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tuo wrote:

Joyboozer wrote:

I believe he was thrown under the bus by Jeremy in regards to problems with the pledge manager.

Remember that Kenny himself said that this was his very first public facing software dev project, and he basically trained himself to do it.

Having both hired people who just finished their SE degree AND trained developers myself, I can tell you that if you task someone who doesn't have the experience do a project on his own yet, chances are quite high it will show problems, might have conceptual problems/errors etc. pp.. Especially if they are self-trained. So Jeremy also bears some responsibility in this, he should have never blamed Kenny (if that was directed at Kenny) the way he did.

He choose to base his campaign on unproven software, by an unproven developer, and then puts all the blame on him? Not OK in my book. Especially since there are dozens of proven systems out there, but they might have costed more (pure speculation on my part about the cost).

The problem is that Jeremy talked about traveling the world to "check out manufacturers." We paid for Jeremy to have a two year vacation and he hoisted the work on some locals who clearly didn't have much experience in casting. Instead of investing in software, technology, and talent, he went on a vacation and conned some poor guys into helping him. Again I feel sorry for the guys who bought the sculpts from Jeremy and are producing this.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

Good info! So based off what you wrote below and above, do you think this is more a matter of poor quality prints or too much mold release, or perhaps a combination of both?

My guess, based on my own experience and what people are saying, is that it was a bad or low quality 3d print that caused detail problems, exacerbated by too much mold release. There might also be problems with fillers, but that doesn't need to cause problems if you have enough pressure in your pots. At least in my experience... I have cast rockwalls that were ~50-60% kitty litter (unused ) that came out just fine, full details of the rock texture etc. The consistency of the soft detail, that is, the fact that is pretty uniformly soft instead of sharp some places and soft others, makes me think that at least in the treewoman's case it is a poorly made print. The seams, where the hips meet the body etc, those are fairly sharp though, so maybe there is a more even share of blame. The mold shifts are definitely in the lap of the caster!

Actually, that is one of the nice things with the kit: the seams between arms, legs, body, etc. are nicely done, with curved bits that fit pretty well and avoid the somewhat obvious straight line seams. That was nicely done.

I have mine built, and might try and get some base coat and primer on her tonight. Standing her up next to the tree dudes from Mierce (who have their own horrible casting QC problems) the difference in detail quality is shocking.

I'd love to see a pic of yours built, Wehr

Before and after would be great.

 silent25 wrote:
The problem is that Jeremy talked about traveling the world to "check out manufacturers." We paid for Jeremy to have a two year vacation and he hoisted the work on some locals who clearly didn't have much experience in casting. Instead of investing in software, technology, and talent, he went on a vacation and conned some poor guys into helping him. Again I feel sorry for the guys who bought the sculpts from Jeremy and are producing this.

This is my impression of what really happened with the money as well. Oh, and the construction of Jeremy's mobile meditation box/safe space/sex capsule.


So, I decided after the holidays are over I will be listing my Emperor dragon on eBay for a BIN price of $25. 100% of the proceeds will go to a local animal rescue. Someone with more inclination to deal with this crap model can get a good deal, and some animals can get assistance finding homes. Win/win in my book. If anyone is morbidly curious about the Emperor dragon PM me and I'll PM back when the auction goes live.

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:

This is my impression of what really happened with the money as well. Oh, and the construction of Jeremy's mobile meditation box/safe space/sex capsule.

Please, please, let's call it for what it is, a gimp box

Let's stay on topic to the Creature Caster campaign, please... thanks all.

DarkTraveler, that's nice of you to donate the proceeds, I'm sure someone will appreciate the dragon!

Wehrkind sent me a pic last night of his Treewoman but I'll let him post it here (I think maybe he wanted to prime first?). Looked great to me, with again that type of creature probably being the most forgiving of all of them for cast detail / etc.

If anyone (probably UK/EU based) wants to cut their losses on a Pincer Demon when they land, I'm prepared to have a discussion.

