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Another “large collection of miniatures” kickstarters, reminiscent of the recent Blacklist Games Fantasy kickstarters.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nextlevelminiatures/next-level-miniatures-dragons-hoard-miniatures-vol-1/

I am tempted, even though it covers a lot of things we already have.

Great looking minis. Frog is my favourite. Sadly its resin so I will not buy any.

Those prices are suspiciously low for resin

> Those prices are suspiciously low for resin

I did ask the creator about the "flexible resin" and got this response:

"In terms of the resin, what we're using is thermoplastic resin. It is flexible, but still incredibly durable. So it is not like the traditional resins many people are used to that are very brittle. This resin also takes paint very easily without the need for primer (although it can still be primed) and the paint does not flake easily, even in the flexible areas. The only other line of miniatures we are aware of that uses a similar resin are the Cyberpunk RED miniatures from Monster Flight Club: https://www.monsterfightclub.com/shop?Collection=Cyberpunk+RED "

Cyberpunk RED review: "The figures look great, are easy to build and I bet will paint up really nicely. There are tons of raised details on these figures."
https://mustcontainminis.com/2020/08/cyberpunk-red-miniatures-review-team-monster.html

*****

Only other thermoplastic I found was with Battlefront's 15mm Flames of War. :

Flames of War : "The point of difference with the new Thermoplastic technology is that the figures are cast in flexible moulds. The flexible moulds allow for undercuts, which means more detail on the figures can be cast," https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=6933

Siocast: https://www.siocast.com

Siocast mentioned in Lead Adventurers, July 2020: "Battlefront (manufacturer of Flames of War) is going this way with their "thermoplastic" infantry...which, while "okay" are absolutely not on par with their hard plastic infantry that I've picked up. The reviews I watches of PSC's new stuff for Battlegroup NORTHAG put me off the game entirely. The thermoplastic Soviets I have on hand paint up fine, but lack heavily in detail - particularly on support weapons, cases, and lack the fine detail of the 15mm Soviets from the same company which are...shockingly good." https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=125425.0

More Siocast reviews:
Beasts of War: "Generally I dislike painting plastics, but these are like painting metal as the material has a texture like metal models. They are also sculpted like metals so I found it really easy and quick to paint. The detail was clear and stood out well." : https://www.beastsofwar.com/forums/topic/review-of-psc-15mm-siocast-plastic-samples/\\

*****

So I'm gonna ask Dakka if "thermoplastic resin" is made more like plastic's injection molding, where the steel molds are the expense and the plastic pellets are cheap. I'm guessing that it is -- a flexible plastic means more undercuts, meaning you can use a steel mold to make miniatures with undercuts. Also, let me know about the quality of miniatures made in thermoplastic resin, of course.

(Says here, it's a steel or aluminum mold: https://ashindustries.com/manufacturing-groups/thermoplastic-injection-molding
(And says here, it's low cost outside of the mold : https://insights.globalspec.com/article/7419/10-kinds-of-thermoplastics-and-what-you-can-do-with-them

Also, this *is* a First Created project by a new company. Again, back to my email to the creator, the company has origins with Grey Fox Games, a company experienced with non-miniature (?) boardgames on KS, but not part of New Level Miniatures. I do hope the KS does well. While I have generic fantasy miniatures overlapping most of those in this KS, I do like to see more inexpensive bulk generic fantasy miniatures for gamers and hobbyists on KS.

so Siocast or something similar is what I'm assuming. It uses the same molds that metal uses. CB is switching some infinity stuff to it this year. You can go check out the last page or two of that thread to see videos.

I pledged because I'm an absolute sucker for cheap fantasy minis I'll never get around to painting or using

I like the Siocast stuff I've played with, it's not perfect but it's much better than traditionally cast resin or metal in terms of durability and still has almost all the detail from resin or metal casts. I just wish it played better with plastic cement and vinyl primers, had to go back to automotive primer and superglue for it

> so Siocast or something similar is what I'm assuming. It uses the same molds that metal uses. CB is switching some infinity stuff to it this year. You can go check out the last page or two of that thread to see videos.

Found this BoW article. Thanks! : https://www.beastsofwar.com/infinity/corvus-belli-announce-fantastic-plastic-for-infinity/

> I pledged because I'm an absolute sucker for cheap fantasy minis I'll never get around to painting or using

Same here. Might still back NLM if they get to fifty cents per mini. I double-pledged "to save on shipping" for both Blacklist Game's Fantasy Series I and Fantasy Series II, and a single copy of Horror Series. And have stuff from Bones I-IV. And pick up CMON base games during MM sales. Yeah, I don't have a problem. Anyway, Dungeons and Lasers III Late Pledge has the same prices as what backers received. Check out the townsfolk miniatures and other SG's!

> I like the Siocast stuff I've played with, it's not perfect but it's much better than traditionally cast resin or metal in terms of durability and still has almost all the detail from resin or metal casts. I just wish it played better with plastic cement and vinyl primers, had to go back to automotive primer and superglue for it

Good to know! I didn't pursue if NLM was using Siocast, and a quick search in the comments didn't find it. My impression from the BoW article is that you have to get the "process" down right to make sure the sculpt is as good as resin and metal. Looking forward to hearing your comments about the NLM miniatures when they come in. I'm sure I still won't have my miniatures painted by then.

I wouldn't be surprised if Bones USA is a similar thermo resin (just maybe not the siocast brand as there are lots --siocast just targets tabletop games) as being able to use basically metal casting molds would be a big plus for Reaper.