Citadel Finecast Captain Stern Review Plog (3)

The 'Finecast' Captain Stern is about done. I'm fairly pleased with how this has turned out paintwork wise, although constantly spotting new flaws (like a stud of resin on his nose, numerous bubbles that I missed previously on the cloak) is a bit of a shame.

As ever, you can click the image for a larger view.

So, how do I feel about 'Finecast' now this model's done?

Well, I think my original review is pretty much on the mark. The material itself is alright - it's nice to paint on, flexible, lightweight and superglues pretty well. It is delicate (I broke the sword on a Finecast Emperor's Champion I'm working on) compared to metal. The primary advantage of the material is the light weight. It's working qualities are appalling for abrasion, but it cuts very (perhaps too) easily.

For those thinking of buying a Finecast miniature, be aware the miscast / horror stories still flood in at about the same rate. Definitely still a buyer beware product. I'd advise buying in person, and checking your purchase in the store, getting a replacement or refund on the spot if you're not happy. There's nothing worse than a journey home in excitement to have it dashed when you open the packaging.

Some retailers are now reporting that they're receiving models both on and off sprue, indicating that perhaps the best parts are now being picked and packed rather than whole sprues from the casting machine. This may indicate an upturn in QA, but is I think probably going to come with another price hike to cover the additional labour.

Citadel Finecast Captain Stern Review Plog WIP (2)

So I've worked a bit more on the Finecast Captain Stern. I actually got through no less than 3 replacements being sent out to me (which if you count the rejected models at the store makes 9!) before I gave up on getting a decent mini. I eventually got a refund which I spent on a Finecast Emperor's Champion which is OK. Not superb, as there are a couple of tiny bubbles and the sword was a pain to straighten. Finecast is certainly a hit and miss range, in my opinion. I'll stand by the points made in my original review. In the not-too-distant future, I'll post up the Champion as it's being done for a commission.

The model above is the review model. A zenithal airbrush job on the armour (from black / VMC Gunmetal to Vallejo Model Air Silver), shaded with black and blue washes and then highlighted with pure VMA Silver. The blade is half-masked and airbrushed over white with GW hawk turquoise and then VMC black. To speed the process I thinned with Tamiya thinner rather than water.

As ever, you can click the image for a larger view.

More Finecast Fun...

It's probably wise to draw our readers attention to this. I make no apologies for the language used in the linked blog post, I'd swear too under those circumstances. I guess this particularly affects those of us in warm countries, although it's been hitting 30 Celcius in the conservatory where I work.

http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/2011/06/dont-leave-finecast-in-sun.html

On a secondary note, I received a replacement Captain Stern this morning. Also miscast with bubbles knocking off the corner of the cloak, heels and top portion of the bolter. Warping / mould slippage is less noticeable, though the lens on the armour is still off-circular, and will need resculpting. Nice one, GW. I've asked for another replacement. At this rate I will have a half-dozen Sterns, all of which needing varying amounts of work.

Citadel Finecast Captain Stern Review Plog WIP (1)

The fixes I've done so far. Probably will be more surfacing to do once it's primed.

Citadel Finecast Captain Stern Review

So today I wandered down to Warhammer World to pick up a Captain Stern to finish my little Grey Knights force (all metal, except Stern, who I forgot to buy back in the day). It has to be said, I expected QA issues, and I wasn't disappointed.

The clear back of packaging on the blisters/clamshells is essential. It took FIVE packs (this being the sixth) before I found a model that didn't have either pieces of torn mould material caught in places, air bubbles or vents obscuring detail, or other fairly obvious casting flaws. I wanted to review the best of the bunch. This is it.

As ever, click any of the images for a larger view.

LABELLED FLAWS:

MAJOR / HARD FIXES (RED CIRCLES):

I would not expect ANY flaws of this type on a professionally produced and QA'd miniature.

1) Warping of parts requiring resculpt or putty work. The face needed a tweak to the nose, and the lens on the armour was so far off circular, it had to be remade.

