Thunderbirds
Homepin, 2018Quoted from v8torino:Hi,
It has been mentioned earlier that Pinballife will be the initial U S Distributor,they already have some of Homepins products on their website.
Surely do not know if any of that has changed........let's hope not,Pinballife would be a great U S distributor IMO
They are certainly a Homepin PARTS distributor and I hope will remain so.
Quoted from Homepin:Oh...we are not making "a pin" - we are becoming a pinball machine manufacturer.
Thunderbirds happens to be our "first" pinball machine. We have many others in the pipeline.
Now that that's clear, can you please answer my question?
USA dist. for purchase of thunderbirds pinball machine?
Quoted from ultimategameroom:Now that that's clear, can you please answer my question?
USA dist. for purchase of thunderbirds pinball machine?
Quoted from Homepin:I'm not at liberty to discuss distributors outside Australia at this stage.
[snip]
Quoted from Homepin:Oh...we are not making "a pin" - we are becoming a pinball machine manufacturer.
BOOM! 
Quoted from Homepin:Oh...we are not making "a pin" - we are becoming a pinball machine manufacturer.
Thunderbirds happens to be our "first" pinball machine. We have many others in the pipeline.
I love popping on this thread and see all the new and cool things you guys are doing. Great work guys 
Those coin doors are top notch!
Any leaks in that pipeline? Would love to know what you're considering next!!
Applying the decals to our test cabs getting them ready for final fit out.
Also making a plastic injection mould for a small part in one of our mechanisms.
The black plastic part shown below is one we made from nylon by hand as a test piece.
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Quoted from Homepin:Applying the decals to our test cabs getting them ready for final fit out.
Also making a plastic injection mould for a small part in one of our mechanisms.
The black plastic part shown below is one we made from nylon by hand as a test piece.
That art looks great on the cab. Once your custom side rails are on and you have the EL's applied and fired up, that is going to look kick-ass. Can't wait to see the completed cab. A big thumbs up.
Quoted from Crashnburn:Is that the final art? I think it looks very nice.
Yes, that is approved artwork.
Quoted from ultimategameroom:Now that that's clear, can you please answer my question?
USA dist. for purchase of thunderbirds pinball machine?
I asked Terry at PBL this question about 4 weeks ago when I stopped in. He said that they are not interested in distributing pinball machines. So it looks like parts only from PBL.
Quoted from KenLayton:That black plastic piece looks like a light chopper for some some of optical encoder. Maybe a steering control or shaft encoder?
Well spotted. It is the encoder wheel for our Mole Impact Target. It measures how far back the target has been hit.
I believe we will have other uses for this part that's why we are making our own mould and we will inject it ourselves.
We needed some additional plastic colours for the first full run of our various small plastic parts that we are making in house. I called at the masterbatch suppliers late last week and picked up a few KGs of each colour we want to use.
This colour material is added to the base material in a pretty careful percentage to give the results shown on the colour swatches shown in the book.
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Quoted from Homepin:We needed some additional plastic colours for the first full run of our various small plastic parts that we are making in house. I called at the masterbatch suppliers late last week and picked up a few KGs of each colour we want to use.
Fascinating. Is this a different material to the vulcanised rubber used at the toy factory you visited earlier in the thread?
Quoted from solarvalue:Fascinating. Is this a different material to the vulcanised rubber used at the toy factory you visited earlier in the thread?
Yes, it is totally different. These are plastic pellets that mix with the base material (white) to make the colour you desire. The finished pellet mix is fed into the plastic injection machine where it is melted and mixed by the machine to make an even couloured batch of plastic ready to inject into the mould. The finished products made are solid plastic like a TV remote control case.
The rubber mix is a rubber liquid that vulcanises and sets firm BUT still remains a little 'springy'.
When full blown production starts, I don't envy you, or whoever in your team, is in charge of inventory and stock control.
Not only do you need to make sure you have enough of each part, but you need to make sure you have enough raw material to manufacture each part, and simultaniously control the timing of manufacture for each part. Sheesh...it must be becoming a logistical nightmare. And storage...you must be running out of space. What an undertaking.
The payoff is you have complete control and are not at the whim of suppliers. Not a bad position to be in. Well done.
Mike, thank you for all the "behind the scenes"-insight on making pinball.
I visit this thread regularly and am intrigued by all the necessary baby steps being taken in order to finish the product.
Can't wait to see the first completed machines!
Keep up the good work!
Quoted from Homepin:Cutting yet another test playfield on our CNC machine.
Is that going to be an International Rescue shaped insert?
Quoted from Homepin:They are certainly a Homepin PARTS distributor and I hope will remain so.
Ahh...I see what part of the plan is now. Those parts are at a very good price point. I have purchased some for customer games and they work well. Making your games parts compatible with all those pre-existing games was a very good idea. You can be the low cost provider of many parts right now. I see it is taking a huge investment to get everthing up and running and hope it pays off for you. Nobody is going to be able to beat you on price (although you will of course be looking to recover that up-front investment).
Quoted from Homepin:Cutting yet another test playfield on our CNC machine.
» YouTube video
I'm not sure if it's been answered or not. Is the plan to cut the production pfs in house? Assume painting and perhaps clear coating will be done ex situ?
Quoted from pinsanity:Happy milestone day.
Thanks, I'll pass your compliments on to my deceased wife.
If you have nothing pleasant or positive to stay then please don't post in my thread!
Quoted from pinsanity:Happy milestone day.
Quoted from Homepin:Thanks, I'll pass your compliments on to my deceased wife
????? I think he was commending you on the anniversary of you announcing you were moving to china to start your own factory:
http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/homepin-pinball-presents-5.3499/
Quoted from toyotaboy:????? I think he was commending you on the anniversary of you announcing you were moving to china to start your own factory:
http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/homepin-pinball-presents-5.3499/
Maybe buy why womens day??
