Of course, unless you've been a hermit these last 6 months, you probably already know all about this
I would like to make quite a sweeping statement:
The internet has blown this problem out of all proportion.
To date I have bought 4 Finecast models, a female Vampire Lord, two Ogre Kingdoms Gorgers and this guy:
Not one of these models has had so much as a single blemish (the nick in the shoulder pad you can see is down to me not being careful enough with the clippers) and I can honestly say these have been some of the best quality GW models I have ever bought, in terms of quality of sculpts, crispness of detail and ease to paint and build
Also, none of my gaming friends have ever had a problem with a Finecast model either, sharing my views on the quality.
Of course, these ravings on the internet have to come from somewhere, so I've been thinking and all I can suggest is this:
Any model manufacturer, no matter how big or small will occasionally make mistakes, whether it be a missing sprue in a boxed set, or bubbles in the casting, etc. For example, the very first box of GW product I bought, way back when I was eleven, was a box of Chaos Space Marines. They'd been mispacked so I only got half the marines i paid for. The manager of my local GW was quite happy to exchange them for a full box and let me keep the mispackaged box, as they couldn't sell them on for obvious reasons, but not before noting down the details he needed to warn head office of the problem.
The point i'm making is that there will ALWAYS be mistakes that slip through quality control. It's an inevitability. problem is, with the internet being a vital tool in spreading the word about Finecast, the most vocal group will always be the ones who are complaining. Always. It's human nature. People are more inclined to say 'this was terrible!' than 'actually, this model was brilliant, no problems with it at all', so we only end up hearing one side of the story.
As a little final point, I've had more problems with Forge World casts since the release of Finecast (a grand total of one problem, with some armour kits i got) than any GW product.
I suppose what this post is really saying is, don't believe the internet doomsayers and give Finecast a chance.
Solidarity. I'm off to a roaring start with the stuff myself.
ReplyDeleteWell, it is not as if every finecast model is flawed with airbubbles etc., and if one can look past that, the models are indeed wonderfully detailed, easy to assemble and the surface takes painting very well.
ReplyDeleteThe core of the problem is that expectations were very high for this product, but the faulty products are coming up every now and then, and when they do, it's such a high fall. I do respect and love GW for having the "if something's wrong with your product, get down to a store and we'll replace it"-policy, but it doesn't help much if there's a 2 hour drive to the nearest GW store (my situation until I moved from my family's home in Norway to study in Denmark).
I got together with a group of old Warhammer-playing friends I have back in Norway, during this summer-vacation, and we got ourselves some of these new finecast-models: 3/5 of these had airbubbles. I had to resculpt half of the details on WoodElf Orion's bow; the wrist of a TombKings Necrotect contained a large bubble, destroying the nice bracelet; and a WoodElf Highborn needed some new fingers due to more bubbles.
Sorry for hijacking your post with this long comment, but I am among those who have had really frustrating experiences with Finecast, and had hoped that GW would have perfected their casting-technology, instead of prematurely releasing these products. As it is now, I fear that future potential hobbyists will be put off, when they find out that to get their miniatures to look as the package shows, they have to be skilled greenstuff-modelers - and I for one was not that, when I started at 11 years old.
But if you live near a GW-store, by all means, buy as much Finecast as you like; if there's a bubble you don't like, replace the mini at the store! But if you order your miniatures online and/or there's a long trek to the closest store, keep to GWs plastic products; get familiar with green stuff, then jump onto the Finecast products. GW has after all some very nice and highly detailed plastic products - most large monsters, nearly all rank-and-file troops and several heroes and lords.
I agree mate. I've only bought a handful of Finecast but I have yet to be disappointed.
ReplyDelete