Failcast

Ever since the rumors began surfacing about the shift towards resin and the introduction of 'Finecast', I was worried. My experiences with resin models (mainly through Forge World) in the past have been pretty underwhelming. Casting and resin quality vary widely. Nearly all of my purchases from Forge World start out with excitement and shift towards disgust as I discover a host of miscast models. This ultimately leads to the models being tucked away in a box with all my other Forge World models, not to be considered for months or years (a sad turn of events for such nice models…).

Despite my reservations, I decided to give 'Finecast' a chance with the new Dark Eldar haemonculus. After going to two stores and looking through the five haemonculi they had available, I was upset to find that all of them had subtle miscasts and air-bubbles. I finally settled on the one that seemed to have the fewest overt miscasts and air-bubbles.

After returning home and taking a closer look at the model (particularly those areas not visible from the packaging), I was shocked at the downgrade in quality. The bottom of the haemonculus's cloak was awash with countless air-bubbles. Air-bubbles continued along the length of his spine and fingers. The bottom of one of the model's hands and his entire chin are simply non-existent. The 'crisper' and 'enhanced' detail that 'Finecast' bring hardly seem relevant when a good portion of the detail is simply missing due to air-bubbles and miscasts.

Judging by the quality of the 'Finecast' miniatures I have seen, it critical that you examine any 'Finecast' miniature before purchasing (and this doesn't even assure a good cast). This essentially prevents one from purchasing any models that are packaged in a box (such as the Wracks, Mandrakes, etc.) and online purchases because you cannot see the cast of the models. Speaking of which, Wayland Games, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of tabletop miniatures is currently not selling ‘Finecast’ miniatures after randomly examining their supply, discovering over 50% of them had noticeable flaws. If interested, you can read more on the matter on their website.

I can’t help but think Games Workshop made a mistake with this shift to ‘Finecast’, or at the very least have put their worst foot forward in the transition. If these ‘Finecast’ models are capable of being nice, I have yet to see it. While I acknowledge metal miniatures were difficult to deal with and often required lengthy periods of time to successfully remove mold lines and pin components, these new resin models bring a host of new issues that are equally time-consuming. Now in addition to removing mold lines and flashing, one has to fill in all of the holes introduced via air-bubbles and re-sculpt missing details.

To Games Workshop’s credit, they obviously acknowledge there is a problem with the current range. After calling customer service and briefly telling them about the miscast model, they agreed to send out a replacement free of charge. Regrettably the replacement model was little better than original haemonculus I purchased, but at least they tried to remedy the situation.

We will have to wait and see if the quality of Games Workshop’s ‘Finecast’ models improves with time. I would be interested in hearing thoughts and options on the shift towards resin. Any good or bad experiences?