Author Topic: What if anything will the discontinuation of metal minis from GW mean for IWM? (Read 30055 times)

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire · « **Reply #90 on:** 23 May 2011, 22:43:14 »

Yeah, and I bet it whitens laundry, too.

ItsTehPope · « **Reply #91 on:** 23 May 2011, 22:52:23 »

Quote from: HaplessWithDice on 23 May 2011, 22:30:58

Interesting I was just on their site, and they said they are using their own resin formula which is Durable, light, and takes on sharper detail. Well maybe not an exact quote but pretty close Interesting. Plus they are calling this "Fine Cast" and saying it will bring in a new era of the modeling end of the hobby because conversions will be much easier, pinnning will almost become a thing of the past, because of this resin.

I wonder if they used the same PR guy my company uses.

Paul · « **Reply #92 on:** 24 May 2011, 08:55:51 »

Quote from: MoneyLovinOgre4Hire on 23 May 2011, 22:43:14

Yeah, and I bet it whitens laundry, too.

Sweet.

Say, do you think I might gain superpowers if I ate some? I don't have to be all spiderman or nothing, I'll settle for an upgrade to batman.

Paul

HaplessWithDice · « **Reply #93 on:** 24 May 2011, 11:19:30 »

Well apparently they will be hitting shelves this Saturday so we can go see it ourselves. I will say this let's reserve judgement till we see it ourselves. My bet is if it picks up the finer details from the mold as well as they claim, my bet is it also mold lines like no other. Though the fact that it would flow into the mold and pick up detail cleaner would be a logical result of a lighter weight material, so there is some logic to it.

Reducibility is also logical, there is after all more than one form of Resin in the world so this makes sense. It should have about the same durability as plastic. Now I admit their article did make this stuff seem like the Messiah of the war-gaming miniature world but I'm willing to stay optimistic. If it's as good as they say other companies may begin to research it, and develop their own resins.

Jal Phoenix · « **Reply #94 on:** 24 May 2011, 12:41:19 »

I would be more concerned about whether I can put resin into my stripping agent. Can it survive what I use to strip off paint and old glue?

F T C · « **Reply #95 on:** 24 May 2011, 13:21:38 »

Quote from: HaplessWithDice on 24 May 2011, 11:19:30

Reducibility is also logical, there is after all more than one form of Resin in the world so this makes sense. It should have about the same durability as plastic. Now I admit their article did make this stuff seem like the Messiah of the war-gaming miniature world but I'm willing to stay optimistic. If it's as good as they say other companies may begin to research it, and develop their own resins.

Don't remember if it was said yet or not--don't want to reread 7 pages--but it should also be lighter than metal--at least I would think--and that should help with shipping cost, which was one of gw's main basis for their insane prices.

sounguru · « **Reply #96 on:** 24 May 2011, 14:15:27 »

Quote from: Jal Phoenix on 24 May 2011, 12:41:19

I would be more concerned about whether I can put resin into my stripping agent. Can it survive what I use to strip off paint and old glue?

Depend on what you use... I use a purple stripper/cleaner found in the auto section of Wally world and have stripped resin before with no issues.

God and Davion · « **Reply #97 on:** 24 May 2011, 15:27:10 »

Quote from: HaplessWithDice on 23 May 2011, 22:30:58

Interesting I was just on their site, and they said they are using their own resin formula which is Durable, light, and takes on sharper detail. Well maybe not an exact quote but pretty close Interesting. Plus they are calling this "Fine Cast" and saying it will bring in a new era of the modeling end of the hobby because conversions will be much easier, pinnning will almost become a thing of the past, because of this resin.

This fine cast resin sounds interesting. I would like to point that Forge World uses almost the same resin that FoW and it has the same problems. For those who don't know about it, Forge World is the line of "fine detail" miniatures from GW done with resin. They are expensive (some are very expensive) and cool. I don't think that GW would use a "new-uber resin" in mass production without testing it before in Forge World. This hasn't happened so I'm afraid that I have to cast shadows over the fine cast resin.

Real fine cast resin exists. Yes. Maybe you have used it before. Dentists use it to make molds for your mouth. It is non-toxic, it has full detail, but it takes days to cure and it is very expensive. VERY expensive.

