Reaper-cast

[Senbei]

Post fine-cast fiasco, Reaper are doing something similar now. Re-casting miniatures in a plastic-resin material.

http://www.reapermini.com/

The difference is... The reaper ones are a fraction of the price of their metals. Though I realise that GW's price rises were unrelated to the change-over, and we have yet to see how Reaper manages quality control... At $2 for an Ogre, this can't make GW them look good.

[lbecks]

The prices on those are really, really good. Back when I was walking distance from a local game store I used to buy reaper minis on impulse to paint for fun.

[Max Jet]

Post fine-cast fiasco, Reaper are doing something similar now. Re-casting miniatures in a plastic-resin material.

http://www.reapermini.com/

The difference is... The reaper ones are a fraction of the price of their metals. Though I realise that GW's price rises were unrelated to the change-over, and we have yet to see how Reaper manages quality control... At $2 for an Ogre, this can't make GW them look good.

Mother of god jesus christ for goodness sake in a strawberry cupcake on a flying carpet!

This price is insane and the material... finaly something that allows converting. Holy just.. just look at the price! Reaper for such a low price! (Instantly makes a gigantic order).

[Senbei]

Mother of god jesus christ for goodness sake in a strawberry cupcake on a flying carpet!

It took me a while to figure out what the giant pink cupcake was for too.

I'll be ordering a piece or two... just to see what the material is like to work with. Here's hoping that it's half-decent.

[AndrewGPaul]

I don't think it's a resin.

1)Yes they are injected plastic.

2) They are the same molds used on our prepainted pieces but not the same material.

3) Pre paints are selling very well. This is not a replacement for that line.

4) Next week we will release information on the next releases. You will see models new to Reaper for this line as well as models from the prepainted line. Tooling is too expensive to let sit idle.

5) Every bit of the detail in the metal version is there. These are injected on a 200 ton machine.

6) These are flexible models, not brittle styrene. Our intention is to continue to provide models with as few pieces as possible like we have always done. Not small model kits.

From here.

[EmperorNorton]

That is a rather exciting development. I hope it goes well for them and they will expand upon this.

[GomezAddams]

Sounds like what troll forge have been working on for the past year.

I dunno, I've never really had a problem with what reaper charge and have always found the metal quality excellent (not too hard, not too soft). Having said that, for less then the price of a 28mm mini from most retailers, I'll happily be picking up that giant worm.

[Darsc Zacal]

So that's another company to add to the list of those moving away, to some degree anyway, from metal to a polymer/plastic/resiny type of casting. Although the exact formula being used does appear to vary from company to company.

Privateer Press
Mantic
GW
Black Scorpion
On The Lamb Games
Reaper

Interesting times for our hobby.

[Croaker]

Reading the reaper forums, these seem to be their soft plastic pre-paints without the paint.

[GomezAddams]

Hang about...

Privateer Press - Have had the ability to do resin casting for quite awhile and yet theres plenty of kits, using lots of metal, that are still metal.

Mantic - Can't decide between the two. Goblins in metal, corp in resin, gobbo archers hard plastic?

GW - Different kettle of fish. Using there own resin mix and still casting in metal for some ranges. Also, I doubt GW are saving that much given the investment thats gone into researching the resin in the first place. Other companies have been able to design specific sets for resin production (spartan games) whilst not having to worry about health and safety so much, where as GW is having to adapt a range designed specifially for metal, to a new material, that has to be child friendly. Not an enviable task.

Black Scorpion - Switched entirely to resin and brought casting in house. Some metal present due to limited edition issues. Quality seems to be far higher but theres big holes in the range, as out of stock items won't show (the marines have been missing for some time...).

On The Lamb Games - Vastly smaller then any others mentioned so far I'd argue, with less appeal. Casting in metal usually means outsourcing, and having to hold stock (unless you find a local caster whose willing to cast to order...). Resin is far easier to do in house, means you have more efficient quality control, and means you can cast to order. They also seem to have only just dipped there toes into resin, so give it time to see how it goes.

Reaper - aren't converting there whole line to plastic. This is a specific range from what I've read, and you won't be seeing things like 54mm sophie in plastic any time soon. Add into that the fact that reapers prices are easily the most competitive in the industry. I think the cheapest reaper figure I have is the pirate chick with monkey in my malifaux log, that clocked in at £3.50(ish).


