IWM Minis questions

[WarGod]

Ok I've been outta the loop for awhile.  Spent 8 months in africom, and now I'm back in iraq, in between concentrating on college in my off duty time.  Anyways some of the minis look great, some not so much, but when did medium mechs cost 10 bucks a head?  I'm not trying to cause a fuss, or a string of I hate IWM post but really whats up?  Cost of pewter gone up? Why not switch to a cheaper medium like resin, or plastics come along way sense the 3rd edition boxset.  Like the plastic thor, and loki showed us a couple years ago.

[JadeHellbringer]

Unfortunately metal prices have gone up- sucks, but that's just how it is, sadly.

Thing is, Iron Wind Metals... well, that last word says it all. They don't do resins or plastics (the resin dropships were a third-party that handled that end of things, and it didn't go well apparently). This is their business- pewter.

As for the plastics, I have hope that we'll see more like them, but the fact that it's been as long as it has been since the Thor and Loki with no news since isn't a great sign, unfortunately.

[ItsTehPope]

Ok I've been outta the loop for awhile.  Spent 8 months in africom, and now I'm back in iraq, in between concentrating on college in my off duty time.  Anyways some of the minis look great, some not so much, but when did medium mechs cost 10 bucks a head?  I'm not trying to cause a fuss, or a string of I hate IWM post but really whats up?  Cost of pewter gone up? Why not switch to a cheaper medium like resin, or plastics come along way sense the 3rd edition boxset.  Like the plastic thor, and loki showed us a couple years ago.

Cost of materials is pretty much all of the cost increase.  Resin and plastic casting has been gone over to death before and its not financially viable.  The cost to convert to plastic casting will be in the six digit range and with the rising price of oil, any cost savings rapidly goes away.  As for resin, look at how badly GW is doing right now with that conversion.

[Amalor Myrnnyx]

It's not just IWM, but the industry as a whole. Reaper, for instance, used to have all of their simpler, one-piece minis at $3. Within the past year, the lowest priced mini has gone to $5.

[btp2k2]

Nor is it restricted to miniatures. I am an avid scale model builder and model rocket flyer, a kit that cost me 5 to 8 dollars now cost over 20 dollars. The old Alpha III model rocket that I bought for 5 bucks in the late 80s is almost 20 bucks now.

Prices are a rising....not much you can do about it.

[Dr Lucky]

Like the plastic thor, and loki showed us a couple years ago.

It is worth noting that as far as I know, IWM had nothing to do with the plastic Loki and Thor.  I believe those were made by the same company that will be making the plastic ships for Catalyst's Leviathans game.  I would much rather see IWM stick to metals - metal miniatures are comparatively cheap to sculpt, which means we get a huge variety.  A switch to plastics would mean new sculpts would be few and far between, and only for the most popular 'Mechs.

As far as resin goes, I would rather keep paying for metal.  The quality on resin is generally lower, the material is harder and less forgiving for modifying figures (or at least I find it to be so), and the weight of metal is satisfying on the tabletop.  I'll pay a little extra for that.

[worktroll]

Resin's got some other issues. It's thicker, so even with spin moulding you get air bubbles which can range from "tiny pinprick" to "UAC-20 double-tap" on a 'Mech-sized mini. These can be very offputting to the casual modeller (although hardened garage-kit buyers have been dealing with and moaning about voids for decades ;) ). Resin can (not must) be brittle, making modding more problematical - it's a softer substance than metal, but unforgiving. Lastly resin dust is really bad for your lungs, so if you're filing or sawing a face-mask is highly recommended, as is a vacuuming of the work area afterwards.

GW have recently moved from using metal in their spin-cast moulds to using a form of resin called "Finecast". There's been much flamage about the move - which doesn't need to be repeated here - including some pretty incredible claims of resin minis softening in hot sunlight. The appearance of bubbles on the minis however has been the biggest negative issue, AFAIK, with one US distributor sending their entire stock of GW resins back after an inspection on receipt showed noticeable flaws on 30%+ of the stock.

W.

[StCptMara]

I have heard of some other companies that are using a different type of resin then GW's switching to
resin using their existing metals molds...but cannot remember which one..some fantasy game with real-scale
Orks and dwarves(with legs!)...not the Heroic Scale that GW likes to use. I have heard that there are not that
many bubbles or voids in their stuff, either. However, beyond that, I know little about them(cannot even remember the company/game line!)

[keisukekun]

Yeh sucks its expensive noe.   They could go resin but could have quality issues and I personnally dont like resin.  Also wed have to call them Iron Wind Resins.

As for plastics they cant use teh same molds for plastics that they use for metals and high quality plastics like teh loki have enormous start up costs (Thousnads/tens of thousands)