Official WarSeer Finecast Poll.

[loveless]

It's true, if the Finecast models were all exceptionally well cast we would have little to quibble about.
As it happens the fine cast is all too often sub standard in it's casting so the production value plummets compared to the retail price.
Yesterday I picked up an Event only Forge World Skin Changer and it is absolutely smegged with resin flash. Looking through the packaging I can see every single piece has way too much flash on it and it is really disappointing that I spent £15 pounds to get a single figure model that will have to have a long time spent on it to clean it up before I can actually begin to assemble it.
That is not acceptable in my book.

It's not your normal flash (ie around a mould line). It's the nasty tempura-like stuff over every sharp edge. Mine has it too. It's also got numerous bubbles knocking off fingers, details and a doozy of a mould slip. The FW stuff is the same material and technique (and cast by the same people) as Finecast by the way.

Do either of you have pictures? I really want that model, but I'd like to know what to look for before jumping in with it when I get to the next event.

[Autumn Leaves]

I also had a chat to one of the Forge world staffers at Salute on Saturday and he is an old colleague of mine from back in the day when we used to work for GW in the same store for quite a while. It turns out that FW are using the same resin as Finecast for their smaller models i.e. not tanks or scenery or big things like Titans and Giants.
He said the big difference in quality between Failcast and Forgeworld is that Forgeworld have better undercuts and venting on their casting moulds than the Failcast moulds, which are essentially the same moulds as were used to make the original metal moulds.
He said the failcast problems would not be going away until the failcast range gets specific moulds and better undercutting and venting on the casting moulds.

[winterdyne]

I'm still undecided about FW's use of this stuff; with limited in-hand experience (a couple of sprues of marine weapons, and my own Skinwolf). What I've seen so far isn't filling me with confidence though.

[Jonahmaul]

Hello, here is the story of my latest Finecast purchase. I've tried to keep it short.

When I first got my 40K 25th Anniversary Marine in the mail, I looked it over and only noticed a couple of small bubbles on flat areas. When I sat down and started working on it, it seemed that every piece of flash I removed revealed a new void. Also, the marine's helmet had suffered from a mold slip. I figured that I would have a problem getting a replacement since it was a limited edition and already sold out, so I kept working at it. I also figured I could use the practice for the Games Day model, which I imagine will have no product support.

After several hours of work, spread out over several weeks, I finally started to assemble it, and noticed a problem with the helmet on the base. The right side of the helemt, facing the rocks, was missing a lot of detail due to a huge bubble. This is a bit beyond my sculpting ability to fix. At this point I had to stop and ask myself what I was doing. For the price I paid I should not have to spend hours trying to correct manufacturing errors.

So, now I'm wondering, if I were to contact customer service, what kind of response should I expect? Especially considering that it is a limited edition model, that is out of stock, that I've already had for 2 months, is partly assembled, and contains a LOT of putty.

I think it is worth a shot as at worst all they can say is no. But if you have put work on it and there's still clearly issues then they should offer a replacement or refund. According to others GW seemed to keep quite a few of these marines back in stock because of the issues of them and some people have had to seek several replacements.

I also had a chat to one of the Forge world staffers at Salute on Saturday and he is an old colleague of mine from back in the day when we used to work for GW in the same store for quite a while. It turns out that FW are using the same resin as Finecast for their smaller models i.e. not tanks or scenery or big things like Titans and Giants.
He said the big difference in quality between Failcast and Forgeworld is that Forgeworld have better undercuts and venting on their casting moulds than the Failcast moulds, which are essentially the same moulds as were used to make the original metal moulds.
He said the failcast problems would not be going away until the failcast range gets specific moulds and better undercutting and venting on the casting moulds.

I'd also heard from someone that FW had moved over to the same resin. Very interesting about the vents though, I assume this is why some of the newer miniatures are not as badly cast as the first ones we were seeing as they have moulds actually designed for them.

[Hendarion]

Very interesting about the vents though, I assume this is why some of the newer miniatures are not as badly cast as the first ones we were seeing as they have moulds actually designed for them.

"Some" is the keyword here if I think of the Isabella-issues we can find on older pages.

[Rick_1138]

I think it is noticable that GW are getting better at making Finecast moulds as the arjac rockfist i have has lots of intricate detail and is all perfect, the same with the lord on wolf, and if FW are sort of acknowledging that they are using FC resin but the more suitable moulds for the medium, i dont have an issue with it.

We can but hope it improves, but resin will always have some issues, like bubbles, thin bits etc, however it should be the exception, not the norm, at the moment i would say its about 60/40 bad to good, but i have been lucky in my stuff.

[loveless]

I think it is noticable that GW are getting better at making Finecast moulds as the arjac rockfist i have has lots of intricate detail and is all perfect, the same with the lord on wolf, and if FW are sort of acknowledging that they are using FC resin but the more suitable moulds for the medium, i dont have an issue with it.

I went through 2 Arjacs and a month of waiting for a "good cast" to "make it into the warehouse" and "get through customs" before I finally got sick of it and got a refund. I couldn't assemble a complete Arjac from the 2 faulty kits and the unprimed models would have been entirely green by the time I was done repairing them. It really soured me to the material.

There's getting to be little point in preordering Finecast as the initial runs always seem to be riddled with flaws. I think this is due both to Finecast not being properly implemented by GW and due to GW's insistence on having thinner and finer details on new models, which simply don't hold up against the power of bubbling.

Even the newest Empire releases have shown issues - while we see a few B+ to A- casts, most of it is C work at best. Bubbles appear in varying sizes on smooth surfaces (if you're lucky) or corners (if you're less lucky) or faces (if the Fates hate you).

