Scale and Thunder Boat Graphics

[Mike McKnight]

Yes Brad I included that. I can make you another if you are ready. Emailing me is a faster and better way to get a hold of me at [email protected]

 

[Mike McKnight]

My annual forced September hiatus is over. I say forced hiatus because it is because my regular business gets so chaotic for the first two to three weeks of September I literally have to shut graphics down for lack of time. However things are slowly getting back up to speed. Got half a dozen orders out as of yesterday. I still will be only able to work on graphics a couple of days a week for the next few weeks but that is better than not at all.

I have a few 2016 sets that are almost done drawing up and will be available in November. These will be the last ones I will be drawing most likely. As I stated in another thread recently I will be shutting things down by Aug of 2018. Keep an eye out in the For Sale threads as I have a number of scale sets that were produced and unclaimed that I need to get rid of and I have a ton of extra individual pieces laying around that need to go too.

 

[brad nichols]

Are you going to sell the scale graphic end of the business Mike?

Brad

 

[Mike McKnight]

I have tried several times the last few years but each time it has failed. But either way it will close by next August.

 

[Mike McKnight]

Ok I've got a lot to cover here. First and foremost the issue of mail theft. So I have had my office box broken into. We've all had to deal with porch pirates. Those that swipe stuff left on your porch. Now I have a new one for you. Box break ins on USPS property. Yesterday I was about to pull in to the drive thru drop off lanes like I usually do and the lanes were all yellow taped, the box doors wide open and the slots and doors all taped up and signs saying CLOSED. Turns out my local Post Office has had not one but several beak ins of these boxes in recent weeks. One was in broad daylight. So this explains why I have had to redo a few orders that never made it to the first scan of tracking. So now all drop offs must be done inside. Ok a minor inconvenience. But I have also had porch pirate issues lately too because USPS still leaves packages even though I tell em not to. So, and this is the part that sucks, everything that goes out now is going to be signature required. Which is going to add to the cost of shipping a little. I apologize but there is just no way around it. There have just been too many issues with people saying they didn't get their orders yet tracking says it was delivered. I think it adds a little over a buck or so to the shipping. Again sorry but it has to be done.

Once again I have to make this reminder announcement. This is that time of year where my primary business (Commercial Audio/Video) is over the top busy. For 11 weeks starting Sep 1 every year I have no life because I cover and manage video for High School Football for several schools. For the first few weeks I still get a couple of days a week to get graphics out. But as I get deeper into the season it becomes more and more difficult to work on graphics. The last couple of weeks, which is where we are about to come to, I can't get anything done. So I am going to get a few more orders done this week and then it will be Nov 10 before I can get back to them. I know this frustrates some of you but this is nothing new. I have been doing this for 12 years and this pays for me to be able to do graphics the rest of the year.

Last, I got a suggestion from a customer about how to continue operating the graphics business and not close it for good. I have talked to a few and they all seem to be good with it. Most said they would rather wait a little longer to get correct graphics. I haven't figured out of I am going to do this or not yet. I will make a decision on it one way or the other after the first of the year.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I think this comes down to a "do what you have to do" and, if the customer isn't happy, it's on them. It's getting totally out of hand that people are robbing others mail just to try to steal a few dollars or get account numbers. In a similar vein, the wife and I don't mail anything from our mailbox, ESPECIALLY IF IT HAS A CHECK IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We always take our mail to the post office and drop it in the inside outgoing mail box through the lobby wall. To date, we've not had an issue in doing so but, at the same time, pretty much all we mail out is going to our monthly bills. Just a thought, have you considered getting a PO box? Since you are now taking your shipments inside anyway, it might be a safer way to go.

 

[Mike McKnight]

I don't GET much mail. Most of my bills and everything else are taken care of online. This is with regards to OUTGOING shipments only which are always dropped at the PO or more often picked up by a mail carrier. A PO Box would be a waste of time and money.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

I was just thinking of those, like me, that send payment through "snail mail" that might get "picked off" before you get to the mail box. If it's not practical, it's not practical.

 

[brad nichols]

Got mine the other day.

Thanks Mike

Brad

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

I've been waiting on 2 decals for 4 months. I've finally decided to give and take my buiseness elsewhere.

 

[Mike McKnight]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Scale Boaters! Just a heads up that I will be closing the office today until the 27th. I have a few orders that left today and now the office turns into Gift Wrap Central for Santa. A nice thing to have since I still have young ones in the house.

A couple of things looking ahead to 2018. As I previously posted about closing the decal business in August...that is no longer the case. I have gone a different route. The part of my regular business that makes me go MIA from Sept to Dec is going away. After this past Fall I decided it was time that part of my regular business went away. Too much work and too little return and it was too disruptive to other parts of my business as well as decals. Not to mention the fact that I like to hunt and fish and a lot of that happens in the fall and I haven't been able to do it in quite some time.

