FW: A damaged Tantalus

[Unexo]

Hello Warseer.

I hope this is the right section, but there are GW and WD feedback here, so I thought it would fit.

I got a Tantalus for my Dark Eldar army this christmas. However, when I opened it, certain parts (which was supposed to be "straight" was bended roughly 30degree. Herein the big sail itself, one of it's spikes and one of the rear Scythes.

The sail is also covered in some glittery layer. Nearly oil-like. It leaves a fingerprint when touched. You can also see scratches and what I fear might be cuts in the plastic itself. I haven't tried to wash it in soap yet, or clean it. Mainly because I have decided to return it.

No other part or previous forgeworld product I have bought, have had this oil kind of layer thing. This includes 4 FW dreadnoughts, a titan, and such previous purchases.

I think the forgeworld storage center is in UK? Atleast the package was missent to Canada and we did have a long delivering time, considering it would then have been sent from UK-Canada-Denmark and not UK-Denmark.
Could this long trip have exposed the pack to some kind of heat? Considering the melt-kind of damage to the model? I believe bending the model directly would see it break rather than bend. Atleast it is not going back to the original position right willingly.

The main point of this thread, would be to hear more experienced customers if they have had similar issues and what they did.

(the giver of the gift had nicely left the model in it's original pack, and had been unopened by him)

[jack da greenskin]

sail just needs to be washed and scrubbed. I'd probably spray it with degreaser or something too, just to get rid of that oil.

Bent parts can supposedly be reshaped by dipping in hot water, then cold water, whilst bending it. I've found this fiddely at the best of times, and have only got it to work with plasticard, not resin.

Your best bet is to call forgeworld and ask them for advice, or a replacement.

[Ravenous]

sail just needs to be washed and scrubbed. I'd probably spray it with degreaser or something too, just to get rid of that oil.

Bent parts can supposedly be reshaped by dipping in hot water, then cold water, whilst bending it. I've found this fiddely at the best of times, and have only got it to work with plasticard, not resin.

Your best bet is to call forgeworld and ask them for advice, or a replacement.

Yeah the bent models thing is something I always call FW for, especially after I saw the "inside GW" video and it is poured by hand and removed. So some guy just tossed off to the side and let it warp, this is not something I am willing to pay a premium for.

[castellanash]

Only use tap water warmth never use boiling water the resin turns incredibly malleable.

[Deamon-forge]

Only use tap water warmth never use boiling water the resin turns incredibly malleable.

depending on the size of the part. i find boiling water work best on larger parts but i pour the water around the part not submerge it. FW will prob say it can be bent back into shape. re broken parts they will 99.9% of the time replace.

re washing use warm water with washing up liquid. give it a good clean with a small brush (tooth brush work best) and just keep cleaning it.

[GomezAddams]

A picture would help us - it might be easily fixed but I guess it depends on how much work you want to put in.

[6mmhero]

I use a hair dryer (not too close) to bend and reshape parts and have not had a problem and is easier than hot water etc.

not had an issue with the glitter like powder before.

[Battleworthy Arts]

that layer that leaves fingerprints... if you press your fingernail into the resin is it soft?

every great once and awhile the resin isnt mixed right and doesn't fully harden. If that is the case, you need to contact Forgeworld.

As for bent pieces, if you aren't prepared to heat and straighten bent pieces, then you need to never own resin figures. Its simply gonna happen. Straightening resin casts is like cleaning mold lines off of plastic figures. Its part of the process.

If you are serious about resin models, you will own a heat gun.

http://www.micromark.com/miniature-heat-gun,9404.html

Best $20 I ever spent.

[Chaos and Evil]

I hold resin in the steam froma kettle when I want to bend it.

[johnnyrumour]

For the bent bits, boil the kettle, bang it in some tupperware, pour the hot water over it and leave it a good 5-10 mins keeping the water hot if necessary. This resolves *most* of the bendyness but you can then carefully fish it out and finish it off by hand. The part that a lot of people seem to neglect is that you should then immerse it in cold water to 'flash-cool' it. I've fixed loads of bendy bits like this and none of them have ever gone back to their bent state.

In terms of the greasyness, that sounds like too much release agent. Give it a thorough wash and scrub with something like a kitchen degreaser (anything that will cut through caked-on crap without dissolving your surfaces) and a toothbrush.

[Kulgur]

Got to say, I don't know if it's just me but I've never had a forgeworld order that I'd consider 100% satisfactory. First order had a broken part, 2nd had heavy warping and flash so heavy it obscured details, 3rd had a missing part, and my 4th has a broken part and a filled in socket joint (so far, more may be to come).

[Spectrar Ghost]

Really? I've only had one order that wasn't satisfactory, an Arkurion Shadowsword with bad warping on the main body. I'm not even sure I'd consider it unsatisfactory now; I've not touched 40k in a couple years and may find it repairable at this point as my modeling skills have gotten much better in the meantime.

Edit - I take it back, it's totally fixable. My memory made the warpage much greater than it is.

[LonelyPath]

I guess I have been lucky since I've never received any broken parts and only had 1 piece that was slightly warped in all of my FW orders.

[Sildani]

I had a Cobra II where one of its wings was deflected some 8 degrees from true, so that it was 1cm different from the other wing. A dip in boiling water, a modest application of force, and immediate immersion in a bowl of ice water cured it permanently.

As for the grease, it's happened to me. Warm water, dishwashing soap, a soft brush, and elbow grease will see it off.

