There's a reason we called them FineCrap. The first several batches had models with partially completed casts. I remember buying a finecast space marine model and half his damn head was just missing off the piece.
For anyone learning about finecrast he mentions a lot of good stuff but he left out how needlessly expensive they can be! $35 for the Krootox which is a 75 point model that’s barely better than a space marine!
@@jamesbaker2092 Kinda annoyed me that the Krotox is $32 for 35 points. Close to a buck a point AND it is really crappy to build. Then again, a lot of things annoy me about finecast....hah
@@mediocreminis Like Treebeard? It was hell on earth, failcast is much better. That said, comparing what is best between failcast and metal, is like comparing what is best between pest and cholera. They're both terrible choices.
Without watching the video I can say Finecast is that bad. I went to a GW Open Day where amongst other things I played a small game with Eldar Rangers. The long rifle of the ranger kneeling and firing had reacted to the heat and actually bent 90 degrees to the floor. It looked like an extreme case of brewers drupe. The Zoanthropes made from Finecast also suffered from heat problems with the creatures not being able to stand unsupported in the Sydney heat and humidity. And of course there were numerous casting problems with models being incomplete or suffering air bubbles disfiguring the models. The one time I think the material worked was with a throne for a Slaan Mage. The throne is represented as floating and the original model used solid metal which had a tendency to over stress the post it was mounted on and snap it. The Finecast was so much lighter and an easy shape to manufacture without problem.
I bought one Forgeworld model before and absolutely hated putting it together. I can't even imagine the frustration and anger I would have trying to put together a finecast model.
Oh yeah? Which model? I only have the one and have few issues. I heard the larger ones can be more of a pain, but I dont have any experience with them.
@@mediocreminis try putting together a Kharybdis Assault Claw. You'll experience what true madness feels like. Not an enjoyable kit to put together. Which is a shame, since it looks damn awesome.
What also doesn't help is the fact that Forgeworld refuses to send a decent manual. A sheet with some unclear drawings for a complete vehicle. Unnumbered parts. That alone makes putting together a Fogeworld model quite a task. Often you have to rely on the photos of the model. Or hope that someone else has made a RU-vid video about assembling the model.
@@mediocreminis It was a Black Legion Dreadnought and some of the pipes had fused with resin blocks, some parts had casting errors, the mold lines and flashing were really bad as well as the mold release that I could not get off the model in any way, shape or form. I only started painting it about 10+ years after I bought it because I finally got an airbrush. The airbrush was the only thing making primer stick to the model. I had bathed it in warm and soapy water, I scrubbed it, I rubbed it with alcohol, I even tried sanding the offending parts. Only the airbrush and waiting 10+ years finally helped me put some paint on it.
First, and only, Finecast models I ever got were Dark Eldar Wracks. I believe they were a brand new unit at the time and some of the first to use the, at the time, new Finecast process. Along with all the issues you had, I noticed that even before getting them out of the box half the spikey bits had already broken off. A good amount of the rest of them broke off during construction and painting. It was all just so fragile. Anything that was even remotely spindly or thin would snap off. Don't know if they've gotten better since then, but after that initial fiasco I instituted my own personal boycott and haven't bought anything Finecast since.
Ugh, broken bit from the start. That is really rough. I had a few small issues like that. The Firesight snapped in a few spots, but it was a clean break and simple to glue back together. It is weird, the resin has a flex to it, but only a very specific amount. Not all finecast is created equal. Sly Marbo was not to bad when compared to the Tau, but the mold lines.....dear lord the mold lines.
Something not mentioned in this video is the biggest drawback of metal is the paint chips off VERY EASILY. I'd love to know the number of consumers Failcast chased away from the hobby.
Great video, keep it up :) One nuance that you missed is that some of the resin GW minis are better then others. The models you showed near the start, Cannones Vyridian and Sly Marbo are in my opinion much, much better then for example the Tau models you showed. The reason for this is some later character models where designed "for resin" so they have molds with sensible contact points. The Tau models, and many other older models in the range where actually designed for metal casting, and then later had those moulds - designed for tin - converted to use resin. That is the source of the worst most ill fitting ghastly models. So an interesting thing to check when you consider buying a finecast model is if that model ever existed in metal, and if so it can be very worth checking eBay etc for a metal version.
Oh 100% Not all finecast was created equal. I did not know about the conversation on metal molds. That is pretty interesting and would explain a few things. Thanks for the information!
It's horrible stuff. I had a couple of flamers and a CM sorcerer figure from when it first came out that went really brittle over the years. I threw them out after they needed constant repairs. The finecast resin was also apparently formulated to be difficult/impossible to strip without damaging the miniature - apparently this was to try & curtail the second-hand market for GW figures and make people buy new.
Finecast is unacceptable. I think it‘s even understated how brittle it tends to be. And different to metal, warped miscasts can‘t be fixed due to it. So I have that one mini that is missing in my Lotr Galadhrim army, that is only available in fine-cast. What do I do ? …Oh, If only there was a way to get them in the pewter they were always supposed to be, with some skill and … granted, a ton of extra work, that comes along when learning prop-making anyway. - For my purely personal use I’d have a very clear conscience :) (Great Video btw !)
