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Hey guys and gals!

So, I've been lurking for a long time and read SOOOO many threads about Finecast (Failcast. Failco$t. Failcrapst ETC).

But, I don't think I've seen one that says anything positive about Finecast, and that's a real danm shame tbh.
Now, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I'm sure everyone that has beef about Finecast has their reasons, so I'm here to try and balance it a bit.

Now, before I go on please read this:

LEAVE YOUR HATE OUT OF THIS THREAD.

If you wanna hate, go find one of the 10m threads that already exist bashing on Finecast.
As for the rest of you...

I've bought the following 5 models:

Finecast Librarian in Terminator armour - Flawless.
Finecast Commissar - One of the eyes seemed a bit O.o but tbh, it looks fantastic.
Finecast Chaplain with JC - Again, actually flawless.
Finecast Emperors Champion - No problems anywhere, and this was the first FC I bought the same week Finecast was released.
Finecast Astorath the Grim - The wings were pretty shoddy... So shoddy that I was actually gunna take him back but never got around to it, so I've taken him and converted him. Gunna give him a set of Scourge wings and bish-bash-bosh job done ^-^

So, yeah.
I'm wondering who else is actually genuinely impressed with Finecast?


As a note: I'm gunna address the fact I have a shoddy Astorath model, because I'm sure at least 1 person will argue "you say FC is good, but you have a bad cast? Contradiction MUCH?" Well no, not at all. The GW staff at my store are some of the most helpful, professional and pleasant people I've ever had the courtesy to meet and I know for a fact, each one of them would replace the model in a heartbeat and likely even let me keep the miscast. Several times now I've gone down there with an issue with glue, brushes and files and each time they've handed me a replacement over the till with no questions asked. Two of those times, I didn't even need the product in question!

This is relevant because I believe the FC rage also stems partly from QC and customer service. It's more of an experience, then just a problem with one specific thing. Anyhow, the fact is, yes, it was miscast and yes I kept it. That was my choice and I stand by it.

Nice to see a positive report. This still won't end well,though...-

My 25th anniversary model was flawless but I think people will always make more noise about the negatives than the positives

I enjoy Finecast for converting.

It's fragile, but it's much easier to convert with than metal ever was.

TECHMARINES HOOOOOOO!

As a material, it's got its advantages - Light, easy to glue, easy enough to work. Very cheap to purchase (material wise), and relatively quick to produce (fast setting resin, centrifugal pressurisation of mould). Detail retention is good. Forgeworld use the same material, and the same technique for some models, which from the accounts I've heard are usually pretty good.

There are disadvantages too of course (QA aside, which I honestly believe is a factor of the scale of production being attempted). Notably the material can't self-support top-heavy desings (a la Mangler Squigs). Garfy's recently done a FW Hierophant titan (a design which also can't self-support properly, exhibiting a similar design flaw), and reinforced the legs using an excellent method (check out Tale of Painters blog for details). This isn't a particular problem with the material, but it's something a modeller should be aware of - certain designs in some materials will require some quite advanced techniques to get the best out of them.

All this said I had a reasonable time with my Emperor's Champion. It came out OK - some warping on the sword, but the detail retention was nice, and it was pretty easy to clean up.

But am I impressed? No. Not really. Suitable for some things, but not for a whole range of miniatures. Forgeworld have it right (in terms of their material choices for what models), and I'm constantly impressed by them. The hierophant is a special case - I couldn't really suggest another way of casting that beast other than how it has been done - the reinforcement work there is a definite requirement of the design.

Winterdyne, I'm curious as to why you bought the Emperor's Champion in Finecast. The advantage I see in Finecast is that it's light which makes it excellent for larger figures like monsters and dragons.

But as for the smaller figures I can't see the benefit. With new releases you don't have the choice, but why buy a figure in Finecast when you have the option of getting it cheaper and in metal?

I'm not really sure what good a thread does that purposely only allows positives (or negatives) about a product to be discussed, but here goes.

I've got a dark elf assassin and supreme sorceress that both were flawless. I like the weight of the material, and I also do not really like working with metal figures. I really would like to see GW get their process for casting in this material down to an acceptable level failures to good casts.

I have unfortunately had horrible luck with finecast necrons, getting five out of five bad purchases. With that being said the OP's failure rate is a mere 20%, much better than my 71% failure rate.

Howard A Treesong wrote:Winterdyne, I'm curious as to why you bought the Emperor's Champion in Finecast. The advantage I see in Finecast is that it's light which makes it excellent for larger figures like monsters and dragons.

