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I must admit now that I just got back into the hobby finecast confuses me. I can't find any place to order the models i need other than GW. I don't have a local store anywhere close that sells GW models. Where do I buy finecast? And is there an alternative? I have checked ebay and the metal models that people are auctioning are just as much as the finecast models.

I've tried a few places (miniature market, another) and they have both told me that they can't get the finecast models I want. Lizardmen Terradons and Kroxigors. Do i have to buy them directly from GW? I really dislike buying directly form the manufacturer as it cuts out the middle man to much for me.

Thank You.

well some models are direct order only, should say on the GW page near the discription of the model

Be aware that there have been, and still are to some extent, production issues with Finecast leading to bubbles which destroy detail, render slim elements extremely fragile or cause warping.

Consequently, if you really want a model that's Finecast you are really best off ordering from GW direct as it will make returns a lot simpler if needed.

I don't really want a finecast model. I just want the model . Terradon's especially, i can't find an alternative for them either. And on ebay they are 13 + 6 shipping per terradon making the finecast models substantially cheaper if I buy the box set.

To be honest, the advantages of that model in the much lighter medium probably outweigh the downsides in that case.

Still say order from GW, any saving off RRP is likely going to evaporate very quickly if you need to arrange replacements. If you're lucky they'll be perfect, if you're really lucky they wont be and you'll get a generous GW troll who sends you a whole box and gives you the bits to make more!

Finecast has... issues. Specifically production defects that cause problems. You really want to deal direct with GW so that any miscast or damaged parts can be replaced quickly.

It's generally best to avoid finecast whenever possible. It's an extremely low quality product and there's a decent chance of flaws. Unless you order directly from GW getting it replaced becomes almost impossible, but the catch 22 there is by ordering from GW you also deal with their outrageous prices.

You pay more money for a low quality product. It's not worth it.

Extremely low quality product my ass....the internet has blown it out of proportions in the extreme. I haven't had any more issues with Finecast than I did with metal models since the first wave of finecast hit the stores. Now I'll fully admit that first run totally deserved the moniker finecrap but ever since then I've gotten exactly what GW promised. One or two pinhole sized bubbles is nothing to the 40 billions metal tags I used to get on models.

Only buy "finecast" if you are able to check out the miniature(s) yourself before buying.

Otherwise it is not worth the risk most of the time.

Put it this way. Every single person I know who paints at GD finalist level or better thinks Finecast is gak.

I've had nothing but issues, even with newer models released well past the first run. For example, the last model I purchased was a CSM dark apostle (and even then I was breaking my promise to not buy another Finecast model after the gakky DE lhamaean that I still have sitting in a blister), it was covered in holes, mainly on places you'd expect with Finecast, like his face, fingers, even the beads on that little necklace he's holding up, etc., and also had flimsy and malformed parts to boot (his staff had a spike on it that looked partially melted and I didn't expect his big spiky halo, which was a nightmare to try and clean without breaking, would last a trip in a carrying case to his first game), and it's only a few months old. I gave up on the model after cleaning all the parts and seeing all the work I had to do with it and gave it to my brother, who despite being a big Chaos fan, didn't want anything to do with it! Personally I think that's telling when you offer someone a brand-new model for free and they still don't want to deal with it. I kinda "made" him take it as I didn't feel like throwing it in the trash, which is where it would have gone if he hadn't.

It isn't "one or two pinhole-sized bubbles", either. The norm for Finecast, based solely on what I've seen at my local store and what I've experienced personally buying from them, are models literally covered in holes, not "pin-sized" at all and always in areas that ruin detail and require re-sculpting to fix. And the majority of stuff I saw being talked about and posted online wasn't much better, so I'd say it wasn't "blown out of proportion" at all, especially when we're almost approaching the two-year anniversary of Finecast's release and flawed models are still getting shipped out.

Good on you if you got what GW promised, but your experience is sadly not the norm.

I have had two issues with finecast, out of the 40 plus models I have bought in finecast, one was mispackaged, pedro was missing his right arm, and the tip of belials sword is not there, its a fork sword :(.

Pedro was sorted after they sent me a replacement, done me a favor as I then got a mace on right arm and converted the armless pedro into a chaplain with power fist and power maul. Didnt bother sorting Belial, have to green stuff him.

I personaly much prefer finecast, I have around 6 models in metal (four of which are thunderfire cannons and techmarines with them) the rest is all plastic or finecast, out of around 300 models.

Orktavius wrote:
Extremely low quality product my ass....the internet has blown it out of proportions in the extreme. I haven't had any more issues with Finecast than I did with metal models since the first wave of finecast hit the stores. Now I'll fully admit that first run totally deserved the moniker finecrap but ever since then I've gotten exactly what GW promised. One or two pinhole sized bubbles is nothing to the 40 billions metal tags I used to get on models.

