Finecast quality

[Ferban]

So I'm building up a Seraphon army.  I got some Kroxigors and found out they were finecast.  Eh.  I prefer plastic, of course, but didn't experience any of the horror stories that I've seen online.  I'm probably going to pick up Lord Kroak in the near future and I've read that he's finecast as well.  Any special concerns with that particular model?  Would love to hear from those who have built and painted him. 

[yukishiro1]

It's not so much about specific sculpts, it's about quality control. The thing about failcast is that, well, it just fails a significant percentage of the time and produces bad results. At first, GW was just sending out all the bad casts and hoping people wouldn't do anything about it, but they got so much bad PR from all the returns that they've gotten a bit better at checking the cast before OKing it to be sold. So there are less failcasts being sent out than in the past.

That said, with the pandemic and production shortages, I wouldn't be surprised if GW has been tempted to once again scale back how carefully they inspect for failed casts, so it wouldn't shock me if you start seeing more bad casting again. 

Any time you buy a finecast product, you should carefully inspect it to make sure it's not faulty. If it has significant faults, contact GW and demand a replacement. I have never heard of them turning anyone down, though I have heard of people having to ask for replacements of the replacement because they still get sent a faulty cast even the second time around. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by yukishiro1

[Kronos]

Resin is my favourite material, easy to cut and blend gs into. Also fairly light, and mostly easy to paint (when I used to) finecast however seems to be a lighter and cheaper standard of resin. There’s been significant improvements from the original release - but it’s still sub par in comparison to fw resin and plastic. I find arms and weapons constantly come bent and warped, some pieces snapped and in some very bad experiences hollow casts, and air bubble I can deal with on a flat surface but now when behind the model is just a flimsy skin of resin. But they glue really easily, and it’s very simple to cut pieces to make them fit easier - last one I bought was Throgg and it was a stunning kit, possibly one of the best In terms of simplicity and super detailed to. And I think that’s the best Niche finecast should full-fill, mo strous characters and units that would not be cost effective to make in plastic. They’re super light and means we get things like Throgg and Scylla  - I wouldn’t be avert to more releases like that ad the detail holds really well too. 

I try best to avoid it if possible, but I still prefer it to metal, I really can’t stand using metal minis, still scarred from when I built and painted 10 metal Temple Guard, no one needs that much chipping and bent halberds in their hobby life. 

 

[Kitsumy]

I only will tell you that i just start playing with seraphon like you, and only bought every plastic kit, wont ever touch more finecraps minis.even kroak dont worth that nightmare.

I have a 40k eldar army with like 9 finecraps box bough. 2 of them only had tipical finecast problems, bents flash everywhere etc, np.

3 had so many broken swords, bubles everywhere even on the face, extreme warped pieces, see through ultra tin parts, that gw sent me a replace, those 3 were sligthy better but still had a broken sword and bubles, but i was too embarrased to ask them for a new remplacement.

 

Last 2 were the same hero, first one had totally miscasted the face so much that u couldnt even see it, gw sent a renplacement but i had a huge moldlane eating all the detail even on the face that shouldnt be there and totally deformed legs, i got angry at gw and explained them that instead sending me 10 same kits faulty, they should check the miniature before send it to me.

 

Reply i got.......

 

They couldnt find any non faulty model so i got my money back.

 

So yes, i had badluck, but cant encourage to none to buy that thing

[MitGas]

Nothing's worse than finecast. There, I 've said it.

[Gaz Taylor]

I’ll just echo what’s been said already. If you get a good one, it’s okay but you need to check them carefully. Lots of finecast models can have bubbles/holes, mould slippage and/or broken parts. 
 

GW are really good at replacing faulty models so don’t let the horror stories put you off. If there is a model you want, get it. 

[EccentricCircle]

All that said. I don't think its as common to get miscasts as it used to be. Its been a long while since I got one, and I do still buy resin models pretty regularly as I play Lord of the Rings and collect a lot of older WFB style armies. 

The main problem I find with it is that its too brittle. things snap far too often and sometimes come warped. Its basically not a good material for the kind of models its usually used for. Where it excels in for making bigger monster type things, which were always far too heavy in metal (but which couldn't be made in plastic back then). For hero sculpts metal is still the best option.

 

 

[AaronWilson]

I echo the sentiment of others, it's so much the base material (which isn't great but it works bar melting in very hot weather if left out in the sun) but it's the variance of the quality of the product. I've had models with arms going the wrong way, completely bent staffs, etc. Also those stupid little traingles that are all over the model take a age to clip off!

[Greyshadow]

Wasn’t the melting in hot weather found to be a myth? I think it started from a YouTube video where a fine cast miniature was placed in the direct sun inside the windshield of a sealed car on a hot summer day. The test showed minimal bending even though the temperature in a hot car can get insane. Not saying bending isn’t an issue and sure resin is routinely adjusted by apply heat but I think the melting part of the criticism was debunked.

