Rogue Stars Official Models Quality - Hit and Miss?

[iPaint]

Hey all, received my models and rulebook a few days ago, and had a chance to more closely inspect the models.

I'm noticing that about half of them have either minor molding and bubbling issues, slippage, mold lines or miscasts, and a few have slightly more serious issues, including complete loss of detail.

http://imgur.com/a/P1ecw

I'll try and get some better pics at some point with maybe an ink wash, but how have everyone else's models faired? The models in the rulebook look superb (assuming they're the master models or maybe master resins), but for such quality Copplestone sculpts, the casts from North Star are a bit...subpar...

Thoughts?

~iPaint

[Juan]

I have received that same mix of quality and I don't understand why.

[aiteal]

I bought Frostgrave for the rules, Rogue Stars for the miniatures, and I'm disappointed with them, flash, misaligned mould lines, bubbles. Sadly they've gone in a drawer and maybe at some point i'll feel up to taking a scalpel and file to them, the lack of quality control was even more evident as I got them the same week I got a small delivery from Statuesque minis and Crooked Dice, both of which are light years ahead in crisp detail. Even the Copplestone minis I received the week before of much much higher quality of casting. The facebook group has quite a few complaints.
The full starter pack was pretty much my monthly gaming budget once I bought a few TTCombat buildings. I'll not be rushing into the next Nickstarter.
 

[Christian]

That first one in particular is not looking too good. Can't you just send a polite email to Northstar and find out what went wrong?

[The Gray Ghost]

That's disappointing as I'm mostly interested in the miniatures.

[robh]

There seem to be more complaints than satisfied customers with these, I only picked up 3 of the figures through a shared pledge and they are not as bad as those above.
But still really clunky and basic looking sculpts with some nasty mould lines. Not even in the same league as Statuesque or CP Models.
Actually very disappointed in the standard of figures provided.

[iPaint]

There seem to be more complaints than satisfied customers with these, I only picked up 3 of the figures through a shared pledge and they are not as bad as those above.
But still really clunky and basic looking sculpts with some nasty mould lines. Not even in the same league as Statuesque or CP Models.
Actually very disappointed in the standard of figures provided.

Honestly, I prefer the chunky style of Mark Copplestone (and a lot of the Foundry/Artizan Designs/Footsore sculptors as well) when painting, as it gives a lot of surface with well defined edges, folds, and details to apply paint to, whereas more hyper-realistic sculpts from companies like Corvus Belli or Kingdom Death leave me wanting less...I dunno, subtlety(?) in the sculpt. Sculpting style aside, I think we can agree that the actual molding is the issue at hand, and less so the sculpts themselves - Copplestone's been at this for decades, and even some of his older models are still up to par.

That said, I've not had many (if any, really, I think) issues with the Frostgrave metal models I've ordered via North Star, but these Rogue Star releases are really underwhelming in terms of the final models compared to the promotional minis. These should be fresh, crisp molds, and about half of the models look fine, but several others just seem to have poor mold line placement or issues with the vulcanization process, leaving behind large chunks of extra metal or bubbles. One model, sadly, also has a mold line right across her face and eye - the absolute worst place for it, imo.

I plan on writing up a polite post to them and directing them to the album. Maybe it was just a bad batch that slipped through QC.

~iPaint

EDIT: Anyone know if Brigade Games (the USA distributor for the Nickstarters) handles they're own production and QC of the minis, or do they receive them directly from North Star and then just distribute? For clarification I received my pledge via Brigade Games.

[supervike]

I wasn't really planning on getting any of the official line right away, but those are pretty bleak...

They look so nice in the painted examples I've seen.

[iPaint]

I wasn't really planning on getting any of the official line right away, but those are pretty bleak...

They look so nice in the painted examples I've seen.

Crazy thing is, some models are completely fine with little or no issues outside of your standard "file a bit of mold line off and clip a few loose flash gates and it's good to go"....so I'm baffled how some got through and others didn't.

For instance, the lion is stellar and the officer with the little centipede on his back just noticed a huge chunk of flash in the centipede's mandibles and eyes....I'm hesitant to look at them any more....

While the couple human soldier-type models are simply underwhelming.

~iPaint

[hubbabubba]

Write them a polite emal and they'll probably change them for you. They replaced three of mine very quickly.
I think they let the QC slip in their rush to ship to the backers.

[The Gray Ghost]

I hope they get it straitened out as I like the looks of the painted figures.
but I'm going to put off buying any till then.

[iPaint]

I've sent an email off to both North Star and Brigade Games, will post back here when I hear back from them. I do hope it's just a QC issue.

~iPaint

[Tactalvanic]

I already went through with this, as having been happy with all the Frostgrave stuff, excepting one tiny piece.

I receieved Rogue Star as xmas present, it gave my better half  something to get for me that I would actually use. Eventually. One day. Honest.

Anyway  over half the miniatures were poor to worse - clear mold damage/worn out issues. Was so disappointed I did email Northstar, as I just did not feel like I should have to  re-carve faces, hacking out chunks of lumps of excess metal, or dealing with mis-alignment issues of more than a mm in some cases. Fine minor clean up etc, flash etc, but not that much hard labour should be needed.

The others, either completely ok or minor issues to smooth out etc.

Have to say:

- Fast polite response.
- Quick and easy to deal with.
- Replacements sent and received with written note/apology.

Received replacements were better. not perfect in some cases - but minor enough issues compared to the first that they can all now be dealt with.

I guess it may be that it was more popular than expected, but having said that I only just noticed this thread about it.

Shame  that the quality checks maybe slipped,  but North Star stepped up (at least in my case) and quickly shipped better replacements after I raised the issue.

[iPaint]

Yep, North Star has offered to replace the miscasts and have sent replacements, very well done there for their customer service. I think the scale of the game's success may have taken them by surprise as was mentioned earlier. I hope they can take this as a bit of a growing pain for future releases, though, and make sure they don't rush their miniatures out and sacrifice quality in the process.

If you do get miscasts, please contact North Star and see what they can do for you.

~iPaint

[iPaint]

Well, my replacements arrived, and sadly, I think this will be my last time ordering Rogue Stars models for the foreseeable future. About half the models were good, and the other half exhibited the same rushed molding, metal flaws, and alignment issues as the models they were meant to replace. One model even appeared to have some of its mold lines already filed down along the edges of the armor, though rather roughly done.

Meanwhile, the Copplestone Castings Future Wars and High Adventure models I ordered alongside the replacements are practically flawless...hard to believe they're from the same sculptor, yet the newer RS models look rushed and...well, amateurishly cast in comparison.

I'm not sure what to think any more...maybe the success of Rogue Stars was too good a thing? I credit North Star for sending replacements, but if I need replacements for the replacements, I think I'm just gonna cut my loses so both parties don't lose out. Maybe in a year's time there'll be better options.

~iPaint