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 Cyporiean wrote:
Is this neck normal? It doesn't look right.

It would help if the mini was turned 90 degrees, but I can't really tell.

Looks like they've changed their shipping order again (without communicating anything) but someone dug out of the comments that they're not going to start doing RoW orders until they're below 4000 (rather than the US/CA/RoW they stated earlier. They say they're "waiting on a truck from UPS" for RoW, which seems a bit odd at the least. It's also looking like surface mail now...

I am disappointed.

Here's an example of the Wehrkind Spongy Factor I thought some of you might find interesting.

WSF is very much a deal breaker for me - that is in no way acceptable!

Have Reaper seriously not commented on this yet?

 Alpharius wrote:
WSF is very much a deal breaker for me - that is in no way acceptable!

Have Reaper seriously not commented on this yet?

I wouldn't panic until I have it in hand if I were you. The Minotaur that I bought to test out the material was pretty soft. Not "spongy" but still very soft.

Interesting to see if it is commented on by Reaper though.

~Eric

 Alpharius wrote:
WSF is very much a deal breaker for me - that is in no way acceptable!

Have Reaper seriously not commented on this yet?

I can't see them having/taking the time to look at it until shipping has completed.

 Alpharius wrote:
WSF is very much a deal breaker for me - that is in no way acceptable!

Have Reaper seriously not commented on this yet?

I've not seen anybody bring it up on the KS comments or on the Reaper forum (and I'm ROW and waiting for mine to ship, but if I have the problems I'll ask them)


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The Latest on shipping from Reaper Bryan on the KS comments (4 separate posts)

First and foremost the reason I haven't given news about ROW is because I don't have any. We are waiting for word and until we have the go ahead (read: until they send a truck) from the post office we are stuck. We don't have the room in the shop to prestige the boxes and hold them until the truck gets here, and I'm sorry but it sucks for everyone.

I have no news regarding ROW. We continue to await the truck, although we are glad that we discovered the Kaladrax problem before shipping ROW so we can be sure your orders are all accurate. This is purely selfish, as shipping replacements overseas is horrifically expensive.

If we finish US with no word on ROW from the postal service, we will at that point have room to prestage the orders. We will not return to normal production until all the orders are done as far as we can get them. I speak daily with our uPS rep and the postal service rep, and promise to update as soon as I have news that isn't "no news".

(and this is clearly probably even more frustrating for Bryan than it is for those of us waiting as he had a family holiday booked and paid for starting today but can't go as the Bones shipping isn't done so he scrambling to cancel hotels/rearrange bookings & having to explain to wife/kids why they can't go away)

It's on the Reaper forum. Linked from this thread, incidently.

http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/50151-spongey-bones-models/

After checking all the miniatures, I have found that my medium fire elemental, we be goblins, Cthulhu's head, and one of the pirates all seem to have the WSF.

 Azazelx wrote:
It's on the Reaper forum. Linked from this thread, incidently.

http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/50151-spongey-bones-models/

Yeah, I started it because I thought it would be most likely to attract Reaper attention there.

No response yet, but I wouldn't entirely blame them if they concentrated on shipping before worrying about this. Normally not shipping a bad product would take precedence, but I don't imagine they have the time to QC check every Kaldrax and storm giant right now and folks are likely more excited about getting their shippment than they will be disappointed if a couple of figs are spongey.

WSF seems to be a bigger concern, and obviously more noticeable, on the larger miniatures.

Having WSF in a critical location on one of the dragons or Cthulhu?

Not good...

Just a note- you can compress them slightly, but you have to really try to do it. It's not something you can just pick up and mash, you have to have a vice-like grip on it.

Just went back to my Cthulhu, the model is as solid as a fething rock. The head is the only piece that is in question on him, and you can't do much to it. The head seems fine on the model and I can't compress it much. The only thing that is "bendy" are the spines and the tentacles coming from his mouth.

I didn't notice the WSF with my We Be Goblins, but I did notice that they were flimsy, and I chalked that up to them not having thick enough legs to have a solid base.

 Cyporiean wrote:
Is this neck normal? It doesn't look right.

