Mantic Games - Sci-fi News & Rumors: Sci-Fi Zombies released.

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**Kroothawk**

nkelsch wrote:
Ugh, super disappointed with season 2 models.

Helga has mold injection on the shoulderpad arm parts, of course violently twisted off the sprue instead of clipped and has damaged detail. Same on her foot.

Some of the Zzor have injection points on the necks and sides of the head and again... violently twisted and torn from the sprue damaging the detail.

A lot of the other parts have the tear on the 'peg' where the model joins so it doesn't harm detail, but some of the mold lines and flash are super thick, through the middle of detail and there is no way to clean the flash without damaging the detail.

These are even sloppier than Season 1. Why couldn't they have just left the models on the sprues and let us clean our own models? I really dislike this 'torn' from the sprue behavior. All of these issues are from rushing through the mold and not using simple tools to snip from the sprue.

The Robots and Zzor are complete disasters in regards to damage from tearing models off the sprue, and the females have such heavy mold lines and flashing, it is going to take extreme effort to salvage the models without damaging the heads.

The only team which is clean in my set are the Judwan, but then this is the model where mantic lied to us again about 'this mold is not done' and it had a horrible pose and they were 'fixing' it and they never did. The Judwan are mostly clean, but bent all to hell so they will take repair even past the silly 'I'm falling backwards' pose.

Seems with every release, Mantic finds new ways to bodge it.

**nkelsch**

Kroothawk wrote:
nkelsch wrote:
Ugh, super disappointed with season 2 models.

Helga has mold injection on the shoulderpad arm parts, of course violently twisted off the sprue instead of clipped and has damaged detail. Same on her foot.

Some of the Zzor have injection points on the necks and sides of the head and again... violently twisted and torn from the sprue damaging the detail.

A lot of the other parts have the tear on the 'peg' where the model joins so it doesn't harm detail, but some of the mold lines and flash are super thick, through the middle of detail and there is no way to clean the flash without damaging the detail.

These are even sloppier than Season 1. Why couldn't they have just left the models on the sprues and let us clean our own models? I really dislike this 'torn' from the sprue behavior. All of these issues are from rushing through the mold and not using simple tools to snip from the sprue.

The Robots and Zzor are complete disasters in regards to damage from tearing models off the sprue, and the females have such heavy mold lines and flashing, it is going to take extreme effort to salvage the models without damaging the heads.

The only team which is clean in my set are the Judwan, but then this is the model where mantic lied to us again about 'this mold is not done' and it had a horrible pose and they were 'fixing' it and they never did. The Judwan are mostly clean, but bent all to hell so they will take repair even past the silly 'I'm falling backwards' pose.

Seems with every release, Mantic finds new ways to bodge it.

Photos... The more I look, the more problems I find. Almost my entire season 2 shipment is like this. Part of the problem is not just the sprue damage and mold lines, but where they are on the model which makes cleaning them super hard.

These are the ones which leaped out because the twisted off the sprue marks are on parts of the model with detail. Sides of the heads of the Zzor, the shoulders and feet of helga, the shoulders of the robots. I will either have a divet, a damaged spot or resculpt. If they were left on the sprue, I could have used a sharp knife.

These models are unacceptable and are the result of sloppy factory work and could have been prevented.

I feel lied to due to the quality of the sculpting and the ignoring of feedback and betrayed with the just shameful sloppy product. When I get the rest of my models, I will attempt to sell off the entire batch to recoup some of my money because I doubt Mantic will fix everything or give me a refund since their molds were fundamentally designed wrong.

**adamsouza**

Mine are not that bad.

They must be having quality control issues overseas.

Mantic needs to move to domestic production of models

**DaveC**

Wow that's bad they seem to be very hit and miss on the mold lines none of mine are like that I went through everything as soon as I got them to make sure - I'm missing the arms from a Void Siren Striker and Jack but they are being sent on to me.

I put the Void Sirens together the other day and other than a miscast on the Guards foot (both had it so it seems to be a casting issue which I fixed in about 2 minutes with greenstuff - though I shouldn't have to) I had very little clean up and no major issues - I did have to heat treat the bases to flatten them out.

**Compel**

My robots were pretty bad

But, to be honest, nowhere near as bad as that. I think my Helder turned out fine.

**Pacific**

OK having just put in an order for a load of the 2nd season stuff, that has got me quite worried! Those really are some very bad mold lines.

Will post my findings when they arrive..

**Bolognesus**

HisDivineShadow wrote:
Bolognesus wrote:
My first born is yours.

