Citadel Finecast

Post by **Kinslayer** » Mon May 23, 2011 6:19 pm

If you don't know what it is already, check the GW site as they have now gone public with the previously rumoured transition from metal to resin.

So, apparently all GW metal kits are going to (eventually) get resin casts instead, from characters to regiment kits. Certainly they have said over 100 new kits in finecast resin will become available with the launch of the range on this coming Saturday. It's not just old metal kits being redone either, the pictures released so far show a lot of the newer models too. I wonder if Dark Elves will get anything in the 'first wave' of finecasts...

I was just about to start Warhammer again playing as Chaos, and mostly the deciding factor in that was the almost all-metal Druchii range (characters, dark riders, harpies, elites & rare). If, however, we are about to be blessed with resin black guard, executioners, witch elves and a resin Morathi on pegasus... I might have to change my mind!

What do you guys make of it

Cronos · Post by **Cronos** » Mon May 23, 2011 9:50 pm

I'm not sure what to make of this transition, it would be nice to believe that our chariots, dark riders and witch elves will get a completely new look with resin boxed sets, or maybe just be re-cast. There is alot of speculation on the web, but the only thing that you can bank on will be these new models will be hideously over priced. It makes me sad that GW don't show a fraction of the loyalty that their customers show to them.

Post by **Kinslayer** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:18 pm

Casting in resin costs a fraction of the price casting in metal does, or so I have read... they could at least keep their prices the same! (I know they'll never lower them)

Cronos · Post by **Cronos** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:34 pm

Lower prices?! That dangerous thinking lol.
Branding the products as 'finecast' smacks of unneeded hype, as if they are something entirely seperate from the standard box sets. Labelling them as the high quality, top end of the market while offering no bottom.

Diablo · Post by **Diablo** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:35 pm

Kinslayer wrote:Casting in resin costs a fraction of the price casting in metal does, or so I have read... they could at least keep their prices the same! (I know they'll never lower them)

Not sure from your post whether you read rumors or not. From what i heard and remember, treeman will be in resin, should cost 6 pounds more, archaon 5 pounds more, same for dwarfs anvil.

And yeah, the resin costs less than metal but GW lately start thinking with their wallet only

EDIT: found rumored prizes (some of those should be in different package - IMHO treekins):
Chaos
CHAOS EXALTED HERO £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
CHAOS KHORNE EXALTED HERO £10.50/$16.50USD/$28AUD
ARCHAON THE EVERCHOSEN £30.00/$49.50USD/$83AUD
CHAOS LORD ON DAEMONIC MOUNT £22.50/$37.25USD/$62AUD
CHAOS DRAGON OGRE SHAGGOTH £36.00/$50USD/$96AUD

Empire
EMPIRE CAPTAIN WITH HAMMER & PISTOL £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
LUDWIG SCHWARZHELM £22.50/$37.25USD/$62AUD
KURT HELBORG £22.50/$37.25USD/$62AUD

Wood Elves
ELF HIGHBORN WITH GREAT WEAPON £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
WOOD ELVES TREE KIN £30.00/$49.50USD/$83AUD
ORION KING IN THE WOODS £22.50/$37.25USD/$62AUD
WOOD ELVES TREEMAN £36.00/$50USD/$96AUD

Dwarfs
DWARF LORD WITH HAMMER & SHIELD £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
DWARF RUNELORD WITH GREAT WEAPON £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
THOREK IRONBROW £36.00/$50USD/$96AUD
DWARF GYROCOPTER £23.00/$41.25USD/$65AUD
DWARF BOLT THROWER £23.00/$41.25USD/$65AUD

Skaven
SKAVEN WARLORD £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
QUEEK HEADTAKER £10.50/$16.50USD/$28AUD
DEATHMASTER SNIKCH £10.50/$16.50USD/$28AUD
SKAVEN WARPLOCK JEZZAILS £30.00/$49.50USD/$96AUD

Vampire Counts
VAMPIRE LORD £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD
VAMPIRE COUNTS VARGHULF £21.50/$35USD/$55AUD
COUNT MANNFRED £22.50/$37.25USD/$62AUD
VAMPIRE COUNTS BLOOD KNIGHTS £61.50/$105USD/$155AUD

