Yes you read correctly. We have two other failures among us. I was hoping for success from a first look but, although they are not as bad as the previous batch, they are not acceptable. I’m at lost now. Through the 8 copies I have examined, I can now say that I have seen each issues I have encountered being perfectly cast at least once on a model with the exception of the belly part. So I know the perfect copy is not impossible, simply elusive. And as said before, I’m not asking for the perfect copy. Simply something that I can work with without spending more than 1 hour prepping the model which in fact shouldn’t take that long.
Yes I have the abilities to take most of these models and fix them. I can repair these issues using miliput, green stuff, files and sand paper (don’t talk to me about liquid green stuff). The question is why should I spend the extra time to repair a finecast model which Games Workshop labels as “incredibly detailed, high-quality resin kits”. You simply have to click on the finecast logo on their website to read the description. As a friend recently said on the topic: ” i shouldn’t HAVE to resculpt parts of it, the fact than i “can” is moot. I can accept mold lines and the ocassional sprue/vent, but resculpts should be a choice i make, not something i have to do just to get a stock mini”. When I pay 20.75$CAN on a model I do not expect to have to take my entire tool set to prep it.
The thing which disturb me even more is that I am not the major demographic buying their products. I have the abilities to see the problems with these minis and call them what they are: shit. But most customers, especially the younger ones, which we have to admit are GW’s main target, probably won’t see it as they are. So how many people actually bought these “high-quality resin kits” without further inspection and are now being played? If that doesn’t sound like ripping off your customers I wonder what does. I have seen perfectly casted Finecast minis. I know that they are not bad all over the board but I’ve been through 8 Overlords now and I am still hoping for a copy I can work with.
So far we had no issues getting replacement models at my local store. This time though they asked questions. Pictures were requested so I eagerly sent them the link of the previous article. The answer from our sales rep was to inform us about the existence of liquid green stuff… First of, as previously said, I shouldn’t have to buy a new products to fix extensive defects on a foot soldier model that cost 20.75$CAN. Second, if your company policy is to push you customers to buy an extra overpriced product to fix your inability to produce a “high-quality resin kit”, definitely you have major issues. Lastly, liquid green stuff has been out of stock at GW USA warehouses for the last three weeks. Well to be exact, we have ordered liquid green stuff the last three weeks and every time our order arrived without it and the invoice stating “not shipped”. Furthermore if you think you can fix the issues on the models #5 and #6 with liquid green stuff you are either simply blindly following your company guidelines on what to answer your customers or you are clueless. I don’t want to be mean but at one point someone is getting tired of being laughed at in such an obvious manner.
They did finally sent us two replacement copies… and here are the results:
Necron #7
Nothing majorly bad from this angle. Again we can already see that the part behind the knee is miscast. This part cannot be fixed with liquid greenstuff. It has to be properly re-sculpted to get the sharp angles and flat panels. Liquid greenstuff would either create a bubble on each side or simply run through if too thin. In either case it would be impossible to file or sand to get the proper angles. And look at the number of vents… I’ve never seen so many of them on resin model.
Once again the lower rib is miscast. Liquid greenstuff would partially fix the issue but it would be quicker and much more simpler with actual green stuff.
This one is a first and actually appears on both models. There’s a major dent into the flat side of the shoulder pad. And if anyone can actually tell me what these yellow residues are I would really appreciate it. No they are not the molds because they are pink… unless both side of the molds are actually different colors.
Underside… do I need to say anything more than the picture shows?
First time I’ve actually seen a miscast on the weapon. I have seen them bent every ways possible but now we literally have a piece of mold missing giving us an extra lump of resin! Yes it’s easy to fix. A simple cut with the exacto and then you simply have to carve the line along the rod.
Speaking of extra lumps of resin, this one actually made all the fingers disappeared. Just like a magic trick.
Necron #8
Once again we already see common issues. The back of the knee, the thick flash along the ribbon and quite a few bubbles here and there.
Close up on that ribbon:
At least now we have a nice lower rib.
Same dent on the side of the shoulder pad and more of that yellow stuff. But you can see a pink piece of mold as well.
Now we have poorly cast fingers and a broken little finger…
The underside is still as bad… (the color difference with the resin here is simply because no flash was used on this picture)
And finally, the collar along the neck is broken. Not miscast, broken. We can clearly see the white part at the break point.
