Hey All.
First off, let me say that I am not a fan-boy of any line of figures or have allegiance to any miniature company in any scale. I only promote what I believe is in gamers and painters best interest. I always give you my truthful thoughts and I refuse to BS you when there is something wrong. I also know that there will be the occasional figure that is miscast or is indeed a real dud. No problem if the rest are within a certain quality range.
The picture above is a sample of the quality (or lack thereof) of the new Battlefront EW figures. In a word, they are shit. Total shit.
My excitement of receiving over 200 dollars worth (loosely using the work here folks) of figures turned to dismay and then to anger as I felt that I have truly been ripped off. I started by looking at the German figures. There were some OK figures but overall, they had the look of a rush job. Flash was heavy, faces miscast and Mausers looked like walking sticks. Hmmm...who mastered these?!
Then I opened the British...
WTF?!?
What the hell are these? Bayonets look like flash, SMLE Rifles are too short, too thin and plainly not detailed at all. Poses are boring, and bizarre (so many figures waving bye-bye perhaps to BF's fan-base), scale is out of wack, flash atrocious, faces a joke, helmets look like Chinese farmers (maybe they sculpted these?!) finger prints on the castings of some figures, I could go on and on...I stopped looking after 2 bags.
These figures, for the most part, would require too much work to be brought to a so-so level. Heads need to be replaced, hands re-carved and heavy flash (the kind that erases detail) would need to be removed. Whats left is still a poor figure. Where did BF get these? Certainly not Evan Allen...
I will not buy any more BF figures unless they fix this. It is not up to their standards at all. What happened?!
I am considering a letter to BF...
I did have a bit of good news in the mail today - I am the proud new owner of 5 new Kolinsky Sable brushes (one winter harvest!!). Truly quality brushes at reasonable prices here:
They are a Canadian company so this may not be good for US readers but I am very happy with the service and quality.
Take care,
Troy
6 comments:
Hi Troy,
Sorry to hear this: I'd suggest contacting BF customer service if you have not already done so. In early batches of figures they sometimes seem to have QC problems: the first releases of the late-war SS, for instance, were simply horrible but they appear to have sorted them out. Not defending them (i.e. BF) by any means though: their quality is slipping and they need to get their act together.
The British *are* supposed to be Evan Allen sculpts. While I don't doubt his sculpting ability, there do seem to be recurring problems with the casting process across several ranges which is destroying the final product. Some more pictures of the miscasts and some shouting on the forum should soon have your problems sorted out: BF doesn't like bad press too much ;)
Thanks for the link: finding good quality brushes from a source that will ship internationally can be a pain for me.
CdlT
Hi troy,
I was sent a large number of polish and early war German figures by a contact for whom who I paint on commission. I agree entirely about the dreadful quality of the new sculpts. I emailed BF to complain in strong terms and after a long delay got an email that frankly fobbed me off with a bland "we appreciate your feedback" sort of reply.
It also seems to me that the quality of the actual white metal has changed. It seems much more brittle and a pain to remove all the flash on the poor castings (of which there are many!). Faces are pretty non existent and have to be implied rather than painted and the poses seem stiff and unnatural. Some knelling figures would be about 7foot tall if they stood up and yet the Polish AT rifle gunner is clearly on exchange from some fantasy dwarf regiment. It makes me really angry, especially as the prices have also shot up in the UK. I have advised my friend to seek another manufacturer for figures and only get his vehicles from BF until they sort their QA and get a better sculptor. I feel your pain my friend! WTF.
Cheers,
Martin
Hey Martin.
Yes a true disappointment for me too. I suggest early sculpts from BF for EW Germans and FiB (http://www.forgedinbattle.com/) for EW French, UK and Polish.
I hope BF gets their shit together!
Troy
Did anything ever come of this?
I did get a subsequent reply from BF saying that they had some revisions in mind but also saying how great their sculptors are! I have painted a big commission of the Polish range and find them large, anatomically irregular, poorly cast and disproportionate between individual figures in the range. I have seen a number of the French as well and don't rate them either. Helmets on all the early war ranges are hopeless and yet the prices go up and up. I also strongly recommend the Forged In Battle French and Polish which are infinitely superior quality sculpts and castings. I found BFs responses to my complaints to be complacent to say the least. The FIB figures seem to be gaining momentum so hopefully this will force BF off their lazy asses and to up their game, starting with remastering the whole EW range and firing the Sculptor of these figures. Who wants a French infantryman wearing a New York Fireman's helmet??!!
Check out these 2 companies for good 15mm models, they are really good and the prices are quite nice aswell :)
http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/
http://wargamesfactory.com/announcements/wargame-factorys-first-15mm-set
I personaly have never bought anything from BF since I hate there troops, they got nice tanks do but they are way to pricey.
Cheers Harry :)
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