quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 12, 2019 8:23:41 GMT
The same plastic is used for all the 1/32 sets. I mean in terms of color and feel, the bavarian and I think also the Prussian re-stock really looked different.. Just compare Napoleonic Prussian Infantry in Action to Napoleonic Russian Infantry in Action to see the difference. It's not just color.
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Post by Stan on Aug 12, 2019 10:24:24 GMT
I mean in terms of color and feel, the bavarian and I think also the Prussian re-stock really looked different.. Just compare Napoleonic Prussian Infantry in Action to Napoleonic Russian Infantry in Action to see the difference. It's not just color. Yes, that is my point...Something happened their in the production..A lot of details went lost and the plastic feels cheap...Detail don't come out..Plastic is light..And so on...Do you still have images of both sprues unpainted as a matter of prove? Since I don't (painted already). Stan
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 25, 2019 10:38:28 GMT
Just compare Napoleonic Prussian Infantry in Action to Napoleonic Russian Infantry in Action to see the difference. It's not just color. Yes, that is my point...Something happened their in the production..A lot of details went lost and the plastic feels cheap...Detail don't come out..Plastic is light..And so on...Do you still have images of both sprues unpainted as a matter of prove? Since I don't (painted already). Stan Yes I have and finally found them in my stash! I will make some comparison photos and post them soon!
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 25, 2019 11:13:33 GMT
I took some photos of them. First of all it is worth noting that the Prussians were released before this Russians then its sad for me because I believe quality of HaT products should increase over time which should depend on experience in plastic figures making.
I think there is problem with damaged mold.
Backpacks on this Russians don't fit well comparing to Prussians.
This Russian soldier looks ill or something is wrong with his balance.
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 25, 2019 11:18:15 GMT
Unfortunately we have six of them per box and every have the same issues!
I don't know is it bad sculpting or mold planning?
Same as above. It looks really horrible...
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 25, 2019 11:24:55 GMT
Loading pose soldiers quality comparison.
Firing pose figures backpacks fitting comparison.
That cartrige box seems to not fit well!
At the end I would like to point out that I ordered that Russians directly from you, HaT. I don't know if all Russian Infantry boxes look same shit like this. Maybe it is problem only with mine but it is sad that you sold me something like that.
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Post by Ironsides on Aug 25, 2019 19:27:49 GMT
I suspect that what your seeing there with the damaged, distorted and ill fitting Russians is the sprue being ejected too soon from the mould, in other words it hasn't been given enough time too cool before ejecting.
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Post by Stan on Aug 25, 2019 23:21:39 GMT
Do you also have the comparison of both the original and re-stocked Bavarians?
Stan
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Post by Brian on Aug 25, 2019 23:28:01 GMT
Hi Quarion, Hat's original test pictures look a lot better than yours hopefully it's something that can be corrected, I hope Hat will work on the 1/72 scale version soon and avoid these problems in the process.
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Post by Graeme on Aug 26, 2019 0:15:24 GMT
I agree with Ironsides, the bent figure looks like a case of racking when the plastic cooled. Try this:
Boil some water, pour it into a cup, dip the figure into the hot water.
If the figure hasn't gone back into shape by itself mould it into shape by hand and run under the cold tap to set.
The backpack looks like it's sitting clear of the figures back which means the connecting pin is just a little long. Does the pack fit better if you trim the length of the pin a bit?
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Post by rahway on Aug 26, 2019 2:13:43 GMT
I have Russians form the original release, purchased when they first became available. The extra plastic shown in the photos of the advancing and loading soldiers was there from the start. The Prussian Ladwehr soldier in the same pose has the same problem with the left arm.
The incomplete sword hilts have been a problem from the beginning and seem to have never been fixed.
The backpacks sit on the protruding blanket roll so they do not lie flat at all points on the soldier's back. This was the case in the original sets. It is not particular to the reissues.
These problems were noticed and discussed on the old forum when the sets were first issued.
I also have two sprues of the Command set test shots. The NCO's head, but not the body, always leaned back and was tucked into the left shoulder. Both NCOs had very prominent sink holes in their right abdomens on the test sprues. Fixing this seems to have produced a rough surface below the jacket in the original releases. The edge of the jacket is barely there.
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quarion
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Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 26, 2019 10:27:08 GMT
I suspect that what your seeing there with the damaged, distorted and ill fitting Russians is the sprue being ejected too soon from the mould, in other words it hasn't been given enough time too cool before ejecting.
Probably you are right but how I could get this product? In other words it should not have been sent to the customer.
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quarion
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Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 26, 2019 10:33:59 GMT
Do you also have the comparison of both the original and re-stocked Bavarians? Stan I already have 9315 Bavarian Infantry in Action and 9313 Bavarian Infantry Marching but quality of them looks similar to that Prussian from photos. Maybe 9315 looks a bit more crispy but both sets are great and flawless. I also have 9314 Bavarian Command and this set can be from restock as they are in darker plastic and clearly looks worse than Action and Marching sets.
