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So I bit the bullet and went to WH World today and picked up Lelith Hesperax mini. There were three on the shelf so I chose the one with the least excess flash and bubbles, the black shirt told me I should expect to do some filing, which to a limited extent, I agree. But now I have got home and opened the packet I have checked the model more thoroughly I will be returning it for exchange. There are many more defects than were initially apparent when packaged ,ie missing leg spikes, missing locks of hair to mention just a few.
Now I'm no stranger to using modelling putty, but feel it is inappropriate to have to re-sculpt these missing parts onto a £10.50 mini that is meant to be their high detail 'fine' cast range. Luckily I only live a few miles from GW headquartes so it's not too much stress to return it, but I have noticed at least one other post regarding defective 'finecast' minis.
Basically I am just wondering if this is a common problem? What happened to QC? And how many people will continue to pay up and put up with these?

To answer your questions:
Extremely common. QC is non-existant it seems. Enough for GW to not care.

I don't know (personally) anyone at all who's impressed with Finecast. Note, Forgeworld use a similar material and casting method and yet manage to produce stuff that isn't as flawed.

QC aside, the material is unsuitable for certain models - notably top-heavy designs such as Mangler Squigs, rearing horses etc. It's extremely flexible when warm and sagging is a common occurence. There is a fix for this ('coring') but it's difficult and requires some nerve and a little sculpting skill.

But should we really expected to 'fix' their mismoulds? Personally if I pay a premium, then I expect to receive accordingly! How many kids are being robbed of their dads hard earned cash in this way? I shudder to think..

I hate this. The closest store that caries GW minis in any substantial number is hours away. If I buy any Finecast, I'll be doing it online, that that's horrifying to me.

Keep in mind. They can tell you there may be slight imperfections that may need work done all they want.

In the end if you are unsatisfied with the product they have to give an exchange or refund.

This whole debacle is shameful for a company advertising the greatest evolution in the hobby world.

I'm glad to see this in a pole. A lot of people won't stand up for finecast because theyre worried about being heckled by other forum users. This is a nice way to gauge consumer response in a discreet way. Good thinking.

I only have two finecast models so far and have found them satisfactory, got a skaven warlord the other day for my wife's skaven army, needs a little cleanup but overall it looks as good if not slightly better than i've seen it in metal, and the other is a terminator librarian that had a little bit of bubbling on the staff but i never planned on using it anyway and it has since been chopped off and replaced with a sword.

I much prefered the 'white' metal models. Some people say things like Bloodthirsters or Hellcannons are a lot easier to glue together when they're finecast. But thats probably because they're using the wrong glue.

I've bought some Finecast models, and while most were fine, a few had some defects that I was not happy with.

With the old lead figures this was never the case... All the models were fine. At least a much higher percentage of them were.

Having to fix the mismolds yourself would only stick better if they didn't do a price hike for finecast.

I have absolutely no love for Finecast. I've purchased a Lelith Hesperax model, an Archon, 2 regular Haemonculi a Urien Rakarth & a box of Incubi. I won an Abbaddon in a tourney last year. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM were flawed & I got replacements for them. The 1st Lelith I purchased had similar problems to the OP - missing some hair & a few leg spikes. The replacement had a bubble in the left knife blade - I just chopped it off & used the one from the original I purchased. The Archon's cape wasn't complete & he was missing his whole right foot - the WHOLE THING. The first Hammy I purchased looked like he had sprayed himself down w/ his liquifier gun, it honestly looked like it had been left in the delivery truck too long (I live in Phoenix, AZ) and the 2nd one was actually missing some pieces. The Incubi Klaives were all bent and a few of them had helmet miscasts. Abbaddon's Talon of Horus was actually missing the blades, the 'thumb' was completely there, but the rest of the 'fingers were just strings resin sticking off the front of the hand & Drachnyen was not only bent but had three bubbles in the blade. Like I said, I got replacements for all of these models, but the simple fact that I needed replacements for them to begin with really rubs me the wrong way. Obviously this is an extreme example, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating.

If I have any issues in the future, I'm just going to return the model to the store. Even the owner of my FLGS doesn't like them & has told all of his customers to bring them back to him for a refund & he'll send them back off to GW for his refund/replacement.

~Vryce

girgam wrote:I only have two finecast models so far and have found them satisfactory, got a skaven warlord the other day for my wife's skaven army, needs a little cleanup but overall it looks as good if not slightly better than i've seen it in metal, and the other is a terminator librarian that had a little bit of bubbling on the staff but i never planned on using it anyway and it has since been chopped off and replaced with a sword.