No, it is not. My Storm Giant Queen does not have that bulge.



My Cthulhu's head is spongy as well. Even the thick tentacles flop around and bend like those little rubber choking-hazard toys you can buy out of gumball machines. I'd be more concerned if I thought I might ever getting around to painting him. On the other hand, my wife might want to paint him up, so I'll probably ask them to correct the flaw... unless it's a "feature".

My Kaladrax has two left arms and his tail (the second smallest section) is miscast. However, I have to admit that the model looks much better in person than in the official Mantic Reaper photos.

I am also missing an elf paladin and a nova hero (Marcus Garvin), but have an extra Nova sergeant. My fire giant has 2 right chains and no left chain. The mage Juliette is miscast in that her hand is a flipper.

I still have to sort some of my models, but so far the majority of them have been great casts, even if the hot California sun has warped most of them.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 Cyporiean wrote:
Is this neck normal? It doesn't look right.

No, it is not. My Storm Giant Queen does not have that bulge.



My Cthulhu's head is spongy as well. Even the thick tentacles flop around and bend like those little rubber choking-hazard toys you can buy out of gumball machines. I'd be more concerned if I thought I might ever getting around to painting him. On the other hand, my wife might want to paint him up, so I'll probably ask them to correct the flaw... unless it's a "feature".

My Kaladrax has two left arms and his tail (the second smallest section) is miscast. However, I have to admit that the model looks much better in person than in the official Mantic Reaper photos.

I am also missing an elf paladin and a nova hero (Marcus Garvin), but have an extra Nova sergeant. My fire giant has 2 right chains and no left chain. The mage Juliette is miscast in that her hand is a flipper.

I still have to sort some of my models, but so far the majority of them have been great casts, even if the hot California sun has warped most of them.

I noticed my Fire Giant came with two right chains as well- and neither fit. I just shaved the ends and glued them into place. Still looks fine.
Cthulu's head was spongy as well, and a few other odds and ends(Bone Giant club for starters). Not to mention if it has a blade, haft, or bit poking out, it's going to be bent all over the place. I spent about two hours last night boiling water and fixing things. One base on a Lich(i think) was warped so bad it won't straighten out.

I haven't been following much of the Bones topics. My buddy and I were going though the box of Bones he traded a friend for, and I was shocked by the large amount of super bendy weapons. Just the pressure of touching a spear or staff could bend it 90 degrees. Also all the small figures like the goblins were bent flat all the way to their bases at the ankles.

I know all the ways to heat-bend such figures into shape, but I can't see a reason to spend any time painting any of the figures for him, as I can't be in any way confident that the paint will stick, even with a primer. Most of them are softer than the figures from the D&D or Star Wars CMG lines. Seems like the paint will scratch right off, even if it's not just outright cracking and flaking on the bendy sections.

Actually, you'd be surprised how well paint sticks during a bend on Bones. I have a few myself, all painted up, and I put them through a bit of light rough treatment (Not throwing them off a roof, or anything, but bending thin bits in half, etc) and never had an issue. Flaking and cracking just never seemed to manifest, although rubbing off can happen if it's improperly sealed or if the plastic goes unwashed.

BUT, you absolutely MUST wash them before painting, and it is always best to apply an unthinned coat of paint first thing, if you're not priming. Those two things will greatly increase the survivability of the paint on the mini.

I'll absolutely agree with Recruittons here

wash the bones,

paint them with un-thinned acrylic for the first coat (really important, thinned paint sticks really badly to bones, once you've got a layer of paint on you can go back to your normal procedure)

and think about whether you really need to varnish over the top

acrylic paint will flex with the plastic (even when it's bent 90 degrees) it's only if you've got an inflexible undercoat (like gesso) or top coat (like thick gloss varnish) that you'll get cracking

 Cyporiean wrote:
Is this neck normal? It doesn't look right.

That's not normal.

Then something wasn't washed correctly. Because the kid who traded them to my buddy had painted one of the knights up with GW paints, and I could take the paint off with just rubbing it with the the pad of my thumb.