Orcs and Goblins
GRIMGOR IRONHIDE £10.50/$16.50USD/$28AUD
BLACK ORC BIG BOSS £10.50/$16.50USD/$28AUD
GOBLIN SPEAR CHUKKA £18.50/$30USD/$50AUD
SAVAGE ORC GREAT SHAMAN ON WAR BOAR £15.50/$24.75USD/$41AUD
ORC WARBOSS ON WYVERN £40.00/$103AUD
GOBLIN ROCK LOBBER £23.00/$41.25USD/$65AUD
GORBAD IRONCLAW £30.00/$49.50USD/$83AUD
AZHAG THE SLAUGHTERER £55.00/$140AUD

High Elves
CARADRYAN £10.50/$16.50USD/$28AUD

Dark Elves
DARK ELF ASSASSIN WITH TWO HAND WEAPONS £9.50/$15USD/$25AUD

Beastmen
MALAGOR THE DARK OMEN £12.50/$19.75USD/$33AUD

Daemons
SKULLTAKER £14.50/$25USD/$35AUD
FLAMERS OF TZEENTCH £15.50/24.75USD/$41AUD

Bretonnians
THE GREEN KNIGHT £22.50/$37.25USD/$62AUD
KING LOUEN LEONCOEUR £30.00/$49.50USD/$83AUD

Lizardmen
KROQ GAR £40.00/$103AUD

Dark Elves
DARK ELVES REAPER BOLT THROWER £18.50/$30USD/$41AUD

Cronos · Post by **Cronos** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:44 pm

£20 for a bolt thrower! Jeez.. better get two in there.

Post by **Kinslayer** » Mon May 23, 2011 10:57 pm

Plastic Shaggoth... Think I'll stick to Chaos :lol:

Flash29 · Post by **Flash29** » Tue May 24, 2011 12:01 am

plastic azhag? why on earth would they do that, the model is around for a good year, and its price is now even more rediculous for plastic? the only reason it was soo expensive was because it was full metal. yet their not redoing squigs, pump wagons, snotlings bases, squig hoppers and so on but they do feel the need to do the savage orc shaman on boar that came out in march??

Lord tsunami · Post by **Lord tsunami** » Wed May 25, 2011 7:15 am

i heard they had a fall out with their metal casting supplier, and now they are switching to resin because it is now another factory making the models. casting in resin is indeed cheaper than metal, but the molds are MUCH more expensive.

i am totally convinced (like posters above) that they will use the opportunity to raise prices further. i have no doubt that the quality of the models will be better (less seams to cut away and so on) but i was willing to cut away some seams on one model for 5€...

Thenick18 · Post by **Thenick18** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:16 pm

yeah i agree, this is kind of outrageous, i'm now starting to search for other outlets for purchasing models.

Post by **Dyvim tvar** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:15 pm

I have not purchased any GW models in almost a year and do not plan to buy anytime in the foreseeable future. I already have plenty of unpainted stuff to keep me occupied, and the prices mean there is no way I would start a new army.

Phierlihy · Post by **Phierlihy** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:16 pm

I like GWs models but something in my head just clicked when I saw the new pricing. It's time for me to start looking at other manufacturers for my Warhammer minis =(

Post by **Thanee** » Wed May 25, 2011 2:25 pm

Yep, the price increases are kinda ridiculous.

I havn't had any resin models yet, so I am curious about the quality. I generally like my models to be heavy (so I have pretty much everything (except Warriors and very few other pieces) in metal in my army).

From what I read, resin isn't exactly advantageous, but I will wait and see, so I can form my own opinion about it.

If the quality of resin as a material is worse than metal, the price increases (up to +20% from what it was before) are even more ridiculous.

Bye
Thanee

Post by **Dyvim tvar** » Wed May 25, 2011 3:54 pm

I think resin does have some major advantages:

-- sharper detail
-- resin does not bend or warp during casting/cooling so gap-filling should be a thing of the past
-- light weight and better paint adhesion means little or no chipping of paint during play

Major downside is that resin is more brittle than metal, so thin pieces may break instead of bend.