So once again the pictures talk for themselves. Now let’s compare with a few other products.
First from their sister company, just on the other side of the street, namely Forgeworld. I just received the latest Chaos Dwarf lord on his giant taurus. The cast is perfect, no bubbles, no mold lines that need extensive works, a level of details far superior and there’s no 20+ vents per parts.
When you compare Forgeworld prices to Games Workshop for equivalent models they are more expansive when you used the UK website prices as comparison. When you actually compare the Canadian prices for Games Workshop to the Forgeworld one the difference rapidly disappear. It should not be the case but since GW doesn’t seem to understand the principle of fixing a price and using market fluctuation, it does. So since prices are fixed according to specific region and that Canada is overpriced compared to the USA and UK, it would appear that buying FW is not really more expansive.
Last comparison with the company which is most likely GW’s main competitor:
This Cygnar Sentinel Light Warjack is twice the size of an overlord but 18.99 instead of 20.75. Yes there are mold lines but no bubbles. I’m fully aware that this is hard impact plastic and not resin but I can take pictures of the resin part of my Cygnar and Menoth battle engines and they are impeccable.
I am not one of those saying that GW needs to go back to metal. I fully understand the move to resin. I’ve seen the price of pewter doubles more than once in the last 5 years. This move could not be avoided. But when I see the quality of the new plastic kits, it is unacceptable that a company of this caliber cannot have a better quality control.
In all honesty I’m beginning to get tired of this game. The amount of time I’ve lost in reporting these models is beginning to be quite a lot. I have no desire to paint that model anymore but I have to keep going until I actually find a decent copy of the model I bought. Will it be #9 or #10? I sincerely hope so in order to move on.
In the meantime keep painting!
wow … this is realy getting retarded. I wish more people were aware of how bad this is. I instently moved away from GW when I saw my first finecast, but then it was at the beginning and I thought it would not stay that bad for long. It would seem I was wrong!
I wish you good luck on your quests for the acceptable necron lord!
Hey Matthieu… have you thought about looking at the plastic overlord that comes with the command barge kit? If you’re just wanting to paint one that’s not messed up, that might be a way you can do it.
Honestly, at this point I have no intention of painting any Necrons. I bought a box of the patriarch which are splendid. I was tempted in doing a unit but now I’m more disgusted by the idea. The model from the barge looks good and at first I was thinking of using it to fix certain issues with the finecast model. But the problem is the finecast has the perfect pose for a conversion idea I had. Furthermore, at this point it is more a question of getting a decent copy of the model I initially bought than anything else.
This is disgusting.. I’ve also been thinking about just how many “newbie” gamers have hordes of mangled minis on the battlefield.
In addition, I’ve got a charity project coming up, and was looking at least at using a Vindicar Assassin in the scene… but now I’m considering going out of my way to find non-GW products.
> but I have to keep going until I actually
> find a decent copy of the model I bought
Ah, let me know how that rock rolls, Sisyphus.
Since my current focus is on Sisters of Battle, and they havent moved any of those models to Failcast (well except for the Karmakov on his throne, but with new WD rules, no longer a viable option).
Luckily for me (or unluckily due to price of pewter), i’ve been hording all metal options of the army. i dont really want to purchase any resin kits unless if they fix thier QC process.
I think this goes a lot deeper than just a failed QC process. It’s more like a companywide case of not giving a shit.
A more fair comparison than the PP warjack would be McVey models, which are all finecast, and all wonderfully detailed. The PP warjack kits often also have issues, not as bad as finecast, but there are a number with dificult to repair cratering on the model.
I agree that my comparison with a Privateer Press model wasn’t the best and that yes a Studio McVey model would have been better. Unfortunately I had no McVey model handy so I took what I had. The comparison goes deeper though as Privateer Press is a company that obviously cares for their customers and deploys every means necessary in order to keep respectable prices. Yes their model isn’t perfect. Yes there are small cavities in surfaces that needs to be filled as a result of their casting process but it is just filling, no need to resculpt.
