3" LOC kits out of production

Mr. Moderator if this is in the wrong area feel free to move this thread.

LOC has just announced that the 3 inch kits and cones are out of stock due to there plastic company had a sticky fingered security guard. There are replacing it but it will take 2-3 months. So as of now LOC is out of 3 inch kits and nose cones but plans on having them back by November. If you want a LOC 3" kit in the near future you may want to get it sooner rather then later as it will become later.
I have been hit up on a number of kits I had in stock but still have some. And you may want to call your favorite vendor to see what he has in stock.
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
474-540-1123
[email protected]
www.countylinehobbies.com
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Just an FYI, your signature web address is ".coom" vs. ".com" and doesn't connect to your site. May want to fix that!

This smells fishy.

Confused how or what a sticky fingered security guard has to do with it.

I can't say for sure but it was hinted he/she was a drugie and as of 2 weeks ago was residing in jail. I talked to Barry before and durring LDRS. The plastic company lost 14 aluminum molds.
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
574-540-1223
[email protected]
www.countylinehobbies.com

bob jablonski said:

I can't say for sure but it was hinted he/she was a drugie. I talked to Barry before and durring LDRS. The plastic company lost 14 aluminum molds.

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Ouch! So someone was selling multi-thousand dollar molds for their scrap value?!?!

Yup the molds aren't cheap 10 years ago I priced a blow mold for a BT60 cone. Cheapest one $14,000.

Not cheap, but the company should be able to replace it quicker.

DizWolf said:

Not cheap, but the company should be able to replace it quicker.

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Wouldn't a smart business have insurance to cover such a loss? If not, that's a big chunk of change out the window. Even if covered, would probably take time to make the 14 molds from scratch again. Kurt

Man, oh man. Thanks for the heads up Bob! Got any TriStars left?

I have 4 sence the LDRS contest was rained out.

Just a guess, but some of the steps I expect they will need to go through before they can start selling LOC N/C again:

1. Try to find original drawings for original mold
2. If not available, develop drawings from existing product
3. Have mold created (onshore vs offshore, rush vs normal processing)
4. Get mold to plastics mfg
5. Plastics mfg runs test parts
6. LOC receives test parts, and conducts validation
7. Process iterates until LOC is satisfied with "new" N/C
8. Plastic mfg ramps up production
9. Parts shipped to LOC
10. LOC makes 3" kits
11. 3" kits available again

There's lag between each step of the process, and there will likely need to be some shipping of things which will add time. I think four months is a pretty reasonable estimate. They might be able to do it in less, but of course that costs $ - possibly quite a lot of $. It comes down to business decisions about lost business from waiting (plus consumer goodwill) vs extra costs to try to expedite.

Probably the best thing we can do is continue to support LOC as they recover from the impact of this theft, and hope that Murphy does not interfere too much.

I also hope that they have insurance coverage for this sort of thing, including business continuity insurance. I would also expect that the plastics firm might be expected to defray much of the cost. My understanding is that frequently companies like LOC pay the plastics firm to store the molds for them in the correct environmental conditions. LOC would never physically need the mold themselves, and that way they don't have to worry about damage during shipping, etc. So, when your property is stolen from a third party, by an employee/contractor of that third party, I would think that they would be liable. Of course, it would depend on how the contract was written.

Now is his chance to change the design. Wonder if he will have something slightly longer than the old cone design.

I can see it taking some time. I just hope they try to expedite the process.

AL scrap yards might know a thing or 2.....


JD

bob jablonski said:

I can't say for sure but it was hinted he/she was a drugie and as of 2 weeks ago was residing in jail. I talked to Barry before and durring LDRS. The plastic company lost 14 aluminum molds.
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
574-540-1223
[email protected]
www.countylinehobbies.com

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++2 on that!


JD

patelldp said:

Now is his chance to change the design. Wonder if he will have something slightly longer than the old cone design.

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If the scrap yards are like they are now in the UK they will take some ID and stuff.

Hopefully nothing has been damaged or smelted down.

Maybe a new plastics that allows better painting could come about. Hopefully it all gets sorted. Sucks mind.

This sucks to hear. I am very glad I got a new nose for my Onyx build recently. Drugs seem to screw everything good.

If the mold has to be redone, the best enhancement would be to increase the strength of the shock cord mount. Something like the style that Aerotech uses. The first thing I do with the current design is to cut off the flimsy plastic loop.

Pyropetepete said:

If the scrap yards are like they are now in the UK they will take some ID and stuff.

Hopefully nothing has been damaged or smelted down.

Maybe a new plastics that allows better painting could come about. Hopefully it all gets sorted. Sucks mind.

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If the scrap yards are like the one I have worked for (Pacific Steel), the ID was taken, and the metal was shipped to a smelter/processor within the same week. Even if it wasn't shipped out that fast the molds would have been dumped rather roughly into a bin or pile, and would most likely be damaged anyways.

What a tremendous loss.
I've read so many different threads about the LOC 3" nose cone here.
This is bound to have an effect on some people in build plans and repairs.
Hope they come back quick with no price increase.

Should be covered via the consent producing them on the insurance.

Hopefully insurance will cover the costs, but still thinking it will take a while to get things back up and running.
My condolences to Barry for the loss.

The plastic company's insurance covered it. But like it has been posted. takes time to get a multi hundred pound block of aluminum, make the mold, do a test run, make adjustments if needed, then make kits.

I have about six of the nose cones - new and unused. Let the bidding begin!

PML cones fit with little to modding.


JD

For those wanting a longer 3" nose cone the Pinnacle nose cone from Giant Leap is a 5:1 @ 15.25" exposed length.

rharshberger said:

For those wanting a longer 3" nose cone the Pinnacle nose cone from Giant Leap is a 5:1 @ 15.25" exposed length.

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Yep, and Mad Cow Rocketry has a nice 4:1 ogive (Apogee sells it too).

Now I just need a good source of plastic three inch 3:1 NCs for those scale projects, FG is more than I need for them.

rharshberger said:

Now I just need a good source of plastic three inch 3:1 NCs for those scale projects, FG is more than I need for them.

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incorrect. you simply have the wrong motor mounts in the design