Fuggit Khan:
A few months back I bought my first FW kit, the Iron Daemon. But it it just sat in my “to do” pile of kits and I continued to use an Empire Steam Tank as a proxy in its place.
Just recently I decided to start building it, and thus moved it to the front ranks of kits to build but I am rather stunned by how warped many of the parts are. I know that resin kits tend to be hit or miss when it comes to perfect cast parts, that warped pieces are to be expected. But is this typical of FW kits? Don’t get me wrong, I believe that it’ll be the saga of the ugly duckling that grows (builds) into a beautiful swan of a kit…but the amount of work needed to get everything lined up right seems a bit much when considering the cost of the kit and the fact that many resin model companies produce beautiful kits with zero flaws (Ardpol being my favorite resin kit manufacturer).
But again, maybe my kit was just a fluke…so I’m just curious for any feedback or thoughts from each of you (before I decide to buy more from FW).
:hat off Thanks
GRNDL:
Warped sprues are very common in resin kits, but usually only amongst the very thin or flat ones. Larger, more solid pieces, tend not to warp.
Resin is ALWAYS a lot more work, from my experience, and a pain in the ass a lot of the time, but the detail on the cast is usually worth it - that and a lot of garage kits are available in resin only, so its a bit of a “put up or shut up” deal.
NoisyAssassin:
I’ve yet to order anything from FW, but I’ve heard a decent amount of grumbling about how warped the Iron Daemon tends to be. So your’s may not be a fluke.
Soulassassin:
Most warped resin bits can be straightened with warm water and some gentile bending though. Unlike a certain cannon kit from Hell in metal, which only can be straightened through actual blood, sweat and tears 
Vogon:
Most warped resin bits can be straightened with warm water and some gentile bending though. Unlike a certain cannon kit from Hell in metal, which only can be straightened through actual blood, sweat and tears ;)
Soulassassin
To straighten metal components like the Hell Cannon stick it in an oven at 140°C (about 280°F) for 30 minutes and the pieces will be soft enough to bend easily. Use oven gloves though :)
Worked a treat for me.
Cheers
Vogon
MOMUS:
To straighten metal components like the Hell Cannon stick it in an oven at 140°C (about 280°F) for 30 minutes and the pieces will be soft enough to bend easily. Use oven gloves though :)
Worked a treat for me.
Cheers
Vogon
Vogon
So you could say your hellcannon was....oven forged? ;)
Fuggit Khan:
All good points…thank you everybody. The undercarriage chassis was really badly warped, so I ended up sawing it into smaller sections and glued it back together in a more straightforward manner (sorry for the bad pun). I also noticed that looking at the example on the FW website that their model pictured also has the same warped flaws as mine. They use some very clever camera angles to hide it…but close inspection of the middle wheel on both sides of the FW pictured example gives away one of the flaws: on one side the middle wheel has plenty of room within the fender, the other side the wheel rubs right up against the top of the fender. Warped axle placement/chassis being the culprit. Ah well, no worries…as was said “put up or shut up” :hat off
