(btw I think you mixed ThaneBobo up with either me or Stonehorse, all ThaneBobo has really been saying is that he thinks there is a production error based on examples of the sprues and explicitly said he didn’t want to get into the price/quality discussion xD)
If you explicitly sell something that looks good in a horde but doesn’t look good individually, say for a rank and file game that you expect hundred+ little dudes on the table in groups of 10, 20, 40 in rows shoulder to shoulder almost sniffing each other’s hair, then no, I don’t see a problem there. Furthermore, the flat space thing is seeming more and more like something to contact support over based on what I’ve seen on the thread so far.
Maybe since you really want to use the mantic abyssal dwarves specifically, look into making them nicer yourself? You are going to make nice multibases from the sounds of it and maybe do some casting, perhaps make some fancy bits to fix up the parts that are wonky/you don’t like while you are at it ,if you don’t want to contact support over it, or it turns out they are just supposed to be that way?
As a sidenote, this thread has got me looking at 15mm figures lol. Some very nice sets
Using GW as a measure, it looks like, based on my very scientific brief browsing, modern fantasy infantry goes for on average around $3 a model and modern Mantic fantasy infantry goes on average around $1.50. So about half the cost. I guess it’s up to the person to decide if the kit is less than half as good. As Mantic prices increase, there will be an additional expectation of quality as the price gap decreases.
Considering the detail on all the armour, it seems to me that the sculptor decided to leave that big of armour blank. I don’t see the problem.
If it’s not to your taste then that’s unfortunate, but it looks like a minor detail on one of a number of sculpts.
Yes, but that was case only with plastic goblins and M@A. They are the only models I have from Mantic that were badly made. And they were disappointment because plastic undead, elf, dwarfs and orcs were well made miniatures.
Now, you can throw them away and rage against Mantic or you can take pictures of sprues and ask for refund or new sprues from customer support.
Me, on another hand, would just cut that arm with axe and glue on another shoulder pad to make more unique model.
Mantic was always cheaper and yes comparing a 1,25€ model with a 4,5€ model and rage about too much mold lines is a thing
but this is something normal today, pay more and save time is very common in every hobby
I had my fair share of different models from different companies and also needed to RMA certain kits (worst of them all were the metall chaos lord on juggernaut)
I don’t mind single model quality for a kit that is meant to be used as regiment and needs to look good as such (not going tompay more for better single models that are impossible to arrange as unit and the end result will look terrible no matter what you do)
so as long as the unit looks good and there are no big problems to arrange the models everything is fine for me
(a reason why I like their Elves, design is different and strange but no other kit offers the same the possibilities for units)
PS: the first Basilean models are a different thing, but Mantic asked the KS Beakers if they wanted their stuff fast or if they should re-design them
I don’t really mind the quality, or lack thereof, on Mantic miniatures, what’s bothering me is the push for everyone to use Mantic miniatures. As long as I don’t have to use them, or paint them, I don’t care.
Personally, and this is my opinion is that Mantic models are crap. I have tried to paint them but I just couldn’t do it.
Also when you look at manufacturers like Perry Miniatures a box of 38 hard plastic, none of this restic crap, costs 20£. Which equates to 0.52£ for 1 miniature makes what Mantic takes for their miniatures highway robbery. And Perry Miniatures are basically two guys…
Perry Twins do fantastic models, a lot of which make great KoM forces. Sadly they don’t make generic fantasy… if they did it would be a game changer. Their passion is historical miniatures, so they stick to that, which is also a very popular genre of Wargaming. So essentially they have very little need to change, and can afford to sell their historical miniatures at a low price.
So, where to begin? This is the bane of my working life.
Firstly, yes you can 3D print models before they are produced, but that won’t give you production models . Especially when you’re looking at HIPS (PVC is actually better at what I’m about to talk about). It doesn’t make as easy as you might think.
So the disadvantage of hard plastic is that the tool is made from steel and there is no give in the material, so you can’t have undercuts. What are undercuts? They’re details on the side of the model that would prevent the tool from closing or opening. This is why the pieces need to be altered from their original to work in the material. PVC has some give, so you can get away with some undercuts. Resin and metal have pliable molds so you can get away with undercuts. HIPS is utterly unforgiving.
