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Any resolution to the concerns over toxic resin? Some good discussion, but I'm still pretty confused.

I guess as a precaution, wash with soap and water, don't handle/use without gloves, and use a dust/gas mask if necessary when working with it.

I can understand that the China resin might be potentially more toxic than the ones used at FW, but even if it was, would it be significant enough for the average hobbyist to worry about? I also wouldn't think that cast resin with 3-4 layers of paint over top would pose a health risk unless you're sanding it and breathing in any dust particles it might be giving off. But hey I could be wrong.

 paulson games wrote:
Chinese resin is made from kittens and babies and is 100% toxic.

Russian resin is at least made entirely from orphans so it's at least PETA safe.

Exalt for the lulz sir. Well played


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 pr0wler wrote:
Any resolution to the concerns over toxic resin? Some good discussion, but I'm still pretty confused.

I guess as a precaution, wash with soap and water, don't handle/use without gloves, and use a dust/gas mask if necessary when working with it.

I can understand that the China resin might be potentially more toxic than the ones used at FW, but even if it was, would it be significant enough for the average hobbyist to worry about? I also wouldn't think that cast resin with 3-4 layers of paint over top would pose a health risk unless you're sanding it and breathing in any dust particles it might be giving off. But hey I could be wrong.

I'm a frequenter of the knock-off resin-crack, and it handles just like regular resin. I use the same precautions I'd normally use when working with resin. The most important one is to use a dust mask when sanding/sawing the bits, as even forgeworld resin doesn't do nice things to your lungs in tiny particle form. The washing is more to remove mold releasing compound, which screws with paint. I wouldn't worry about the gloves unless you have cuts on your hands.

 pr0wler wrote:
Any resolution to the concerns over toxic resin? Some good discussion, but I'm still pretty confused.

I guess as a precaution, wash with soap and water, don't handle/use without gloves, and use a dust/gas mask if necessary when working with it.

I can understand that the China resin might be potentially more toxic than the ones used at FW, but even if it was, would it be significant enough for the average hobbyist to worry about? I also wouldn't think that cast resin with 3-4 layers of paint over top would pose a health risk unless you're sanding it and breathing in any dust particles it might be giving off. But hey I could be wrong.

Aside from the fact that nobody has been able to suggest what about the resin would be toxic (ie a toxic alternative to the already incredibly cheap material that resin is) we have a user who was concerned enough to spend the money to have recast resin tested, only for the results to confirm it was only slightly more toxic than FW resin (ie essentially not toxic at all) so I'd say we have an answer good enough for all but the most paranoid and those with a vested interest.

Resin is just as toxic as plastic. Basically don't snort it and you're good.

Perhaps if GW spent less money in legal fees they could afford to lower the price of their product and not get undercut by such a VAST amount to where it becomes un unintelligent to get the real deal over a better quality, much cheaper fake.

 Azreal13 wrote:

 pr0wler wrote:
Any resolution to the concerns over toxic resin? Some good discussion, but I'm still pretty confused.

I guess as a precaution, wash with soap and water, don't handle/use without gloves, and use a dust/gas mask if necessary when working with it.

I can understand that the China resin might be potentially more toxic than the ones used at FW, but even if it was, would it be significant enough for the average hobbyist to worry about? I also wouldn't think that cast resin with 3-4 layers of paint over top would pose a health risk unless you're sanding it and breathing in any dust particles it might be giving off. But hey I could be wrong.

Aside from the fact that nobody has been able to suggest what about the resin would be toxic (ie a toxic alternative to the already incredibly cheap material that resin is) we have a user who was concerned enough to spend the money to have recast resin tested, only for the results to confirm it was only slightly more toxic than FW resin (ie essentially not toxic at all) so I'd say we have an answer good enough for all but the most paranoid and those with a vested interest.

I don't disagree with your points, but I thought the poster in question had the FW resin tested and it was slightly more toxic than GW plastic, not comparing China resin to FW resin, or did I misinterpret the post?