Ah, see, now I got the same librarian, and I love the model, I actually bought it because I prefer not getting metal models...or at least I used to. I stupidly opted for the sword and while I was painting it realised it was a bit bowed, so, with a bit or research I found out the best way to reshape it...much preparation later...SNAP!

Now he has a plastic sword instead and I am to paranoid about using him in battle because if he ever touches anything he will disintergrate...

I really want to buy more, but unless the model is sturdy then no way. Outstretched sword arm, forget it!

I bought a Trazyn and he was 90% satisfactory. He had some blotchy looking rough spots on the blades of his weapon that weren't noticeable till primed. No bubbles, voids, missing areas, etc.

My Draigo is a different story. I looked thru all the blister packs at the Chicago area bunker and my local GW and found only one that I felt was acceptable. The tip of his Titan sword was missing (gel type super glue for that), the half of the hilt attached to the sprue snapped at the sword and was still attached to the sprue, and there were some small voids on his cape. Part of his sword also had that blotchy stuff.

It rankles me that GW finds it an acceptable business practice to require and encourage you to repair an item marketed as "premium". I don't know any other mini manufacturer who does this. For 25 bucks, I should only have some mold lines to worry about.

Games Workshop products costs alot, and for many it really is expensive as hell. And if someone pays alot for a piece of plastic then I think they should recieve top notch quality items. I really dont like finecast at all. Its just the worst GW have produced in my opinion. And honestly I dont think there is anything that justifies them producing that bad quality models.

Gravity wrote:Games Workshop products costs alot, and for many it really is expensive as hell. And if someone pays alot for a piece of plastic then I think they should recieve top notch quality items. I really dont like finecast at all. Its just the worst GW have produced in my opinion. And honestly I dont think there is anything that justifies them producing that bad quality models.

You should see the junk that FW sent me yesterday.

I bought a Finecast model. I checked it as well as I could, only being able to see one side of it. The back side was unsatisfactory. They sent me a new one that was worse. I gave up after that.

To be fair, I recently ordered some resin from another fairly well-known manufacturer and it wasn't what I've come to expect of them. However, they're in another country, it's technically fixable, and most importantly, they weren't charging GW prices. I suppose that there's a price point where I'll willingly deal with certain issues. GW prices their products above that point.

The only finecast model I bought was the C'tan Deceiver, he arrived in good condition without many obvious flaws, it did take alot of carefully scraping and filing just to get him clean and smooth but no bubbles or voids in him.

That said the model was incredibly delicate, flimsy and brittle (not uncommon for resin) and lacked the sturdiness I used to get from the metal mini's (I much prefer having to glue metal arms back on when they inevitably fall off to having to repair snapped models)

Ok, I'm on my way now to GW HQ to get a satisfactory exchange.
On behalf of everyone who gives a sh.. I will attempt to speak to someone regarding these issues, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes!!
Please continue to vote in the poll and post your comments.

Haters gonna hate..

well why the hack is there liquid green stuff?
think of it
poorly i got the same prob with my finecasts (i got them via onlinestores)
but hey, buy fincast at the store check it right there and no problemo

Yup.

I got the Vanguard Veterans. Swords all bent, reshaped in a little warm water, snapped within 2 days of careful handling, never even got round to playing with them.

The detail is exquisite, but the quality of expensive models like this is shocking. GW should be ashamed.

thenoobbomb wrote:Haters gonna hate..

Personally I don't hate GW, in fact I love their models, else I wouldn't buy them! However, if the quality of a range is not up to scratch I believe GW owe it to their loyal customers to address the issue.

Lol, went into main reception at GW offices and have been told to email GW customer services, which i will do tonight. If anyone else feels they should do the same the email address is
customer.service@gwplc.com

I'm going in the shop to now to hopefully get an exchange. I am told to open and check the model in store so they can swap parts there and then, that sounds like a good idea, would certainly save time and fuel, but doesnt really work for mail order customers.

Cohol wrote:well why the hack is there liquid green stuff?
think of it
poorly i got the same prob with my finecasts (i got them via onlinestores)
but hey, buy fincast at the store check it right there and no problemo

1. I'm paying 20% more for a model advertised as being of 'High Quality', I expect it to be perfect, why should I have to repair it for such a cost?
2. I don't want to have to check, it's ridiculous that poor quality models are even sent to the shop, let alone leaving the factory.
3. I'm not sculpting the model, I paid for a complete product, if I wanted to sculpt my own models I'd buy modelling clay.

