The "problem" is that Tom is exceptional at both aspects. Few do or are willing to do the quality of the castings he produces. Several small producers have run into problems relying on others to do castings. I don't know how he does it but Steve Funaro keeps the whole process "in house" so as to not be held captive by suppliers.

Jerry Glow
http://home.comcast.net/~jerryglow/decals/

--- In STMFC@..., "Dave Evans" <devans1@...> wrote:

........

But quite frankly, if you are an exceptional pattern maker, THEN GET OUT OF THE
MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION PROCESS. Let someone else do this work. Quite
frankly, I think ALL modelers would benefit from this approach for your
components - more modelers would have access to your parts and kits, and most
likely you would produce MORE patterns that even MORE modelers could benefit
from.

Dave Evans