PM me when the time comes; we'll discuss naming and appropriate tattoos

**Azazelx**

Damn, I'm going to have to check mine in more detail now. The only one I've looked at properly was Buzzcut, who is currently sitting primed on my desk.

**scarletsquig**

You should definitely email them asking for a replacement, they've said they're happy to replace any miniature which has unacceptable flash.

I agree that Mantic needs to send a box full of clippers over to China along with instructions on how to use them, the "twisting off" of the sprue that they do over there can be really damaging, I'd also prefer the minis to come attached to sprue which I can then remove myself in a careful manner rather than having a $40/ day wage Chinese dude (who doesn't give a damn about the little grey kiddie toys) do it.

The sooner Mantic gets back to hard plastic the better IMO. I'm not sure why they don't just go back to Renedra. I know it's £40k for a 5-man sprue using them and there's a year-long waiting list, but kickstarter would fund that no problem, the minis would be awesome, with almost zero flash and would be half or less than half the price of restic. Even if it means them having to slow down their release schedule, hard plastic is one giant list of "win" as far as consumer value goes.

Or of they want the best of both worlds, hire Wargames Factory for the tooling. That's one company in China that actually takes wargames seriously rather than seeing it as some sort of kids toy thing.

They're just as busy as Renedra though, no surprises there!

**HisDivineShadow**

How is this restic material to work with? I know I've probably been spoiled by Gw plastics, but I've recently been going at some old school Warzone figs I've had in a box, generally hating life and working on this plastic they are made of.

Is restic the same or better?

**Azazelx**

scarletsquig wrote:

The sooner Mantic gets back to hard plastic the better IMO. I'm not sure why they don't just go back to Renedra. I know it's £40k for a 5-man sprue using them and there's a year-long waiting list, but kickstarter would fund that no problem, the minis would be awesome, with almost zero flash and would be half or less than half the price of restic. Even if it means them having to slow down their release schedule, hard plastic is one giant list of "win" as far as consumer value goes.

Or of they want the best of both worlds, hire Wargames Factory for the tooling. That's one company in China that actually takes wargames seriously rather than seeing it as some sort of kids toy thing.

They're just as busy as Renedra though, no surprises there!

Or get in contact with these guys, and work with them from the ground floor up!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/524434.page

**Krinsath**

I've had no major issues with it; though I've not needed to do a whole lot.

Looking over mine so far, my robots are similar but no where near that bad. The Zz'or look as though there might be some minor mold lines but the rest, at least at first glance, don't appear to have any serious casting issues.

I do dislike the way the models are removed from the sprue though. A few places where it has already skirted very close to model damage, and I'd be surprised at this point if I get through all the models without at least some being needlessly damaged by that. Definitely something that Mantic should address with the manufacturer.

**timetowaste85**

Quick question, not sure if it was answered anywhere in the KS comments or earlier in this thread...did we not get Wyn Greth'Zki, Nightshade or Yurik in this bundle? I thought they were coming in this shipment, and my box was definitely lacking them. I already emailed Stew to check, but I know he's busy, so I thought I'd ask here too. I haven't seen anyone else recently question them missing, so either mine got missed and I need them shipped out, or they're coming in the next shipment and I missed that memo...

**Compel**

Nope, they're due for the 3rd season. Along with 'Riller'

The things that tend to be actually missing models in this one is:

A Zzor Jack accidently being replaced with a guard. (will be added in in season 3)

Orcy can be missing from the Coaches set.

**timetowaste85**

Awesome, thanks. I don't mind having an extra Zzor guard-my favorite team, with my favorite position. Hell, Mantic doesn't even have to fix it in my case, I don't mind the change!

**Azazelx**

Works out to an extra model overall, so I'm sure it won't hurt long-term. I'll hold off on painting them till I get the extra model though, so they all get the same paint.

**timetowaste85**

Not me-the Zz'or are the first things I'm painting from season 2. They were definitely my team of choice from this game due to their image. Team-wide "can't feel a thing" doesn't suck either.

**BobtheInquisitor**

HisDivineShadow wrote:
How is this restic material to work with? I know I've probably been spoiled by Gw plastics, but I've recently been going at some old school Warzone figs I've had in a box, generally hating life and working on this plastic they are made of.

Is restic the same or better?

Restic's pretty crappy. The mold lines are trickier to clean because you have to cut them off rather than scrape them off, the models almost always require heat-rebending, and they don't work with superglue.

It's actually a pretty good reason to skip the Deadzone KS and wait for the Warpath "hard plastics" KS.