I'm 3 for 8 on infantry sized models with finecast, and 0 for 5 when it comes to anything larger than a terminatior.
Finecast hasn't been 'blown way out of proportion' it IS an inferior medium in pretty much every way. If you haven't had to do more than fill a few bubbles on flat surfaces and clean off the flash then you are extremely lucky. I got 4 vargulf models, each and every one of them had massive amounts of bubbles between the shoulders that completely obliterated the detail. And bubbles =/= tabs. Tabs are easily snipped off and not a problem with the model itself. When we talk about miscasts we mean things that are so bad you actually have to re sculpt parts of the model. It is impossible to make a model ready to paint strait out of the box, flash and tabs are just a part of the cleaning process, misaligned molds, bubbles in places that ruin model detail, bubbles inside things like staffs and swords that lead to inevitable snapping, and parts of the mold being included in the packaging, that is what we are talking about here. They are all MISCASTS and are unacceptable in the numbers we are seeing.

Metal miniatures have just as much warpage, wrinkles etc. It's just people expect and accept them and don't put metal miniatures under so large magnifying class as they do with Finecast, because Finecast has "reputation".

Just assembled a large BFG cruiser, it was such a horrifying experience that I'd happily pay more if the model was available in Finecast.

Why is it that whenever Finecast is mentioned people turn into the type of semi demented pensioner on a bus who thinks people want to know about their medical procedures?

Because there's always some donkey-cave who has to come out and say "All the models I got were fine so Finecast has no problems!"?

If you can find somewhere to view them first, try that. Otherwise get them from GW direct so you can get replacements if any should go wrong (it's a much higher risk than metal).

From what I can tell a lot of 3rd party resellers have dropped finecast because the returns are too much hassle.

 Sidstyler wrote:
Because there's always some donkey-cave who has to come out and say "All the models I got were fine so Finecast has no problems!"?

Got it in one!

I've had zero defects with my Finecast purchases.

Backfire wrote:
Metal miniatures have just as much warpage, wrinkles etc. It's just people expect and accept them and don't put metal miniatures under so large magnifying class as they do with Finecast, because Finecast has "reputation".

Just assembled a large BFG cruiser, it was such a horrifying experience that I'd happily pay more if the model was available in Finecast.

That's mostly because the specialist games range's been cast by halfwits, though. Also, "wrinkles" on metal miniatures? Really? They're made of tin, not tissue paper, for the Lady's sake! As for the rest of your assertion, I have this to say: __________.

In any case OP, if you absolutely have to buy Finecast then as it's been said, buying from a GW store or direct from their website is really your best option. You could try your luck with eBay, but I personally wouldn't since I doubt GW will help you out if you do get screwed up models (and your chances of that happening are pretty good). As it's been said already most retailers don't sell Finecast, either because they can't actually get it from GW or, in Wayland Games' case at least, the quality wasn't up to their standards.

I have bought plenty of finecast from the Warstore no problem.

/shrug

NickF509 wrote:


I've tried a few places (miniature market, another) and they have both told me that they can't get the finecast models I want. Lizardmen Terradons and Kroxigors. Do i have to buy them directly from GW? I really dislike buying directly form the manufacturer as it cuts out the middle man to much for me.

Thank You.

When you say "cuts out the middle man too much", do you mean that it doesn't support your local gaming stores?

Or do you mean that it doesn't get you a discount on the price?

In my own experiences, if you have Finecast purchases from a brick and mortar store, GW is just as good about issuing replacements as they are on their own direct sale products. I've only had one issue personally with a FLGS purchase (though I have seen a lot) and GW replaced it with no problem at all (and I got an entire Thraka replacement just due to a malformed Iron Gob!) I did need to have the box information, so look over the model as soon as you can, and save the packaging.

If you are talking about maximizing your discount from online retailers, then I think you will have more problem. Some of these retailers are resellers, and they might have a higher proportion of finecast fails (since they might have been able to buy them up for cheap). You can't inspect the model before you pay for it as well, and GW is probably going to be more strict about replacing product from them (resellers). If you can find an online shop that also maintains a brick and mortar store, that might be your best bet, since GW will probably have a more direct working relationship with them.

Sadly, if you are just going through resellers for a discount, you will probably have to accept the failure rate as the cost of doing business. If you get a steep enough discount from online resellers, it might be enough to replace the occasional miscast model.

We wrote:
I have bought plenty of finecast from the Warstore no problem.

/shrug

That's strange, because their GW availability list says they can't get it at this time. When was the last time you bought Finecast from them?

I last time I ordered something finecast was in November. I usually make an order a month but obviously not Finecast every month. I never even looked at their availability list when I want something I just shoot Neil an e-mail or call and he has always gotten it in. I'm never in a rush so it has never been a problem for me to wait. The Warstore has always given me great customer service so I give them as much as my business as possible. However I am pretty much done my GW purchases for a long time (possibly forever) so it's kind of a non-issue (for me).

I have moved on to Infinity and painting RPG miniatures for my RPG games. If I order anything else it will be some of the monsters GW makes but that won't be anytime soon.

Da Butcha wrote:

NickF509 wrote:


I've tried a few places (miniature market, another) and they have both told me that they can't get the finecast models I want. Lizardmen Terradons and Kroxigors. Do i have to buy them directly from GW? I really dislike buying directly form the manufacturer as it cuts out the middle man to much for me.

