More Failcast...

*Squeek*
...sigh.
Failcast?
FineCost?
Fineshaft?


More examples of poor "Finecast" models come to light. I read an interesting entry over at Scott's Wargaming Blog (great blog!) that had some links to a particularly poor Beast of Gorgoroth model.  Now, I've had bubble issues in the past, but this is In fact, shockingly poor.


Working at a company that sells a physical product, I know that almost any item that is manufactured can have issues. Despite everyone's best efforts, from time to time we have a defective item, and so do all of our competitors. For this reason it is only normal, and reasonable, to accept some small defects in a run of tens of thousands of units being produced. In addition, there is no evidence I have seen of GW not willingly replacing defective items upon request...


...but I also think it is reasonable to question why these same products are being promoted and positioned in the market as:
"incredibly detailed"
"high-quality"
"...the highest quality miniatures the world has ever seen."


The claimed "...new era in wargaming" seems to be off to a pretty poor start, especially when it appears to many people that:
- the quality of the product may actually have declined.
- prices have exponentially increased.
- for many people, there is in reality not a great deal of difference in detail between these and metal models.

If a company decides to tout their product as the best in the world, and raises their prices accordingly (despite it being the case that they could pass on some of the reduced manufacturing costs to the consumer, shipping weights being reduced) then the product had better be pretty good.


Whining?
SURE! 


The people who complain the most about products and companies tend to be the ones who love the product and/ or invest a great deal of money and time in them. 


And for people who say it is easy to fix (just "Green Stuff it", "put it in hot water and bend it back into shape" etc) these things might work, but when you are being charged top-dollar, you don't expect to have to try and fix these things yourself.

"Problem with the new Jag sir? Don't worry,
Green Stuff should sort out those holes in no time!"

It would be very interesting to know what the actual % rate of defective products is in a batch of Finecast models, as this would mean we could see if the rate was acceptable, or high. It might very well be entirely acceptable for this kind of production process. In my case, both of the two Finecast models that I have had big enough problems that I would consider the overall quality poor. 


Maybe I was just unlucky, and I don't respond well to overblown marketing hype...


In the final analysis, this hobby has brought me hundreds of hours of enjoyment in painting and gaming. Collecting and painting miniatures can still be called great value for money in the long term when compared to the paltry return on investment (in hours) received from going to the cinema, eating out, or taking the family out for the day.


Happy Valentine's Day!


*Squeek*