Shocking quality of LOTR mini

[Isis]

Right. I just bought the Eowyn on horseback miniature - I really loved the sculpt and was going to paint it to enter into a competition that\'s coming up next month- not bloody likely!
The quality of the cast is the worst I have ever seen! Firstly, the two halves of the horse did not want to fit together whatsoever, no matter how I positioned them, there was a number of huge gaps to deal with! The amount of flash, especially in really awkward places, such as between the foot/stirrup and the horse and on the face (!) was ridiculous.
Furthermore, for some reason one of the horses\' legs was too short, requiring me to cut it off and resculpt it. There is a rather noticeable hole in one of the horse\'s legs, where I presume the cast has not been filled properly.
It is frustrating me to the point where I am actually going to stop working on it - there\'s no point, all that\'s happening is that I am getting really frustrated as no matter what I do, it looks rough and untidy. As for my 20 bucks....
As this is my first LOTR mini, I was wondering whether I just had bad luck with this figure or whether this is standard quality for the range? Has anybody elsehad this problem with this particular figure?

Kia Ora, Isis

 

[torifile]

I did see a lot of flash between the feet and the horse, but a dremel made quick work of that. I also had to add a bit of green putty around the seam line of the two halves of the horse, but not too bad. Other that that, she seemed ok. No holes or anything like that. I don\'t think I\'ve ever had that happen to a GW mini before. They did used to be better, with almost no clean-up needed, but I guess they just don\'t bother with that as much anymore. If I got a miscast mini, I would be a little upset because there should be some sort of quality control, but I usually check my blisters before buying them, unless I get them through mail order (which is more often than not nowadays).

 

[Nomis]

Originally posted by Isis
As for my 20 bucks....

Kia Ora, Isis

HOW MUCH?

I hadn\'t realised the exchange rate had changed so much!

 

[Isis]

Nomis - That\'s 20 bucks New Zealand. I see you\'re from the UK, it would work out about 6 pound I think.

I went and bought another of the same figure yesterday, as I\'m still determined to paint it. The first one I had must have been a miscast. Although this one had quite a bit of flash, at least the two halves fitted together and the leg was actually long enough. There was still some flash on the left side of the face though, which is a bloody awkward place, but I got it cleaned up without causing any damage *phew*

Kia Ora, Isis

 

[Nomis]

Isis thanks for clearing up the price.

Finn17/18/85/1001/etc, started another thread about mail order from GW and I suppose that there are similarities with your problem - why didn\'t you take the faulty model back and complain instead of buying another one
???

 

[Isis]

I just tried to fix it up with heaps of green stuff and an even bigger heap of patience... when I gave up on it I had done too much to give it back.
I suppose I should have asked for my money back, oh well, too late now. I suppose sooner or later I will find some use for it.
And yes, I\'ve seen the mail order thread... I\'m almost glad I didn\'t complain. What a hassle.

Kia Ora, Isis

 

[Trevor]

In my experience GW are very good at accepting returns, exchanging etc.
If a mini is miscast or a peice missing, just take it into the shop and show them and they should just swap it immediately.

 

[t_haye2]

Originally posted by Trevor
In my experience GW are very good at accepting returns, exchanging etc.
If a mini is miscast or a peice missing, just take it into the shop and show them and they should just swap it immediately.

yeah. I was going to suggest that too. GW are really good with accepting returns, and they normally let you keep the faulty goods too...

 

[Rachel]

Where\'d you get it from? The actual GW stores are very good about returns (so Chrus or Mark in Auckland, Nathan in Wgtn), and I would think that most hobby stores would have to behave with returns as well. If you got a clearly substandard piece then you\'re quite within your rights to return it or exchange it.

And I\'m curious about the competition if it\'s a local thing, I hardly ever enter stuff but it\'s nice to do occasionally.

 

[supervike]

not the first time....

I have heard other complaints of the amount of flashing on LOTR minis....

Maybe they have some faulty molds or something.

But, yeah I agree with the other posters, GW (and their retailers) usually have a fairly good replacement policy.

Good luck!

 

[Isis]

Rachel - It was at the Wellington store. That\'s where they\'re running the competition too, they just had one at the end of January - another one is coming up in April, not sure about the exact dates though...

Kia Ora, Isis

 

[Braveheart712]

Try GW Customer Service

Isis,
While I agree with most of the GW bashing that you will hear on this site and others ( and yes I am guilty of it from time to time as well ), I think you might have just came accross a bad cast. Try calling GW customer service and explain your concern. Have the batch number from the back of you package handy and at the very least they will offer their appologies and possibly a replacement. I had a similar experience with a GW LOTR ringwraith that came with the wrong arm. I called GW and they sent me a replacement. GW was both friendly and polite. They requested the batch number so they could trace any quality control issues in their product. Again $20 seems like alot of money, so give GW a call and see how it turns out.

 

[canadian 227]

I agree phone or email them, i have nothing but the best to say about GW on mis cast products. I bought a Raptor once who whole back was missing, the front looked fine but the back was a huge gapeing hole. They sent me a new one with in the week and the Customer service was very easy and nice to deal with.

 

[Rachel]

Originally posted by Isis
Rachel - It was at the Wellington store. That\'s where they\'re running the competition too, they just had one at the end of January - another one is coming up in April, not sure about the exact dates though...

Ah, ok - then definitely take it back, Nathan\'s always been very reasonable when I\'ve wanted stuff sorted out.

I actually entered a mini in the last comp (a Lucrezia Belladonna on a green horse, http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=43123 ) but hadn\'t heard about this one.

hope it all gets sorted (and good god, another chick painter in wellington? how\'d that happen ??? )

cheers
Rachel

 

[Isis]

Rachel - I entered the last one too - mine was the Tombqueen (there was two entered, mine was the NMM one with the colour fades on the cloak). I saw your model, beautiful work!

Small world, aye!

Kia Ora, Isis

 

[philologus]

I too had a bad LOTR cast. Mine was Gandalf on Shadowfax. The two halves fitted together miserably. After much green-stuffing I gave him up as a lost cause. This was even more unfortunate because the LOTR minis were the reason I got back into painting. I was impressed with how lifelike they were compared with the other GW stuff (especially horses, is it just me or are the GW horses retarded looking?). All the other minis I have bought in thr LOTR line were really great.

 

[U4-Welcome]

Yeah, well if it was a bad cast, then the GW store next to where I live carries only bad casts, because all the Eowyns on horseback were of equally horrendous quality. And actually, I haven\'t ever bought a GW metal horse where the two halves fit without a 2mm wide gap somewhere.
But hey, I\'m probably just unlucky, huh ?