Thank You.

When you say "cuts out the middle man too much", do you mean that it doesn't support your local gaming stores?

Or do you mean that it doesn't get you a discount on the price?

In my own experiences, if you have Finecast purchases from a brick and mortar store, GW is just as good about issuing replacements as they are on their own direct sale products. I've only had one issue personally with a FLGS purchase (though I have seen a lot) and GW replaced it with no problem at all (and I got an entire Thraka replacement just due to a malformed Iron Gob!) I did need to have the box information, so look over the model as soon as you can, and save the packaging.

If you are talking about maximizing your discount from online retailers, then I think you will have more problem. Some of these retailers are resellers, and they might have a higher proportion of finecast fails (since they might have been able to buy them up for cheap). You can't inspect the model before you pay for it as well, and GW is probably going to be more strict about replacing product from them (resellers). If you can find an online shop that also maintains a brick and mortar store, that might be your best bet, since GW will probably have a more direct working relationship with them.

Sadly, if you are just going through resellers for a discount, you will probably have to accept the failure rate as the cost of doing business. If you get a steep enough discount from online resellers, it might be enough to replace the occasional miscast model.

A long time ago I used to have a paintball business. The markup was poor but it was something i liked. Eventually the manufacturer started selling products, I could still get the items at a slightly lower price and sell them marginally under the manufacturer's price but the manufacturer would have sales or include items and they would make it impossible to match. I could not buy the item at cost for less than they were selling it for "on sale."

Because of this it really bothers me when a manufacturer cuts out the middle man which is essentially what GW is trying to do. It's too bad I enjoy warhammer so much more than the other games out there (warma/hordes, malifaux, infinity, etc.) or else I would quit before I start but I just like the game too much. Warhammer still has the possibility of coming back if the current CEO or management board (whomever decided to limit online sales to their company only in 2006) retires in the next year or two.

I ended up just purchasing everything from a really nice seller or ebay. Mostly metal models, I like plastic better but really have never liked the resin stuff i've messed with so im okay with it. Plus I saved a few bucks.

Ah, ye olde fincast hate I dont want to miss out on the fun! Tbh if the casts were like FW with little flaws I would consider it better than metal any day. Yet they are not. Lets just say that the 25th anniversary marine went through 4 FULL replacements then was sent a email demanding them back! Tbh the GD model was very good cast and have very little flaws but the WD 2012 guy was horrible! (probally becuase if it wasn’t it would make GW lower than they already are) I've only ever bought 5 fincrap, sicuris, 2x 25th anniversary maines (I am going to sell one when GW has scrap finecast and is a myth in 30 years or so), 2012 WD guy and the GD dude. Just my 2 cents...

NickF509 wrote:

A long time ago I used to have a paintball business. The markup was poor but it was something i liked. Eventually the manufacturer started selling products, I could still get the items at a slightly lower price and sell them marginally under the manufacturer's price but the manufacturer would have sales or include items and they would make it impossible to match. I could not buy the item at cost for less than they were selling it for "on sale."

Because of this it really bothers me when a manufacturer cuts out the middle man which is essentially what GW is trying to do. It's too bad I enjoy warhammer so much more than the other games out there (warma/hordes, malifaux, infinity, etc.) or else I would quit before I start but I just like the game too much. Warhammer still has the possibility of coming back if the current CEO or management board (whomever decided to limit online sales to their company only in 2006) retires in the next year or two.

This is such an odd opinion to me. Aren't people usually trying to cut out the middle man?

 cincydooley wrote:

NickF509 wrote:

A long time ago I used to have a paintball business. The markup was poor but it was something i liked. Eventually the manufacturer started selling products, I could still get the items at a slightly lower price and sell them marginally under the manufacturer's price but the manufacturer would have sales or include items and they would make it impossible to match. I could not buy the item at cost for less than they were selling it for "on sale."

Because of this it really bothers me when a manufacturer cuts out the middle man which is essentially what GW is trying to do. It's too bad I enjoy warhammer so much more than the other games out there (warma/hordes, malifaux, infinity, etc.) or else I would quit before I start but I just like the game too much. Warhammer still has the possibility of coming back if the current CEO or management board (whomever decided to limit online sales to their company only in 2006) retires in the next year or two.

This is such an odd opinion to me. Aren't people usually trying to cut out the middle man?

I feel the same as you. Kind of odd to be mad at a manufacturer for selling their own product.

I've hand minimal issues with Finecast and I don't know of anyone consistently having major problems with them.

This is another case of those with a complain being the vocal majority.

 Amaya wrote:
I've hand minimal issues with Finecast and I don't know of anyone consistently having major problems with them.

This is another case of those with a complain being the vocal majority.

erm.. yes that's right?

It's well documented as being not up to scratch, and rumours are that it's going to disappear altogether eventually. I'm not sure if it's improved over the past year or so (I'm guessing it must have to an extent) but people having problems with it are pretty well documented. Yes you could say its a vocal minority complaining loudly, but even if that was the case you have to compare it with the number of complaints prior to Finecast about metal miniatures - there were practically none.