But as for the smaller figures I can't see the benefit. With new releases you don't have the choice, but why buy a figure in Finecast when you have the option of getting it cheaper and in metal?

Can't speak for Winterdyne but I have myself waited with purchases if it was rumored that a metal model (even single model blisters) would be "finecasted". And I have done that because I really detest metal as a material.

I love the weight of the model in metal, but that's just about it. Metal models chips a lot more than finecast, it is very annoying to assemble - not only gluing it, but also pinning - and as the final straw metal is very hard to do anything in terms of conversions with, where finecast is much easier to bend, cut and combine with other plastic bitz.

All in all I love finecast, and while there of course are a lot of problems with quality control, but at least GW is fine about returns.


Cheers

Actually, I was just blowing the refund from Captain Stern number 9 on a model a client had requested. I also wanted to see what a *decent* Finecast model was like. Wasn't perfect, but certainly wasn't terrible. If they were all that quality, they'd be OK value at about 60-70% of the price. The metal version had been retired, and I'd have to go scouring eBay or discount providers to get one. I prefer in general to buy at Warhammer World, where I can get what I need exactly when I need it. Time is a bit more valuable than a slight discount to me.

To be honest, large monsters are one of the designs where the Finecast material works less well - the material is just too 'saggy' for overloaded joins (dragon wings, long extended necks). A firmer resin is needed for those, or the reinforcement technique I mentioned earlier would need to come into play.

Smaller, fiddlier things are exactly where I do see the benefit - a particular miniature that would work brilliantly in Finecast (assuming it cast properly) is Urien Rackarth. The arms attaching to his back were extremely frustrating in metal - too thin to pin easily, and too heavy to set on with superglue quickly. The only downside is the supporting worms for the bulk of the miniature are a point where it could sag if warmed, and I don't think they'd be too easy to reinforce.

Mixed media kits are probably what I'd think are the 'best case' solution for all this - the fiddly parts could be provided in resin, and the load-critical parts in metal. There'd be a minor saving in material costs (but some!) and the consumer would get the advantages the new material offers. coupled with a design that actually works. The downside is that a model would then require several moulds and production runs to actually be produced, ramping the cost to produce up. So it won't happen.

Edit: And for those who keep complaining about metal models getting chipped - what are you guys *doing* to them? I've got pristine models that were gamed with for years... Clean, prime, paint, gloss, matt. And don't let the spongmonkeys at the LGS touch your minis.

At last, a positive Finecast thread! And there was much rejoicing!

Myself, I love Finecast, mainly because I hate metal. So much easier to put together. Also, I love the easy convertability of Finecast, as it's so lovely and soft that you can cut it up easily.

believe it or not I do like fine cast, just not how GW does it. as a medium its great to work with and far better than metal, painting it isn't too much of an issue so long as you do it right. its just too bad that GW cant really cast to save their lives. if I could buy finecast without the fear of miscasts then I would be all over it but unfortunatly GW's quality controll is gak

I've had a number of really well cast finecast models, and a minority of really messed up ones that I had to replace. Customer service has always been easy to work with in that regard.

I'll admit to a fair bit of cursing when my necron overlord had a staff snap with almost no pressure applied.

I think for me the main advantage of finecast is lack of paint chipping. With metal models no matter how much varnish I apply it seems like the painted models always continue to chip their paintwork. I hate that more than anything else finecast throws at me since it's really hard to fix a chipped up paint job and have the colors flow through properly.

Hopefully all the extra profit gw is raking in by upping the price on finecast will be well spent on making all the character/one off kits into plastic. That would make it all worthwhile.

I'll throw my couple cents into it:

I bought the following Finecast minis;

Urien Rakarth - actually a replacement for a metal when I called GW due to a mispacked blister. Pretty perfect cast, lots of flash between the pieces, but its wafer thin and should be an easy clean up. The metal fiddly arms were a PITA. This should be easier.

Huron Blackheart - tough one to check in finecast. Being hit with a melta leaves all kinds of problems. This one is actually in excellent shape too. No voids, damaged parts, or holes.

Isabella Von Carstein - very nice model. Still in the blister, but looks perfect from what I can see.

I haven't assembled any of them yet, waiting to get around to (or back to) the appropriate army.

Well I have 2 apostate preachers of Nurgle (I am pretty sure they are finecast, though they were painted when I got them) They look great, I really like them. Only issue I had was one of the preachers' chainsword was a little bent. So I snapped it and re glued it straight Also I have seen many other finecast models at my LGS. A little bubble here and there but no problem at all! I find people whining the most about whether they want to keep the model as is or want to convert it!

