Fine Cast, or to the rest of the world resin!!!

Well the worst kept secret in the industry has finally been announced by Games Workshop... yep they are going to be producing miniatures in resin... sorry finecast (grrr I hate marketing speak). Now I've read a lot of people deriding this decision over the past few weeks on a number of grounds and I'd just like to take the time to say how wrong I think they are and tackle these complaints one by one:

Complaint number 1: Resin models are rubbish

No they aren't, check out any number of models produced by other companies such as Kingdom Death (review of their mini's coming up), Studio McVey, Spartan Games and even Forge World. Resin can be an absolutely fine substance to cast miniatures out of and can allow for finer and greater detail than either metal or plastic could ever hope... if done properly.

Complaint number 2: Resin is difficult to work with

Again just not true. Is it different to work with? Yep you betcha it is, but cleaning mould lines off of resin figures is easier than both their metal and plastic counterparts and if done with a sharp enough craft knife leaves less visible signs of said clean up. Resin is also slightly porous so super glue sticks parts together easier (aided by the fact its also a light weight material) and also paint including undercoat adheres to it better.

Complaint number 3: You can't mass produce resin miniatures

A certain New Zealand based company called Battlefront would beg to differ on that one. They have shown they are more than capable of mass producing their Flames of War resin pieces and I'm sure with the expertise the Games Workshop have in house at Forge World they're also more than capable of doing likewise. Still want more proof? Check out Spartan Games, they've been churning out a huge volume of high quality resin pieces for a number of years now... it can be done.

Conclusion

People who know me will also know I'm pretty straight talking and wouldn't think twice about saying the move to resin was rubbish if I thought it was. I've openly criticised Games Workshops business decisions in the past, but this one just seems wholly sensible if you ask me. Resin can be a better substance IF its done properly and that's the key thing here, we'll all have to wait and see what the figures look like at first before judging and I'm willing to wait until passing final judgement, but I am cautiously optimistic. Peace out!