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I've seen some Forgeworld resin kits sold on ebay and various other auction houses and swap groups online. Is there anyway to tell if I'm buying the legitimate model or a 3d printed model?

I don't want to spend a lot of money on a model believing it to be the real deal and show up to a GW store with a knockoff. That would be kinda embarrassing to me.

Any suggestions?

If they have made a good job of it and it is painted then its almost totally impossible to tell from a picture, though most 3d prints are not one for one knock offs of the original.

If it is bare resin then it is often possible, printing usually leaves lines and connection points from the supports which people often do not clean up well enough, dimples in the surface is another give away.

I've been wondering the same thing. Is something coming in GW packaging an indication it's real or does that get faked too? Bought the Ironhead Squat claim Jumper miniature recently and I have no idea how to tell if it's real, it's in what appears to be its usual sealed Forgeworld packaging.

It's harder to determine online unless you have good pictures, or the auction or sale include the original FW receipt or certificate.

In-hand would be easier, the difference in material and imperfection would be easier to see.

Specific to 3D prints, the model might not be a 1-1 copy of the FW models, some details will often be done differently, either by choice or to help the printing process easier. Good picture from the underside of the model (for vehicles and similar at least) could help as usually it's where most of the printing supports are located and can leave very visible texture. Those could be used to determine what it is.

Recast will be much more harder to spot in the wild. The material will be very similar and the quality about the same. Only if the model is "unbuilt" could you tell them apart a bit easier (like spotting the difference in the casting gates on he model). Otherwise, outside of receipt or certificate, it's down to the seller's word on it.

If you had bought a FW model would you be willing to sell it for a fraction of its value?
I'm pretty sure all the 'abused' FW stuff got plundered years ago and cheap FW is all from ForgeryWorld now.
I used to like rescuing old models, but now even the rescue cases are more than the models were priced as when new.

So here's the rub, what do you do if you discover the Caladus Grav-tank you bought off Ye Olde Internet is not legit?


Do you just put it on the shelf as a reminder that there was a reason why it was such a good deal, or do you continue to use it in friendly games and swap it out for the pieces you know are legit for tournaments?

I had this problem with a mk2b landraider.
Took it apart to strip paint and the 'resin' peices were a white colour that id never seen before.
So i spread the bits among my Mechanicum Land Raiders where people expect conversions and 3d printed extras.

I think if you can make a recast look actually legit (you cant tell it from a legit one when side-by-side) then you shouldn't feel bad about it at all.
If it doesn't pass, i'd leave it for casual games like you suggest.

There's a part of me that thinks recasts have their place in heavy conversion work; so a genuine kit isn't broken up or damaged forever.

 Skywave wrote:
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In-hand would be easier, the difference in material and imperfection would be easier to see.

It's worth keeping in mind, though, that where Forgeworld is concerned, imperfections are not a sure sign of a recast, particularly on their larger kits.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
So here's the rub, what do you do if you discover the Caladus Grav-tank you bought off Ye Olde Internet is not legit?


Do you just put it on the shelf as a reminder that there was a reason why it was such a good deal, or do you continue to use it in friendly games and swap it out for the pieces you know are legit for tournaments?

My group and I pretty much have an unspoken "Don't ask, don't tell" attitude about ForgeryWorld stuff, mainly due to the inflated prices of genuine FW models. And our local tournament organizers don't care either.

Depends on the piece, really.

If it’s a large kit? I’d expect the seller to be able to offer at least a screen grab of their online order. This is especially true for sellers outside of the UK, as whilst a bit of a drive for most, we can pick up Forgeworld at WHW. Other countries? Well other than the Warhammer Cafes and the odd event? You have to mail order FW, as no other bugger sells it.

Old maxim though. If it seems too good to true? It probably is.

I’m also adverse to recasting, and don’t agree with it at all. So I only buy direct, or where the person doing the selling includes a pic of the original order form.

Can you tell by weight?

Is there a general/noticeable weight difference between FW resin models and counterfeit models?

If the FW mini’s resin is good quality with a perfect cast that assembled smoothly, I’m sorry but you’ve bought a recast.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
If the FW mini’s resin is good quality with a perfect cast that assembled smoothly, I’m sorry but you’ve bought a recast.

So the good quality one is the forgery?