Reading through your post, and the previous ones related to Failcast Overlord – I actually feel lucky about mine O_o – sure I ranted a lot and it’s full of bubble holes, but nothing as horrid and severe as models you had to deal with. That was my first and last finecast bought. Absolute rubbish. Thank you for sharing your detailed opinion – will make it easy to explain to my friends why I’m so much against failcast models :]
I bought a Necron Overlord some time ago now, and after reading your blogs, I was frantically inspecting it, and so far, ot still looks like one of the (very) few models that came out right, with the exception of airbubbles still being present. Obviously, I’m not nearly as experienced as you are, and I’m one of the younger people you’ve been referring to, but mark my words: a company that has become greedy, and gives models the total opposite of what it’s designed to be, will fall. Someday, GW will hit their head. This is pathetic coming from them.
I’m glad you had a good one because it’s a great model.
yellow stuff could be wrongly mixed resin…. this sucks big time to see so many fails in a row.
i bought 2 models (both vampire counts) and had “just” 2 swaps each.
hope you get a good one this time
Stop having a bitch and show us that your ‘skills’ are that good. You might be a brilliant sculpted and a golden daemon painter but if you can’t take 1-2hrs out of your time to make a model perfect then what kind if ‘amazing sculpter’ are you. Yeah we’ve all had a lot toe fine cast issue here and there but hey we get over it. I had to sculpt all new chainmail on a chaos lord, don’t see me bitching. I liked having to put my skills to the test.
Simply because I shouldn’t have to spend 1 or 2 hours of my time to make a model perfect as it should be in the blister when I buy it. I don’t mind removing flash, mold lines and fill bubbles on a flat surface but when I have to re-sculpt details that disappeared, corners that were replaced by bubbles and such, I’m sorry but I have better thing to do. Thinking about it, next time I go to a restaurant I’ll let them serve my meal raw. Why not? Since I can cook I should do it myself.
I have to agree the issues you are pointing out are minor. An average person in the hobby could complete those repairs in a few minutes. It would take the liquid green stuff far longer to dry than actually doing the work to apply it.
You should find a different hobby because you can’t move past the fact that GW has moved past metal models.
… sigh …
@ Sigvald, your entire statement is idiotic. when you buy a product, especially as pricey as a GW model, that is also claiming to be “incredibly detailed, high-quality resin kits”. you should NOT have to test your skills, now if they sold models advertised as “finely detailed models that make you test your chaimail sculpting skills” they would be perfect for you!!!
@ caddery, you extremely under-exagerate the ammount of time it would take for most of those fixes to be performed CORRECTLY. and if thats all you took from his posts is that he cant get over the fact GW switched from metal to resin, you need a better understanding of the english language, life, and the diffence between a company designing models to challenge the skilled scultper, and a company not giving a shit about the product there pushing on oblivious/careless people like you
[...] Read More…. [...]
I became interested in Games Workshop here in the UK, in the 1980′s and have followed the progress of their products ever since. I am not a gamer, but I have collected a large amount of models over the years, mostly Warhammer 40k. GW’s pricing policy has been Baffling to say the least, where one principal model would be say £10, but they would sell a blister pack of 3 models for less, so it appeared that they were costed on points value rather than metal in the packet.
I prefer metal but have also done numerous resin models of various manufacturers, so I was interested to note the new Finecast range. The price of the Necron Lord here in the UK is £10.50 roughly converted, thats $16.50 Canadian. Where my son lives in Finland, that would cost 15 euros, converted to Canadian, thats $19.48 Canadian.
As far as the quality question is concerned I have to agree with your assessment. I spend 75% of my time in preparation of castings often re-sculpting detail, but that is my choice, so I am very critical of the quality of the castings. From the images you illustrate I applaud your perseverance in searching for a decent one, younger modellers may not get the same after sales exchange treatment.
Lastly as I don’t wargame, I did wonder how gamers feel about fielding delicate resin models that they may have spent some time on creating, in the rough and tumble of a battle. Anyway Happy New Year from over the pond.
[...] malować, potworki. Wielokrotny laureat nagrody Golden Demon, Mathieu Fontaine, opisał na swojej stronie jak oraz dlaczego musiał dokonywać zwrotu figurki… 8 razy. Kiedy jedna rzecz na 10 jest [...]
[...] again and demonstrated a level of quality control that would embarrass an internet scammer (as seen here where this poor bastard couldn’t get an acceptable casting of a model he wanted after eight [...]
Hi Mathieu,
thanks for sharing your, sadly bad, experience with finding a decent model.
I’m new to the hobby and starting to paint and expanding my Eldar army. No resin model to this day and i dont think that i will buy one in some time.
