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I dislike metal - it falls over, it falls apart, the paint chips off - but I strongly doubt that a toxic dust-generating resin is ever going to be seen as a suitable material for mainline models. Hector Rex, maybe, but if you tell every parent buying Mephiston or Dante for their 11-year old hobbyist that they'll need a dust mask to not die whilst building their model you can just kiss a massive amount of turnover goodbye as youths get bought airfix instead. Switching to resin would be an astonishingly risky move; screwing over FLGS and ebay trader profit margins by switching to direct sounds far more likely.

Okay. So, now I must be confused. I thought resin and plastic were the same thing? If so, then I should be dead right now according to your statement...

Why do people keep thinking resin dust = DEATH!!!!!! and that even a basic infantry model has enough resin dust to OMFGKILLYOUOMFGOMFG!!!one!!!1 ? While resin may not be the most safe material, let's remember.

1) Infantry scale models do not need so much sawing and sanding to produce significant amounts of dust. You need to be sawing hunks of excess resin off titans and other big models to get that. How many 11 year olds have their parents buy them Titans?

2) Resin dust is not nerve gas, nor is it powdered anthrax. A little bit won't hurt you, a bit will make you uncomfortable, and unless you're snorting up lines of the stuff after tossing a Phantom Titan into a blender, you're not going to die.

Relax people. Seriously. Resin is no more dangerous that the spray paint everyone uses. Do you see 11 year olds dropping dead from spray paint? No. Do you see parents snatching them away from 40k because of paint? No. Why the hell do you think this will happen with resin?

Edit: In modelling terms, resin and plastic are very different materials.

lindsay40k wrote:I dislike metal - it falls over, it falls apart, the paint chips off - but I strongly doubt that a toxic dust-generating resin is ever going to be seen as a suitable material for mainline models. Hector Rex, maybe, but if you tell every parent buying Mephiston or Dante for their 11-year old hobbyist that they'll need a dust mask to not die whilst building their model you can just kiss a massive amount of turnover goodbye as youths get bought airfix instead. Switching to resin would be an astonishingly risky move; screwing over FLGS and ebay trader profit margins by switching to direct sounds far more likely.

This entire post shows that you absolutely don't know what you're talking about regarding resin.

ChrisWWII wrote:Why do people keep thinking resin dust = DEATH!!!!!! and that even a basic infantry model has enough resin dust to OMFGKILLYOUOMFGOMFG!!!one!!!1 ? While resin may not be the most safe material, let's remember.

1) Infantry scale models do not need so much sawing and sanding to produce significant amounts of dust. You need to be sawing hunks of excess resin off titans and other big models to get that. How many 11 year olds have their parents buy them Titans?

2) Resin dust is not nerve gas, nor is it powdered anthrax. A little bit won't hurt you, a bit will make you uncomfortable, and unless you're snorting up lines of the stuff after tossing a Phantom Titan into a blender, you're not going to die.

Relax people. Seriously. Resin is no more dangerous that the spray paint everyone uses. Do you see 11 year olds dropping dead from spray paint? No. Do you see parents snatching them away from 40k because of paint? No. Why the hell do you think this will happen with resin?

I would like to take this moment to show the worry that this issue has caused with gamers who are more than capable of understanding resin issues. This thread has people that have clearly shown that resin can be properly handled and it wont cause any damage. But people are STILL freaking out. IF IF IF this is GW going to resin products, think of what is going to happen when the general public learns about all the "dangers" of resin? it is legitimately a risk for GW and FLGS' in general depending on if they get the one crazy parent who throws a fit about resin products hurting precious little timmy. The problem is not how real the risk of resin is. The problem is the general public's perception of the risk.

Has anyone cared at all about privateers 'plastic' jacks and models? I was under the impression that the resin GW may swap over too is more of this type than the stuff FW uses.

mikhaila wrote:Has anyone cared at all about privateers 'plastic' jacks and models? I was under the impression that the resin GW may swap over too is more of this type than the stuff FW uses.

True. Good Point. The only thing I can say to rebuke that is that Privateers customer base is MUCH smaller than GW. The chance raises significantly when GW does it just due to the amount of people buying product.

mikhaila wrote:Has anyone cared at all about privateers 'plastic' jacks and models? I was under the impression that the resin GW may swap over too is more of this type than the stuff FW uses.

Having never put together a PP 'Jack or other model, I can't comment on that, but as I hear, PP uses some kind of plastic-resin mix that isn't as hard to work with, yes?

