We at Corvus Belli are excited to announce the arrival of a new material for our miniatures. As you know, we like to investigate and evolve our manufacturing process, whether it be by refining and improving traditional metal manufacturing or innovating with new materials like thermoplastics, investing in it and acquiring new machinery for in-house manufacturing. In our quest to continue improving and offering you the best possible product, we have been testing the manufacturing of miniatures with a new material from an external supplier called Unicool for several months now. And today, we are happy to introduce it to you! WHAT IS THE MATERIAL? The material they use is a plastic resin, a mixture of resin and PVC that maintains a high level of detail but is not as fragile as conventional resin. It is a harder material than the thermoplastic you are already familiar with, but it is not a fragile material and is also flexible. When it comes to filing and cleaning the pieces, you will not encounter any problems and assembly is quite simple, as you can already imagine. On the other hand, the glue we recommend using to glue the pieces together is cyanoacrylate. If we talk about painting, this material does not require any special consideration in this regard, both for priming and painting, so you can continue to use the material you normally use. Finally, if any part of the miniature bends, it is as simple as putting the piece in hot water for a few seconds, straightening the piece, and when it cools down it will be back in place. WHY ARE WE MAKING THIS CHANGE? In addition to our manufacturing in metal and thermoplastic, we continue to investigate and search for new solutions that maintain the quality we demand from our products. We want to have alternatives for times of high demand. That's why we have partnered with Unicool to have the option of a new material. This production of plastic resin will allow us to have a new manufacturing option for specific cases. In no case will it mean that we will stop manufacturing in metal (it is well known that we have an infrastructure in our factory where metal machinery is the main protagonist). We love working with metal! Likewise, releases in thermoplastic will be maintained. HOW? From now on, some miniatures may be produced in this material. For 2023, we only plan to produce the alternative versions of the Marut and the Hassassin Ayyar in plastic resin, included in the new ITS Special pack that will be released next April. In the online store, we will indicate which products are made of metal, thermoplastic, or plastic resin appropriately. More info in the Studio Update #30: Source: https://infinitytheuniverse.com/blog/plastic-resin-miniatures
I'm confused. Is that a new plastic (*not* siocast) or just an update on transition to siocast plastic? It's not the same plastic that Vostoks etc. were made from?
This is a very relevant question, as many others have shown working with Siocast was troublesome when it came to things like cleaning mould lines.
Is explained in the text above: is a new plastic different from the thermoplastic we do in house, made by an external supplier. Is not the same plastic we produce here in our facilities. Also, as we explain too in the announcement, we will keep our production in metal and thermoplastic. This new material will be a alternative manufacturing option for us.
Oh, so now there's *thermoplastic* AND *plastic resin*. Two different things. And both in production. And there will be a significant difference in properties.
Okay, I'll be the grumpy nerd here. @Koni resin really doesn't tell us much. There are tons of stuff called 'resin' out there, with vastly different chemical composition. Sure, you recommend cyanoacrylates for gluing, but what about cleaning? Either initially and for cleaning paint/primer from them. On the other hand, showing both S7 and S2 from the new material will be good for us figuring out what the material is capable of. Maybe throwing in a small item of the new material in the Bakunin box (not a miniature, but some silly objective or a base) would have also been good, but it's a bit too late for that. Also, is the material of the REM Racers game decided?
Unicool works with Resin or PVC mostly PVC. Resin Plastic is a marketing shenanigan for PVC. And PVC is the customer unfriendliest material a company can provide. The only good thing about PVC is it is cheap (for the company that pulls its customers over the table with it).
We're just telling you the manufacturer description: a plastic between resin and PVC. Speaking of cleaning, is very easy. To clean, you can use a hobby knife and you won't have any problems. If you need sanding, it will be very easy too. You can use also the usual primer and paints you use with the rest of our miniatures. It works perfectly. Our painter who worked both with the Marut & the Ayyar had no problems working with the material :) Speaking of the REM Racers miniatures, they will be PVC like the Aristeia last expansions for example.
The manufacturer doesn't provide CB with the name of the exact chemical compound used? EU allows importing "a plastic between resin and PVC" just like that? Come on, treat us seriously here. You guys said the same thing about Siocast before. And PVC itself is the absolute worst for cleaning and sanding. So what is it? What properties will this have?
If you're open to doing stuff not-in-house, Archon Studio's makes excellent stuff in Poland that I'm sure would go over a bit better than another new material that requires explanation. Just sayin. :) I'm curious about the new material, but mostly disappointed since I was hoping it would be an Agamemnon. I already have a metal and siocast Marut, so I'm good.
My 5 minutes of google research indicates that Unicool is based in China and makes higher end plastic toys for various companies. Having something like that in their back pocket for large volume releases like starter sets that otherwise overwhelm the in-house production seems reasonable. I will agree with folks that the terminology being used is unclear, since “thermoplastic” and “plastic resin” are incredibly vague and nonspecific terms. Also please don’t quote me as having said the next Operations box will be plastic or anything like that. Koni has stated that the only Unicool release at the moment is the ITS kit, and I have no insight into CB’s production schedule. We know that Warcrow is intended to be fully plastic, so that would be a possible place where I might imagine high volume plastic releases would be helpful.
For my forum I made this synthesis of infos on Unicool if anyone is interested. Spoiler: Country Country: China Spoiler: Wesbsites Websites: https://unicoolgames.com/ https://www.unicooltoys.com/ Spoiler: Video of presentation Video presentation: Spoiler: Plastic available of minis/figures Plastic minis/figures Hundreds of games are released every year. How can we make our game stand out among them? Well, custom plastic minis should do the trick. Unicool Game Manufacturing can help you customize your figures, no matter what size or shape they are. We can make your figures out of plastic (PVC/ABS/HIPS, etc.) and resin (polyurethane/polyresin/polystone), whatever works best for your game. We can also help you make a 3D model from your drawing or sculpture. - PVC figures - HIPS Sprue figures - Resin figures Spoiler: Main References Customers for their toy lines: Disney, Sega, THQ, Coca Cola, EA, One Piece, Bandai, Marvel, Hello Kitty I noticed this amazing similarity Spoiler: Funny Unicool logo: And the Mooby's from Kevin Smith's movies Here is the statue in the office of the CEO of unicool
Thanks for answering, Koni, but I think we miscommunicated on what I was asking. To give you an example - acetone destroys HIPS. But nylon is safe from it. On the other hand, isopropanol and nylon are not friends but HIPS can deal with it. So, the question is - when stripping miniatures or cleaning them from release agent, if one is used - what solvent do we use?
Probably the same products as for the miniatures produced for the kickstarters, no? They did an article on their new plastic from 2022 but no indication for that. https://unicoolgames.com/unicool-plastic/ Spoiler: gallery minis
Oh, no... More like 'jaw-dropping mould lines'. The one going through his hand and forearm, the ones down his clothes, the ragged edge of the cape beside the book. The completely flat detail of the shoulder armour... If that's what they're proud of...
I guess we have to resign ourselves that the days of CB as "highest quality, most detailed minis" are done and gone. First siocast, now board game level PVC "resin".
I just hope its stiff enough to be cleaned with diamond files and not turn into rubbery mess like siocast. All that "you can scratch it with a back of hobby knife" bs never worked for me cause flat surfaces are usually not so bad anyway
I think it will be reasonable to assess the products in -person and trust that -as always- Corvus Belli will listen to feedback that is respectfully delivered, as their goal is likely to continue to deliver quality army man toys.
I think it would be reasonable to wait for actual models to reach peoples hands before the material is declared unfitting. CB has shown that listens to feedback, improves on products quality and experiments in bringing the best possible to its customers.