Benamint wrote:Well I have 2 apostate preachers of Nurgle (I am pretty sure they are finecast, though they were painted when I got them) They look great, I really like them. Only issue I had was one of the preachers' chainsword was a little bent. So I snapped it and re glued it straight Also I have seen many other finecast models at my LGS. A little bubble here and there but no problem at all! I find people whining the most about whether they want to keep the model as is or want to convert it!

The apostate preacher is a Forgeworld model. Also resin, but different from Finecast.

My only Finecast to date is the 25th anniversary model, and it's in great shape. There's a little bubble under the cuff of one leg, and three pinholes in one of the armor joints. Nothing that 10 seconds with Liquid Green Stuff can't fix.

The apostate preacher is a Forgeworld model. Also resin, but different from Finecast.

Thanks, I knew that with GW they have something like "a finely detailed resin cast kit" and then has the Citadel Finecast tag on it. My bad I just figured 40k resin mini, must be finecast

Brother SRM wrote:

Benamint wrote:Well I have 2 apostate preachers of Nurgle (I am pretty sure they are finecast, though they were painted when I got them) They look great, I really like them. Only issue I had was one of the preachers' chainsword was a little bent. So I snapped it and re glued it straight Also I have seen many other finecast models at my LGS. A little bubble here and there but no problem at all! I find people whining the most about whether they want to keep the model as is or want to convert it!

The apostate preacher is a Forgeworld model. Also resin, but different from Finecast.

My only Finecast to date is the 25th anniversary model, and it's in great shape. There's a little bubble under the cuff of one leg, and three pinholes in one of the armor joints. Nothing that 10 seconds with Liquid Green Stuff can't fix.

that reminded me about another problem that I have with GW, rather than address a problem themselves, they bring out a product to fix their own minis :3 that being said liquid GS has been a god send for my GS work

I'm going to break a self imposed restriction on posting in Finecast threads.

The reason I don't post in Finecast threads is because these are obviously my opinions, and it gets old when people
a) call me a White Knight (considering I quit originally because of issues with a GW model, this is hilarious)
b) insist that when I express my opinions, I'm obviously saying everyone should share my opinions

But, here we go.

Gorlack wrote:Can't speak for Winterdyne but I have myself waited with purchases if it was rumored that a metal model (even single model blisters) would be "finecasted". And I have done that because I really detest metal as a material.

I'm the same. One of the reasons I lost interest in wargaming about early 4th edition was metal models. I just don't like working with metal. I suffered through it. The model that pushed me over the edge was the metal Venerable Dreadnought. It had a pipe in its shoulder that was about 2cm in diameter. It was terrible, and I didn't have any tools that could smooth it down. At that point, I simply said 'feth it' and stopped playing.

When I got back into 40k, I was having a lot of fun with the plastics again, and avoided the GW metal Hive Tyrant by going with a FW Tyrant. I was about to start buying Zoanthropes and Hive guard, knowing I'd have to think of ways to keep the Zoanthropes standing and spend a long time pinning the Hive Guard, when I heard whispers of GW moving to resin, so I held off. Boy am I glad I did.

First day of Finecasts release, I grabbed a Zoanthrope. Went together fine. Had a tiny airbubble the size of a pinprick on the carapace. Grabbed a second Zoanthrope after that, which had a hideous amount of flash. Once the flash was cleaned off, no issues. Then I grabbed a pair of Hive Guard. No issues (though I accidentally broke a tongue off one myself).

Then I grabbed a Venomthrope. Man. Chimneys didn't line up when glued to the carapace (though I've since learned all Venomthropes have this, and did in metal as well), and miscast under the head. I decided to fix these issues myself, since I wanted some practice fixing resin. For Christmas, I got a Varghulf. Gigantic airbubble in the shoulder. So big, that airbubble had its own airbubbles. Called, got a replacement. Airbubbles in the fur on its back (I only noticed because some grooves were shiny). I really didn't care enough to get another replacement - when its painted, it won't be seen.

I still work with metal models. Heck, I'm playing Infinity which is all metal models. But the chance to have models in resin? I'll take it, even if it means I have to fix the occasional model, so I don't need lead weights on the bases of top heavy models, or need to pin simple joins like arms, or need a razorsaw to do a simple conversion like a head swap. I've had my issues with Finecast, like everyone else. I honestly don't believe people who say they've bought Finecast and never had a flaw on a model. But I'm willing to ride it out, due to my dislike of metal models. When they get it right, the model is fantastic, glues together perfectly, and doesn't need pinning. When they get it wrong, I'll now simply get replacements until they get it right.