What is the stuff that the standard Space Marine sprue made out of? I was thinking that is what they would convert all of their stuff to...

A standard sprue is plastic. They could convert it to that, but that'd be more expensive, and plastic can't hold as much detail as resin or metal can.

All this metal Vs plastic debate is descending into two bald men fighting over a comb!

As it's been pointed out, people are already at risk from a combination of plastic dust and poly cement/resin/superglue anyway, but life goes on. Just make sure you do your spraying outside and use a craft knife instead of a file.

Far more insidious is the number of players I know that have either impaled their hands on regiments of spearmen, or slipped on dice lying around on the floor. Nobody makes a big deal out of that!

As for metal models, well a couple of weeks ago before I'd even heard this news, my local hobby shop took order of lots of metal blisters and placed another decent sized order for this week. They turned up fine.

ChrisWWII wrote:Why do people keep thinking resin dust = DEATH!!!!!! and that even a basic infantry model has enough resin dust to OMFGKILLYOUOMFGOMFG!!!one!!!1 ? While resin may not be the most safe material, let's remember.

1) Infantry scale models do not need so much sawing and sanding to produce significant amounts of dust. You need to be sawing hunks of excess resin off titans and other big models to get that. How many 11 year olds have their parents buy them Titans?

Maybe not Titans, but I got a fair number of Hive Tyrants, Lictors, Zoanthropes and the like as a kid. 'Not eating the lead' was a fairly easy Health & Safety rule to follow without babysitting, but I would not let a child build a FW Dreadnought, MC or suchlike unsupervised.

ChrisWWII wrote:2) Resin dust is not nerve gas, nor is it powdered anthrax. A little bit won't hurt you, a bit will make you uncomfortable, and unless you're snorting up lines of the stuff after tossing a Phantom Titan into a blender, you're not going to die.

Maybe one casual hobbyist might not produce enough dust to be dangerous, but instore hobby support is a different thing. 20 or so kids with Striking Scorpions and Stone Trolls and Vault Warriors bringing them instore to build on Saturday because Mum's not having that dust on the carpets and getting sniffed up by the dog is quite another. The options facing a store manager will be to either issue dust masks to everybody going near the painting table, or else tell the kids they'll just have to take it home and work it out for themselves. I'm not sure which is the worst of those two scarecrows, but I can't imagine any others of greater efficacy in dissuading new blood.

ChrisWWII wrote:Relax people. Seriously. Resin is no more dangerous that the spray paint everyone uses. Do you see 11 year olds dropping dead from spray paint? No. Do you see parents snatching them away from 40k because of paint? No. Why the hell do you think this will happen with resin?

Because spray painting tends to be done outside, whereas hobby desks tend to be in bedrooms?

lindsay40k wrote:

ChrisWWII wrote:Why do people keep thinking resin dust = DEATH!!!!!! and that even a basic infantry model has enough resin dust to OMFGKILLYOUOMFGOMFG!!!one!!!1 ? While resin may not be the most safe material, let's remember.

1) Infantry scale models do not need so much sawing and sanding to produce significant amounts of dust. You need to be sawing hunks of excess resin off titans and other big models to get that. How many 11 year olds have their parents buy them Titans?

Maybe not Titans, but I got a fair number of Hive Tyrants, Lictors, Zoanthropes and the like as a kid. 'Not eating the lead' was a fairly easy Health & Safety rule to follow without babysitting, but I would not let a child build a FW Dreadnought, MC or suchlike unsupervised.

I wouldn't let them do that anyways. With all the sawing and knifework, it's asking for trouble from uncoordinated children.

In fact, I'm surprised some of the adult gamers we have are still around considering all the accidents they have.

ChrisWWII wrote:2) Resin dust is not nerve gas, nor is it powdered anthrax. A little bit won't hurt you, a bit will make you uncomfortable, and unless you're snorting up lines of the stuff after tossing a Phantom Titan into a blender, you're not going to die.

Maybe one casual hobbyist might not produce enough dust to be dangerous, but instore hobby support is a different thing. 20 or so kids with Striking Scorpions and Stone Trolls and Vault Warriors bringing them instore to build on Saturday because Mum's not having that dust on the carpets and getting sniffed up by the dog is quite another. The options facing a store manager will be to either issue dust masks to everybody going near the painting table, or else tell the kids they'll just have to take it home and work it out for themselves. I'm not sure which is the worst of those two scarecrows, but I can't imagine any others of greater efficacy in dissuading new blood.

