Citadel Finecast

[Ferran]

Just flicked through the latest white dwarf at the newsagent on my way home. Excuse my French but the whole "finecast" concept is a big &^%$!*" joke. The name in particular is the most glaring slap in the face. It should be called "Economycast" with the subtitle "We don't care if you prefer metal"

[MarcoSkoll]

The latest What's New Today has some interesting information.

The first picture shows a sprue... and one quite unlike what I've seen on any metal model.

I don't know whether this would have been usual for metal models (but we never saw them before because they could be clipped off in the factory and the material reused), or a sign of a completely different casting method using new moulds. The latter of which could be bad news for a slow selling range like Inquisitor.

The Durability section is quite interesting. It seems very different to regular resin, abnormally elastic compared anything else I've seen.

Overall, even looking through all the marketing BS, it actually looks like it could be a fair replacement for metal. They're not going to talk me out of my boycott, but I am intrigued.

[Nevermore2010]

I think the main problem with this is not the Qualtity of the models (GW minatures have been getting better and better quality wise over the years) but with just what will be converted to Resin, and if its not converted will it be dropped? Add to that the FACT that its no longer a pocket money hobby (more like all my pay hobby) will GW really manage to attract new customers to any of their ranges?

I was considering collecting a new Tau army, but after adding up how much i'd need to spend just to field a small army i was looking at a couple of hundred pounds. I have an inquisitor model i want to do and i can pick up Esienhorn AND covenant on Ebay for £20 and then trade for the other parts i need. Sounds like i'm spending £20 on one model but in reality i could make 2 or three out of the parts, thats almost a full warband and 3 is certainly enough for a quick game.

I feel sorry for those who played Epic and Battlefleet Gothic. Because they dont recive updates and just like Inquisitor they dont spin money for GW so they get ignored.

[greenstuff_gav]

Just bought a finecast librarian.. Proper post when i get home :-)

The diff with epic is they have peeps actively sculptin and casting to keep the game alive..

[Vermis]

I'm torn on finecast myself.  On one hand I don't have anything against resin (unlike people I know who rant about 'heft') and some of the examples shown by GW look pretty good.  One or two bubbles don't deter me, nor does the flexibility.  On the other hand, some of the examples shown by other people are frickin' horrific, and there's the goofy price hike too.

I want to get at least one to check it out with my own eyes, but it's kind of likely to be only one.

Just bought a finecast librarian.. Proper post when i get home :-)

Ooh.

The diff with epic is they have peeps actively sculptin and casting to keep the game alive..

Aye.  Don't worry about Epic players!  Take a look at the Tactical Command forums sometime.  Plenty of people still working on rules updates and army lists, modelling, pointing out proxies, etc. etc. - much like The Conclave does for Inquisitor.

[Elva]

Looking at the Canadian prices online, they seem to range from a couple dollars more for a single model(which seems reasonable) all the way to well over $20+(which is utter bull).

I am curious to see the results, however I'd rather have GW spend their 'hard earned' funds on a worldwide campaign like they did years back instead of fixing something that wasn't really a problem.

Though if I'm going to go for resin models, I'd be more inclined to go forgeworld if there is a suitable alternative, in which case its probably ten times better. Awhell, I'm sure the models and customer reactions will tell for themselves.

[viper_eX]

Aye.  Don't worry about Epic players!  Take a look at the Tactical Command forums sometime.  Plenty of people still working on rules updates and army lists, modelling, pointing out proxies, etc. etc. - much like The Conclave does for Inquisitor.

like Charax once said:
It's on the internet now, it will never die

[Macabre]

No, you've misquoted him, I believe he actually said;

He is on the internet now. He will never die. :p

[Hugh Jarse]

I just took my boy into GW Bristol to have a recce at the Finecast..... utter carp is my first impression, I picked up a couple of blisters to compare them and found bubbles, pits, and the pics on there website that Marco Skoll posted have been pre cleaned up, the amount of flash on them is akin to the cheap resin stuff I used to get in small plastic bags years ago for the scale military stuff I do 

Not to mention the price.... seriously??! For a single model..... I remember the days when you got 2, yes 2, Landraiders in a box for one of yer dads crisp five pound notes 

[Inquisitor Octavian Lars]

Were they Epic Land raiders though.