Breaking the kit down into more parts is one option, but it drives out costs up (by more than ‘a few quid’), which of course has a knock-on effect of driving prices up. I do as much as possible to hit the balancing act between getting the details on the sprue, making sure it will cast properly when it comes out, not radically increasing the part count or sprue size and of course getting it finished before deadline. That shoulder on the axe arm is the one but I couldn’t get working properly.
I did take a quick look at the bare plastics for the models you suggested. Guns are back-filled to torsos, faces are cast in one uniform direction and straps disappear under arms that are merged straight on to bodies. It’s less apparent, but the same ‘tricks’ are used to get the model to cast. Probably down to the scale.
I’d be curious to see how much flash the grotesques had. Those are picked up by QC, normally.
I think there is great potential for good miniatures at Mantic.
I bought the new Goblins for Vanguard and damn, they are some fine miniatures. Even tempting me to buy some boxes and start a Goblin army for KoW once they release them in earnest later this year.
Mantic is definetly stepping up their game but there will always be failures involved. As long as they keep learning and improving, that’s not a big deal.
I believe they are still searching for a middle way of good quality and good value. You can get great miniatures for prices that are just not meant to build a big force. That was a major issue for GW as well before they let “you know which world” explode.
People need to see good enough quality to get interest but also a good value to actually commit building an own army of these miniatures.
That unit just confirms that they are great models, sure the paint job help a lot, but seeing as they are robes and a lot of armour they aren’t too hard to give a good paint job. The smooth areas on the shoulders look fine when painted up, and unless it is pointed out I wouldn’t have noticed.
Just adds more fuel into my plans to buy an Abyssal Dwarf force
Perry Miniatures is on a different level
First of all they are very good designers, still do it the classic way and everything they cast is done by Renadra which is the top HIPS caster in Europe
Problem is, the capacity they have as 2 kits per years for Perry and making generic historical Miniatures with 2 new Boxes per year is something different than supporting a Fantasy game
Comparing to other historiocal ranges not all of them are at the same level like Perry, others are on the level of Mantic and some are worse
they are not allowed to make some as this was one of the requierments by GW before they left the company
I did not know that. More proof that GW are utter bellends.
Just think of what amazing kits that could have been if they were free to sculpt as they pleased. The LoTR minis are amazing things, I’d happily buy a force for KoW if the prices were even partially sane. €34 for 20 mono pose model that are roughly 20 years old… good joke GW!
But Oathmark Dwarves look much better, 30 in a box vs Mantics 20 for only £5 More per box… and these detail issues aren’t exactly in “hidden areas” the point is, why would I spend X amount of time on fixing something that should’ve been done properly in the first place?? If you’re going to send out a half assed model design, why bother in the first place? If i want to spend money on green stuff and remodelling the parts… I might as well buy Legions Of Azgogh from Forgeworld!!
But you didn’t even need to ring the models or even zoom in on the models to notice it… I wouldn’t dream of wanting to put out a sub par design of anything jist because “well the players won’t care about it” literally 50/70% of this Hobby is building and painting for alot of us… giving out poor designs and expecting us to be ok with it? I want to support Mantic as best as possible but these constant issues make it really difficult to do that…
up to personal taste, compared to Mantic Dwarfs they are much more generic and look more like smaller Vikings
Quality wise they are not better.
Comparing them with the pictures from Avyssal Dwarfs here there are the same mold lines and parts without or less details
If you like them more, no problem but you might be disappointed if you expect them to be perfect single models with sharp details
[quote=“Andreas, post:54, topic:1403”]
Is this even legal?[/quote]
I have something similar in my contract to prevent me from going to a competitor and work in the same field
and while it might be sad for us that we don’t get Fantasy Minis from them for them it seems to work well by doing historical minis only
But when it’s obvious detail that is missing… as I’ve said, Oathmark offer 30 better sculpted models for only £5 More… I’d happily pay £30 for 20 well designed and sculpted models if it meant better looking models… but there is really no excuse for the axe arm at all