@previous criticism:
If i have to pay say 12,50Euro (16,50 usDollar rougly) here in Germany for an Eldar Autarch and spend 1 hour or maybe more fixing it (since i’m not an experienced hobbyist) i rather spend my money on used models which i strip of paint in less time and get a squad or more for the money.
I rather spend the same amo
I’ve had similar experiences with “Fine”cast. I just called GW cust service this week with a half dozen kits needing replacements due to miscasts. The new LotR goblin king… the entire space between his legs was filled with a solid block of resin. All detail consumed, impossible to fix. The 25th anniv Space Marine… laughably bad like this necron discussed on this blog post. LotR orc commanders, LotR goblin commanders, all hosed. Bubbles and distortions, missing parts, broken pieces, and generally speaking, just a total mess. In each case I would actually start out and try to fix and clean each model. But I would just get to a point of total exasperation and just put it down and shake my head in disgust at these “incredibly detailed high quality” miniatures.
GW needs to pen an “open letter” to the community. As a 20 year fan and loyal customer, I would appreciate a bit of honesty from this company. They need to admit that FineCast is not what it was represented as, and that they are making changes and corrections to the process to improve quality.
I agree with the general notion of moving from metal to resin, but the quality needs to be at least equal to if not better than the metal versions, especially at the premium price that is being asked.
I cant believe people are saying just look past the point of the model being rubbish out of the box when you paid for a FINE CAST model not a bubbly useless of resin. If I pay for something I want that something to be what I paid for and in my case it was 2 different sets of Black Templar Sword Brethren. I couldnt make one squad out of 2 boxes. The holes and broken parts made it just not worth my time. I am so glad the other people here saying quit bitching have so much time on their hands as I do not. I want exactly what i paid for or Lower the friggin price as they are rubbish sculpts.
I have recently purchased Imotekh the Stormlord Finecast, and I share your frustration. I am new to war gaming and I am not delicate when it comes to painting and whatnot. Due to where I live, I also don’t have access to the best hobby tools I need. I had been skeptical about Finecast models when I first looked at them in the box, I could see from across the store how badly they were manufactured. My suspicions were correct when I opened my Stormlord open and quickly saw the problems.
His left hand is partially warped and I had to trim the fingers I needed to glue on in order for them to actually fit in his hand. The resin is extremely fragile when it comes to my mediocre tools, and parts of the figure broke off before I even cut the pieces out. In the end, I had to do my best to glue the broken pieces back on, but sadly they still looked ugly. Every time I look at the figure, I find more and more problems with it, and I feel guilty, because I had to wait a whole week to arrive, and I knew somehow that it would be messed up.
And to top it off, I have yet to figure out how to properly glue the pieces on or what kind of glue I need. I have had the figure sit and dry for an entire day, and the glue did not dry and keep the pieces like it normally should, the pieces just fall right off. I am at a loss and I am already considering if it is worth my time to fix.
You cyanocrilate glue for resin or more commonly called super glue.
Yup, similiar experience here. Bought Szeras in finecrap and lo and behold, when I picked it up the staff broke off in my hand. On closer inspection, another piece skewed off….so I’ve made my own staff from a Lychguard/pariah set. I will not be buying anymore finecrap, thankfully the group of people I wargame are happy for me to sub the lord from the command barge kit (thats the proper plastic one) if I need to play Imotekh.
On the bright side, any metal figures I sell which are surplus to requirements actually go for more than they cost me new on E-bay, and the majority of the new necron stuff is proper plastic. (i know cheesy, I got other armies their just my current project).
GW have shot themselves in the foot imo. But we shall see, greed often goes unchecked in this world. I just really pity the younger gamers coming in to the hobby who spend their pocket-money/hard earned cash on finecrap. I can see this really hurting the hobby if as I expect they change ALL their models to this cheap nasty crap. Nuff said.
And it seems squad trooper is completely correct, I thought it was stuck together…but it just fell to bits again.
yeah I was a little upset when I opened a “Fine”Cast Abbadon only to have the entire tube on his right arm be missing expect a tiny bit on both ends and then so much build up I have to be 10x more careful when cleaning it up. Thats not the kinda thing I wanna be dealing with when dropping like $27 one a new model and I mean I got lucky it was only that bad. If I was paying a much cheaper price sure that coukd be expected, but almost 30 bucks for a single model and then I have fix it is some real BS CQ (I mean im almost buying a squad at that price).