First up, this isn’t a flame war. I want this to be seen in a positive light. Some hobbyists love to GW bash. Every forum you go on disgruntled customers are voicing their opinions to the masses. Since Finecast arrived the forums are awash with horror stories. It seems all Finecast models are terrible if you believe everything you read on the internet. There is a simple reason for this… people will only remember the bad. You could be really good at your job and have one bad day. It’ll be that bad your boss brings up when you ask for a pay rise. Same with Finecast, no one really reports on the good casts, only the bad ones that slip through. Getting a bad cast is terrible and very annoying but GW will replace no questions asked. If you mail Ordered from them they will send you replacement parts free of charge and not ask for the defected ones back. Their customer service is phenomenal.
I wanted to share with you guys a great example of Finecast, and prove they do exist. Now I’m positive these great examples exist in their 1000’s across the globe but no one is telling the world because, well why would you? It’s just a sculpt it’s what you asked for.
I’m really happy with my first Finecast model. There are 5 or 6 tiny bubbles that only showed up because I photographed them with my DSLR. These will take 2 mins to fill in with liquid greenstuff. The collar has a hole in it, but that wil be another simple fix. The crispness of the sculpt is beautiful. The base bottom isn’t flat, but I’ll take a sanding pad to that, or stick it to a base with modelling putty and blend it in.
I think it’s interesting that because Forge World said their kits are for experts and require bending and straightening, sanding, sawing off chunks, filling in bubbles, no one really complains. We just get on with it and in a sadistic kind of way we enjoy working on Forge World models. They seem more special because of their cost and the hard work that goes in.
If GW had taken that approach with Finecast we could have seen a different reaction from the Hobbyists. They choose to market this as a superior product though and that left them open to attack from every single Finecast model that wasn’t up to scratch. They should have approached it as an expensive luxury expert kit, the downside to that is the young core market. It excludes them to a degree.
Hope you enjoyed this chat. Are you a Finecast Virgin? Have you had horrible casts? Do you love your Finecast models? Do you have painted Finecast models? Post them in the comments, I’m really interested to hear from you guys.
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I wouldn't be hating on finecast so much if a) there was still a plastic alternative that i could use, and b) it wsn't so damned expensive for what often feels like a vastly inferior product that requires more work than the cheaper plastic versions used to, to even look passable. I have so far not come across a finecast kit that didn't need either extensive work to fix, or need replacement because the flaws are too numerous to repair. I'm glad to hear that some people are finding great results with their kits and hope that the quality continues to improve. But i'll be damned if I'm happy with what i'm getting out of it at the moment.
My Dark Eldar finecast adventure was such a nightmare, but the Necrons I got recently were a vast improvement. My 25th anniversary model was damn near flawless with only 2 small mold lines. Though, I am worried when I see articles like the Necron Overlord who is turning to jelly in some ones display case after 6 months…At least they're making progress on the resin front.
Zab
I just got mine a few days ago and would have to say that it was in almost perfect shape. The bottom of the banner pole was a little bent, but took no time at all to fix that. This was my first finecast mini and I had no problem with it at all. As for resin kits, I purchased the krull, servile lord of dis mini from Banebeasts and that figure was absolute perfect. No bubbles, almost no flash, that was a true work of art.
I bought this model as well, and it was my second finecast model, Krell being the first. There was one small air bubble on the left leg. However, the banner top was snapped off, but as you say, GW customer service is excellent and the replacement has arrived in perfect condition. The Krell model was also pretty flawless, but the banner poles on his back are bent, and with finecast being so fragile I have no illusions about them lasting through a game. Overall though, so far so good.
I've bought about a dozen Finecast models and never had a problem with one of them – all Nids though, so maybe has something to do with it.
A point though – you say you never hear about cases where Finecast models were good…well you shouldn't – this should be the norm. If I am spending £15 on a small lump of resin, it should right.
If you bought a DVD and a chapter was missing, there would a recall – you shouldn't have to spread the news that something you bought was of the correct condition.
