Blood Angels Astorath and Sternguard veteran finecast

[Fireknight]

Hello,
My first experience with finecast miniatures. There did seem to be a lot of imperfections for my liking and the preparation side of things was far too time consuming, compared to the good old metal equivalents.

To highlight a few of the flaws I found:
Some of the flat surfaces had a ripple like texture, feed lines obscuring detail, various sharp corners missing or chipped and everyone's favourite air bubble holes.

I accept, as with most miniatures, a certain amount of preparation is required and some of the discrepancies mentioned are tiny but it was annoying all the same.

End of rant, please let me know what you think, cheers.


http://www.coolminiornot.com/327217

http://www.coolminiornot.com/327218

 

[freakinacage]

Nice, love the skin on astorath

 

[Zab]

Nice stuff. I avoid Finecast when i can. I really wanted to get the dark apostle because i love that sculpt, but i have no desire to spend days fixing finecast anymore. I wish it was more consistent because when it's a good cast it's great but when it's not good it's awful. I love that skin on Astorath, nice work on the wings too.

 

[Fireknight]

Many thanks to you both.

It is becoming difficult to avoid finecast, prices for metal miniatures seems to be rising all the time - particularly on ebay.

 

[Avelorn]

Nice job! It does look like he is falling over though.

Well Astorath is a mini that really benefits being done in resin, the detailing comes out. If you're not happy with the cast, return it. It's a hassle but I always take the miniature out of the package in the store and never buy online. If you get a good cast, without large feedline problems, the prep time is minimal compared to the old GW metal (some other companies had better white metal casts). Overall the quality seems to have increased lately with less airbubbles, though the feed line problem has even increased as a result. Some lotr minis have a real issue with obscured details.

 

[Swampy]

I like your paint jobs for how you make them pop without getting crazy with special effects. Just tight clean work with strong colors. Really nice job.

 

[Jamie]

Nice work on the Astropath and I have avoided finecast so far, just glad I pick up some of the old metal miniatures before they phased out.

 

[Fireknight]

Thanks to you all.
With these finecast figures and all their flaws, do you get good value for money?
After many years away from painting I've recently started again and without sounding like a tight wad, I begrudge paying £11+ for a single miniature. I vaguely remember a blister pack of 4 Chaos Warriors/Champions cost around £2.50!

The signs of getting old have already started...

 

[Zab]

GW plastic is unrivaled, but GW finecast is unreliable. They do have a very good return and exchange policy with finecast though if you aren't happy with the miniature. I avoid it unless I really love the sculpt. There are plenty of other companies that make suitable proxies and if your really want a good GW type mini and are willing to part with the money FW has a wide selection too. Hope that helps. You aren't wrong to want to get a good mini for your money.

 

[Dragonsreach]

With these finecast figures and all their flaws, do you get good value for money?

The simple answer is NO.
There are a number of manufacturers of resin minis whose quality of production makes GW's Finecast look like backstreet re-casts.
Guild of Harmony, McVey studios, Hasslefree to name just a few.