Just as the actual mix of resin/plastic/pixie dust varies from company to company, as does the reasons and the execution.

[Darsc Zacal]

That's why I included the phrase "to some degree anyway" in my comment. I think in many cases it will make no sense to abandon metal completely.

A lot seems to depend on the finickyness of casting in these new materials. There does appear to be an issue with the additional time it takes over casting in metal, and to some degree anyway maintaining the quality.

I think right now the companies I listed are all interested in a move from metal, but in most cases are at the moment in the experimental phase of seeing what works for them and their needs. Other than perhaps Black Scorpion who have seemed to have commited themselves to a course of action. At present, Mantic only has the capability of casting metal inhouse, with plastic being done by Renedra and the plastic/resin being done in China. Obviously each of these options represents their own challenges in limitations and benefits. I suspect that going forward there may not be simply one "right" answer for most companies.

But should the perfect plastic formula and casting process be found... Well who knows.

[zoggin-eck]

Good on them, sounds good so far. Some reaper stuff is hit and miss, but there's a lot of charm to their figures.

I have a certain amount of nostalgia for that cave troll (still use mine) so I might give it a go, among others, just to compare the two.

[BobtheInquisitor]

I am totally on-board with this. I may just get one of everything at these prices. Oh, and now I can afford a whole army of werewolves. It might take some work to make them anything but clones, but 10 werewolves for $20? Very impressive.

[Schmapdi]

Hang about...
Reaper - aren't converting there whole line to plastic. This is a specific range from what I've read, and you won't be seeing things like 54mm sophie in plastic any time soon. Add into that the fact that reapers prices are easily the most competitive in the industry. I think the cheapest reaper figure I have is the pirate chick with monkey in my malifaux log, that clocked in at £3.50(ish).

From the Reaper forums (posted by a Reaper employee) "We have a very ambitious roadmap for future releases, although yes, the initial launch is from LE (to help keep costs down)." I do believe the plan is to eventually move into their other ranges. The words "very ambitious," in my mind at least, makes it sound like they'll be working on getting nearly all into the new material (even if it takes years and years).

** And another Reaper employee quote that supports that: "Next week we'll be previewing two brand new Bones polys. One by Werner Klocke, one by Bobby Jackson. Neither have seen the light of day in any Reaper product line before, so they are unique to Bones. And they're awesome."

I agree with Darsc though - it's great to see so many companies moving away from metal. Maybe it's because I'm relatively new to the hobby, but I harbor no fondness for working with the stuff, and have high hopes that my in the future my collections will be increasingly free of it.

[Dai-Mongar]

** And another Reaper employee quote that supports that: "Next week we'll be previewing two brand new Bones polys. One by Werner Klocke, one by Bobby Jackson. Neither have seen the light of day in any Reaper product line before, so they are unique to Bones. And they're awesome."

Excellent idea having their new Bones-exclusive minis being Klocke and Jackson sculpts. There's very little of either sculptor's work that I wouldn't buy.

[Daniel36]

I love Reaper. I just wish there were more shops (any shops) in Holland selling it. I dislike ordering online. I am going to London in a couple of weeks and have been scouting online for stores selling Reaper stuff. I will make some detours just to get me some Reaper goodness! Last year I also bought 5 models and I love them!

[Xeno_RG]

Wow, Reaper prices were ridiculously good to begin with (especially considering how good the sculpts are) but this . . . hello, impulse buy!

I got the Kobolds, Troll, Ogre, Dwarf, and Gnoll. They look like they'll fun to paint!

[Darsc Zacal]

Reading Reapers own forums, they confirmed this is the bendy rubbery plastic they're using for this new line, which is a dissapointment. For someone who wants a ton of gaming pieces to throw on the table, it's still a good deal, but doesn't interest me so much as a painter/collector.

[StygianBeach]

Reading Reapers own forums, they confirmed this is the bendy rubbery plastic they're using for this new line, which is a dissapointment. For someone who wants a ton of gaming pieces to throw on the table, it's still a good deal, but doesn't interest me so much as a painter/collector.

Pre-paint bendy.. that is dissappointing. Lucky me though I guess, I still have unpainted Reptus.

[Don_Silvarro]

I fail to see how a softer material is disappointing.

Seriously, I have yet to hear a concrete argument against soft plastic (or prepainted miniatures, for that matter). I don't think I'm asking for much. Just something that carries more meaning than the usual "Soft plastic automatically equals crap" argument.