**Buzzsaw**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
HisDivineShadow wrote:
How is this restic material to work with? I know I've probably been spoiled by Gw plastics, but I've recently been going at some old school Warzone figs I've had in a box, generally hating life and working on this plastic they are made of.

Is restic the same or better?

Restic's pretty crappy. The mold lines are trickier to clean because you have to cut them off rather than scrape them off, the models almost always require heat-rebending, and they don't work with superglue.

It's actually a pretty good reason to skip the Deadzone KS and wait for the Warpath "hard plastics" KS.

Wait, restic does work with superglue (at least my models have taken to it); do you meant they won't work with plastic cement/solvent?

Mold lines is a definite agreement though, they are perplexingly different to deal with then either metal or plastic. Irritating. I have some new diamond files I have heard people mention as the key to it, but haven't gotten round yet...

**BobtheInquisitor**

Yeah, I meant they don't work with plastic glue, so you have to use superglue. Somehow, it did not come out as intended, making me look foolish.

A perfect metaphor for a Mantic KS discussion..?

**scarletsquig**

I'm going to have to get around to trying out PVC cement on restic one of these days.

**PsychoticStorm**

I cannot understand why there is such big variation in quality, mine did not have such horrendous clippings nor such huge mouldlines, at least on first good inspection.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

scarletsquig wrote:
I'm going to have to get around to trying out PVC cement on restic one of these days.

I bought myself a small can to try out

haven't got round to it yet though but I'll report back when I do

**nkelsch**

I have to say, the metal MVP is amazing, both in detail and casting quality.

Makes me wish the entire product line was metal.

I can deal with mold lines, but putting them down the middle of a face or putting injection points on detail is a mold design issue. There are specific techniques to sculpt and carve up models to minimize where mold lines hit detail and make injection points invisible. This could all be a problem with the casting and mold design company they use.

**Triple9**

Received mine yesterday.

My season 1 was pretty rough and after cleaning them up I lost all motivation for working with Restic. I still haven't done anything with SW because of my season 1 experience. That said, my season 2 look heads and tails better. Most of the extra flash seems to be around the bases and the mold lines appear less prominent and better placed. No issues with minis torn from sprues. These will be much easier to clean and paint up.

Held off on adding the season 3 teams, but will definitely add them in if/when they open up the pledge manager again.

**richred_uk**

My Season 2 stuff just got put straight in a box with the untouched Season 1 stuff tbh - I can't really be bothered to check the models.

From Season 1 I started to build and paint the Corporation team. A mixture of (1) HATING the restic material for hard to trim mould lines and it seeming to be quite random as to if the parts wanted to fit or bond with my cyanoacrylate or not and (2) the sculpts having the detail too shallow to make painting pleasurable made me abandon the whole thing.

Part of me kicks myself for not buying the teams in metal when I had the chance at a great price, but now I just can't summon up the energy to do anything with them so they'll sit until something persuades me to sell or paint them.

**decker_cky**

PsychoticStorm wrote:
I cannot understand why there is such big variation in quality, mine did not have such horrendous clippings nor such huge mouldlines, at least on first good inspection.

Ronnie hates nkelsch so makes sure that all the bad models go to him.

**scarletsquig**

nkelsch wrote:
I have to say, the metal MVP is amazing, both in detail and casting quality.

Makes me wish the entire product line was metal.

Yeah, the metal casting is all done in-house by Mantic, and the guy that does it really knows his stuff.

Restic casting is done in China, which can be a bit more of a crapshoot at the best of times.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

I fear Mantic may have paid for a production schedule that would take, for example 3 weeks

(and give relatively mould line free figures)

but part way into the run the factory got offered another job so they've turned the speed up on the machines to finish Mantic's job faster without telling them so they can squeeze in extra work for somebody else

(giving some figures with excessive lines as the moulds are opened before everything is fully solidified)

**nkelsch**

scarletsquig wrote:

Restic casting is done in China, which can be a bit more of a crapshoot at the best of times.

So? What is Mantic going to do to address this? Apparently their attitude is "we don't care, enjoy your poorly made cheap models, we have your money"

If 'China factory' is the excuse that they are going to blame, then maybe their 'cheap' business is not sustainable, and they need to raise prices to the costs of other companies in order to make quality products. They may need to work with casting companies who pay attention to detail and are experienced in making miniatures.

Every other Kickstarter, from large company to small start up seems to not be falling into this same pit of 'Not our fault the casting sucks'. Other companies seem to have found solutions for casting in large numbers, small numbers and multiple material types and still seem to deliver quality models for good value.

It seems like the growing concerns are going unaddressed and excuses are being made by Mantic and their Bucket Brigade.