HikageMaru · « **Reply #98 on:** 29 May 2011, 23:41:31 »

Quote from: F T C on 08 April 2011, 17:11:06

I knew a guy who liked to lick the tip of his paintbrush t a point before he dipped it in paint. One night he got real sick, and when his wife threatened him with divorce if he didn't go, agreed to go to the ER. Turns out he had lead poising from--guess what--painting his miniatures. After it was all over he had a good laugh, but I don't think his wife ever did.

I have a lot of lead miniatures and I lick my paintbrush---but my minis are already primed by that point. I think the danger would be from him huffing lead dust as he was filing down his mold lines. I am paranoid about my kids being near where I work on my lead minis and I seal the area off like it was Fukushima or something. Then again, I remember when I was a kid I used to bite down on my lead fishing weights with my teeth. I guess that explains a few things....

Ice_Trey · « **Reply #99 on:** 30 May 2011, 15:41:06 »

Quote from: Cergorach on 08 April 2011, 03:37:43

Going to plastic with a core Mech/vehicle line could be very profitable for CGL, but it would depend on how they would package such a product, making a single mold for each Mech would not be a smart idea. Anything that isn't mainstream/popular could be done in low volume in resin.

Agreed.
The fixed costs for making plastic miniatures is significant. Though it would be less cost effective to make pewters for high-volume miniatures (See: 40K space marines), it would be silly to use the same process for something that might sell two or three copies any given year (See: Cossack 'mech).

However, I'd agree that there are some designs which seem like they'd sell well enough that it's worth making them in plastic, namely the heavies and assault omnimechs from 3050, as well as the Storm Crow. They sell really well, rarely showing up at an LGS for more than a few days at a time before someone buys them up. Some of the new Phoenix miniatures might do well to be made in plastic. I could imagine anything above 50 tons doing quite well.

Sigma · « **Reply #100 on:** 30 May 2011, 22:14:57 »

Quote from: Paul on 24 May 2011, 08:55:51

Sweet.

Say, do you think I might gain superpowers if I ate some? I don't have to be all spiderman or nothing, I'll settle for an upgrade to batman.

Paul

Batman's superpower is money, the best superpower of all.

Paul · « **Reply #101 on:** 30 May 2011, 23:06:41 »

Quote from: Sigma on 30 May 2011, 22:14:57

Batman's superpower is money, the best superpower of all.

Damn, so when I eat this stuff, I become rich? AWESOME! Buying that would be like, the best investment, EVER! I'd literally be pooping treasure or something! Mindblowing!

Paul

MoneyLovinOgre4Hire · « **Reply #102 on:** 31 May 2011, 01:15:59 »

Quote from: Sigma on 30 May 2011, 22:14:57

Batman's superpower is money, the best superpower of all.

I take it you're a fan of PS238?

Cergorach · « **Reply #103 on:** 31 May 2011, 05:04:45 »

Quote

What if anything will the discontinuation of metal minis from GW mean for IWM?

The code name for the GW resin/plastic is 'Bubbles' and the direct effect it's having that a lot of folks are not buying Finecast due to the horror stories:
http://s1106.photobucket.com/albums/h376/mechanicalhorizon/

The quality is really hit or miss with the Finecast, but 'Bubbles' do seem to be a really big problem.

I find it strange, I don't hear of those problems with the Privateer Press or Mantic Games resin/plastic miniatures...

Devens · « **Reply #104 on:** 02 June 2011, 06:34:39 »

Quote from: HaplessWithDice on 22 May 2011, 22:31:22

Intersting. Given the nature of GW and their WYSiWYG game rules (Not found in battletech) one would suspect that they would chose something where conversion would be easier.

Why would they want you to convert it when they can sell you the exact mini when they make it that is.

cavingjan · « **Reply #105 on:** 02 June 2011, 15:47:29 »

Then they have to make even more different mini molds which is expensive.

Jackmc · « **Reply #106 on:** 02 June 2011, 16:25:28 »

Quote from: Devens on 02 June 2011, 06:34:39

Why would they want you to convert it when they can sell you the exact mini when they make it that is.