It's difficult to confidently blind-order a model (not an issue with metal or plastic) since you can't be sure of the quality. Locals don't get a lot of Finecast in, either (let's face it, a $20 25mm-based figure doesn't fly off the shelves), so it's always a question of "Do I want to play Replacement Tango with GW Customer Service?"

Further saddening this is the fact that the new Necron characters actually look pretty cool.

[prowla]

It's difficult to confidently blind-order a model (not an issue with metal or plastic) since you can't be sure of the quality. Locals don't get a lot of Finecast in, either (let's face it, a $20 25mm-based figure doesn't fly off the shelves), so it's always a question of "Do I want to play Replacement Tango with GW Customer Service?"

You need to mail order three and then return the two you don't want. I agree it's pretty annoying - I can order metals with good confidence, but Finecast.. Nowadays, if there's a character I want, I try to find it metal if possible.

[Tykinkuula]

Got and assembled a LoC and also the changleing. They were my first Finecast models and the first things I noted were how much easier the sprues were to handle and the bitz clean. I can find a grand total of two tiny bubbles, one in the corner of his headgear and one in the middle of his thigh. I only noticed them after I spesifically began looking for bubbles after reading about woes of finecast.
After painting, I doubt anyone short of a real golden demon pro could even notice the one on the thigh, though I am contemplating about changing it into a bullet wound with a few delicate slashes. The one in the headgear is in an awkward angle and only invisble with an extremely close-up hands-on inspection. I suspect 9 out of ten tourney painting judges won't ever notice it, and none of my opponents surely will.

As for the changeling? Can't find a single defect, not one tiny bubble. Thanks to the softness of finecast, I feel like I have to be very careful with his staff though, which is quite thin. But only thing that really worries me are the claims of finecast nearly melting as low as thirty degrees celcius. Thanks to the positioning of my (single room) apartment, temperature at the hottest time of the usmmer in here can rise up to forty in late afternoon. Should I fear for the safety of my finecast models?

[Hendarion]

Probably you don't need to fear anything for infantry-size models. But I'd be suspicious for bigger models in dynamic poses (like a big boar on two legs instead of 4 or horses, dragons, monsters, etc).

[duffybear1988]

I recently played against a friend who was using necrons and he had maybe 10 failcast figures - guess what?

Every one of them had issues. From bendy legs on the Crypteks to missing bits of cloak on the Stormlord, and a Trazyn figure with the worst cast shoulders I have ever seen. He wouldn't send them back as it would mean he couldn't play his army for a while so he had just built them and cleaned then up as best he could.

It's a disgrace that gamers are left in this position! And the silly fact that we are being charged MORE for this utter rubbish is the icing on the cake. I only have a few failcast kits and that was only because I picked them up cheap at the local store, but every one has problems.

Frankly I'm scared to trim my treekin off of the sprues incase they snap (which I can easily see them doing).

Massive thumbs down from me!

[ac4155]

Bought Markus Wulfhart from Maelstrom and this is also another lovely sculpt. I'm impressed by the recent string of briliant GW releases. I hope they keep it up.

Once again no problems with the model, and unlike the Witch Hunter model I had, no flash at all.

All detail is crisp and clear, no bubbles that I have seen apart from one on the bottom of the foot. (though still a chance of finding some during assembly will have to see).

Really impressed by it and the detail once again. I would go as far to say this is a perfect cast, or at least extremely close to perfect.

So I'm still loving finecast and still at 100% model rate. It's just ashame about all the people who seem to be having bad luck with it.

[loveless]

Most of the Markus models I've seen have been of similar quality (I just don't want the model ), though most have had some flash.

See, this new round of Empire models looks pretty solid, but I know as soon as I order one, I'll get the one that's a misshapen mass of bubbles because my luck's been awful lately

Nice to see some casts that aren't horrible.

[ac4155]

The Markus model is also the first FC model I have which has the little channels metal had to let air out. It has quite a few in areas where bubbles would be expected.

A sign that they have started to improved their casting methods to avoid bubbles or have I just not noticed these before?

[Sgt John Keel]

The Markus model is also the first FC model I have which has the little channels metal had to let air out. It has quite a few in areas where bubbles would be expected.

A sign that they have started to improved their casting methods to avoid bubbles or have I just not noticed these before?

They've mostly been there since the beginning, in varying numbers.

Anyway, I notice you and some others tend to take photos from an angle to the top or a pretty much flat angle relative to the miniature. Since bubbles mostly get stuck on the underside of the miniature, photos from that angle would be better to show that there indeed are no defects.

[Hendarion]

Well, to be fair, it is the very same angle you'll look at a painted miniature anyway. But what disturbs me now are all those vents that needs to be cut and filed off. I'm counting 21 vents on that mini. Some on spots not that easy to reach with a file or to be able to use it at that spot (files are large, even small ones). Especially the 2 vents at the chest and the one at his hair would give me a bit headache. Also in one fold there is some... "rough" texture, but that's nothing I haven't seen at cloak-folds of my metal miniatures either (which means I do have the same at my metal casts).

[angora]

Those wee "stringy" vents look new - I don't think I've noticed them of a FC model before. They certainly look placed to counter the 'corner bubble' effect...

[Jonahmaul]

You get those stringy bits on metal miniatures as well. But they're a lot easier to clean off in resin as it can be done with a modelling knife very easily (too easily possibly as you have to be very cautious about not cutting into the actual miniature).

[Hendarion]

In metal they are much much thinner though and this just clipping them off is pretty viable. I'm not sure entirely about that on these casts. Of course you can clean them off. I was just giving my impressions though, they don't need to be the same as yours.

[Jonahmaul]

I wasn't stating that to disagree with you, that's is just my impression. Although we may be talking about different bits. I mean the really thin bits that like on the foot or side of head. Not the thicker ones that are holding the miniature to the sprue itself.