2) Large bubbles requiring resculpting work. Particularly the bottom of the feet, and corner of the cloak. Some of these are actually quite tricky to spot without having the model off the sprue.

MINOR / EASY FIXES (GREEN CIRCLES):

I would expect to see one or two of these on a decent quality miniature. By comparison, Forgeworld casts I've worked on usually have three or four instances.

1) Vent points obscuring detail. Sometimes this is unavoidable in casting. Here, one of the lugs on the chest reliquary had a vent that obscured the groove around it.

2) Minor surface bubbles. Fairly common in resin casts, and best fixed with a surfacing putty. Finecast has issues with these (more than a harder polyurethane resin) as it doesn't particularly like being sanded, so any repair has to be surfaced OVER the finecast, or it can remain visible once paint goes on. Vallejo's plastic putty is great.

3) Minor bubbles / voids that require a sculpting putty fix. Break out the greenstuff. I really wouldn't expect to see these slip past QA unless they're really easy to fix, and then perhaps only one. In these cases the heels needed building up and surfacing.

POSITIVES:

VERY COOL - Crisp detail. Soft mould material lets fine surface detail get cast nicely.

VERY COOL - Easy carve material. Very much similar to set greenstuff in consistency. Similar behaviour from first tests.

COOL - Thermally responsive. Hot water and cold (ice) water can be used to soften and set the resin to correct bends and (within limits) heat stretch / straighten. Too hot and it gets very soft very quickly - a few seconds is all it needs.

MEH - Superglue absorbent. It's slightly porous and does indeed superglue very well. As it's lightweight the joints are self supporting pretty quick without the need to pin or use a CA catalyst.

I've categorised the flaws I see as red or green - red being tricky to fix (and best taken as impossible / best not attempted for a young'un), and green being easy enough in my opinion.

NEGATIVES:

UNBELIEVABLY, SHOCKINGLY DOUBLEPLUSVERY BAD - Disgusting QA. It took 6 packs to get this model, which was the least affected of the bunch. Several of the rejected models actually had mould material stuck to them. - You'll notice it as it's bright pink. And this is from Warhammer World. This is singularly the most major problem, and it's the primary negative in my opinion. All the easy gluing in the world won't save me time if I have to resculpt parts of EVERY. SINGLE. MINIATURE. From a 'pro painter's' standpoint, this alone is enough for me to recommend other companies' products in preference.

VERY BAD - Price. £14.50. NOT WORTH IT! For damn near 15 quid, I'd expect a much better production. I reckon this miniature is actually worth about £7.50, tops. Again, that's for the best out of 6 packs, taking the work involved in fixing it into account.

BAD - Vent points obscure detail in places. Again, requiring careful knife work to fix. Presumably due to the soft mould material.

BAD - Air trapped in the mould and or Warping leads to filling / sculpting work that whilst easy, shouldn't need to be done.

MEH - Flash present in odd places. Flash at the top of the cape needs to be carefully removed. Not really sure why it's there in the first place.

MEH - Some parts snapped off the sprue - No damage in this case, but easy to see where it could have happened. A simple piece of sponge in the pack would probably help that.

VERY BAD - Mould warping / air trapping is present in areas that are impossible to fix without resculpting part of the model.

BAD - Air bubbles in some places require reasonable-to-good sculpting and surfacing skills to fix - in particular, here the corner of the cloak on the left side is missing. A surfacing putty (eg Vallejo Plastic Putty) is essential to smooth things in - the Finecast material does not like being sanded with anything other than a feather touch.

Overall score: 4/10. Potentially a nice change, but the QA really needs to be stepped up a LOT for the price to be worthwhile. For the time being I'll advise clients against mail / internet ordering (as I do for Forgeworld stuff), and instead offer to go pick it up in store for them so the quality can be checked. By someone who cares.

My first Finecast model was... disappointing.