Holy Flying Failcast, Batman!

I took advantage of Maelstrom's stock clearance sale and ordered a box of Chaos Marine Raptors for Warhammer 40k. This is part of slow long-term project of fielding lots and lots of nurgly DeathGuard. I don't really play 40k anymore but I have too much time and love invested in my different armies to let them go. Besides, soon my sons will start playing, so I will need the armies then.

The box, with the dreaded words "Finecast"

When I ordered I had no idea if this was old stock, meaning that the models were metal, or the new Finecast versions. As it turned out it was Finecast.  As I intend to convert the figures extensively Finecast should be easier to work with than metal. I have heard some very negative opinions on Finecast though, so it was with a little bit of dread I opened the box.

The contents of the box.

The box contained five sprues with figures on and two sprues with jump-packs. At first glance the figures looked fine. No holes after airbubbles that I could see, and no broken pieces.

Let's take a closer look at the models though.

First Raptor, armed with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword

The first one was quite ok. The frame was slightly bent and/or squashed, nothing major. No pits or holes, some flash but not too much. It's interesting to note how they make the mold to make the resin flow into all the teeth on the sword.

Second Raptor, same armament as the first, slightly different pose.

The second raptor was very much as the first, no problems. I note though that the detail is not greater or better than the metal counterparts. While I understand GW switched to resin mostly for cost reasons, they have tried to sell Finecast to the public by claiming it is much better than metal. So far I'm not convinced.

Third Raptor. This one has a Chainsword and Plasma Pistol.

The third figure had a problem. I do not know what the cause is, but somehow the frame and figure in it has been bent backwards. Was the frame put into the box before the resin had hardened properly, or has it been exposed to heat somewhere between manufacturing and me getting the box? The body of the figure doesn't matter if it's a bit bent, because it can be explained by the dynamic pose, but things like weapons and equipment really should be straight...

Looking from the side it is bent like a banana!

...and unfortunately the Chainsword is severly bent. I'm sure it can be fixed with hot water and bending it to shape and then letting it cool. My point is that you shouldn't have to fix stuff like this. Filling small holes, carving away mold lines, yes, absolutely. With metal models thin parts like banner poles and spears and blades could be bent, but you could easily bend them back by hand. Imagine a kid buying his first Finecast figure and getting something like this?

Fourth raptor, armed with special weapons. The frame is distorted, but the figure is ok.

The fourth figure had it's frame bent sideways, so much that the flamer has come loose. The figure itself is ok, as is the flamer and the plasma gun, but the melta gun is ever so slightly bent, giving it a droopy look. Almost no flash at all on this figure though.

Last figure, the champion with twin Lightning Claws and looooots of flash.

The last figure is the champion. This one has lots of flash and some severe moldlines that will take some filling. Still nothing broken and no air bubbles on any of the figures. I'm a bit annoyed with all the oversized skulls on his shoulder pads so they will get filed down and I will try to do a fly motif to denote Nurgle on them.

The jump packs come in three different designs.

The Jump packs are nice, and they are actually the best cast in the box; no flash, nothing bent out of shape and nothing broken, even the fine cables on one of the packs, which I assume is the champion's.

A large sheet of transfers is also included.

The transfer sheet is a nice, but bog standard and I assume the same one is included in all the Chaos Marine packs. It's nice to get transfers of all the different factions, but I'm a little disappointed that there is no fly motif for Nurgle, just a couple of circles, the rest are skulls arranged in the shape of the symbol of Nurgle. Sometimes I think GW could be a little bit more inventive. I'm just saying, skulls are sooooo 1990's. Seriously.

All in all, the jury is still out on this Finecast thing. The details are not better, but not worse than metal figures.   Mold lines should be easier to clean up than metal figures, but you get more flash. And the bendy bit is just not good. At least, nothing broken and no major air bubbles to fill in. Now I will just let them lay on the lead mountain while I concentrate on finishing my current WW2 projects, and let my imagination simmer a bit before trying to convert them.