[tu33y]

i have a story related..

the other week, i bought a Bombard from "off the shelf" at lenton. i was all set to buy it, but there were several minor faults (in the usual FW standards, very minor) but, i thought, this is FITY SEVEN quid. im not standing for it.

so, i tried very hard not to sound a tool, i said im not having it. the guy was like "its a reality with resin".

so i made it clear i was not happy so the manager asked me to get all the bits i was not happy with, he took them away then a while later a guy brought them through all fixed and straight.

i could have dealt with them myself, and have done before. but... i have got to the point where i just dont want to anymore

[carlisimo]

the other week, i bought a Bombard from "off the shelf" at lenton. i was all set to buy it, but there were several minor faults (in the usual FW standards, very minor) but, i thought, this is FITY SEVEN quid. im not standing for it.

so, i tried very hard not to sound a tool, i said im not having it. the guy was like "its a reality with resin".

Fair enough, and I'm glad they fixed it for you, but it really is quite normal. In the beginning Forgeworld marketed itself to experienced military modelers who wanted to stay in the 40k universe. We're used to rare planes and tanks only being available as short-run kits. That means resin pieces that don't fit together very well (or worse, vacuform), and high prices due to the low sales volume.

Forgeworld is going mainstream, in part because GW's prices are getting a bit close to FW's. That's the effect of moving larger volumes of stuff: more money to work with, but also higher expectations among customers who aren't just experienced modelers anymore. Older kits will still be difficult though, and even the newer stuff won't ever reach Tamiya or Hasegawa levels of easy assembly.

[colonel kane trine]

I bought the chaos mammoth ages ago and it was great except for a warped howdah.
I rang them and they just resent me another howdah and a pile of other bits that I didnt even ask for!
Great service if im honest.

Id just give them a ring and get the parts resent

[Hengest]

Some varying views expressed on what we expect to get for our money. Which is interesting. We buy these models for different reasons I think which perhaps effects our perspective.
This is my take.
When I buy a forgeworld (or any) model I am not buying the model per se I am buying something I want to build ie I'm paying for the expereince in putting it together - and I want my money's worth of that.
Obviously broken or failed delicate parts are one thing, but getting a cast model to fit together is, for me, the whole point and the bigger the challenge the better.
If I'm spending lots of money on a model then I want to get at least that amount of challenge and effort over building the item and getting it to look the way I want it to.
If I wanted a snap together kit with little effort involved I'd get some lego. For the price the forgeworld kits should be more like proper models than toys. For the money that I've spent I want lots of parts, lots of fiddling about and thereby effort on my part to try and do a good job with what bits they have sent me - can I get it looking as good as the photos without breaking anything - and if I do (which happens every now and then) how should I best fix it again
If I can put something together easily or in little time personally I would feel robbed and that my money had been wasted.
Straightening parts, altering surfaces, trying to pin accurately and dealing with air bubbles, generally fixing it, is part of the enjoyment for me. Otherwise it would be too easy - and not worth my money or time.

As I said, that is what I'm paying for - the modelling experience.
Just my preference of course - but I'm an engineer so maybe I just like building and fixing things with my hands. Also, apart from occasional BFG and AI, I dont play GW games so am in no hurry to get something on the table.
Once I've built something I'll look at it for a bit and see what I should have done different then I'm afraid it often just goes in a drawer or cupboard somewhere.
Its the painting that puts me off. The fear that I've spent ages building something expensive and putting my equally expensive time and effort into it only to then ruin the thing with a crap paint job.

[Spiney Norman]

Some varying views expressed on what we expect to get for our money. Which is interesting. We buy these models for different reasons I think which perhaps effects our perspective.
This is my take.
When I buy a forgeworld (or any) model I am not buying the model per se I am buying something I want to build ie I'm paying for the expereince in putting it together - and I want my money's worth of that.
Obviously broken or failed delicate parts are one thing, but getting a cast model to fit together is, for me, the whole point and the bigger the challenge the better.
If I'm spending lots of money on a model then I want to get at least that amount of challenge and effort over building the item and getting it to look the way I want it to.
If I wanted a snap together kit with little effort involved I'd get some lego. For the price the forgeworld kits should be more like proper models than toys. For the money that I've spent I want lots of parts, lots of fiddling about and thereby effort on my part to try and do a good job with what bits they have sent me - can I get it looking as good as the photos without breaking anything - and if I do (which happens every now and then) how should I best fix it again
If I can put something together easily or in little time personally I would feel robbed and that my money had been wasted.
Straightening parts, altering surfaces, trying to pin accurately and dealing with air bubbles, generally fixing it, is part of the enjoyment for me. Otherwise it would be too easy - and not worth my money or time.

As I said, that is what I'm paying for - the modelling experience.
Just my preference of course - but I'm an engineer so maybe I just like building and fixing things with my hands. Also, apart from occasional BFG and AI, I dont play GW games so am in no hurry to get something on the table.
Once I've built something I'll look at it for a bit and see what I should have done different then I'm afraid it often just goes in a drawer or cupboard somewhere.
Its the painting that puts me off. The fear that I've spent ages building something expensive and putting my equally expensive time and effort into it only to then ruin the thing with a crap paint job.

I think thats a fair comment, I have a number of high cost, epic-assemble models in my collection that are sitting in their undercoat because I'm too scared to start painting them.

My perception at least is that forgeworld models are intended for the experienced modeler, and not tiny tim who wants more mahreens to throw at the cat. To my mind its not unreasonable to require more advanced modelling skills when assembling forgeworld models.

Thats also why I feel so betrayed by the finecast range, producing something that is often harder to get together than most FW models and marketting it to tiny tim as the BESTEST THING EVA is a bit too much.

[colonel kane trine]

Finecasts been amazing so far for me but yep I do agree with you. I like the challenge and the time and dedication that these models require.

Im getting a few tomb stalkers and a pylon soon and I cant wait!