Map Progress, Pt. 2!
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Jun 27, 2019 at 06:44:03 PM

Map Progress and Timelines

Production Timeline Overview: 

We can produce about 5 wooden maps a day, which comes out to about 25 maps a week.  With 50+ wooden maps, that should take about two weeks to finish. Our production time for acrylic maps is about 20 acrylic maps a day, which gives us around 100 maps a week. With over 150+ acrylic maps, it should take about two weeks to finish those maps. We're going to start production of the wooden maps first, followed by the acrylic maps, and then finally the resin-filled maps. 

For 5"x 7" and 8" x 10" maps: We've received stickering! This is slightly ahead of schedule. Acrylic map production will happen following non-resin wooden maps, and we expect to start production of these maps by the third week of July. Expect to see more information about these maps in 2 to 4 weeks!

For 11" x 14", non-resin maps: Full-scale production of these maps is nearly ready to start, and we hope they should all be finished by the second week of July.

Hear from our shop assistant, Andrew, on the wooden map progress:

Since our last update we've made substantial progress in optimizing the  wood map for both cutting time, readability, and fidelity of details. 

There was a lot of work left to be done before we start to print these  50+ 11"x14" maps, primarily in optimizing speed and power settings for  the layers, as well as the addition of some artwork that had yet to be  converted into a format that would print efficiently. 

Over the course of a week we dropped the printing time down from more than two and a half hours  per print, to an hour and some change while greatly improving the readability from all angles of view and regardless of the angles of light sources/reflections. This is crucial as the obstacle would only be exaggerated when the final map is assembled with a layer of acrylic  over the front. 

Careful measurements were taken of the new coins' outer diameters and we spent some time discovering the best amount of tolerance so that when wood maps arrive there are no issues with coins not dropping  into their holes, or coins having too much movement.

Thank you again for all of your support, and we look forward to telling you about our progress in the next update!

- The Shire Post Team

Shipping Updates and Map Progress!
almost 7 years ago – Wed, Jun 12, 2019 at 07:37:42 PM

Coin shipping for levels up to Steward is in full swing!

Packaging for individual coins has finished and we are now in the process of shipping out all levels up to Steward that only had coins for add-ons.

Map Progress and Timelines

For 5"x 7" and 8" x 10" maps: The acrylic is ready, and the color overlay is being printed. Once we finish our layout methods, we can begin large scale creation of the maps of this size! We do not how long printing of the overlay will take, but we will have more information including a timeline with dates in our next update.

For 11" x 14", non-resin maps: We've now started cutting the wood for the maps at large scale, and our designs are nearly ready for engraving production. Each map takes about two hours to engrave, so we will need a little bit of time to get all of them ready. See pics below for a preview of the progress and for a sneak-peek on the process!  We expect these maps will be ready to start shipping within 2 weeks (last week of June). 

For 11" x 14", resin maps: We anticipate that most construction for these maps will take place once the first three maps are finished, but we do have some progress we are excited to share with you about these maps! We've acquired the back-lights and we've finished the banners for George R. R. Martin to sign. Because these maps will take much longer to make, we have set plans to send coins and add-ons to backers of this map tier around the time we finish and start shipping the other levels of maps. 

Thank you again for all of your continued support throughout the creation process! 

 - The Shire Post Team

Shipping has begun!
almost 7 years ago – Thu, May 30, 2019 at 02:23:01 AM

Shipping has started!

All Steward level backers without add-on's have now been shipped! We are in the process of producing packaging for the individual add-on's, and once they are finished we will then be able to start shipping to all Steward level backers with add-on's that were coins. We project that packaging that finish within the next two weeks, and at that point we will be able to start shipping to everyone that only ordered coins!

Map Progress

We are finalizing the looks of our maps, and they are really coming together! Production is taking sometime longer because stickering and cutting is taking much longer than we expected, and our most reliable timeline has been pushed out to the final week of June for having the first 3 levels of map finished. Fortunately, map levels will be completed leading up to that week, and we will let you know as those levels are completed and shipped out!

Thank you again for all of your support!

- The Shire Post Team

Shipping Updates and Photos!
almost 7 years ago – Thu, May 16, 2019 at 12:22:00 AM

Steward Level ready to ship!

With the wax-sealed cloth bag and all coins minted, all Steward level items are completed! We will begin shipping out steward level backers starting next Monday, May 20th. Because we are still designing packaging for individual coins, we expect shipment of individual coins to start within the next two weeks.

All 11 Pre-Conquest Coins Together

The entire set, all together!

Packaging Progress & Photos!

Supplemental Kickstarter packaging has been finished, such as the folio and raven notes (photos below). Designing packaging will now take place on individual coins, and will take between one to two weeks to complete. 

Map Progress

Engraving and production of the maps has now taken full swing, and we are still on-track to finish the first three levels of maps by the end of May. We look forward to sharing our progress with you in two weeks! Once again, thank you for all of your continued support, and we hope you enjoy the photos below!!

Sneak-peek: Engraved Map Photos!

Bonus Sneak-peek: Raven Notes!

All coins now minted!
almost 7 years ago – Fri, May 03, 2019 at 12:52:04 AM

All coins finished!

With the Nymeria and Arryn coins now finished, all of the coins have now been minted! We will be working on packaging from now until the 10th, and will be able to start shipping out coins to backers who only ordered coins. Our intended ship-date for just the coins will be during the week of the 13th. Now that the coins are finished, we can now shift our efforts to construction of the maps. 

Map Progress

Finalizing of the maps can begin now that all of the coins can be minted! We'll be working on the maps from now until they're finished, and we hope we can have the first three levels of maps finished by the last week of May. As we finish the maps, we'll be shipping them out to the levels that correspond to the map. We expect that the wood-burned maps will be finished the soonest, then the full-color maps, and finally the resin-filled maps, and you can look forward to updates every two weeks with map progress. Thank you so much for being patient during this time! 

 - The Shire Post Team