I'm not totally convinced myself, as I already have a FW KOS and I'm not really playing 40K to warrant spending on a model that would be used only for that, but as the only way I'd ever spend money on one of these models would be to help a fellow gamer get at least partially out of a hole, I figured I'd put this out there.

I'm due to receive the Pincer Demon, I will have to wait and see what the cast is like before I decide whether to keep it or not.

I'll let you know if I decide to get rid of it.

Finaly, some creatures are in europe now and after some import taxes i had my empereor Dragon as well.
I can live with air bubbles. I have no problem with the details, skilled enough to make them sharp.
However, missing a claw but having a other one twice is...... difficult.



Let's see how this is solved. (Wrote a Mail already.) And let's hope there is no other dragon with the same problem. I fear my missing claw is in another kit.

Very sad with how this is turning out - he did some very nice work with UltraForge, I love the Tree Woman that he did for that company.

I was expecting and hoping that I would be disappointed that I didn't go in for this Kickstarter, and now I feel like I dodged a bullet.

And the only reason that I didn't back it is because I did not like the silly howdahs.

The Auld Grump

Sorry guys, I am getting there with the before/after pics. I primed her last night, and will try and get something today. Work and traveling for the holidays, plus getting ridiculously sick for 2 weeks, just wrecked all my plans forever.

Really forever?

Probably not?

Hyperbole is to Internet as Peanut Butter is to Chocolate.

Three weeks later, still waiting for my missing part after I told them the invoice number they asked for.

Hyperbole is the greatest EVER!

I'm so glad I bullied him via KS messenger for my refund. Getting gakky casts with parts missing would drive me insane after all this gak.

Ok, so not really forever, but holy gak, I got just about zero done for 3 weeks, which is a real problem for me.

BUT! I did get a picture of tree lady last night. I had one of her unprimed... but I have no idea where it is now, or on what hard drive even.



She's big! She also pretty much fits on a 50x50 mm base, which is nice. Her detail is... ok. Sort of. She is under two fairly bright true-light lamps there (although she is not that pink in person) and the shadows are not as sharp as one would expect. Compare her to the Mierce treemen and sword lady there, or to the much, much older Rackham models, and she looks a little flat. Well, not flat in that sense, but relatively low on texture and soft on detail.

I hope to get a wash or two on her tonight or tomorrow, and I will get a picture of that. She does have some shallow wood-grain patterns on her that I hope will grab onto the ink and stand out nicely.

Edit: Just realized I sent the pic to RiTides, and so had it in my email.

Based on your pictures she looks good. Once round 6 of shipping comes in I'll see for myself.

Yeah it looks pretty great to me, all things considered! I think that particular model will be able to come out fine despite some of their manufacturing issues. Looking forward to seeing it with the wash

thanks for posting this. Makes me more likely to pay the extra shipping so I can finally have mine. Though...no use for her currently. Make she can make a nice terrain piece. I'm sure I'll think of something. Maybe a heavy conversion into a demon princess.

New update with what looks like a new tree man sculpt. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jeremyglen/creature-caster-first-wave/posts/1776977

Interesting!



If it comes with an alternate head like the Treewoman, I might be interested... although I think it's a trick of the render angle that makes the head look so tall, and that's actually from a branch/trunk on his back.

Glad Jeremy spent time on more models instead of completing his KS obligations . Oh well hope he's enjoying his soy latte and getting bent (or however you describe the yoga moves )

 Theophony wrote:
Glad Jeremy spent time on more models instead of completing his KS obligations . Oh well hope he's enjoying his soy latte and getting bent (or however you describe the yoga moves )

Ha, right?

The positive response that Treeman render is getting on the KS page is annoying me more than it should.

I just don't understand our community sometimes.

Company spends two years acting like complete amateurs, jerking Kickstarter backers around, and then releasing sup-par product, BUT! said company releases a new render and people are already considering handing over more money to these clowns as if the previous two years never happened.

Whatever. People can do what they like with their money. But the seemingly short memory and attention span we, as a community, seem to have for poor products, shoddy customer service, and outright theft and lies is astounding.