Quoted from toyotaboy:????? I think he was commending you on the anniversary of you announcing you were moving to china to start your own factory:
http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/homepin-pinball-presents-5.3499/
No. He's just a troll who has been stalking me for 4 years.
Quoted from toyotaboy:????? I think he was commending you on the anniversary of you announcing you were moving to china to start your own factory:
http://www.pinballinfo.com/community/threads/homepin-pinball-presents-5.3499/
Pretty close, June 28, 2013 was the day that TBAG was announced on our local forums so yes it was a milestone event in terms of establishing an initial timeframe benchmark.
Looks like I won't be commenting much more in this thread. I won't tolerate trolling or waste my time when people do.
The mention of TAG as TBAG is an immediate insult that I simply will not put up with.
I'm just too busy to put up with stupid posts like this from people who are not interested in me, my products or any sensible discussion.
Anyone interested please follow my Facebook page where I am able to moderate the idiots off the page.
Thanks for following to the rest.
@Robin. You really need to clean up this site! For your info, this person is banned from Aussie Arcade - With good reason.
Quoted from Homepin:Looks like I won't be commenting much more in this thread. I won't tolerate trolling or waste my time when people do.
The mention of TAG as TBAG is an immediate insult that I simply will not put up with.
I'm just too busy to put up with stupid posts like this from people who are not interested in me, my products or any sensible discussion.
Anyone interested please follow my Facebook page where I am able to moderate the idiots off the page.
Thanks for following to the rest.
Robin. You really need to clean up this site! For your info, this person is banned from Aussie Arcade - With good reason.
But my stopping commenting in this thread you lose access to a ton of potential customers as I for one, cannot be bothered to go to FB to follow anyone 
Quoted from Homepin:Looks like I won't be commenting much more in this thread. I won't tolerate trolling or waste my time when people do.
The mention of TAG as TBAG is an immediate insult that I simply will not put up with.
I'm just too busy to put up with stupid posts like this from people who are not interested in me, my products or any sensible discussion.
Anyone interested please follow my Facebook page where I am able to moderate the idiots off the page.
Thanks for following to the rest.
Robin. You really need to clean up this site! For your info, this person is banned from Aussie Arcade - With good reason.
Please reconsider, Mike. IMO, this is the best thread on all of Pinside, and I think the only one I follow. An absolute look behind the curtain of a production machine start to finish, with all parts made/designed in house. As a Mechanical Engineer, this is pure Engineer porn for me, and I know many others.
I'm fundamentally against Facebook, and many companies block FB anyways. If there's a troll, or a derail, report and see if they can be moderated so others don't have to even get distracted by it... whatever it takes so that you keep this thread rolling in the awesome direction it's been going.
Mike, in my opinion, if you stop posting here because of a troll the troll wins and you and the rest of us lose.
As other's have said, report it to the moderators. They can use the thread eject or sub forum eject tool to prevent a proven troll from posting in your threads.
If you don't open a moderator feedback discussion, they might not see the problem.
Quoted from Homepin:No. He's just a troll who has been stalking me for 4 years.
I had no idea he's been trolling. Like others have said don't leave for one person or he wins. If that was really his intent by that posting the mods should take care of it. I've thoroughly enjoyed your posts behind the curtains.
Quoted from snakesnsparklers:How about pinsanity just gets a permanent thread eject?
Yes, I agree. I think that is justified. This is Mike's thread after all.
Homepin Please reconsider, I think this thread is incredibly interesting and hope you'll continue posting updates.
Please don't stop posting due to one or two asshats...we love this thread, its the best on pinside.
I dont do facebook
This is the one thing i get annoyed about on forums/chat rooms and the like, the trolls who only comment to get someone's back up, to get a reaction, seemingly just to get their jollies off. Most people will react, it's a particularly human thing to do and most understandable, i've bitten many times myself and bitten hard 
Jvspin and toyotaboy are spot on though, if you give in to the bullshit then in a way the trolls have achieved the high ground so to speak, BUGGER THAT i say.
I'm only new to reading this thread and really hope you will consider keeping the posts going Mike, the info you share about the whole process is something not available from all other manufacturers, something quite special !!
Hi Mike,
Early follower here !! Exact same as above....No FB here,not needed.Also this thread is the ONLY thread/forum I follow and sneak a peak in here several times daily to see if there are any new updates !!
THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kirk
Quoted from robin:Yes, I agree. I think that is justified. This is Mike's thread after all.
homepin Please reconsider, I think this thread is incredibly interesting and hope you'll continue posting updates.
completely agree, esp since the guy is attacking in the most tastless way possible! disgusting
Mods should already have his posts removed and his acc banned, instead of leaving it atm. 19 hours on the forum.
This is by far the best topic instead of the endless preorder crying while they keep on jumping preorder train. Rinse and repeat.
Still don't get it why the mods aren't bodyguarding spine topics...
The trolling was uncalled for and in very bad taste, but Mike's knee-jerk reaction to immediately stop posting and run away to Facebook isn't exactly the most mature reaction either.
Just report the post and it'll get moderated, which is exactly what happened - but now he'll never know because he ran off instantly. I'll miss the updates and discussion as well, but if you can't be bothered to use the tools the site offers and you just leave, I can't exactly express much sympathy and I'm certainly not going to kiss any rings or beg.
Quoted from jwilson:but now he'll never know because he ran off instantly
Nah, given the timezone he is in, he probably just went to bed (which is where I should be right now).
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