Because quite simply the game has grown beyond their ability to make models for every possible combination. GW knows this and for well over a decade has printed in their army books/codexes that certain units were "mod only".

Besides that, their money-grubbing rep aside, GW has always heavily encouraged modding. In fact they ran an incredibly complex/exepnsive to maintain bits and pieces sales system for the modders until thier finances were in too poor a shape to justify it anymore, and as they've started to pull out of their death spiral, they've been working to bring back that system, albeit on a far smaller, more economical to operate scale.

-Jackmc

Psyckosama · « **Reply #107 on:** 16 June 2011, 22:15:53 »

Anyone have any idea what kind of resin "resin/plastic" miniatures use?

I'm thinking a high-impact polystyrene resin.

Ezekiel Crow · « **Reply #108 on:** 26 June 2011, 00:00:08 »

Quote from: Jackmc on 02 June 2011, 16:25:28

Because quite simply the game has grown beyond their ability to make models for every possible combination. GW knows this and for well over a decade has printed in their army books/codexes that certain units were "mod only".

Besides that, their money-grubbing rep aside, GW has always heavily encouraged modding. In fact they ran an incredibly complex/exepnsive to maintain bits and pieces sales system for the modders until thier finances were in too poor a shape to justify it anymore, and as they've started to pull out of their death spiral, they've been working to bring back that system, albeit on a far smaller, more economical to operate scale.

-Jackmc

You obviously have not been with GW for awhile.

JWard · « **Reply #109 on:** 26 June 2011, 09:14:34 »

GW only went Finecast on their more difficult metal models (for now). The thing is that I like what they did it makes assembly easier, but at a high cost(in pocket for players and them) remember they redid half of their metal fig line in under 3 months had to rework the molds give them the detail, make the packaging, advertise, pay their workers OT, materials, etc. and that cost money. the same would happen to IWM if they did the same thing. as i mentioned above these new Finecast figs 3 advantages 1) no pinning, 2) easier clean up on the mini 3) detail (its a bit better on some figs). Disadvantages: current price which is expected to lower when all pewter figs are released in Fine cast (not gonna happen cause their quarterly "oh plastic is very rare we are raising our prices" excuse will make them keep the current rates)

keisukekun · « **Reply #110 on:** 26 June 2011, 10:27:45 »

Quote from: JWard on 26 June 2011, 09:14:34

GW only went Finecast on their more difficult metal models (for now). The thing is that I like what they did it makes assembly easier, but at a high cost(in pocket for players and them) remember they redid half of their metal fig line in under 3 months had to rework the molds give them the detail, make the packaging, advertise, pay their workers OT, materials, etc. and that cost money. the same would happen to IWM if they did the same thing. as i mentioned above these new Finecast figs 3 advantages 1) no pinning, 2) easier clean up on the mini 3) detail (its a bit better on some figs). Disadvantages: current price which is expected to lower when all pewter figs are released in Fine cast (not gonna happen cause their quarterly "oh plastic is very rare we are raising our prices" excuse will make them keep the current rates)

Well technically its resin which is a much higher quality type of plastic. I think it would be cool if a plastic line was released. Anyone know who made the premium minis in teh new box set? An expanded line of those would be welcome, maybe all teh figs in teh box set and 10 or 20 more. Personally i like working with teh metal more than plastic but some cheaper high quality plastic figs would be nice to fill out an army

Psycho · « **Reply #111 on:** 26 June 2011, 17:38:27 »

Quote from: keisukekun on 26 June 2011, 10:27:45

some cheaper high quality plastic figs

Oxymoron.

You want cheap, you lose quality. You want quality, you're going to have to pay for it.

keisukekun · « **Reply #112 on:** 26 June 2011, 18:48:42 »

Quote from: Psycho on 26 June 2011, 17:38:27

Oxymoron.

You want cheap, you lose quality. You want quality, you're going to have to pay for it.

The Premium figs for sale on battlecorps are pretty high quality and at 17.95 for two that is pretty cheap compared to IWM http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=27_218&products_id=2338

I read in a QA catalyst plans to a line of these high quality plastic mini (just teh popular units) to give new players a cheaper way to get statrted.