I think you did, yes, but either way it's a distinction without a difference, as GW plastic is considered non toxic as well.

 Sigvatr wrote:

 DarkTraveler777 wrote:


Azreal, you speak with certainty that fear of poisonous resins from China/Russia is a non-issue. Care to share your knowledge on why you think the safety of those materials are beyond questioning? I'd even open this question up to anyone else in the thread that is qualified to answer it. Concerns over toxic materials has kept me from purchasing non-counterfeit resin models Russia and China in the past so this is an area I'd like to learn more about.

As we have a little daughter, we had our stock of FW stuff checked. Resin (or rather: in general, production quality) used had a lower quality than comparable GW models and toxicity levels were slightly higher, but still far from being actually toxic. Stuff checked were a Giant Squigg, Squigg Gobbla, Fire Elemental, Tomb Stalker, 6 Sentry Pylons and 2 Pylons. Bought from 2 different retailers.

The poster in question tested FW stuff, not from China actually. I believe the comparison was FW resin with GW plastic, hence the slightly higher toxicity levels.

EDIT - not sure if he was talking about "China" FW stuff or models actually from Forgeworld.

EDIT #2 - Took a second look, it's a bit ambigous as he doesn't directly state his models are from China, but looks as though he had this non-FW resin models tested and had a slightly higher, yet still safe levels of toxicity compared to Forgeworld. Pretty safe to assume the majority, if not all, of the reliable recasters are simply using resin. Sure, it might not be the same grade as from Forgeworld, but it casts fine and assuming one is not a jackass...it shouldn't do any harm. Consider me sold, thanks for the clarification.

Even if the figure is slightly toxic, the paint fumes or thinner you use maybe more toxic, when primed painted they are sealed, unless they glow in the dark, then they need a Geiger teller check

Toxicity ...

Dosage makes the poison, people. Limit your dosage and you will be fine.

Don't huff the dust (or live in Cali - EVERYTHING in Cali gives you cancer, including and not limited to the state government) and take adequate precautions re: dust and fumes and you should be right.

I am the original poster that brought up about toxic materials. Again, if someone is doing something illegal like making knock offs,
then they may not care what materials they use and China is one of the countries that has the most news published about hazardous
materials being used in what should be safe products.

It don't matter to me..

Your choice..
Your money..
Just use your brain..

If its to good to be true.. it probably is..

 Genoside07 wrote:
I am the original poster that brought up about toxic materials. Again, if someone is doing something illegal like making knock offs,
then they may not care what materials they use and China is one of the countries that has the most news published about hazardous
materials being used in what should be safe products.

That point was answered a page ago. Address the arguments when your point is challenged, don't just spread vague insinuations.

As a test, I've purchased some of the knock offs, these being Gal'Vorbak from Forge World. For all intents and purposes, the detail is pretty much spot on. The material is brittle and of course, it's probably toxic. However, with careful handling and common sense, you'll be fine.

I'm very sure the old lead miniatures were far more dangerous for us than any cheap knockoff resin is today. Turns out if you don't suck on it you're probably fine. And once its covered in paint its not going to hurt you anymore.

Just don't let little kids play around your workstation.

 Grey Templar wrote:
I'm very sure the old lead miniatures were far more dangerous for us than any cheap knockoff resin is today. Turns out if you don't suck on it you're probably fine. And once its covered in paint its not going to hurt you anymore.

Just don't let little kids play around your workstation.

I don't think so. Back in the days of old lead miniatures (I have a huge collection of them), all you ever did was clean off mold lines of relatively small models (Ogryns and Dreadnoughts were huge! LOL). There was no lead dust flying around.

With resin miniatures, and ESPECIALLY things worthy of being knocked off (large models), you must deal with resin gates, which are huge. When you file off stuff, there's just a lot more resin dust in the air. Now, granted, a lot of this is simply because new models are a lot larger. But it doesn't change that resin dust is a lung irritant, and you shouldn't be filing off your warlord titan without wearing some kind of mask, no different than if you're in a woodworking shop. Won't kill ya (at least not in the short term), but it isn't good for you.