Which is why it looks more and more that it'll be done the same way as Privateer Press' polystyrene/resin blend.

"Resin" is a very vague concept that can apply to a great many things.

ChrisWWII wrote:Relax people. Seriously. Resin is no more dangerous that the spray paint everyone uses. Do you see 11 year olds dropping dead from spray paint? No. Do you see parents snatching them away from 40k because of paint? No. Why the hell do you think this will happen with resin?

Because spray painting tends to be done outside, whereas hobby desks tend to be in bedrooms?

I don't know about you, but my hobby desk is in a garage.

lindsay40k wrote:

ChrisWWII wrote:Relax people. Seriously. Resin is no more dangerous that the spray paint everyone uses. Do you see 11 year olds dropping dead from spray paint? No. Do you see parents snatching them away from 40k because of paint? No. Why the hell do you think this will happen with resin?

Because spray painting tends to be done outside, whereas hobby desks tend to be in bedrooms?

Shhhhhhhh! Didn't you know, all true hobbyists use garages, sheds and industrial parks for their modeling sites? Pfff...

Edit: Wow, here I was thinking I was making an absurdist claim, and Kan goes and shows me once again no claim is too absurd for some crowds...

Kanluwen wrote:I don't know about you, but my hobby desk is in a garage.

I'm an artist and have a studio, but when I was a teen I and most of my gaming friends were bedroom hobbyists.

Buzzsaw wrote:

lindsay40k wrote:

ChrisWWII wrote:Relax people. Seriously. Resin is no more dangerous that the spray paint everyone uses. Do you see 11 year olds dropping dead from spray paint? No. Do you see parents snatching them away from 40k because of paint? No. Why the hell do you think this will happen with resin?

Because spray painting tends to be done outside, whereas hobby desks tend to be in bedrooms?

Shhhhhhhh! Didn't you know, all true hobbyists use garages, sheds and industrial parks for their modeling sites? Pfff...

Edit: Wow, here I was thinking I was making an absurdist claim, and Kan goes and shows me once again no claim is too absurd for some crowds...

It's not like the whole garage is for hobby. I have a workbench in there. Most of it is taken up by my airbrush booth though.


It only makes sense for me in the end. Concrete floor is easy to hose down, there's a window for ventilation so I can paint/spray on rainy days, etc.

Cleaning and assembling models is done whereever, but painting is always done in that spraybooth.

Could someone point me to information on this polystyrene resin blend? It sounds to me like the whole concept is made up by people who don't know much about plastics, but I want to do my homework. It's amazing how many people are repeating this as fact.

Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:All this metal Vs plastic debate is descending into two bald men fighting over a comb!

you've just defined the entire internet forum community in one sentence......well done

I think that they probably just need more wallspace in the retail stores for all the new box sets they are launching as they sell more volume and thus are more profitable.

asmith wrote:Could someone point me to information on this polystyrene resin blend? It sounds to me like the whole concept is made up by people who don't know much about plastics, but I want to do my homework. It's amazing how many people are repeating this as fact.

Send an email to Privateer Press about the nature of their plastics, that's my best guess. Unless someone is willing to submit their 'Jack to a chemical analysis at your friendly neighbourhood chemistry lab?

Kurce wrote:What is the stuff that the standard Space Marine sprue made out of? I was thinking that is what they would convert all of their stuff to...

Polystyrene.

ChrisWWII wrote:

Send an email to Privateer Press about the nature of their plastics, that's my best guess. Unless someone is willing to submit their 'Jack to a chemical analysis at your friendly neighbourhood chemistry lab?

I figured since everyone was repeating the same thing there must be some info out there stating the facts. I just looked for about 20 minutes and couldn't find anything on it. It's even gone a step further and people are saying the new GW figures will be made of the same material. If PP uses an injection mold for the material, there is no way GW's going to use the same material in a spin caster with the same tools as the metal figs. Amazing how quickly unsubstaniated speculation gets repeated as fact.

asmith wrote:

ChrisWWII wrote:

Send an email to Privateer Press about the nature of their plastics, that's my best guess. Unless someone is willing to submit their 'Jack to a chemical analysis at your friendly neighbourhood chemistry lab?

I figured since everyone was repeating the same thing there must be some info out there stating the facts. I just looked for about 20 minutes and couldn't find anything on it. It's even gone a step further and people are saying the new GW figures will be made of the same material.