Now, a few things are going to change regarding the decal business as well. After speaking with another RC Boating vendor at length I will be changing my ordering procedures. Until the website is changed to a cart based system. All inquiries and orders will be through Email and PayPal invoice for tracking purposes. I would also appreciate it if any questions and inquiries could be directed through email as well. Reason being is I have too many coming through FaceBook Messenger and texts and phone calls. Production and delivery will be sped up considerably this way. I'm tired of trying to monitor too many communication streams and things were falling through the cracks. The other problem is that too many messages and texts and calls were coming at all hours of the day and night. I had to shut notifications on my phone off because of this.

I have also made some changes to a number of sets and added quite a few as well. For instance the 1982 Miss Prodelco has been added and is available with a full striping kit, gold and all. A number of other sets will be modified and will have spray mask kits available to deal with complex curves much like I did with my 94 Exide restoration a few years ago. I have also added 10 more boats to my catalog not previously available. There is a new 81 Captran Resorts that is spot on because I was able to find original artwork and very good pics. I do the detective work like this and sometimes it takes some time but I HATE sending out stuff that is not accurate for the sake of just getting it out quickly. If you are ok with good enough I am not your guy.

Lastly, from here forward it is Scale Decals only, No custom stuff for Cats or Crackers or anything else. All emails for that will be directed to the best guy for that job. Thanks and Again have a great Holiday Season.

 

[Joe Wiebelhaus]

Sent e-mail

jw

 

[Butch Londrigan]

Mike the miller graphics came today. Thanks again.

 

[Mike McKnight]

Hey Butch send me those resize dimensions and I'll get those out. Also I have a spray mask I can send you for the Miller on the nose

 

[Butch Londrigan]

Mike sent you a message. Thanks.

 

[Mike McKnight]

To say things are busy here might be understating it. I have been in all weekend making a truckload to go out tomorrow. That follows a busy couple of weeks prior as well. Quite a few multiple boat orders have had me bogged down a but still getting some drawing time in. There are several new sets available now. The 2016-17 Griggs Presents Miss Ace Hardware U3 is now available. It's mostly original artwork that was on the boat with some things I drew. And for the first time thanks to Jim Osborne for allowing me to acquire some of his work, the COMPLETE set of 1978 Miss Tri-Cities Mark & Pak is now available. Which includes ALL the crew and team names and all artwork on the cowl. Plus gold striping for the whole boat. I have also updated a few other sets after getting better pics. Like the 1988-89 Miss Budweiser. The 1990 and 91 Miss Budweiser as well. Also new is the 1985 Miss Rock. The 2017 Graham Trucking boats will all be available very soon as well. The 98 and 99 Miss Pico boats have also had some updating to the smaller decals. 2013 Oberto was updated too. A lot of long nights and weekends of late to do all of this which I don't normally do.

I also finally updated the website a little. Kind of like leaving your Christmas Tree up too long. Still more work to be done on it but orders come first. Speaking of orders please review that section on my website. it has changed a bit.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

So, what are you looking at for wait time on new orders and yes, a guestimate is fine

 

[Lennard Cuenco]

that's kinda cool that you have the actual artwork from the fullsize....

noice mayne

 

[Mike McKnight]

After a little break for a few days to get taxes done I am back at it. As the load of orders lightens up a bit I am getting back to drawing some more. Added the 1961-62 Miss Century 21 and the 1968 Notre Dame plus a couple more. Also as orders lighten up I'm also back to working on a couple of boats. One build and another rebuild. More to come on the scale thread with pics for that.

I also have a ton of stuff I would like to purge as well. I have some misc decals for Gas like Suicidal Engines and Propworks West and others. Plus various scale parts and pieces. Probably best to email me on that stuff to see if I have something you need.

I also have some scale sets that ended up back with me for a variety of reasons. Some were undeliverable and can't find the person that originally ordered. Others were miscommunication errors. Either way I have some sets that need a home. Most are Gas Scale or 1/10th scale. The List is as follows:

Gas Scale

1996 Smokin' Joe's $150
1970 Pay N' Pak Lil' Buzzard $75
1974-75 Pay N' Pak with all striping $125
1971 Miss Timez $75

1/10th Scale

2008 Miss Chrysler/Jeep $75

2007 Boeing-Ellstrom U787 w/deck and cowl striping $100

1983 Miss Rock $75

Most are discounted and shipping additional. Email me at [email protected] if you are interested

 

[Mike McKnight]

Long time since I posted. Actually I haven't been on any of the message boards much in 2018. I just happened to sign on to IW to see if my login still works because I had seen some folks having issues and posting on several FB pages. Lo and behold I had a few messages here mostly asking if I am still around. I am but it is easier to get a hold of me through my FB page @TBoatGraphics or via email at [email protected].