I meant more as far as the toxicity of the material was concerned.

 Genoside07 wrote:
I am the original poster that brought up about toxic materials. Again, if someone is doing something illegal like making knock offs,
then they may not care what materials they use and China is one of the countries that has the most news published about hazardous
materials being used in what should be safe products.

And let's ask the same questions again shall we?

Why would any recaster use a toxic compound when ordinary resin is already cheap and plentiful? What material is toxic enough to be problematic to the end user, cheap enough to be worth using over ordinary resin and have the properties needed to cast models reasonably effectively?

It don't matter to me..

Your choice..
Your money..
Just use your brain..

If its to good to be true.. it probably is..

Except it isn't too good to be true is it? It's people in a country with much lower living costs and overhead using a very elementary process to reproduce a substantially over valued product. If one were to use one's brain, one could easily figure out exactly where the savings are being made.

There's actual evidence supported by (AFAICS) pretty sound logic to support the fact that it really isn't toxic to the point of posing any real threat, if one were to use ones brain, that's the most likely conclusion. If one were to use baseless emotion and zero facts, then, sure, it's probably toxic.

I ended up with a China cast copy of the Aquila Lander so that I could harvest two missing parts for my own broken one. Forgeworld couldn't help me, and I had run out of options.
I will never sell the copy, because it's disrespectful, but if I hadn't bought it, I'd have a kilo of broken resin in my cupboard for several years.
At the same time I picked up a copy of Fulgrim (a kit I already had on order from FW) to compare to.

However the quality/toxicity commentary... Many of the people saying that the casts are better, are remembering that until very recently FW was a crapshoot in terms of QC. Since their on site store opened, their casting has improved dramatically, especially on large and multipart kits. I say this as someone who has had to return a kit no less than seven times in the past. I've had about a dozen different kits since (ranging from a £6 torso to a £80 dragon) and watched my friend buy a Warhound Titan, and the quality now is superb.
On the other hand, I watch and read recaster forums and reviews, and whilst the quality spanks the pre 2015 stuff hands down, it does not compete with the newer QC.

Some of the China casters are putting out such quantity that they cannot depend on using the cheapest material possible, it would make their jobs difficult. When working with the copied Aquila, I did notice the resin has a very strong chemical smell when carved. The material was brittle but springy, and not noticeably different to that used by most grey resin companies. When sanding I always used a respirator, but occasionally black tar would weep out when I left the pieces on my workbench overnight, and the ethereal screaming was pretty hard to deal with.

Some companies are relentless profit machines.

I'll be a some what relentless money saving machine and thank China for the help.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:

However the quality/toxicity commentary... Many of the people saying that the casts are better, are remembering that until very recently FW was a crapshoot in terms of QC.

You know what really sucks about FW's awesome customer service when replacing stuff that doesn't meet QC standards? It's stupidly expensive. I'll give you an example.

I bought a LE Centurion (the new $35 one). They charged me 12% sales tax on it (but I got free shipping, yay) at the point of purchase. Then they UPS'd it (even though I didn't ask for it, and didn't order enough to qualify for the express shipping). So UPS charged me $10 brokerage, plus another 12% for the sales tax again!

So now, I've paid 24%sales tax, pus a $10 brokerage fee. But the tabard was broken, and I emailed FW. They apologize profusely and send me out a new one for free. UPS.

I get it, UPS charges me another $10 brokerage, plus another 12% sales tax, on the free replacement. I mean, wtf.

So at the end of it, the $35 model cost me $74.80 LOL ($55 + 12% tax x 3). Though the first one was repairable, and they sent me a complete second model, including all the parts, so there's that. I'm not kidding about any of those numbers This was a real order (the centurion was GBP20) ! Though there was other stuff in the original order, so technically, the first $10 brokerage fee was spread around a little more.