No, actually. I know for a fact that I've been saying that "the new GW figures would likely be made of the same material".

If PP uses an injection mold for the material, there is no way GW's going to use the same material in a spin caster with the same tools as the metal figs. Amazing how quickly unsubstantiated speculation gets repeated as fact.

And it's amazing how quickly people forget things.

Resin is, in fact, a form of plastic.

Wikipedia page on Resin Casting wrote:Resin casting is a method of plastic casting where a mold is filled with a liquid synthetic resin, which then hardens. It is primarily used for small scale production like industrial prototypes and dentistry. It can be done by amateur hobbyists with little initial investment, and has been appropriated for the production of collectible toys, models and figures, as well as small scale jewelry production.

The synthetic resin for such processes is a monomer for making a plastic thermosetting polymer. During the setting process, the liquid monomer polymerizes into the polymer, thereby hardening into a solid.

I should also add this part about spin casting:

Spin casting, also known as centrifugal rubber mold casting (CRMC), is a method of utilizing centrifugal force to produce castings from a rubber mold. Typically, a disc-shaped mold is spun along its central axis at a set speed. The casting material, usually molten metal or liquid thermoset plastic is then poured in through an opening at the top-center of the mold. The filled mold then continues to spin as the metal solidifies or the thermoset plastic sets.

But no, as far as I know Privateer Press hasn't said what their stuff is made from. They have dubbed things "resin" and then later called them "plastic" though.

A standard sprue is plastic. They could convert it to that, but that'd be more expensive, and plastic can't hold as much detail as resin or metal can.

Wait. The plastic is more expensive than the metal? And to be honest, the amount of detail on the plastic sprues seems pretty much the same compared to metal ones. Meh.

Plastic is more expensive to do than metal, the molds are expensive, the equipment's expensive, etc etc etc.

There are various types of resin. All of them involve chemicals you would not want to drink or breathe any more than you had to. They are not nerve gasses. The most widely used is polyurethane.

Raw styrene is the same. You can actually buy raw styrene plus polymerising agent. It is available under the Chemical Metal brand and is used for car body filling putty.

Polystyrene models come to you already set, with any volatile organic compounds gassed away. The same will be true of resin models.

The only thing that matters is how much resin dust can irritate the lungs, and how much it could leach poisonous compounds into the body if breathed in or eaten.

Fully reacted polyurethane is chemically inert, meaning it will not leach out chemicals into your body if you breathe or eat it. Polyurethane dust can irritate the eyes and lungs. So can many other dusts such as chalk, MDF and paint particles.

Working with set polyurethane models will be perfectly safe as long as you don't stir up dust everywhere. Wear a mask and eyeshields if you are nervous. The same advice could be given for metal or polystyrene.

n0t_u wrote:Because flailing around like this is more interesting?

I'm thinking, like others have already said, these will go to direct only to slowly chip down the remaining stock while they switch over to resin. Hopefully the quality doesn't drop when they do this.

GW is switching to resin?

misfit wrote:GW is switching to resin?

It's rumored. There's some strong evidence that a number of metals are being withdrawn from sale, but nothing official has been said. It could be some sort of repackaging.

Anybody have an example of a GW kit that is resin? I would like to know the differences between plastic sprue and a resin sprue. I am assuming that Dark Eldar Incubi are metal models, so I know what those are like.

Balance wrote:

misfit wrote:GW is switching to resin?

It's rumored. There's some strong evidence that a number of metals are being withdrawn from sale, but nothing official has been said. It could be some sort of repackaging.

Had a heart to heart of sorts with a GW representative. Some Trade reps who feel their accounts deserve to know something are telling them that it is a recoding/repackage - but that it is only half the story and that they can't say more and that all will be made clear on May 16. Also, that everyone was really excited about what was happening and felt that the short term inconvenience concerning product availability was worth it.

Balance wrote:

misfit wrote:GW is switching to resin?

It's rumored. There's some strong evidence that a number of metals are being withdrawn from sale, but nothing official has been said. It could be some sort of repackaging.

I'm currently having a hell of a time getting Tau Broadside suits. Ordered a bunch from Dicebucket, but got a refund e-mail and they were removed from my order yesterday. Even the GW site has them as 'should ship within 1-2 weeks' rather than the usual 'ships within 24 hours'. Just another minor piece of evidence I guess...