Welcome to the Armies in Miniature (AIM) Intel Page (G-2)
This page is dedicated to keeping YOU, our customers, informed as to our past, present and future plans for our minis offerings. We use different materials (metal castings and 3D resin printing in the manufacturing of our products. We hope you find the information here to be informative and useful.
HISTORY: AIM started out as a company in the UK by the original sculptor. (His name escapes me at the moment). Around 1986-ish, the company was purchased by an American ( Roger Dospil ) and moved to the USA. I met with Roger at Chris von Fahnestock’s Outland Games facility and we both taught him how to make molds and spincast. Shortly afterwards, Game Figures Inc. (GFI my old firm) was asked to produce for Roger. When Roger decided to move on, my wife Terry and I purchased AIM and have owned the molds, IP and rights ever since. In 2006, I took a part-time job that took me to Africa making 30 trips in 4 years. In 2010 I was hired on at HQ U.S. AFRICOM and had to close GFI. After trying to farm out the AIM lines many times, none of the arrangements were successful. I retired for the second time in 2021 and tried again. This time, with the help of close personal friends across the country, we have successfully started to bring back the old lines and add new ones.
OUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE: We are working to bring back our 10mm Ancients, Samurai and ACW lines in metal. Our new addition is 1/144th scale WWII vehicles in 3D printed resin. We had also commissioned PzKfw III E, early and late F, G and H models in metal. (more below). In WWII, we decided to enter the period with the North African Theatre Campaigns as not a lot was available in 1/144th scale. The theatre is rich with the exploits of brave British, German, Italian, Australian, Indian, American, Libyan and several other factions from which a cornucopia of possible equipment models can be seen. Because other companies are producing items in this scale (see especially Victrix), we are trying to fill in what is not readily available without too much duplication. We feel this approach best serves to grow the 1/144th scale offerings more quickly to those that are enjoying this scale of WWII gaming.
Our first commission for this range was for the PzKfw III versions in metal. Ian Armstrong in the UK has designed super detailed masters for us. If you do not know that name, Ian has been making various models in many scales for years and in our experience, THE best designer out there. We are excited and proud to have him working for us. The cast PZIIIs will be available soon. Production molds still need to be completed.
Our WWII 3D printed models are produced on an Industrial machine recognized by industry leaders such as Reaper for producing the best 3D prints available. Here is just one example, an SdKfz 250/4/5 (see right). The bedframe antenna, MG 42 and shield are part of this ONE PIECE print… no assembly required!
One of the frustrations “I” have personally experienced is having to wait for my order to be 3D printed from several other companies. While the quality of their prints are fine, having to wait so long to received them and then the price per piece in 1/144th scale seemed excessive to me. So in order to address this distribution issue, we decided to work with Dark Horse Hobbies as our exclusive worldwide distributor for the AIM lines. Their website ( www.darkhorsehobbies.com ) will allow you to order direct, as they handle all order fulfillment, and you are able to see how many of any given package/model they have on hand. Your order usually ships within the next business day.
One other frustration “I” had when making purchases for my 3D printed armies was receiving my prints with broken or bent barrels because they came shipped wrapped in bubble wrap. In our best attempt to avert such damage, the AIM 3D prints are now shipped in clamshell plastic boxes with foam that will immobilize them in shipment. Dark Horse Hobbies has been shipping miniatures and models for nearly two decades, and we both believe it’s the best solution available to ensure your purchases arrive in the best condition possible. Turret pins are thick and deep so they are usually resistant to falling out yet allow for directional movement. This has always seemed to be a problem with smaller scale tanks.
While our initial offerings are based on the North African campaigns, we do plan to release models and nationalities for other theatres of WWII while adding to existing theatres as we go along. From time to time I will post some historical background materials that will hopefully add to your gaming enjoyment by enhancing your understanding of the history of some of the vehicles and while providing additional reading resources to explore more deeply an operational understanding of the real machine.
Thanks for taking the time to check out our new AIM website and reading this post.
Tom Dye
CEO, Armies in Miniature