Forge World, why are you like this?

I am the first person to argue that background should influence miniature design. Take, for instance, the fact that no Warhammer Dwarf has been armed with a sword in years, just axes and hammers. That is the good side of background influenced design. However, sometimes it is taken too far. Just because the product line is called “Forge World” should not make building the bloody things a century long artisanal project.

I am rapidly going off Forge World. I am currently building some Mark III Space Marines with Death Guard conversion parts (to get them done before the plastics come out) and it is a slog.

For one thing, there's the matter of cleaning the parts, which involves soapy water and a toothbrush that has already broken one shoulder pad. There's the horrible amount of flash on the parts, the fact I have to mutilate the groin of the plastic Space Marines to make them fit into the torso join and all the little distortions in the cast.

This is Games Workshop's premium product and there is no reason for it to be like this.

I have bought resin models and conversion parts from a number of companies over the years and none have been as irritatingly time consuming and prone to mismolding as Forge World. I have bought better quality resin from Games Workshop itself. As many issues as I have had with finecast, the models could at least be built without having to scrub them to within an inch of their lives. GW charge way above the odds for Forge World kits, many of which require you buy other high cost plastic kits to use them. This conversion kit is £25 (though it was slightly cheaper when I bought it, many moons ago) and I am using it to augment a £30 plastic kit.

I do not feel it unreasonable to expect these kits to be user friendly at the asking price. Smaller companies with much more modest R&D budgets than GW have managed to send me clean, properly molded resin kits that fit together (including with GW kits) like a glove.

Is the difficulty somehow a selling point? I know FW are meant to be the “expert” product but usability should be a priority.

Still, they look sweet once they're built, I just wish it weren't such a struggle to get them there.