Thursday, May 26, 2011

Yet another Rant about Citadel Finecast...

I hate to jump on the bandwagon, and post “my” opinion about Citadel Finecast, Games Workshops “new” product line, but I can’t resist.

This is not about money, danger of working with the material, it’s about QUALITY.

More then a couple times recently I have purchased or won resin Forge World products. The purchased product was either legitimately from ForgeWorld or as a bitz order through one of the couple reputable websites out there filling the need for bits. Either way at least fifty percent of the time I have gotten either a sloppy, fuzzy, warped miscast, or something so covered in flash it takes 10+ minutes just to carefully clean up the ridiculously expensive resin I foolishly purchased hoping for a top shelf product.




Now before you ask, I have emailed Forgeworld, more then once, about the issues I have had. I requesting JUST the miscast bits be replaced, and so far in every instance I have been effectively told to go pound sand.

Taking into account the poor customer service of Forgeworld, the numerous complaints online about the quality, I really have to question the wisdom of converting to a material that has such a history of sloppily produced product.

I think I will let my friends take the plunge, and carefully look at how cleanly the casts are, how much warping there is and finally how much flash has to be removed before I drink the Koolaid.

12 comments:

  1. Of the few resin models I have put together I hav had nothing but issues. I just hope this product dots not have the same flaws.

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  2. Citadel Finecast is produced in a different manner than FW. The most prominent difference being Finecast models are on sprues. This should keep bitz from warping and keep flash to a minimum as the resin will have more pathways to travel to rather than be forced between the mold plates.

    I do feel your pain about FW casting. I've had many issues myself. However, my customer service experience has been nothing less than exemplary.

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  3. But the cool-aid is Cherry Flavored... ;)

    I love me some FW and have rare had problems. Though Oni is right, the Finecast stuff is Spincast Resin which is closer to plastic then what FW uses.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. @Oni,

    I am curious if you spoke with them over the phone or email? One of the local GW Managers suggested I call as the online person seems to have a history of always saying NO!

    @HuronBH,

    I hope your right!

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  6. http://freshcoast40k.blogspot.com/2011/05/finecast-terminator-librarian-unboxing.html

    looks like alot of flash...

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  7. The quality of the bootleg casts coming out of China is much better.

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  8. Re: Finecast. One of my crew got a couple of finecast models yesterday and they were great. Almost no flash, great detail, no warpage. Luckily you can see what you are buying, so you may just want to be picky.

    Re: Forge World Customer Service. I'd try again. This is the only time i've ever heard of forge world giving bad customer service. I've personally had miscast bits replace many, many times. It sounds like the person you got was having a bad day.

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  9. @MTD,

    I got some non-ip infringing stuff from Russia and it was amazing, much cleaner then either the GW Finecast or Forgeworld I have seen.

    @John Spencer,

    I Emailed Forgeworld twice, once about a product purchased through Showcase Comics and a Second time about a Product Won through Showcase. In both instanced I was told I was "S.O.O.L." Due to the fact that I was not the direct purchaser and would have to get them involved. When I got Mike Clark (owner of showcase comics) involved, and took up his valuable time sending in the info including PO's, and photos Forgeworld failed to respond to any of the multiple emails he sent with me CC'ed on.

    I have actually had several people tell me reciently that they have been rebuked multiple times to email requests to replace damaged or miscast products but got great results when they took the extra time and spent the extra money to call the UK and talk to someone directly.

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  10. It's a lot harder to get replacements for anything you get second hand, that's just a fact of customer service. Normal GW may give you a break, if it is cheap, but on expensive items normal policy is only give replacements to the original purchaser.

    Emailing Forge World can be a crap shoot. When I left GW, Forge Worlds normal response time was measured in weeks, usually 3-6. I am surprised they never responded.

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  11. John Spencer,

    I totally get the "grey Market" problem, and would be more understanding if it was a purchase off ebay, or a small gamestore, but Showcase is a big mover of forgeworld, so personally I am less forgiving. After the bunkers close it was the only way to get forgeworld without shipping costs locally...

    Wow... that seems poor customer service for a high profit item... They responded to my email, but not to Mike Clark after he got involved.

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  12. holy crap... seems like it is turning into a big issue

    http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/2011/06/24/47913/

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