Great post and I'm glad your experience was a good one. As you say, there are probably thousands of great FC blisters out there being happily opened and painted with minimal problems every day.
Sadly, neither of my two FC models were really acceptable. http://chatteringhorde.blogspot.com/2012/01/deathmaster-snikch-finecast-update.html
What probably makes people so annoyed with FC ("Failcast") is the marketing hype that went with it and the fact that it is so expensive yet shows little real improvement in quality over other materials (IMHO)
Looking forward to seeing your Captain painted-up and thanks for an outstanding blog.
So far I have mixed experiences with Finecast.
The Good – I bought a Sslyth and it was pretty much picture perfect. Almost no flash, super crisp detail, didnt see a single hole that needed to be filled. If all Finecast was like this model I would be all over this product.
The Bad – The Haemonculi, 5 Wracks and 10 Mandrakes I picked up were some of the worst cast figures I have ever purchased in my 20+ years of miniature collecting…ESPECIALLY the Mandrakes. The Mandrakes had part of their feet missing, most of the blades were literally wavy/bent/broken and most of the detail in their flaming arms and faces were gone and those were the 2 best boxes GW had in! The Wracks were slightly better but each one had a massive mold line down the middle where the two halves of the mold didnt line up properly.
The thing is I like working with the finecast product. I love the weight and how easy it is to glue together. Seems like it should be a great alternative to Plastic for one off figures. It's just the almost prohibitive price here in Canada (that limited edition Crimson Fist model is $40 before tax…and if I wanted a unit of 5 Grotesques it would cost me $150 + tax) and the fact that the quality is super hit or miss means for me I wont be buying any more of it unless I 100% HAVE to.
I've had really bad experiences with Finecast in the past (anything from lots of bubbles to missing pieces) but this one turned out really well. I still think 25€ is a steal, but what the heck.
Something I've noticed with Finecast is that even the good models (i.e. just a few minor flaws here and there) don't have a completely flat surface and when you paint over them you start to notice how irregular the surface is, in comparison to plastics or metal where it's flat.
BTW I've never painted Crimson Fists so I'm looking forward to see how you guys paint it 🙂
I got a couple of finecast for last xmas as I was given some gift vouchers. It took me a while of sifting through the blisters to find some that were of a decent enough level that I'd not get too annoyed at prepping. The quality of the sculpts on the ones I settled on are great, lots of detail. Always going to be a few issues on any sculpt, but it was manageable.
hey there!! i admit i dont like finecast at all…. detaill doesnt seem realy better than before , plus is more xpensive…. plus i had terrible xperiences w it… But i must admit , the other day i gave it a 2nd cahnce and bought a finecast model via e-minis store..and i must admit it came absolutely perfect , almost no bubbles , no missing parts ,no annoying fixing…my thoughts about this is that the store itself checked the models the have and kept just the ones in perfect conditions…so i guess good finecast models do exists around the world…
And also … do you find weoird we have to talk about how good casted and bubble free a model came? in tthe end is waht you asked for….
Well Finecast is recommended from 12 years and in some place I saw that they actually consider them to be the next step after working with standard plastic, so in a way they give you a heads up that there will be some extra work involved in finecast.
But I must confess that I have seen fair amount of faulty models and some have been on the border of recoverable.
But the three big things that make me take the extra time to work with it any day are:
1. Ease of conversion.
2. Weight and stability on table top.
3. How much better the paint stays on the model.
And lastly a tip for the base, use warm (almost boiling point) water and let it soften, push it or bend it until it is OK, then hold it in place under cold water.
I love Finecast, sometimes there are bubbles and miscasts, but as mentioned GW customer service is brilliant and replace it without question. I work a lot with FW models, so the extra work involved hasn't really affected me much.
Good article the mini looks great. Personally I've had a nightmare with finecast. I'm not sure if its DE as they are smaller and have more random shapes than say marines so are maybe more prone to bubbles? I would really like to enjoy finecast but at present I have a bad taste in my mouth. Im forever hopeful though so have ordered some more kits (mandrakes, wracks) they should be arriving monday or tuesday so hopefully they will be better.