I paid £30 for a model "of the highest quality" which was bubbly, weak jointed and had the same quality of a metal model. This product cannot be defended.

I don't hate GW, I love 40K and SGB however Finecast is the worst thing to be created by GW next to the price hikes.

I haven't bought anything from GW in at least a year. But from everything I have seen in person and heard Finecast is the devil. At least partially due to poor, or a complete lack of, QC.

Now don't get me wrong, as a material in and of itself I don't have a gripe with it, but not when it is toted around as the second coming and being charged premium price for since it is supposed to be the highest quality models available on the market. Of course in reality they have been proven to be anything but. You can't say best quality and some fixing required. It doesn't work like that. Especially when it is more fixing than was ever needed with pewter.

If the move to Finecast had resulted in a net drop in prices then I could live with it, even with some of the horror stories I heard. But they have created the perfect storm of BS hype, poor QC, lack luster roll out, and all round poor attitude towards addressing the issues being raised. But then again it just wouldn't be GW if they weren't whispering sweet nothings in our ear whilst sodomising their fanbase without the courtesy of a reach around now would it?

Just be thankful you aren't in Oz. We got both Finecast AND an embargo on our ability to purchase it at a decent price at once.

I actually like the finecast models, I prefer them to the old metal. They are easier to work with, lighter and the detail is outstanding.

However, I have had my issues with finecast. My worst offender was this years white dwarf model. The casting was off centre, The split between the front half & second half was unfixable. Took it into my local GW and they had to open four box's to find one that was OK.

They need to fix the casting problems, and soon. A return rate that large has to be costing the company some big bucks and that'll only mean an increase in price to cover the short fall.

I wonder. Has anyone found any maths on the production cost of a Finecast model versus its old pewter equivalent?

Maybe it is cheap enough that 3-4 returns still turns them a profit per item sold? I mean I highly doubt it, and it would indicate a shafting of mandingo proportions, but maybe they don't care because they aren't hurting financially from it.

Then again if true I think it is time to polish off the ol' pitchfork, light up some torches, and get a rabbling.

After opening two packs in store, still no satisfactory exchange, however the staff are very helpful and are ordering another ten packs for this afternoon for me to look at(more of my time though) surely I will find my lelith!
I really can't fault the staff, they are willing to open as many as it takes to find a satisfactory cast!!
Having cast in resin myself, I know the material cost per mini, even buying in low quantity,is pence. But I am guessing the a big issue is with customers who don't return their imperfect models. GW can only address issues if they are made aware of them. Our customer feedback is invaluable for them to provide aquality service, we each are our own Quality Control inspectors, it's just a shame we have to pay for the privilege!!

Uri Lee wrote:

thenoobbomb wrote:Haters gonna hate..

Personally I don't hate GW, in fact I love their models, else I wouldn't buy them! However, if the quality of a range is not up to scratch I believe GW owe it to their loyal customers to address the issue.

Lol, went into main reception at GW offices and have been told to email GW customer services, which i will do tonight. If anyone else feels they should do the same the email address is
customer.service@gwplc.com

I'm going in the shop to now to hopefully get an exchange. I am told to open and check the model in store so they can swap parts there and then, that sounds like a good idea, would certainly save time and fuel, but doesnt really work for mail order customers.

Well, I was more pointing towards the poll results. Mine were fine, but there are a lot of haters on the interweb.

thenoobbomb wrote:
Well, I was more pointing towards the poll results. Mine were fine, but there are a lot of haters on the interweb.

I have heared that 90% of the Internet is pornography, which means there are also a lot of wans on the interweb... That doesn't mean everyone is doing it all the time . Thank you for letting us know yours were all fine, that is good to know, and provides us with some hope

"Well, I was more pointing towards the poll results. Mine were fine, but there are a lot of haters on the interweb."

We "haters" dont hate finecast just because we want to. We do it because we think its a bad product (and probably have some experience with finecast too) marketed as high quality. So I dont think the poll result is just because of haters that just wants to hate. If thats what your implying.

You know what would be cool? If the shops took the exchanged minis that were miscast and put them in a discount box for 50% off...I would buy a lot of them that way.

I don't mind fixing air bubbles that are small. Or on a flat surface, But when i bought my canis wolf born, the wolf's chest was completely missing. What i really dislike is the fact that you get thin sports throughout the model. so while painting you run the risk of pushing through, or while you play with the model, you risk snapping it off. I have had enough problems with fine cast, and the bad part about it is. The troops i have been using are all fine cast. Nurgle plague marines really didn't need to be fine cast. Personally i loved metal models, And now i have no other choice but to buy fine cast.