away :).

By the way, I've been looking for the "Wheel of Fortune" variant. Unfortunately, it also costs a Fortune (;D...) to ship it to The Netherlands. I was wondering whether it is possible to put the contents in a big envelope (probably less shipping costs than a parcel)? I don't need the box itself. Any indication of the price + shipping costs? If it's about the same as one of my sets, maybe we could trade. Please let me know :)

That's funny…ever since I started playing The Tower, we call it "meeples and steeples." :D

So, you are cool to ship to Indiana in the United States?  I'm not up on Euros either...lol...but I am very interested in getting some of these.

What would a tumbler do to your "rough" meeples?  https://shop.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=tumbler (https://shop.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=tumbler)

seems like a belt sander may be better for obtaining a nice face on the pieces.

@Jcardwell, I tried sandblasting some time ago, but then the pewter gets dull, not so shiny anymore. I think tumbling would lead to the same result.
A belt sander would've been better than a Disc sander, without doubt. Too bad I didn't think about that when I bought it. However, the results I get with a course grit are fine :)

Anyhow, I recently bought a new batch of Pewter-95, with a little discount. Furthermore, I came across some small velour bags, so I can now offer a complete set (14 meeples) with a black velour bag for 25 Euro, Worldwide shipping included. Note: The total costs might be a little higher due to PayPal charges.

(http://www.redpanda.nl/MeeplesBag.png)