Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2011 19:43:31 GMT -7
So I've played around with one of the new Citadel Finecast minis a bit now and will be the first to lob this grenade out into the community, it seems.
Picked up the Dark Eldar Archon model on a whim and because I wanted to see what the hype was about. Here's my first thoughts:
Clampacks:
The good - I LOVE the artwork on thhe front - much easier to find the doggone pack on a wall o' blisters.
The bad - Scissors/plastic cutters to open this? Seriously? o.O The models are not sturdy enough to be rough-housing the packaging open...
Initial look: All parts present, one arm and a head variant had come off the sprue. Sprues had big air bubbles in them which worried me. Sure enough, found one in the foot/base that broke upon clipping off the sprue and several in the various details, elbow, shoulder spike and back spike. The upside? Detail is freaking AMAZING...you can see individual hairs on the cloak the Archon is wearing...under the shoulder guards. Simply amazing. Model was light - almost too light. Made me feel like I had to be extra-gentle in handling it. The resin does have some flex to it, though as the foot/slotta-tab bubble proved, it will snap under stress. I think, though, that it's more work-able than the Forge World resin.
Cleanup - easy as can be - edge of the ol' Xacto knife cleared what little mold lines I found. Superglue Gel filled most of the air bubbles acceptably, though Green Stuff may be a necessity with these things
Assembly - Bit fiddly here. As advertises, superglue does a bang-up job (I use Loc-Tite gel 'cause it's cheap) and the parts bond fairly quickly. They are WAY light, so I can see the whole "no pinning" thing. That's the downside as well, though - you have to use a bit more finesse holding pieces together and applying force. The Archon's Huskblade scared me a couple times bending back and forth - it never snapped, but I'm used to "plastic bends, goes lighter in color and breaks" so this was a bit nerve-wracking. But flat surface to flat surface (arms to shoulders) bonded quickly and easily. Diddo the head. Basing it was a pain - the slotta-tab was too wide for the base opening (as is often the case) and even after the superfluous GW writing was shaved off still didn't want to fit. And you can't press it into place like the metals - the ankles will (and did) break. Ended up repairing the busted ankle, then using a sculpting tool to press directly on the slotta-tab into the base and still had to work at it. On the positive side - it's NOT coming out of that base.
Painting - haven't got there yet. Will let you know.
Overall, I feel like the Finecast will work with a tradeoff from pinnng and file cleanup to air-bubble-filling and finesse. I think the detail, speaking as a painter/collector more than a gamer, is going to make these a joy to paint and display. Gaming-wise - it's going to make collecting an army more expensive, but transporting them easier with the loss of weight.
Those are my thoughts - what do you all think?
Picked up the Dark Eldar Archon model on a whim and because I wanted to see what the hype was about. Here's my first thoughts:
Clampacks:
The good - I LOVE the artwork on thhe front - much easier to find the doggone pack on a wall o' blisters.
The bad - Scissors/plastic cutters to open this? Seriously? o.O The models are not sturdy enough to be rough-housing the packaging open...
Initial look: All parts present, one arm and a head variant had come off the sprue. Sprues had big air bubbles in them which worried me. Sure enough, found one in the foot/base that broke upon clipping off the sprue and several in the various details, elbow, shoulder spike and back spike. The upside? Detail is freaking AMAZING...you can see individual hairs on the cloak the Archon is wearing...under the shoulder guards. Simply amazing. Model was light - almost too light. Made me feel like I had to be extra-gentle in handling it. The resin does have some flex to it, though as the foot/slotta-tab bubble proved, it will snap under stress. I think, though, that it's more work-able than the Forge World resin.
Cleanup - easy as can be - edge of the ol' Xacto knife cleared what little mold lines I found. Superglue Gel filled most of the air bubbles acceptably, though Green Stuff may be a necessity with these things
Assembly - Bit fiddly here. As advertises, superglue does a bang-up job (I use Loc-Tite gel 'cause it's cheap) and the parts bond fairly quickly. They are WAY light, so I can see the whole "no pinning" thing. That's the downside as well, though - you have to use a bit more finesse holding pieces together and applying force. The Archon's Huskblade scared me a couple times bending back and forth - it never snapped, but I'm used to "plastic bends, goes lighter in color and breaks" so this was a bit nerve-wracking. But flat surface to flat surface (arms to shoulders) bonded quickly and easily. Diddo the head. Basing it was a pain - the slotta-tab was too wide for the base opening (as is often the case) and even after the superfluous GW writing was shaved off still didn't want to fit. And you can't press it into place like the metals - the ankles will (and did) break. Ended up repairing the busted ankle, then using a sculpting tool to press directly on the slotta-tab into the base and still had to work at it. On the positive side - it's NOT coming out of that base.
Painting - haven't got there yet. Will let you know.
Overall, I feel like the Finecast will work with a tradeoff from pinnng and file cleanup to air-bubble-filling and finesse. I think the detail, speaking as a painter/collector more than a gamer, is going to make these a joy to paint and display. Gaming-wise - it's going to make collecting an army more expensive, but transporting them easier with the loss of weight.
Those are my thoughts - what do you all think?
