I know I am not the only game in town and there are several other well known manufacturer that offer quality parts and services similar to mine. I do not class these guys a competitors, but as associates as we are all working for the benefit and expansion of the hobby.
These are manufactures I recommend for quality parts and service that I am familiar with.
Dave Dibb Armorpak UK. Quality white metal and resin parts for Axis and Allied tanks and AFV's.
Steve Hoeger Panzerwerk USA. Quality resin parts for Axis and Allied tanks and AFV's.
Lee Sellers Newthorpe Models UK. Full build service of tanks and AFV's.
Tim Catton UK. Quality metal parts.
Steve Winstone UK. Quality metal parts.
Tim Bowman Panzertrap USA. Quality parts, great line of tank and gun ammunition and boxes.
Armortek UK. The foremost all metal tank and AFV producers in the world.
Here is what 6th Scale Icons Inc. offer.
GUARANTEE
1. Full money back guarantee if you are not satisfied for any reason. No requests to date on products I produce.
FREE REPLACEMENT
2. Free replacement of any damage parts if damaged during normal usage or if you damage a part during assembly. Running your tank into a brick wall or tree does not qualify. But I will work with you.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS
3. Products come with full instructions for assemble and fitting were necessary.
FIXTURES
4. Products come with all nuts, bolts, screws and fixtures for assembly and fitting. You only need to supply glue or solder if needed.
CONTACT
5. All e-mails, orders, requests and questions normally answered with 24 hours unless I am away for the weekend, or your question needs research to answer. Payment received notice sent by e-mail. Shipping notice by e-mail sent the day your order is mailed.
QUALITY OF PRODUCT
6. I use only original pictures of my unpainted products in my catalog and posts. What you see is what your get. No guesswork or misrepresented parts.
NO COPYING OF OTHER 6 SCALE PRODUCTS IN ANYWAY
7. All masters for parts are made by myself, or inspected for quality if made by a third party before casting molds are made. I do not copy, recast, re-engineer other manufactures products, this is unethical to say the least and in some cases illegal. You will not receive any second generation parts from me.
PRODUCTS FULLY RESEARCHED
8. All my products are fully researched to the best of my ability and based on period pictures, reference books, scaled drawing and sometimes actual 1:1 parts. In some cases information received from hobbyist with more knowledge than I on certain parts. I do not put a part into production until I have exhausted all avenues of research available to me.
AFTER SALES SERVICE
9. Once you are a customer you have my full knowledge and advice at your finger tips, just ask, if I can help I will. If I do not have the answer to hand I will try to find it.
LARGEST AXIS PARTS SELECTION TO SHOP FROM
10. Largest selection of Axis tank and AFV accessories under one roof in the world, I think!
NEWSLETTER
11. Newsletter sent on a regular basis to inform you of new products and updates on production and orders.
FORUM POST
12. Regular posts about products,information and advice.
SLIGHT DISADVANTAGE
Due to the high volume of orders I sometimes have, delivery of some parts can take time. I also have to spend many hours researching and producing new parts in order to stay in business, this can delay orders that contains parts that require a lot of build time. Please remember, this is a one man operation, I am getting old and there are only so many hours in a day. You guys made me successful, so please allow me time to give you the quality parts you expect. I am still working on getting basic assembly and casting done by a third party, but this is proving difficult to arrange at the moment.
HISTORY
I started work my first 6 scale parts for a Tiger 1 tank in May of 2003 on the request of a tank manufacture, by July of that year I had produced 10 basic sets. Set 1, a five piece tools set, axe, hammer, wire cutters, shovel and pry bar. Set 2, track tow rope. Set 3, Tank tow rope and cleaning rod. Set 4, jack, jack block and start crank. Set 5, U and C Shackles. Set 6, turret and deck mounted smoke and grenade dischargers. Set 7, fire extinguisher, antennas, antenna bases and antenna stowage tube. Set 8, turret mounted spare track link holders and tarp tie downs. Set 9, single mounted headlight and Set 10, twin mount head lights. All of these parts were hand crafted by myself. When the manufacture declined to buy them after I had put in all the work I decide to offer them on ebay. By September I had sold over $8000.00 worth to less than fifteen customers. All parts were cast and almost ready to ship in October when the California wildfires hit. I lost everything in the fires with the exception on my van, my computer and the cloths I stood in. By December I had rebuilt my workshop, had all parts recast for orders and shipped around $10,000.00 worth of parts by the holidays.
Since that set back I have produced over the last 8 years more than 250 basic products which relate to well over 500 retail items which involve the production of thousands of different parts, all relating to Axis tanks and AFV's. I only have one product for Allied vehicles.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
I currently have 625 customers on my mailing list that have purchased from me. Customer worldwide locations, 326 in the US, 131 in the UK. 33 in Germany, 20 in Australia/New Zealand, 17 in Canada, 17 in France, 96 in the rest of Europe and the balance throughout the rest of the world. My gross sales since January 2005 is over half a million dollars, those are big numbers in this small hobby. I must be doing something right and the sales of my products attests to the quality and service. I have never had a complaint about my products or services posted on any news group or forum to my knowledge.
CUSTOMER USAGE OF PARTS
Many well known modelers that frequently post their builds on forums use my products. I do not feel it appropriate to use their names here, but you all know them well and many actually name me in their posts.
Work done over the last eight years. With hundreds of hours in research, producing masters and artwork for photo-etched parts it is hard to figure out exactly how much time was spent, but I estimate 25% or more on my work time was used for these tasks. The following pictures show the results of the time spent in producing the products.
Machined parts designed and scaled drawings produced by me for production.
Investment bronze cast master parts.
Brass, aluminum and white metal masters.
Master for resin and rubber parts mold making.
Aluminum and plastic masters made by third parties.
Photo-etch artwork. 43 sheets of which 39 have two different sides to incorporate fold lines. Each individual part is drawn in a computer program and then pasted into production sheets. Each sheet takes between 15 to 24 hours to produce from drawings to final artwork once the research is completed.
Thanks for taking the time to read this long post, I look forward to being of service to you. If you have any questions or comments post them here or e-mail me.
Regards
Mike Stannard (toyrific)
6th Scale Icons Inc.