Preferred Material

[retnab]

Hey Hive,
So this is a question that hadn't really come to me until recently when I expanded into getting some Privateer Press models (40K is really dying in my town, everyone seems to be jumping ship) which has a Lot of metal models which in 40k I actually had no experience with. Yesterday I played a game with someone playing the same army and he had a new plastic version of a model I have the metal version of and I realized that I really enjoy the metal models more to my surprise! Sure they're heavier, but they seem much easier to fix up (bendable mostly and very little excess bits which are really easy to just pick off) than the plastic version which you usually have to take a knife to.

Anyways, what do you prefer, Hive? The poll's above, leave your explanations below!

[harry4tw]

I painted a lictor five years ago and the paint is chipped in places. And I'm a pretty anal guy so this infuriates me.

Finecast is nice, but I like plastic more because I prefer the plastic glue.

[cad]

Finecast is garbage.

Selling me broken miniatures for top dollar, like being peed on and told its rain.

[gigasnail]

i'm not a fan of working with metal, though i love the feel of the miniatures once they're finished. you'll be happy with it right up until you're forced to do conversion work with it, which may or may not ever happen depending on your tastes.

[Bane Wordsmith]

I voted metal for the look and feel. However if it really comes down to price, and that is plastic all the way.

[edjammies]

I prefer metal models just because the weight and feel of it makes me think that I got my money's worth for it. Pewter minis just feel more expensive and premium to me.
Pewter is a really nice material for WarmaHordes considering model customization is practically nonexistent, and the only real models that can even be converted are the Warjacks.

Although when it comes to magnetizing, pinning, and converting, plastic is sooo much better. If I had to choose one or the other, it would definitely be plastic!

[angelwing]

Tricky really. The tyranid range has really benefited from plastic kits. Anything top heavy or with big arms, such as gargoyles, tyrants (especially with wings) and raveners.
Metal versions of 3rd ed raveners were hellish to put together. All the lictor kits in metal have the same problem with the big scything talons.
However, I like the weighty feel of metal. I don't have chipping problems as I varnish them properly, but I wouldn't deliberately bang them together. Plastic models can be taken off the table in handfuls without damage (useful for gaunts etc) which you cant do for metals.

These days I think plastic is the way forward. Finecast is junk. GW: pressure / vaccum cast them not spin cast. This reduces bubbles to almost nothing and won't require excessive channels which destroy the very detail you are trying to save. Next, leave them to cure for long enough in the mould so nothing bends into incurable shapes! I know this costs you more money, but your title of 'finest toys soldiers in the world' is being flushed down the toilet with this rubbish. Have the models live up to your own hype!

[commandersasha]

Metal. A pain in the neck for the few hours you spend building, converting, reinforcing and repairing, but SOOO much nicer for the hundreds of hours you spend playing with the things! Glad I didn't have to pin all the limbs on my Termagants though...

[retnab]

Mar 23, 2013 9:57:33 GMT angelwing said:

Tricky really. The tyranid range has really benefited from plastic kits. Anything top heavy or with big arms, such as gargoyles, tyrants (especially with wings) and raveners.

That's a good point, I got an Afflictor ( privateerpress.com/hordes/gallery/legion-of-everblight/warbeasts/afflictor ) for use as a Parasite of Mortrex a few weeks ago and, while I really enjoy the model, because so much of the weight is in the wings and head it feels like it's barely managing to stay flat on the table.

[ranmafan]

I like plastic the most. Also, the latest range of Finecast isn't actually so bad... the problem is the old generation of finecasts are still in circulation and those are really terrible failures.

[jahatch42878]

Plastic... light weight, makes transport easy, less likely to break if falls on the table or (sadly) off the table, conversions are soooo easy... why, oh why, did GW even consider finecast??? I mean, they have made plastic characters (for the boxed set, for the daemons release, for the chaos release)... I know their price mark up on those individual sculpts is ridiculous, and I know plastics prices have suffered because of the gas/oil issues on going in the world, but so have the costs of metal, and honestly, if someone could invent a way to recycle metal or plastic miniatures.. (lol, just rambling there)... but anyway, plastics all the way, finecast is just a weird bridge while GW figures out if they want to go all plastic or find some other medium to work in... metal is nostalgic, for small models and certain casts I like it, and even for the older metal bodies with plastic arms and weapons I don't mind it at all, but for the future, plastics have to be the way to go...

[jhussey]

I like GW plastic. It's come along way over the years. It's easy to convert, holds paint well, if it falls chances are it will bounce slightly and not break and now the details are coming through better. The down side IMHO is all the prep work. There's a lot of flashing to clean up and making the seems fit cleanly takes some doing. I don't mind the metal minis, they just seem more delicate to me, and harder to transport. Even in their cases I've had some Grey Knights lose an arm now and then. Finecast can take a long walk off a short pier and never come back. I hate that stuff.

[halos]

Plastic by leagues. Lightweight, easily converted, holds paint well, doesn't chip like metal and allows for the design of more extravagant kits. Imagine the Flyrant kit in metal? No chance.

Finecast has been, alright, in my experience, no major complaints so far. I actually kind of like the way it feels. It is overly brittle though, which put's it a curious point where it's less resilient than plastic but worse when it comes to conversions.

Metal sits bodily at the bottom of the pile, hate the stuff. Doesn't glue easily, liable to falling apart withou pinning, chips constantly without varnish, I'm glad they're phasing it out. Although I would prefer them to phase more stuff into plastic rather than finecast...

[Draezymous]

I 100% agree with Halos, as in my experience with the Tin kits, when something ''snaps off'', it is much, MUCH harder to put back together than, for example, plastic.

My experience with finecast is actually quite mixed... My Finecast Zoanthropes easily snapped off their ''standing sticks'', due to them being bent in the blister... On the other hand, my Hive Guard all came in perfect shape, and I'd say they are just as durable as their Tin counterparts (if any), but they weigh a lot less.

Therefore I voted Plastic all the way, and I still hope that one day ALL (our) models will become plastic...!

[WestRider]

Plastic>Resin>Metal. Ease of conversion and final weight are both major concerns for me, since I really like customizing my Armies, and then have to haul them around on Public Transit.