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*

Deathmaster Snikch Finecast Update, Bubbles,and More!

*Squeek*

Managed to get some early work done on Queek Headtaker and Deathmaster Snikch, as well as some assembly on Scar-Skath.

I hadn't worked with any Citadel Finecast before this, so I was very interested to see how this new material would be to work with. 

• Would it live up to GW's claims about crisp detail?
• How would the moulding be?
• What kind of preparation would be necessary?

Well, first impressions upon opening Deathmaster Snikch and Queek were a mix of the good and the bad.

First, the good:

-Detail is quite good.

-Easy to glue.

-Easy to file.

That's about it.

Next, the bad:

Bubbles...

-Bubbles. Some significant detail lost from the casting process meant lots of time working with Green Stuff to fill in unsightly gaps. Maybe I was just unlucky, but these missing chunks seemed to be in particularly obvious places - not something I have ever noticed on metal or other plastics. 

Sure, I have seen plenty of gaps between parts before, but these were whole areas missing on limbs etc.

-Fiddly to remove from the sprue. (Lots of bits that take a bit of time to work out whether they are part of the model or not.

-Thinner areas of the material felt very prone to breakage. (I didn't do anything extreme to see if they were!) A case in point being the Deathmaster's cape.

-Detail didn't seem that much better than metal or regular plastic to me. In fact, some fine detail was broken or miscast.

Hmmm, not so good to my eyes, but what do you think? Let's take a look at the Deathmaster first...

(Sorry that these are a bit difficult to see. I don't have time today to edit the photos with arrows and pointers etc.)

Notice the hole in the leg, above the knee.

Missing material in the center of the cape.

Rats head on the bottom facing us (just above base) is deformed and missing

 On Queek Headtaker, nothing quite as serious, but still annoying considering GW's claims to amazing detail...

Front legs of the rat on the base - at right - miscast/ partly missing.

MASSIVE ISSUES? DEAL BREAKERS?


No. 
In fact, some might argue they are all part of the hobbyist's life. 


That is fine, but as GW charges (I seem to remember) significantly more for these than their metal equivalents, I can't think that the quality being worse would be acceptable to most people. Personally, I want to paint and display/ wargame, not patch and fix. 
BTW, although many people say that metal has less detail, it doesn't seem to be a huge difference to me.


...but maybe I am just disappointed at the time of writing from having to get busy with the Green Stuff...

(It was still sticky at the time of the photo, so I will file it a bit tomorrow.)


Anyway, I also started to work with Scar-Skath, from the Banebeasts range, who I am planning to use as a "counts as Vermin Lord". If you remember, this was the model where I didn't receive a base with the kit when I received it from Maelstrom Games (but I did receive the run-around before everything worked out just fine.)


Note the replacement Micro-Art base that in the end Maelstrom kindly sent me.

 And although I had to greenstuff some gaps on Scar, these were gaps between parts, not filling in chunks of missing model!


What have your experiences been with Finescast and resin models in general?


Cheers,


*Squeek*

Gripes, Groans and Great Blogs...

*Squeek*

There are lots of blogs out there to enjoy about Warhammer and tabletop wargaming, but one my favorites is "Fields of Blood".
Always a good read.
Always thoughtful.
Always well-written.

Recently, I particularly enjoyed two posts there by Pete Dunn, a NZ based tournament player, organizer and blogger.

The first was about how the recent change in GW policy that restricts internet retailers selling GW products outside of certain zones has resulted in loss of revenue for GW. You can find that here:
"Scorched Earth or How GW Managed to Destroy $1000 of Sales"

I highly recommend you visit Fields of Blood and go back there to enjoy the posts and other content.
That particular post allowed me to give vent to some of my own recent feelings about Citadel FineSHAFT and the policy mentioned above, which I put up as a comment (great comments and contributions from people on the post above btw), but which I shall include here...(Read the post at the link above first for context.)
--------------
"Great points here and a great discussion!
Living in Tokyo I had shared my money between the local GW operation and also international suppliers until the recent imposition of martial law by GW. I have to say that since then I have become less and less sympathetic to GW recently for two reasons.

1. The "FineSHAFT" debacle. So far I haven't seen a single decent explanation from GW about the price increases for the vast majority of these items. (Jervis could have addressed this in his White Dwarf article about Finecast, but chose instead to repeat the party line.)

As examples, (and this is where I am similar to Pete in his feelings about local pricing)
- Queek Headtaker is 18.34 GBP in Japan, or 74% more than the UK. (UK price 10.50)
- Skaven Jezzail set is 55.81 GBP in Japan, or 86% more than the UK. (UK price is 30.00)
Both are more expensive than NZ (which also suffers from grossly inflated prices.)

Yes, getting these things to Japan is expensive, but hey, now that GW don't use a commodity like Tin, and considering that the materials used are so light etc. shouldn't prices be MORE reasonable? Don't tell me that the incremental increase in the definition of FineSHAFT models justifies that price increase? (Although I guess the new material may had had millions of pounds-worth of R&D poured into it.
("Poured"...Geddit? Oh, nevermind.)

2. I recall that part of the GW initial argument about their "Scorched Earth" policy was about supporting local gaming bricks and mortar etc. What a surprise then to find that they have recently closed around 5 GW stores around Tokyo, retreating to their two main stores, including my local.

So, LESS support and MASSIVELY INCREASED prices.

All of this would probably be bearable if GW actually treated us like customers, rather than suckers.
How? Explain openly the ACTUAL underlying business reasons for these increases rather than pump out the marketing BS and spin we have seen to date.
OH, wait, that's RIGHT, the underlying business reasons are GREED and OPPORTUNISM, rather than better models and supporting the community, so I guess they have to resort to the party-line they have used so far.

Even if I am totally wrong, I still can't shake off the feeling that I am being played by GW, and I don't like it.

(Takes deep breath) Wow! Even if I am totally wrong, I at least feel better having said this now!
Just want to finish by saying that I always valued the support of the GW shop staff, their overall friendliness and passion for the hobby, so this isn't actually directed at them."
-------------
Soooooo,
QUESTIONS:

• How do you guys feel about Finecast?
• What are your thoughts on the "Scorched Earth Policy" (As Pete calls it?)

The second post I am really enjoying started the other day with some some thoughts by Pete about Composition Systems for casual and tournament play. Again, a really good post, with some very interesting and thoughtful replies by readers - AND further replies by Pete.
You can read the post here:
"Comp Systems - The Case for Hard Caps"
and the follow up here:
"The Case for Hard Caps - Part Deux"
I was particularly interested in this thread because as someone who very rarely gets any games in, and who hasn't ever played in a tournament or really given this area any thought at all it got me thinking about tournaments, T.O. responsibilities and the thought and time that must go into them.

MORE QUESTIONS:

• Have you played in any tournaments? 
• Did you enjoy them?
• What do you reckon to Pete's points or the comments?
• and finally, as I am enjoying reading all these other blogs so much...
• What SINGLE WFB, 40K or tabletop wargaming blog would you recommend if you could only recommend ONE and it couldn't be your own?

Cheers,

*Squeek*