I still remember the oddest thing i had with a finecast mini. Though i cant recall if the winged vampire hero was originally pewter or not. Sometime after i had started painting my winged vampire, i paused and put him on the shelf then a few months later i went back his leg started to split along where the mold line was, took me a bit to fix the gap.
Man, I would really love to know what was going on inside GW with Finecast. They had to develop entire new hobby products just to deal with the problems in Finecast models, like Liquid Greenstuff. I honestly don't think there was a better resin formula they could have used for Finecast, because whatever resin they used, GW could re-use the moulds for metal models. But then GW could have had a different resin type for models designed ground-up for Finecast? It's all a mess. Today none of this matters because metal and Finecast models were reserved for special character models with fine detail, because older plastic models just couldn't support a lot of detail. Modern GW plastic models have extremely fine detail. Really though, would metal models really have been that expensive? A lot of shipping is costed per volume, not weight. Maybe because GW was operating at a scale beyond what other metal model makers were?
I quite enjoy building finecast models in small doses. I try to reframe all the problems with them as modelling challenges! The worst thing for me though is how soft the material is when it comes to cutting - all too easy to take chunks and slices out of a surface while removing the many gates etc.
I've always known it as "failcast" and the funny aspect of that name, I learned it FROM the GW manager, back when the store had multiple employees. So perhaps 2012-13ish.
The resin they seem to use for finecast is incredibly brittle. I was pulling the canoness you show in the video off double stick tape from priming it and I slipped and the mini snapped in half. I also got a made to order finecast of the old daemon prince, it came with no assembly instructions at all. I think if they do stuff like that, it has to be Forgeworld resin and
I only have two «finecast» resin miniatures. Both are in sealed opaque boxes, so I don't know what's inside. I'm fear to open it - what if there's a bloody mess? (I bought this models because the seller was misleading me by saying that it was plastic). In general, I love GW metal very much, but unfortunately 40% of the metal on the second-hand market is fake counterfeit. Almost every third metal miniature that I bought turned out to be a fake, which I had to give away for free to someone.
Finecast was the worst stuff I ever assembled. The quality of the pour was never the same. the worst was the models with bubbles and pits created from air in the resin...some of the worst I had were where the mold slipped and half the model was a few millimeters off the other half. I stopped buying fine cast pretty quickly. oh another thing I hated was the bent weapons... you could use hot water to shape them back, but when transporting in a vehicle to play at the local store it would get hot and go back to how it was when it arrived...hated re-fixing the bends all the time.
The Canoness Veridyan was my introduction to finecast back in 2020 when I was new to the hobby. It was the hardest battle I ever had trying to put a miniature together. 😅
With my two finecast Lelith Hesperaxes (yes, i bought two cause after the first i thought "something must have gone wrong, they cant allways be that bad" - yes they are) not a single spike was actually a spike. They all looked like tiny volcanoes... how do you even begin fixing that!? An the biggest sprueline was straight over her abs and chest - very hard to get to in the pose of that older model. Honestly felt like carving out of wood.
Always thought people were just whining when I heard about finecast. Then I started playing and chose Aeldari. Three units of Fire Dragons and three Swooping Hawks later and I absolutely get it. Bubbles, craters, mold lines melding into the model, mold lines in impossible to reach places, entire details like fingers and nodes missing....
I bought two kits of failcast Tankbustas without realising what I was in for. I took them along to a hobby weekend at a friend's cabin and thank Gork I did because at least there I didn't have to do that shit sober. Even beered up and hanging out with my buddy it was the most miserable time I've ever had building minis. 'Building Tankbustas' has actually become jargon for us for something that is really obnoxious and tedious.
Oh sprue goo is awesome, I never tried it on finecast models before though. Since they are a resin I am not sure if it would work properly. Might be worth a shot just to see on some of the worst ones I have.
I remember getting the finecast ‘masters of the chapter’ while they were still in production, and they weren’t actually too bad. A bit of a bulge / warp in a sword blade, but nothing a bit of filing and putty couldnt fix. But they are mostly one piece, with the bodies being monolithic and having few bits you need to stick on, none that need carefully aligning
@@mediocreminis I have some Old Empire Fantasy stuff. They're bubbly and deformed like a fart after a large burrito (sorry for the mental image hahaha)
A friend ran a store selling this stuff. He ordered a few of the Librarian with Psychic Hood minis, and every single of them was trash. It looked for all the world like a centimeter large chunk of the mold had been torn out, so half the helmet was just gone, under a large cubic chunk of resin. GW refused to replace them or reimburse him.
Reference art of your mini. You want it for the cleaning process, to know what parts are flash and what are model. And very hot water to help crooked parts fit together.
That is great information. Pics on the GW site are helpful, same as hot water, but damn these are a pain to work with. The Krootox leg I am going to have to cut some away to make it fit. Part of the issue is beyond just warping sadly. It sucks as I kinda like the sculpt, but getting there will not be the most fun.