[greenstuff_gav]

I just took my boy into GW Bristol to have a recce at the Finecast.....

i was in there this afternoon the black-shirt wasn't impressed when he asked what i thought about the move to resin and i answered "i make resin models for a living"

got me the Terminator Librarian... wanted Dante but they didn't have him 
um... seriously, i want to know who GW's Chief Mould Maker is so i can slap 'im.
A few bubbles, but horrible flash and those stupid waste-of-resin sprues!

with regard to moulds, it's obvious someone's not playing ball; on the base tab of the librarian the flash / seepage from the loincloth covers up the words on the tab!
i'm pretty sure it's not a typical split-mould and the odd flashlines would suggest a spin cast...

i'm guessing it's a 2 part Biresin (you get Isocyanate and a Polyol / filler mix) with some black dye added (to darken it slightly) and then an extra filler powder added; the texture and weight of the resin isn't a "normal" quality methunks and this would explain the few bubbles.

[Hugh Jarse]

Were they Epic Land raiders though.

Nope, your full on 40K scale 'oldy, first world war styley, tracks totaly exposed' ones with 2 nasty looking Las cannons on spindley little sticks sticking out either side  

I suppose if you compare those castings  of old Orks, IG and Space Marines to the new finecast stuff GW have come on leaps and bounds  

[Hugh Jarse]

i was in there this afternoon the black-shirt wasn't impressed when he asked what i thought about the move to resin and i answered "i make resin models for a living"

Ha ha! Makes I laugh, they don't like it up 'em 

The spoty little herbert with glasses on that pounced on I as soon as we walked through the door wasn't much impressed either when he asked if I collected, to which I replied 'yes, since I was 13'. He replied 'I've been collecting since I was 10!!', I couldn't help myself and said 'Nice, but I'm 42, how old are you?'.... He started talking to my son at that point.... I think cuz they had more in common, what with the age gap being smaller 'n' all 

[precinctomega]

I was initially pretty "meh" about the resin move.  It's something other companies (like PP and, yes, Spartan Games of course) have been doing for a while.  The "finecast" label isn't going to impress me and I don't see it impressing anyone else with a vision on the hobby wider than GW.

However, I was reminded the other day that there is a surprisingly large population out there that doesn't know about the wider hobby world.  It's something they do with a couple of mates, with no idea that there are clubs, tournaments, forums, conventions or - indeed - other games and manufacturers.  So for those people, I can imagine that the shift to resin is a fairly big deal.

When it comes to the typical character model, I'm not that fussed.  I actually like the sprues.  Resin is notoriously frangible, and mounting the parts in sprues will ensure that they remain intact despite handling.  Where I'm most interested is in the largest models.  Seeing the Orc Wyvern in resin was what put this into my mind, especially as I was, at that very moment, unpacking a boxful of white metal Tyranid big gribblies from a client and sighing at the amount of metal I would have to clean up and the hassle of pinning, gap-filling and counterbalancing I had to look forward to.  A resin Hive Tyrant is unquestionably a Good Thing.

If (BIG "if") they eventually remaster the INQ range and release it in resin, I might well dump a fair whack of my own cash back in GW's pockets.

However, what with the ridiculous price rise and this idiotic new sales policy they've put in place, short of a renewal of the complete INQ range (in resin), GW won't be seeing any of my personal expenditure in the immediate future.  Skrapyard, Infinity, Malifaux, Relics and Black Scorpion pirates and cowboys will be inhabiting by non-INQ gaming future for the foreseeable.

R.

[DapperAnarchist]

Interesting that some people are getting bad quality, but some (check wiltrichs.com for a positive review) are getting good quality...

But Hugh, you are so right about GW staff. The managers are usually to ones to talk to, as they aren't quite so "look! A customer. I must speak to them, and say important things! like how Dark Eldar were introduced in 4th Edition!"