That is too bad though, if you knew how much detail went into the older molds they are truly works of art, unlike the tools generated today by CAD/CAM and etching. that was a time of true craftsmen, now they are built by someone who knows how to set up a vice and push a button, and another guy who can solid model off of a scanned part. As the true craftsman are dying off and retiring no one can ever step up and fill all that skill they are leaving with, its and end of an era in this business.
Also, the moulds from that era were milled out of steel and were a major investment for the model companies (I have read about “average sized” moulds costing $150,000). The moulds are still expensive, but a lot of them are electrically milled copper or copper alloy (according to the model biz publications).
I can only imagine! I just use RTV to make moulds and can only imagine what it was like to mill a mould from steel.
The funny thing is that I would like to learn how to mill a mould the “Old Fashioned Way.”