What An Pile Of Sh...............!!!

[dan1el]

SHOCKINGNESS !!!

Fellow planeteers - may I show you the sum total of 14 months 1/2 arsed, really wish I had seen it before I bought it, waste of £100 of my hard earned sheckles........

Andrea Minitures 120mm : S10F01 - The Warlord 1100 Norman Warrior (Resin/ Metal)

I can sum up this ' SH...ockingness ' with 3 easy statements :

1. the casting is SH...ocking - poor fitting, warping and air holes!
2. the casting is SH...ocking - see the soft detail on the chain mail, harnes and belt buckle!!
3. the casting is SH...ocking - seam lines are almost impossible to remove as the resin is very hard.

I could go on, but hey the pictures ( I could be arsed to take ), prove the point. Even my wife - a non miniturist - said she though it was SH...ocking!!!!!

As a side note : excellent packaging - a very colourful, very sturdy : and very easy for it all to rattle around in!!!!I surmise that had this been purchased from overseas - this kit would be in 50+ parts as opposed to the 21 it actually is made from by the time it landed on my doorstep...........

And the really annoying thing - the fingers on the left had where broken off and missing - i mean missing : not in the packaging : period !

I had heard of certan manufacturers and thier ' quality ' - but this really has to be seen to be believed.

The next time this ' SH...ockingness ' is posted - it will be after the knackers yard have visited....

Thansk - Dan.

 

[Paul20100]

This was Andrea's first and last attempt in 120mm resin mounted figures...

 

[Colin_Fraser]

For what its worth, it looks like it will paint up well.

Good luck

Colin

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Got to admit it does look poor all round , but they are not the only overpriced high end manufacturer around producing bilge castings.
The wee ( that's little in English ) guys are doing a great job for great prices these days.

Ron

 

[Tecumsea]

Hi Dan, suggest a Dremel and some dental tools to get rid if those seams. I've got this in the Grey army still shrink wrapped, hope it is in better condition. Ron is right, I don't mind putting in some hard graft on an older classic kit but modern casting methods should make it unnecessary especially at the prices charged. I've often looked at kits at shows that I really wanted to have a go at and left them on the stand having looked at the casting.

Keith

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

If Ray Lamb could turn out impeccable detail and castings 25 years ago , why not now

ron

 

[Tecumsea]

One man band vs mass production Ron

 

[megroot]

That is the quality of China.......
Lucky us that Pegaso (to name one) keeps the casting in his own hands, and alot more.

Marc

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Got a stretched timing chain on my merc , guess what ! made in China , Gonna costa a lotta lira to fixa

 

[Helm]

That is truly awful and NOT cheap if all else fails you could try cellulose thiners on the seam lines just a dab to soften then scrape but you'd need to be really careful

 

[Helm]

If Ray Lamb could turn out impeccable detail and castings 25 years ago , why not now

ron

Greed

 

[ghamilt1]

I have this same figure, but bought it years (more than a decade) ago when it was a relatively new release. It's a great kit, with few of the problems you've mentioned here. I guess that time and the "outsourced" casting have really taken their toll. It's a real pity.

 

[Einion]

Sorry to hear of your problem Dan! I have seen even crappier casting than this so try to console yourself, it could be worse... but that mould line running down the mail on the back is sure going to a right bear!

Not sure if I've ever handled a resin I'd consider too hard, you having trouble sanding it even with wet 'n' dry?

Einion

 

[bagelman1952]

Ron, would you like to borrow my little tenk while you get your car fixed.

 

[jcichon]

I have NEVER had an Andrea kit without some sort of casting issue. I love their sculpts but the production is piss poor

 

[polyphemus]

It never ceases to amaze me what rubbish product or service we get dished up with from time to time. In my view a stock figure should primarily be a painting excercise. Yes I do accept there will be some minimal mould lines, I do accept there will be the need for a modicum of filler and obviously parts need to be glued together but that's as far as it should go. If I wanted a major modelling project I'd scratchbuild or at least do major conversions. I don't expect missing parts but if there are I expect a replacement by return of post not having to go grovelling by repeated emails or phone calls to get the part. It's their fault not mine. I don't expect having to expend my time or money putting right suppliers' mistakes or shoddy workmanship.
I also expect that the item will then last for years without degarding over time because of inherent problems with failure of material eg lead rot. Horses should not collapse under their own weight because of insufficient support in the legs. It's not enough to cast a steel rod into the leg, that steel rod should also extend down into the base.
I do expect that if an item is sold online then it should be in stock, if not then payment should not be taken until it is in stock. This particularly applies where for example paypal is used as the payment mechanism and payment is taken at the point of order.
These things are not inexpensive and I would suggest that most of us wouldn't tolerate poor service/product like this on other retail items. Imagine buying an electrical/electronic item and being expected to have to resolder or replace components or to have to reprogram the thing yourself.
Ok I know that's a protracted rant but if some some suppliers can get it right why can't they all?

Geoff

 

[Helm]

Geoff couldn't agree more it's also a cost thing as well if I paid a fiver for it then it's not so bad but at £100 I expect a quality product that virtually snaps together as you said. When the likes of Steve Readdie,Darren at Firefly and Ken at Mil-Mart can produce quality castings at a fraction of the cost of the so called "masters" then it's a sad reflection on the state of the hobby.

Steve

 

[Jazz]

I have to say that this is the only Andrea kit I have never been tempted to buy. Overpriced and for what I can see a very poor casting.

 

[Mirofsoft]

AND......
if the product is China casting the price must drop by 50% at least... or there is no point in doing casting there .
Best

 

[smudger1960]

I have to agree with Jason,I've assembled quite a few Andrea kits over the years and on everyone I've had casting issues or fitting problems,3 months ago I purchased the 90mm casting of Lawrence of Arabia and that has been the same,the problem I have is although I get p----d off with these issues I like some of the subjects they produce,I feel f
a big company like Andrea should be producing better as one of the leading European manufacturers.