Stormxiii · Post by **Stormxiii** » Wed May 25, 2011 9:17 pm

according to what I see in one of their articles, their resin allow you to bend a sword to a 90° angle, and let it fall on the floor from 1 meter high (well that's an 'infomercial speech I guess)

I think you can still start a new army, mainly in 40k, by converting all your vehicles for example (eldar motojet, vyper, war walker, prism, falcon...). You just need guardians parts and imagination to redesign the eldar style ; there's not many credible mock-ups base for the eldars armored vehicles (unlike SM or GimP)

I was going into that, but... hum, better work on these 1:76 WW2 german vehicle models at 8 € apiece anyway ('oh look, there even a piice of terrain in the box !') ^^

ps : I think 1:48 scale best fit the warhammer size if you want to put pilots in the cockpits, but they are more expensive (around 20€ a box), maybe you can go with 1:72 jagpanthers / stug 3 for rhinos and razorbacks (or some WW1 tanks, as that is what they are)

Savonarola · Post by **Savonarola** » Thu May 26, 2011 6:32 pm

All the hype is justification for operational changes (suppliers, factory) and price increases, that is how I see it. Resin is better than metal in many practical aspects, but there are many HQ resin minis on the market already. An assassin? I do not want it.

GW rising the prices and ignoring the fans and the market - this would not be the right interpretation of the story. They rise the prices but they believe they will be able to spot the breaking point just before it will have come and stop right there. I do not think this would be an optimal strategy but definitely they know what they are doing. In general, prices increase, quality increases in many aspects continually (not necesarilly talking about the resin thing). How long will you endure? That is the question. How big will be the pool of kids who buy a couple of boxes and stop playing in a couple of months which they would have done anyway? That is the question. The marketing and pricing policy may be working business-wise but still may distort the game to the point which a player such as myself will not wellcome.

Kaleth stinson · Post by **Kaleth stinson** » Thu May 26, 2011 6:50 pm

Soo, the resin Ushabti are actually cheaper that the old one... Who would ever have guessed that?

Dictator · Post by **Dictator** » Thu May 26, 2011 8:09 pm

Well I wish there was a definite answer to the new Finecast. I'm certain they aren't as great as anyone would imagine. If anything it's a great way to lower their bottom line and still increase revenue.

Thankfully, ebay and bartertown are both up and running. I haven't bought an unused model in so long I forgot what packaging looks like. My biggest question is when is to much to much?

Cronos · Post by **Cronos** » Thu May 26, 2011 9:40 pm

Does anyone know if this particular quality of resin easy or even possible to strip?
The reason I ask is that, if in the future, all gamesworkshop products are cast in this way, new gamers will have no possible way to increase their skill in painting/converting/etc if everything will have to be bought from new. I started the hobby when I was about 12, there is no way I could afford £70 for a battalion, and even then, thats the bare minimum of units you would need. In other words, the level of your skill is not equal to the level of quailty that you are paying for.

Post by **Dyvim tvar** » Thu May 26, 2011 10:36 pm

Other resin (and even plastic) strips, so I would be shocked if that were a problem.

Andrew_uk · Post by **Andrew_uk** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:03 am

I can sympathise with alot of your complaints but I have seen finecast first hand and think it looks great... that level of detail just isnt possible in metal. I just signed up here to ask a question though, and in all honesty probably nobody will know the answer but just in case;

Does anyone know whether or not black guard and executioners will be moved over to finecast or not? I'm worried they may get scrapped before then?

Loran · Post by **Loran** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:02 am

According to GW information feeds, everything that's metal will be made in resin "some time in the future"... So yeah, that kinda says Black Guard and Executioners will be made resin

- Loran

Masked jackal · Post by **Masked jackal** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:13 pm

Barring another wave of Dark Elf minis, yeah, we should see resin versions of them. I'm okay with metal special characters, but troops in metal are a pain in the ass to keep together, I'll be looking forward to this change.

Noble korhedron · Post by **Noble korhedron** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 3:20 pm

I have actually heard that this resin is poorer quality than what Forge World use - and also that it will be quite vulnerable to high heat - basically don't leave it in your car in high Summer... Anyone else heard anything about this....?

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:57 pm

I continue to be disgusted by GW's price policies...there is another casting company that makes very fine historical miniatures in Nottingham as well. Their 28mm metal foot figures sell for the US equivalent of $1.80 apiece. Yesterday I was in the LGS and saw Lelith Hesperax on sale for $18 or so...10X the price, that's shameful.