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I recently bought a box of Warmachine Man-O-War Bombardiers, mainly because... ehh... errr... Well OK it was on discount and I happened to pass by.

But: In comparison to the GW models I usually paint I'm really disappointed. The quality is really not that good, edges that should be sharp are soft, flat surfaces are uneven, minute details aren't even close (e.g. faces). Now, does this go for all WMH minis or did I just have the bad luck of picking their worst box?

Would be interested in getting some views on this as I've been considering starting to play WM, but as painting is at least as important to me as playing the game I'm not sure I want to put in all that time working with this kind of raw material...

PP certainly have some stinkers as far as models go. Their scale is always fluctuating too.

Depends on the models. The really old sculpts are pretty bad. Most of the newer (last 2-3 years) have been really good though.

Also their customer service is on par with GW, if you got a bad box just fill out the form on the PP website and they will get you taken care of.

Thanks for this, I guess my listbuilding will narrow down to fewer choices then as I'll only go for like post 2013 models

 pinkmarine wrote:
Thanks for this, I guess my listbuilding will narrow down to fewer choices then as I'll only go for like post 2013 models

I wouldn't worry about it too much, as they are re-sculpting and repackaging a lot of the older stuff into plastics now. On the plus side they are actually passing the savings onto you when the do. For example the new Khador IFP were all metal and about $100 to get the whole unit. Just released the plastics in on box for $49

The bombardiers are actually not bad models as far as PP goes.

As a painting hobby, I find warmachines pretty fun. Their models take me about 1/3 the time to paint as most similar sized 40k models, because they are not as ornate with little doodads like grenades and purity scrolls and squad markings that I insist on painting fully. Hell, I've done a whole Cyngar model in less time than I spend on one shoulder pad for a space marine.

The single pose also means that you spend more tome painting, and leas time figuring out configuration, and assembly. Plus, most PP models are easy to paint fully assembled, while many GW models demand you paint them in subassemblies if you don't want to leave some part painted sub-par. As the most obvious example, most GW troops have arms that cross holding a 2H gun, while most WMH models do not, or of they do, it's done in a way where there is nothing to paint behind anyhow. With 40K, you might have a chest Aquila that demands access to paint properly. This cuts both ways, as there are advantages to both.

As a modelling hobby, it's not so satisfying. YES, you can hack apart a bunch of PP minis or use 3rd party parts, or sculpt things yourself, but the models were never produced with that in mind, so it's expensive, often requires excessive pinning, usually won't he plastic parts and you don't amass a library of spare bits over the years. But you said painting as opposed to modelling.

Last of all, there's a huge gap between crappy models and great models in the WMH line, in my opinion. So just from a modelling perspective, be selective in what you buy and inspect the pieces closely first. I absolutely hate PP Restic.

Yes. Boremachine is boring.

 WarbossDakka wrote:
Yes. Boremachine is boring.

Very constructive and on topic.
But yes, the models range from breathtaking to "meh."
Iron Mother was what drew me to the game and it's my favorite mini from any range out there.
They are updating the older models, so there's still hope that a model you don't like might get a resculpt. The newer models in particular have been stunning lately.
I play mostly Convergence and their plastic infantry have horrible mold lines. It shouldn't take that much work to get them cleaned up, but once painted, they do look really cool.
The Convergence TEP however uses the new plastic and has gotten glowing reviews.

 WarbossDakka wrote:
Yes. Boremachine is boring.

I think you're looking for this topic.

Been a good while since I had a close look at WM minis, but didn't think they were too bad. I still have a Cygnar starter set from waaay back when, including that Captain Stryker or whatever you call him, that got a lot of painting attention. Definitely no too-soft details on those early minis.

 Talys wrote:
The bombardiers are actually not bad models as far as PP goes.

Well that's a bit of a turnoff

As a painting hobby, I find warmachines pretty fun.

Well don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the aesthetics of WM. I've always had a thing for steampunk ...

As a modelling hobby, it's not so satisfying. YES, you can hack apart a bunch of PP minis or use 3rd party parts, or sculpt things yourself, but the models were never produced with that in mind, so it's expensive, often requires excessive pinning, usually won't he plastic parts and you don't amass a library of spare bits over the years. But you said painting as opposed to modelling.

Thanks for bringing it up, the step from painting to modelling is not too long so it's something to keep in mind.

 MWHistorian wrote:
The newer models in particular have been stunning lately.

I wouldn't say "stunning," but PP has definitely been upping their game in the model department lately. I feel that it really helps you to already be attracted to the steampunk / fantasy monster aesthetic for you to really get into their models.

Personally, I find Infinity and Dark Age to be better minis if you're loking for alternates to 40k and the end product of a good night's worth of painting is that important to you.

I don't think you should feel super disappointed, don't get me wrong, I understand your point completely the models are good ,but I don't have WMH minis to work on them as much as other games I play. Don't get me wrong, there are some naff models, but IMHO, the aesthetic as a whole works for me of the monsters and steampunk thing, It's great, if the individual models can be, mixed. I think they are still good minis.

confoo22 wrote:

 MWHistorian wrote:
The newer models in particular have been stunning lately.

I wouldn't say "stunning," but PP has definitely been upping their game in the model department lately. I feel that it really helps you to already be attracted to the steampunk / fantasy monster aesthetic for you to really get into their models.

Personally, I find Infinity and Dark Age to be better minis if you're loking for alternates to 40k and the end product of a good night's worth of painting is that important to you.

Agreed, Infinity models blow PP models out of the water. But that new Haley models? Yeah, stunning.

So if I'd want to give PP another shot, any suggestion on which model(s) to pick? I kinda like Khador, so basically a cool and well-made Khador model that would fit well into a newbie list?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
(Going by pictures alone, I'd go with the Old Witch, absolutely awesome. I've never seen her and the Scrapjack IRL though.)

The old witch and scrap jack are pretty cool.
https://www.coolminiornot.com/347511

Depending on how much you like shoulder pads, Vladimir the dark prince looks like a nice model, http://www.coolminiornot.com/372524


I agree however that my experiences with the PP models have been soft on detail, even when there is plenty of items on the model to paint. The best detail I've found are in select solos, and the warcasters themselves, who understandably receive more attention.