Only finecast model I own is a succubus from DE. Besides for a bent up staff, it is flawless. The only problem I have is that I left it in a position where the staff has been bent again, but nothing hot water cant fix.

I have a techmarine and four servitors, two Librarians and 2 haemonculi. All of which have been perfect. I have seen a couple of models in blisters with small flaws and I've seen one man in the local GW be encouraged to fix a small hole with liquid greenstuff and another have a seriously defective model replaced immediately. I don't buy too many non plastic models but I'm not aware that anyone I regularly play against has had more than very minor issues with Finecast. I'm quite certain the major issues exist, I'm not certain that they're as widespread (in the UK at least) as Dakka forums would lead one to believe.

I don't especially like finecast as the kits come in fewer parts than the plastics (which makes for faster assembly but sometimes harder painting I find) and the thin parts are quite easily damaged. But I do prefer it to metal and I can live with it though I would prefer just plastics in an ideal world.

Got crowe and a runesmith in finecast, perfect cast, no bends, all good. Thank god for that, got next to no modelling skill.

Huron Blackheart and an Archon. Very good, no mismoulds.

Brother Axel wrote:
This is relevant because I believe the FC rage also stems partly from QC and customer service. It's more of an experience, then just a problem with one specific thing. Anyhow, the fact is, yes, it was miscast and yes I kept it. That was my choice and I stand by it.

I feel anyone coming to the thread should read this bit first. Meanwhile, on Planet Earth.....

So far I have bought these in finecast:

Shadowseer: Perfect

Cockatrice: Perfect

2 Painboys: 1 Perfect, the other had a bit of stuff on his right shoulderpad but that's ok because it makes it look like his set fire to himself and that fits with the fluff.

Imotekh the Stormlord: Little bit of a bent staff, just had to bend it back into place, no big deal.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

I bought ten of the 25th Anniversary figures. All had problems but after sorting out the good from the bad, I had five full boxes of really good (but perhaps not "flawless") figures and five that got sent back to GW. Now they have replaced those figures and looking through them I have only three pieces (out of five full boxes) that need to be returned. I'd prefer that everything was perfect when GW sent me replacements but not unrealisticly optimistic given what other people have stated previously. Once these three pieces are replaced, I'll have ten complete and nearly perfect kits.

The only complaint I have is the time it's taking to get this done. :/

I have been collecting Citadel miniatures since I bought the C1 and C2 minis on release, not even knowing what they were, I just liked them. In all that time I have had miss casts on occasion, especially with mould slippage and areas filling in as the moulds got old, this has always been a problem with Citadel minis when a change in material or technology has occurred. This is a niche pastime and always has been, casting has always improved over time and I'm sure it will with finecast. As said earlier I'm sure all this hate is to do with the 'hard sell' and purchase experience rather than the product.
Just my pennies worth.

I dont really give a stuff about finecast. The quality looks good, except for when it doesnt. I took a peek in the back of a few blisters the other day, and all i saw was some grit on the back of a leg. It looked like a pain but not a deal breaker, as i have experience with spartan games early dindrenzi battleship (OH DEAR GOD WHY)

The deal breaker is that they have priced me out of the hobby, and that the only new miniture in 40k that interests me at all is the GDUK miniature, which as it is only being sold at the event (meaning you cant cheat and get one when you buy your ticket) i am going to have to pay absurd ebay prices for.

Cheers GW.

(But yeah, i dont see an overwhelming problem with finecast, and i am sure that they will have ironed out all the issues in 2 price rises time)

Could you upload a pic of the commissar with the funny eyes? would be interesting to see!

I once got a box of DE Wracks and two of them were prefectly cast

I've had quite a lot of bad experiences, but thanks to how great GW have been replacing them I don't mind that much. When you do have a bubble-free, well cast model, finecast is infinitely easier to work with than metal was. I think their spiel about FC being so much more finely detailed was over exagerated, but simply for ease of assembly/conversion I prefer it as a material.

If GW can work out any remaining casting issues, and are still happy to exchange any faulty casts that I may end up with in the meantime, I see the change as an improvement.

I've still not bought one thanks to all the bad press, but I was checking out the Calgar and Honour Guard they had on the table and they looked brilliant, I have the metal ones and I would definitely prefer the FC ones, I like the light weight feel and the fact their frigging hands wouldn't snap off every time I pick them up.

I checked some blisters and they looked good as well. I reckon I will break and finally pick that Termie Libby up this weekend.