[zilberfrid]

One issue with the Krak model in particular is that it seems to get phased out, no loger available in US.

That may be because plastic is incoming.

[Popisdead]

I would say 90% of the issues with Finecast is the weakness of things line fine swords (Eldar looking at your power blade on the autarch,.. which happened to me) and the initial release to get the product out was terrible and that we can thank the mismanagement of Kirby for.  

You can return and or exchange any defective product.  GW has phenomenal support (except digitally).  If you get products you are unhappy with return them for a refund or exchange them.  

I would say for Kroxigors you are probably safe for a mostly good sculpt.  If you aren't going for best painted on the model will it really matter?  

[Socrates]

On 3/29/2021 at 8:52 PM, Popisdead said:

I would say 90% of the issues with Finecast is the weakness of things line fine swords (Eldar looking at your power blade on the autarch,.. which happened to me) and the initial release to get the product out was terrible and that we can thank the mismanagement of Kirby for.  

You can return and or exchange any defective product.  GW has phenomenal support (except digitally).  If you get products you are unhappy with return them for a refund or exchange them.  

I would say for Kroxigors you are probably safe for a mostly good sculpt.  If you aren't going for best painted on the model will it really matter?  

This!

Don't get too scared because of the online horror stories about finecast or in cool guy terms: 'failcast'. Most of the grave issues with this product occurred during it's first installment. Nowadays it's mainly the fiddly parts that are a pain (but in all honesty, so are they in plastic or metal).

In my experience ordering at a flagship store will make it easier in case you have some issues. I'm a great fan of supporting your local gamestores, but in this case you could make an exception. 

Kroxigor are still awesome models: hopefully you'll have fun painting them!  

[yukishiro1]

Yeah, don't order failcast from anybody but GW directly, that makes it more difficult pain to replace if it's defective, which still happens like one in ten times, even if it's not three in ten like it was when it first came out. 

[Angela]

On 3/26/2021 at 4:42 AM, AaronWilson said:

I echo the sentiment of others, it's so much the base material (which isn't great but it works bar melting in very hot weather if left out in the sun) but it's the variance of the quality of the product. I've had models with arms going the wrong way, completely bent staffs, etc. Also those stupid little traingles that are all over the model take a age to clip off!

On my first fine cast model, I thought some of those triangles were a part of the model!

[Noserenda]

The biggest finecast problems come with ex-metal models that werent designed for the material tbh, that said, thats most of them  

I always bought mine face to face so i could check the blisters and never had a big problem, thats obviously not sooo doable right now though! 

[Jymmy]

Last year I picked a finecast Varghulf and the experience was daunting. Apart from the bubbles, it had a huge chunk of resin in the back that destroyed all the detail. If you don’t mind paying a bit more i would advise picking a second hand metal one. Or even a chinese ripoff, which probably has more quality for less price (not that I picked one of such models of course, I wouldn’t think of doing such a thing, ever)

Edited April 4, 2021 by Jymmy

[Gareth 🍄]

I often end up disappointed with Finecast models, I tend to avoid buying it now and stick to plastics.

[NinthMusketeer]

Fincast is completely different than it used to be, literally. I don't know what resin they use now but it is definitely not the spongey soft stuff finecast originally used. Problem is there is still stock of that old stuff floating around.

[Ferban]

Just to report back. I ended up getting a Kroak. No assembly instructions, which was annoying. But I was able to piece him all together. There was no major bubbling and only slight warping that I fixed. 

 

Kroak was out of stock online for a short while, but looks like he's back now. 

 

So far, no finecast horror stories for me, but plastic is by far my preference. 

[AaronWilson]

On 4/9/2021 at 1:43 AM, Ferban said:

Just to report back. I ended up getting a Kroak. No assembly instructions, which was annoying. But I was able to piece him all together. There was no major bubbling and only slight warping that I fixed. 

 

Kroak was out of stock online for a short while, but looks like he's back now. 

 

So far, no finecast horror stories for me, but plastic is by far my preference. 

To be fair mate, I've got everything in the Seraphon tome and a lot of the skink heroes etc are Finecast and I've had 0 issues with any of it. 

[Ravenborn]

I’d just like to point out that the reason “Finecast” earned so much hatred was that the quality was objectively worse (bubbles, mold lines, breakable) than the metal it replaced... but at a higher price. If the price had come down GW could have earned some good will, but it felt like they wanted the customer to cover the cost for their mistakes. 
 

Fortunately their plastics have made up for their mistakes, but I wouldn’t touch their products for several years. 

[Gaz Taylor]

On 4/9/2021 at 1:43 AM, Ferban said:

Just to report back. I ended up getting a Kroak. No assembly instructions, which was annoying. But I was able to piece him all together.

I do not recall there ever being any assembly instructions with any of the older non plastic kits.