I've been painting minis for more then 15 years now, and this is one of the mediums that definitely worries me- especially on the flexible parts.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
I've been painting minis for more then 15 years now, and this is one of the mediums that definitely worries me- especially on the flexible parts.

For whatever it's worth, someone posted a flex test pic with a painted Kaladrax head on the Reaper forums:
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/50151-spongey-bones-models/?p=737527

Reaper CS wrote:We'll be dealing with replacements and whatnot when we're done with this big shipping crush, so expect to hear from us soon!

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I'll absolutely agree with Recruittons here
wash the bones,
paint them with un-thinned acrylic for the first coat (really important, thinned paint sticks really badly to bones, once you've got a layer of paint on you can go back to your normal procedure)
and think about whether you really need to varnish over the top
acrylic paint will flex with the plastic (even when it's bent 90 degrees) it's only if you've got an inflexible undercoat (like gesso) or top coat (like thick gloss varnish) that you'll get cracking

Anyone tried them with Vallejo acrylic primer?

 Azazelx wrote:

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I'll absolutely agree with Recruittons here
wash the bones,
paint them with un-thinned acrylic for the first coat (really important, thinned paint sticks really badly to bones, once you've got a layer of paint on you can go back to your normal procedure)
and think about whether you really need to varnish over the top
acrylic paint will flex with the plastic (even when it's bent 90 degrees) it's only if you've got an inflexible undercoat (like gesso) or top coat (like thick gloss varnish) that you'll get cracking

Anyone tried them with Vallejo acrylic primer?

I did and it adhered fine. Not tried a bend test yet but as soon as I can (away from home for a few more days), I'll let you know how that goes.

~Eric

Oh, I'm meaning on these "spongey" bits, not on the more general Bones material (I have a fair few Bones here that I've bought over the last year+).

 Azazelx wrote:
Oh, I'm meaning on these "spongey" bits, not on the more general Bones material (I have a fair few Bones here that I've bought over the last year+).

Ah, gotcha.

Looks to be awhile before I receive mine yet, but since I'll likely get it before you do, the offer still stands. Ill put some on the extra flexible bits and see what happens, provided someone doesn't beat me to it.

~Eric

Much appreciated on that!

Wehrkind Spongy Factor... sounds like I am the poster child for ED...

I emailed Reaper when I got done digging through my set about the sponginess and missing bits, and they said pretty much what Cyp posted, that they would get back to me when they are done.

 Wehrkind wrote:
Wehrkind Spongy Factor... sounds like I am the poster child for ED...

I emailed Reaper when I got done digging through my set about the sponginess and missing bits, and they said pretty much what Cyp posted, that they would get back to me when they are done.

Good to hear - please keep us updated!

WSF is no joke!

Though you should see what some on the 'official' Reaper forums are focusing on - like the one character who claims there cannot be a problem, as there's no way the material could be 'sponge-like', therefore, there is no problem!

Huh?

I'm looking forward to Reaper's official word on this, and the solution both for people unhappy with it, and moving forward.

Heh, yea Alph, I scrolled through a few pages of that, giggled at the fact I was mentioned, then proceeded to throw up a little in my mouth at the discussion before deciding it wasn't worth commenting on. Obviously Reaper is is the right hand of THE LORD and could never have had a subcontractor make a mistake in a few production batches. In light of this new revelation I have mended my ways, and after a brief and glorious castration have set about to spread the good news to all!

Actually, I am watching the Avengers with my wife and just waiting to see what Reaper says. Also contemplating making/buying a set of armor for my cat to be posed in, as apparently I am becoming an interwebz phenomenon. Those theoretical royalty checks should start coming in any second!

When I find my camera I will take a few short videos of some of the worst bits, which are less rigid than the paint brushes I would use to paint them :(


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PS: I do really like and respect Reaper as a company, and have had some lovely chats with some of their staff. One of whom owes me one silver medal from a few years back; I have yet to call it in because a post it note with 'I owe you one silver medal" in a wooden case is too awesome to lose. Nothing but love for the company and their people, and I am sure everything will be fine.

The fan boys on the forums however... wow. It makes me weep a little for humanity.