It is often said to be that way, yes. FW QC is often pretty shoddy and on larger kits can be really dire.

Great.

So the thought, "I don't understand why everybody complains about putting this FW kit together. This thing is a breeze." Is a red flag?

Not necessarily unless its a really old kit. I have not bought from FW in a decade so cannot say if their QC has improved though, hopefully someone else can chime in with recent experience.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
If the FW mini’s resin is good quality with a perfect cast that assembled smoothly, I’m sorry but you’ve bought a recast.

So the good quality one is the forgery?

That’s how it used to be, anyway. I haven’t bought any FW minis in a decade, so things might have changed.

I’ve never purposefully bought any recasts, but I have acquired a few through trades, and they were all well done. I even received a couple of resin recasts of plastic sprues that I and my trade partner didn’t know were resin until I started assembling them.

I suspect (at least back then) recasters felt more pressure to sell a good quality product so as not to lose customers while FW believed they had their customers exactly where they wanted them.

With 3D printing on the market, I’d bet recasters are feeling more of the pinch than FW. At least until GW is dumb enough to charge current GW prices for new BFG minis.

The only times i've been able to verify a model is a recast is by finding dual mold lines.
Ones which cross over are a dead giveaway.

And i saw someone accidentaly a model which gave off a funny smell when the core of the material was exposed.

I've got a lot of old forgeworld that I never got around to assembling or painting:
Mk1 Eldar Wave Serpent
Sisters of Battle Repressor
Loads of Krieg
Aeronautica Imperialis planes (imperial and chaos)
Hector Rex and Retinue

Thing is, they're all of different resins, with different resin colors (from light grey to almost tan/yellow in color, and everything in between).

I've probably also got FW resin that I don't have the baggies or order forms for (bought at GW Grand Tournaments back in the day, like 20 years ago), that it would be impossible to prove provenance on.

Usually I find that cheap "FW" on ebay is recast. But that is no indication that expensive "FW" is actual forgeworld.

Nowadays, I look at the photos, and consider condition and price, and whether I'm willing to spend the asking price. If it turns out to be a recast, and it looks great, so be it. But I also don't go all Sherlock Holmes on the pieces I buy from ebay. I do due diligence as much as I can in advance.

And if you find out it's a recast?

What's the proper procedure? Be quiet and soldier on, secretly hoping that no one notices that your model isnt quite kosher?

If you buy it in good faith, then play it in good faith.

Removed - do not ask about where to get recasts here.

Honestly, there isn't a difference and you didn't go out of your way to buy recasts or the like. So you did nothing wrong and no one will be able to tell the difference anyways.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Great.

So the thought, "I don't understand why everybody complains about putting this FW kit together. This thing is a breeze." Is a red flag?

Depends on ye day of the FW worker and the state of the molds. F.e. I got a near flawless alpharius and 10 lernaen terminators recently and a horrendously bent out of shape malcador in resin aswell as a horrendously bent and imperfection riddled decimator some time ago.

It's a bit like roulette. If the molds are new and or rarely used then the chances go exceptionally higher in your favour for quality...and if it isn't the intern handling the resin.

otoh a lot of recasters actually improve the quality of their molds permanently which is why on average if you find a bigger one the quality is better... which is sad.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
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I’m also adverse to recasting, and don’t agree with it at all.

I am sympathetic to recasting out of production stuff, especially very old sculpts. I think it is similar to sharing abandonware- technically it is piracy to distribute abandonware, but the original creator can no longer be bothered to profit off of the design work and it is a shame to leave it languishing if people want to enjoy old software.

Something else to consider, is that you can't rely on the color of the resin. I've still got some old bits, bought direct from FW myself, that are a light tan color instead of the standard grey.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Something else to consider, is that you can't rely on the color of the resin. I've still got some old bits, bought direct from FW myself, that are a light tan color instead of the standard grey.

But you can't see through it, can you? I just saw a couple custodes that were green resin that you could see through. I have a feeling I should avoid them.

Those sound like 3D printed resin.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Those sound like 3D printed resin.

Then the GW Emperor was sent me the right feelings.

I know that 3D printed models are all the rage now and prices are obscene, but since it looks like there is only a Warhammer store within 50 miles of my new home, I don't want to anger the local shop.

I'll do that after I show up with an Armorcast Titan for a Horus Heresy game