Sell Scale Models to Companies

When I worked for a container shipping company they had a scale model of one of their ships near the entrance to the office. Many people who visited the office were impressed by it. They even asked questions such as: “Is the scale model a faithful replica of the actual ship?” and “Who made the scale model and how much is it worth?”

Clearly the scale model work as an effective conversation piece which benefits the company. When I go to airline booking companies before most would have scale models of the airplanes of the company. There are even companies who have scale models of their buildings prominently displayed in their lobbies to give the companies more credibility.

Rolls Royce sells 1:8 scale models of their cars with price tags in excess of $17,000. This is according to the article on Cnet titled Rolls-Royce Cullinan 1:8 scale model costs over $17,000, takes 450 hours to create.

One of the good things about creating scale models for very specific clientele like companies is that they are usually one-offs or few in numbers and is not likely to be pirated by counterfeiters as there is little market for these items outside of the companies that commissioned them. The usually high quality and therefore high price to make them might also turn off counterfeiters.

The high price usually paid for these scale models is because they represent the company’s prized asset and the company wants to show them in their best light. For example in my container shipping company example container ships are essential to carrying the customer’s cargo and the company wants to show customers that they have mighty ships for the job.

This kind of business can be done by even a single but skilled person in scale model creation. Since the companies will usually pay a higher price for quality work the person doing the scale model will be compensated more and is much more satisfied as compared to a person who is doing mass production work for lesser pay.

If ever you have the skills and want to do this kind of job do not only limit yourself with the creation of the scale models. You can also create protective casings for the scale models you create and earn extra income. If you cannot do these protective casings then you can ask other artisans to do it for you and you can share the profits from the company.

You can also sell accessory products such as lighting to better illuminate the scale models as well as diorama accessories such as small human figures, cars, trees and houses that usually decorate architectural scale model buildings. These are already being sold wholesale especially online but you can still make money by selling these accessories individually or per project.

Create New Markets and Alliances

One of the best clients you can get are those companies and organisations whose products are popular culturally. For example military vehicles are popular collectors items and many people buy them as collectables or as toys. You can target military people with affiliations to these vehicles.

For example you can get a list of navy people who are actively or in the past worked onboard a certain aircraft carrier. You can get a survey of people who are interested to buy a scale model of the carrier and how much they are willing to pay for. From this you can determine the number and the quality of the scale model you will create and then ask the buyers for advanced payments.

Your military scale models can include land, sea and air transport as well as scale models of people in military uniforms. You can even have scale models of forts and other military installations such as the pentagon in the US. If there is civilian demand for your scale models you can ask permission from the military and sell to civilians and pay the military for licensing.

Other organisations that may be profitable to build scale models are the space organisations like NASA. There are plenty of science fiction fans who buy science fiction toys but also want scale models of real space vehicles such as rocket ships. You can tie-up with a mass producer of scale model toys and split the profit.

This does not mean that only culturally popular scale models are profitable. You can for example persuade restaurants to buy from you full scale models of the food they serve. They can use them to entice their customers like life size models of cakes that would not go stale because they are plastic models that would look good almost forever.

One thing that you can do is to study the companies in the industry you are targeting. If one shipping company for example commissions an order from you then try to get their competitors as clients as well. You will save on materials and production costs as the scale models you will be making are similar. Do not also forget to get referrals.

Explore also earnings from licensing the scale models and split the profits with the companies. You can even go much further by licensing the actual real world item. You can for example make scale models of a ship and also license pictures and blueprints for use in marine engineering studies. You can also for example use the ship as a background in movies for pay.

Conclusion

As can be seen a scale model business can be done by even a single person. One can scale this business using subcontractors and partners. It is important though that you advertise yourself as a business that can make scale models of almost anything. This way you ensure that you do not run out of possible clients and opportunities.