I guess what bothers me is that there is no real negative effect for the companies who treat the community badly. What lesson is really learned by the companies who misrepresent themselves and their product, only to be rewarded with additional purchases from gamers? This isn't just a Creature Caster phenomenon, of course GW is the tip of the spear for this kind of behavior, but also companies like Blue Table Painting with a long and colorful history of missteps and bad dealings continue to garner support from elements of our community.

Anyway, rant off. That Treeman looks like like he has to pee and is about scratch his ass. I hope whomever buys it enjoys it, but I think they are foolish for giving CC any additional support.

I think we just have to accept there are sharks, snake oil peddlers and the totally incompetent all seeing 'free cash' signs above the door marked 'kickstarter' and we, the buying public, will just have to take it on ourselves to use judgement as it's not turning out like paypal, where we can claim it back fairly easily, but instead will have to use extra caution on placing money in the first instance.

I think I am, for the most part, happy to enforce some discipline with myself and buy what's actually for sale, rather than what might materialize in the future. If there's something I really want, and I feel comfortable with who is offering it due to track record etc, then I might go in, but I've seen so much of this crash and burn, or become bogged down in hideous waits, that I'm happy to keep a distance.

That treeman looks terrible. Much better stuff on offer from GW or Meirce.

I've kind of been in hibernation from the hobby in general lately and it frustrates me to no end that this thrice-damned Kickstarter still hasn't shipped me my stuff yet. I've gone through two Mierce Kickstarters in the time this one has taken to complete and it's looking like I'm going to get my first TGG2 items before this ships.

The models that people have been getting look pretty disappointing. If I wanted large models with soft details, I'd have just bought Reaper Bones figures for a fraction of the price. Nothing about this Kickstarter seems to have gone right. Horrible communication, lousy product, inability to deliver on promises, ludicrous delays, the list goes on and on and on. I find it insulting that they're even thinking about making new models when they haven't even delivered on the ones they promised almost three years ago.

This entire Kickstarter is a definitive example of oversold and under-delivered. I only hold the smallest glimmer of hope that I'll get a decently cast one (especially with the Vulture Demon, which is probably the most detail intensive model they did) but I'm not optimistic. I'll post pictures when I get them. Assuming I get them before I'm old and senile, that is.

After having seen all the images coming out I'm a little more relaxed about the quality. I'm probably going to sell on my Plague Angel when it arrives, though.

Hi Folks,

Jo Dale here, I backed for two dragons, emperor and mountain and picked them up yesterday. The casting quality is as others have posted, some parts are definitely sharper than others. In particular the alternative neck on the mountain dragon has suffered a loss of detail to the point that the scales are barely defined. It will make painting the model in a consistent way quite a challenge. Also the socket on this neck piece is filled in with resin and will need to be drilled out.

There is a lot of flash, and there are a few small air bubbles on both models, most not too bad and can be easily filled. There are some mould lines but I need to do a thorough check to see if there are any major misalignments.

Major issue so far is that the tip of the horn on the mountain dragon's warped head is missing due to an air bubble. I have not yet decided what to do about this, whether to ask for a replacement part, whether to sculpt in the detail or whether to leave it as extra character on the model.

I have recorded a couple of videos :

Here's a link to the Mountain Dragon unboxing, https://youtu.be/YfwuMdk3Qi0

here's the emperor dragon unboxing video: https://youtu.be/U4W-Z439H54

I certainly won't be giving them any more custom. I am so disappointed with this whole fiasco. The quality is nowhere near that of the old ultraforge dragon . Side by side you can really see the difference in sharpness. I have been busy removing all the tags on the mountain dragon. I have found some more issues. The resin in the base shows signs of not having been mixed properly! In fact there are some little areas where you can actually stick a scalpel in and pull out a bit that hasn't set! Never seen that before!
Also, looking at the back left foot, this is poorly sculpted, one of the toes actually disappears into the rock. It looks unfinished compared to the other toes.