Ultracast Romans are as good as metal figs

[Leftblank]

More pics and a short review here:
https://amsterdamwar.game.blog/2022/04/05/ultracast-romans-are-as-good-as-metal-figs/

[black hat miniatures]

Plastics are likely to go up in price as they are made from oil and the costs of that are increasing rapidly and supply is limited.  At least metal can be recycled easily and cheaply.

Ultracast is just PSC renaming the plastic production from the siocast machines also used by Warlord and Gripping Beast.

I still don't get a appeal of 15mm plastics over metals or of the production process for the cost.  They are cheaper to ship but (to my mind) an inferior product.

But I guess I am old and set in my ways.... 

[OB]

I painted my first two ultracast 15mm figures this week.  I picked up a box of Huns cheap and thought I'd give it a go.  They are perfect duplicates of the original metal Lurkio figures.

You do have to carefully remove mold lines with a very sharp blade.  Otherwise no problem and no need to undercoat either.  I'd agree with Leftblank they are as good as metal figures.

[SJWi]

Leftblank, thanks for the review as I had heard very mixed reviews of the Pacto models. I game Ancients/Medieval exclusively in 28mm, so of no real immediate interest but always good to see how the technology is evolving. I have also heard very, very mixed reviews of the Warlord "plastic" products" and have steered well clear of them.

I have a friend who has dived into 3D printing in a big way and is producing some superb vehicles and 20mm modern figures. Almost as good as the best injection plastic models. However it does seem to be a "hobby within a hobby" and not something you can just dabble in. It has taken him probably 3 years of trial and error, investment in several 3D printers and many, many hours in the man-cave to get to where he has.  In the same time I have painted several full 28mm armies and completed various other projects!

Each to their own as they say. 

[Leftblank]

I still don't get a appeal of 15mm plastics over metals or of the production process for the cost.  They are cheaper to ship but (to my mind) an inferior product.

It very much depends. I always liked Corvus Belli and Xyston. Many sculpts are average to good, but these are superior, already when manufactured in metal, but also as perfect copies in plastic. No Airfix softplastic clone. The technology improved, IMHO.

[NickNascati]

Are the Ultracast ancients made in one piece?

[Norm]

I had a dabble and put my experiences up on my blog, which may be of interest. In the link below, scroll down to part 2, which covers the figures and shows some examples.

Link

http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2020/11/ultracast-figures-and-mortem-et-gloriam.html

[OB]

Are the Ultracast ancients made in one piece?

Some are, some are not.  It seems to depend on whether the original metal figure was.

[WuZhuiQiu]

I had a dabble and put my experiences up on my blog, which may be of interest. In the link below, scroll down to part 2, which covers the figures and shows some examples.

Link

http://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2020/11/ultracast-figures-and-mortem-et-gloriam.html

Thank you. How well does the ultracast material respond to heat? I am pondering whether a pyrogravure might be used to melt mould lines?

[Norm]

Thank you. How well does the ultracast material respond to heat? I am pondering whether a pyrogravure might be used to melt mould lines?

I don't know as I only ever used hot water and that was only to straighten spears.  I imagine that if you applied something hot enough to melt mould lines, that you would risk damage to the sculpt, especially on the more fragile areas such as spears. It might be worth e-mailing Plastic Soldier Company with that question, they have been working with the material long enough to likely have a good appreciation of its properties and limitations.

[mc_deli]

I got the PSC Sassanids and Huns when they were cheaper. The Sassanids I got are poor though. Lots of miscasts and lots to clean up. The Huns are better. But... so much harder to clean the plastics than metals for me. The experience has put me right off plastics TBH and I will buy more metal Xyston rather then same figs in plastic. Yeah, no, not for me.

[Norm]

I got the PSC Sassanids and Huns when they were cheaper. The Sassanids I got are poor though. Lots of miscasts and lots to clean up. The Huns are better. But... so much harder to clean the plastics than metals for me. The experience has put me right off plastics TBH and I will buy more metal Xyston rather then same figs in plastic. Yeah, no, not for me.

To be fair, the PSC resin is different enough from hard plastic as not to be thought of in the same way. For example the recent Warlord Games EPIC scale releases, done in hard plastic, both ACW and Napoleonic are even smaller at 13.5mm and their detail is crisp and the figures are without flash or in need of any clean-up, so it is not traditional hard ‘plastic’ V metal that is the issue here.

Warlord actually use some of the ‘solcast’ style plastic resin in ‘some’ of their 28mm production (Spanish Napoleonic I think) and it would be interesting to note whether one company does it better than the other and also whether over time, the firms have gone through a learning process in using the material and are now producing a better product. My own experience was only with the initial releases.

[Littlearmies]

To be fair, the PSC resin is different enough from hard plastic as not to be thought of in the same way. For example the recent Warlord Games EPIC scale releases, done in hard plastic, both ACW and Napoleonic are even smaller at 13.5mm and their detail is crisp and the figures are without flash or in need of any clean-up, so it is not traditional hard ‘plastic’ V metal that is the issue here.

Warlord actually use some of the ‘solcast’ style plastic resin in ‘some’ of their 28mm production (Spanish Napoleonic I think) and it would be interesting to note whether one company does it better than the other and also whether over time, the firms have gone through a learning process in using the material and are now producing a better product. My own experience was only with the initial releases.

The trouble is that the Warlord Spanish (ex Three Armies) that I've seen reviewed are nowhere near the same quality as the metal Three Armies figures that I own. Now it may be that Warlord are simply crap at the production process and it isn't an issue with the resin / plastic / whatever the hell you want to call it that Warlord use....but having seen Siocast / Ultracast tank models with droopy barrels I just don't see it as a viable option for me.
   

[zemjw]

Reaper Bones USA is also siocast. The detail on the few figures I have is excellent, but partly because they're closer to 35mm tall - so tall that I will struggle to use them with 28mm Stargrave figures. They fit in nicely with the newer, bigger Infinity figures.

However, cleaning them is a major pain. They don't sand or scrape, and it's back to cuting off the mould lines  Even then, there were some flakes that stayed attached to the figures, and I ended up painting over them.

Mantic is moving their plastics to siocast as well, so there is no escaping it.

[pikeman]

I bought the Goth MeG Pacto box and am not impressed. I wrote a letter of complaint to PSC, and to their credit, they sent me another box, which were just as bad. The cavalry were deformed and not worth the trouble to paint.
I’m looking for someone to buy them now, but am not optimistic.
I take a lot of time on my collections, and desire casting quality to be good. These figures are very poor.