BB Panels - flogging a dead horse?

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

I've spent weeks and approaching 300 quid developing BB Panels, I have the design refined to as perfect a fit as I can, there's slight movement on the tank side due to not being able to get the magnet holes close enough to the edge without breaking through but I'm countersinking them to allow for that.

Perfectionist in me is trying to prevent them looking cheap, plain 3D printed plastic doesn't cut it even though they are the easiest and cheapest to produce, they just look cheap to me, I've tried sanding them but you still see print lines, the only colour to look good is White.

Anyway after testing so many ways of coating and many failures along the way (including Plasti-Coat which is peeling) I'm leaning towards Resin coating, I have a batch ready to coat and some colour pigments arriving today so high hopes for them as early results are pretty good.

Anyway, I'm prattling on, basically I'm after guidance of what people want, the design with the windows I think are ideal and have them fitted on mine.

Is there demand for them? what are you looking for finish & design wise and what kind of price are you willing to pay?

I'm in too deep to simply walk away from them so hoping there's demand.

Appreciate any feedback even if it make me crawl into a corner & sulk

 

[Martvb60]

Hi Simon here's my take on it. I like what you do and how you do it as i am sure most people on POTV do. I think there is limited demand on this site, i think if you look at this section there is probably a max of 30 people have written on it and not all of those seem do do so on a regular basis. The longstanding BB users here ie Rob, Tartanspartan, Domejunky , to name 3 probably have panels for their BB's and although they may buy a set or two they are not going to want more than that. Myself and others like me who only have 1 or 2 BB's are probably not going to want 10, 15, 20 sets of BB panels just special ones i.e. with something personal to them. I know Rob has said this before but I agree you need to get your designs onto social media where you will have a larger market. In the last week on FB i have seen at least two different people starting up 3D printing for BB accessories so it is catching on and the longer you leave it the further behind you are when you start These are my opinions Si and i may be wrong about any or all of it but i just don't see POTV members satisfying demand enough for you to justify the cost of it all. Cheers Martin

 

[rew]

I have one BB and can't see me ordering lots of different panels. As @Martvb60 says, I don't think there will be large and constant demand coming from POTV.

 

[quincey43]

I think as said above you need to get on social media to make a real go of it. You did me some peronalised panels which although as you say not quite working as you wanted I would be more than happy to pay for panels when you are happy with them. There are just not enough people on here with BB's to make it worth your while. Facebook is your friend like it or not!!

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

Perfect feedback which has given me plenty of brain food thank you.

Yeah I fully understand about facebook, Rob & Dave have already convinced me I need to get back on there.

I understand the BB section on here won't be much of a market but a great place to test the waters, last thing I want is to release sub standard items and get a bad reputation.

I've checked out the competition as much as I can but keen to bring something either new to the table and high quality.

The finishing has been the biggest issue, obviously folks will have varying tastes but hopefully Resin is the way forward, I have plans for a few styles from translucent colours to photo printed patterns or personalised photos.

Thank you all

 

[quincey43]

Perfect feedback which has given me plenty of brain food thank you.

Yeah I fully understand about facebook, Rob & Dave have already convinced me I need to get back on there.

I understand the BB section on here won't be much of a market but a great place to test the waters, last thing I want is to release sub standard items and get a bad reputation.

I've checked out the competition as much as I can but keen to bring something either new to the table and high quality.

The finishing has been the biggest issue, obviously folks will have varying tastes but hopefully Resin is the way forward, I have plans for a few styles from translucent colours to photo printed patterns or personalised photos.

Thank you all

I love the sound of the photo printed panels brilliant way to personalise them, look forward to seeing them on here!

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

I love the sound of the photo printed panels brilliant way to personalise them, look forward to seeing them on here!

Can I ask your opinion on that? with the windows on the tank side it's really hard to cut out the photo neatly, do you think it's viable to offer photo panels without the windows?

These were photo printed and resin coated, you can see they are a bit untidy around the cutouts:

 

[quincey43]

Can I ask your opinion on that? with the windows on the tank side it's really hard to cut out the photo neatly, do you think it's viable to offer photo panels without the windows?

These were photo printed and resin coated, you can see they are a bit untidy around the cutouts:

View attachment 186706

I would be more than happy to not have the windows I am sure they would look more sleek without,

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

I will try a sample with my cat Muffy when she was a kitten

 

[Vapaneezer Scrooge]

Myself and others like me who only have 1 or 2 BB's are probably not going to want 10, 15, 20 sets of BB panels

I have 3 BB's and 25 sets of panels

How are your Batman Panels holding up? have you had any peeling issues? if so I will replace them once I've got hings sorted.