Topic: Fine Cast (or not?)

[faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)]

I am looking at getting for my little brother (9 years of age) his own army, and am considering Necrons for him.

He has played with me and using my models for bout 6 years now, and understands the game and all, but he has never had a part in the modeling aspect.

I know that he can do modeling with the plastic parts, as we have done a few models planes, boats etc over the years, but he really doesn't have the modeling skills to use green stuff etc...

Now I noticed that all the Necron HQs are finecast, and I am getting really mixed reports on the quality of the models.

So, with an inexperienced 9 year old in mind, how are the Necron finecast models?

[Partninja]

Really I have found they're about as annoying as the metal models but easier to convert/fix and not as heavy. I still see my fair share of miss casts, broken parts, etc. I hate the fine cast just as much as the metal really. This is just my experience though. Any finecast model you plan to get, buy it from a walk-in store so you can open and inspect the model at the counter and get a replacement if need be.

Of note - If you plan to use the command barge or annihilation barge(same kit), it comes with a plastic Overlord ( Overlords are the best general purpose HQs anyway).

[Kaiju Senso]

My Finecast Overlord was ok. It did have some holes in the cape that I guess were bubbles? But they were so small, some thicker paint filled them in or you could make them look like bullet holes. First thing I did though was test how much give there was in the thin pieces like the staff and broke it...

I also second getting a Command Barge kit and let him go to town with the plastic Overlord model it comes with.

[Gutstikk]

How are the lords in that kit for general purpose models? I'm really looking at getting two of the barge kits for an HQ and a Heavy support choice. Also considering the annihilation barge to pick up some extra legs and maybe extend the models in other units by having extra legs around.

[Kaiju Senso]

The codex has a picture of him (page 67) standing outside of the Command Barge. Looks a little boring and static on it's own unless you give him a statuesque pose like Imotekh on page 54 where he can just look so bad ass that he doesn't have to move.

[faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)]

Thanks for the heads up on the Command Barge - definitively the route I'd go.

How about the other models? Are they relatively easy to assemble?

[elithren]

Personally, I dont like the fine cast models at all. The overlord is so weak and breaks very easily. I ended up chopping off the hand and then using one of the lychguard warsythes cause it is a whole lot more study then what he comes with.  Not to mention all the holes I had to fill in.

[sephiroa]

it seems weak, but its kinda sturdy i think (you don't have to throw it trough your living room though) for modelling/bending, warm/hot water to bend it back straight (the staff most of the times), and that's the dangerous part for a 9y old i think, the hot water

like they said, command barge, all s plastic, you can swap easy, and annihilation barges are good but so are command barges. a nice addition

[prot]

I had to phone GW to get my Imotekh replaced... the ornamental staff was broken.

I got a second one and he had totally different issues, so I had to combine two of them to make one, fairly decent (but still far from perfect) single Imotekh.

The customer service was fantastic about it, but still who wants to go through this with every other Fine Cast model?

I found Cryptek's to have some of the wonkiest staffs. I did find hot tap water helped straighten those out, but you have to almost over do it, or else they bend back wonky to a lesser degree.

I think all the Fine Cast HQ's involve some if not a lot of extra work. Be prepared for that. If you get lucky, great.

[faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)]

Ok, thanks guys. That helped.

Now a separate but related question - the Monolith. How difficult is that beast to put together. My brother is really taken with it, but I need to make sure it is not going to be too confusing.

Are the directions clear enough? I remember 3rd ed Carnifexs that gave no directions whatsoever. I made mine completely differently (and actually like that way better... But some tanks in the past have been a tad confusing...

How are the Necrons in this regard?

[Kaiju Senso]

Well unless they have updated the packaging recently, my second Monolith didn't have directions. Luckily I still had my 3rd/4th edition Monolith box with the directions on the side of it.

[l0st_b0y]

The monolith now has a leaflet with full instructions in the box.
A tip for if you buy it is when the main body is together to hold it together with 4-6 elastic bands around the edges and top to bottom of it. Otherwise it has a tendency to break away and show alot of gaps.

[faitherun (Fay-ith-er-run)]

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback guys.