For the amount of money you're paying for one of these models they shouldn't be this much of a pain nor should there be as many blemishes/surface pits etc. I love the sculpts GW and FW put out but the price point + quality is just egregious.
I think the biggest issue with finecast is that it was used in molds originally intended for pewter. Combine that with the inherent issues of improperly mixed or cured resin before demolding and you get a lot of the issues that they ended up with. Metal cools rather quickly and can be demolded more quickly than resin, so effectively using resin in place of metal cuts production, which is part of how they justified the prices. Frankly, I would rather work with the horrible metal/plastic hybrid kits that were prevalent in the late 90's to early 00's than deal with finecast again.
First time I bought finecast (LOTR iron guard iirc), I opened it in the store and saw that the minis had big holes in the plastic, and I instantly returned it for refund. They let me take another, but when I opened it, it had the same problems. The third still had some issues, but was just about acceptable, so I grudgingly accepted it. I normally almost never ask for refunds and accept most minor issues in products (mostly because of social anxiety involved with the conflict situation) so that tells a lot.
Looking back, I'm glad I got most of the models I wanted still back in the metal era. Now I'm no longer doing GW because I'm sick of their price politics and killing good old games.
Last year GW re-released The Fellowship of the Ring set again (I think it was old sculpts) in metal. I didnt do much with them yet, but so much better than finecase.
Over 75% of the finecast models I got were messed up beyond usability: they had an offset at the mouldline or huge bubbles or extremely warped parts, Had to return so many. Metal is way better, I still have many models to this day because you can strip the paint as many times as you want! We had a very annoying GW store manager who defended finecast absolutely and claimed it was better than plastic and all the pro painters loved it. I'm so glad she got fired, what a moron.
Yes it is nasty. I have one. Trazin the infinit. The staff fell apart as I was cutting it out of the sprew. Took a lot of drilling, and pashints to fix.
Fine Cast is The Worst resin I have ever bought in my life! I Is that bad, never had a single fine cast model with out issues all of them had bubbles or massive mold slip or missing detail. Hell one of the models which cost me upwards of $50 was missing teeth! I didn't notice because it was a squig until I started looking at the GW Website photo's its not even a missing piece they just didn't even form properly in the mold. That's not even getting started on how brittle it is and how you can barley get it off the runner with out snapping the model to pieces.
I live in TX so mine were warped even worse that that kroot rider. I had to heat water and kinda bend it back to make things straighten out right. I couldn't even get my marine into it's slot it was warped so bad. Then 10th edition you have to field the unit in 5s and it only came in a 4 pack.
Honestly, all Resin sucks, at least for players. For painters, I get it. Though getting a warped sword on a Forge World model you sold your kidney to buy, is insulting.
Finecast is very light ..weak and brittle...with increased mould issues leading to details being lost ...it is not as good as plastic or resin ....is obviously a cheaper material yet can cost the same as the more giving materials ..
Yes. NEXT!!!! But seriously, I'm a non-Tau Xenos player, most of my factions product line are Finecast and I DESPISE it, it's a horrible material. I will actively go out of my way to buy old pewter versions. FC is a inferior product in any way, shape or form. Even 3D printed models are better than Finecast
Oh yeah. I should have stated that not all finecast minis are created equal. Sly Marbo for instance is not as bad as the Tau minis. However, metal or plastic are so much better in just about everyway.
Some Modells being slightly less shit isn't really saving FC as a concept ;) I won an Ebay auction for 200€ worth of NIB Finecast Eldar, for 40€ and I was really excited I made this awesome deal l. I was a tad suprised no one else was really bidding against me, but didn't think much of it. They guy selling it to me was royaly pissed at the fact no one was bidding against me, but sent it anyways. Oh boy have I learned the hard way why no one was bidding against me, the Eldar aspect warriors are easily some of the worst FC kits out there, absolute and utter trash. It took me HOURS to try to mend the biggest issues and some were not salvageable. I contacted GW, showed them pictures confirming the issues were due to production issues not damages, but they told me to go fuck myself. Worst hobby experience ever. From this day on I haven't bought one piece of FC new or used regardless of how cheap it was. Recasts and shitty 3D.prints are better than any FC product I ever saw.
I remember cleaning the parts for Epidemius. I LOVE the model. But the amount of cleaning and remodeling around gaps was horrible. Especially with the nurgly organic shapes it was so hard to see if I just cut mold lines and contact parts for the injection or if I shaved off a part of the actual model. But....still love the miniature. Looks fantastic.
Building my first finecast atm. Thought it wasn't so bad till I accidentally cut a foot off due to the confusing amount of supports. At least the only other issue is some slightly bend blades.
Preparing a finecast model is painful, but in my opinion if all goes well, the finished painted miniature is always better than the metal alternative if only because of the weight. Much easier to store, magnetize, and use on the tabletop, and paint doesnt chip off on every contact.