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Post by Ironsides on Aug 26, 2019 10:36:13 GMT
Extra plastic in areas that would otherwise be undercuts has to do with the limitations of a two piece mould the figures have to release easily from the tool, theres only so much you can achieve without multiple pieces or more complex tooling (Zvezda and Caesar are two that come to mind who have used these two quite different approaches and even then they haven't always managed it)
That said the excess plastic in this case does look like a lot, but I'm sure could be improved with judicious use of a sharp knife providing the plastic is easy to cut, something I've frequently resorted to on many figures from many manufacturers. Its a good reason to read the full reviews on PSR at least for 1/72 figures (I dont know of anythingsimilar for 1/32) as they do often mention such problems as excess plastic, the worst set in my collection for this problem could well be Waterloo 1815s WW1 Italian infantry made worse by the tough plastic used, and the reason why I only ever bought one set!.
Sink holes occur when there is a large amount of plastic cooling down (as plastic expands when hot and shrink's when cooling, exactly the same problems can be seen in metal casting for the same reasons) sometimes this is prevented by tabs or blobs of plastic which you sometimes see attached to stategic points on the various pieces, these cavities in the tooling act as reservoirs in the case of excess shrinkage but are not always effective, many manufacturers have avoided this by using two halves (and therefore thinner parts) for the part in question (Häts Macedonian Elephants), but even then it can be a problem as can be seen in many many kits of all kinds in my Collection!
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 26, 2019 10:51:50 GMT
BrianYes, test photos looks much better. I think it's hard to correct already made moulds. GraemeThis NCO figure seems to not have any shape! Best what he can get now is just cutting his head and give him truly neck then glue head again. Lenght of the pin doesn't matter in that case as the problem there is big drop of excess plastic on his back which makes him look like camel! rahwayI much more prefer holes in abdomen which can be easly fixed by putty than destroyed front of that figure.
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 26, 2019 11:04:49 GMT
Extra plastic in areas that would otherwise be undercuts has to do with the limitations of a two piece mould the figures have to release easily from the tool, theres only so much you can achieve without multiple pieces or more complex tooling (Zvezda and Caesar are two that come to mind who have used these two quite different approaches and even then they haven't always managed it)
That said the excess plastic in this case does look like a lot, but I'm sure could be improved with judicious use of a sharp knife providing the plastic is easy to cut, something I've frequently resorted to on many figures from many manufacturers. I always use sharp knife to trim out excess of plastic but the problem I would like to point out there is that HaT already made much better set of Prussians before that Russians. Excess plastic don't bother me but it is bothersome if parts don't fit together and when details on the figure are destroyed.
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Post by Ironsides on Aug 26, 2019 11:18:33 GMT
I suspect that what your seeing there with the damaged, distorted and ill fitting Russians is the sprue being ejected too soon from the mould, in other words it hasn't been given enough time too cool before ejecting.
Probably you are right but how I could get this product? In other words it should not have been sent to the customer. Occasionally some things get missed or go wrong... C’est la vie.
Manufacturers often provide a means to resolve problems with plastic kits with defects like those mentioned, in many countries these days you can legally return the kit to the seller or at least your able to tell them of the problem and get a replacement or refund as a result, this even extends to sellers on ebays or vendors in other countries. My most recent example is a figure set I recieved from an ebay seller, on opening I discovered the contents in the manufacturers box was something else entirely (perfect Peruvian anyone!) and not the Persians I ordered, a quick message resulted in a replacement of the correct contents being despatched at no cost or additional expense to me.
In my view a simple polite message to the seller can quite often correct many problems with damaged, defective or wrongly packed items.
The last resort for me would be to contact the manufacturer direct and I believe Hät does have a line for this though on their website.
Split from the previous restocks thread
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quarion
Praetor
Waiting for 1/32 Austrians!
Posts: 114
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Post by quarion on Aug 26, 2019 11:29:57 GMT
Thanks for tips! I bought them long time ago so don't know if they want to give me replacement in that case. The reason I didn't write to them after I received that box is that I bought them directly from HaT and as I'm from EU and that's why I decided it is not worth to send back one box of figures to US.
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Post by Stan on Aug 26, 2019 14:43:44 GMT
Do you also have the comparison of both the original and re-stocked Bavarians? Stan I already have 9315 Bavarian Infantry in Action and 9313 Bavarian Infantry Marching but quality of them looks similar to that Prussian from photos. Maybe 9315 looks a bit more crispy but both sets are great and flawless. I also have 9314 Bavarian Command and this set can be from restock as they are in darker plastic and clearly looks worse than Action and Marching sets. Yes that is my point! I have the first ones and saw the re-stocks look different. I thinkg re-stocks just should be the exact same from the first production figures :-)
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Post by Stan on Aug 26, 2019 14:46:53 GMT
The hot-Cold water technique normally indeed works really nice! My Russians are still on the sprues so by the time I get to them I will dip em in the water and hope it will correct the NCO, personally, I am not really bothered by it...But he indeed looks like he had too much vodka before going into battle ;-)
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Post by waynew on Aug 26, 2019 17:20:26 GMT
I have both sets from the original issues and have noticed none of the problems stated - I've painted both sets so had ample opportunity to examine them up close. Perhaps it's a box or two that didn't get caught in quality control in China? (Where I'm assuming they were boxed.)
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Post by rbhjr on Aug 26, 2019 17:45:42 GMT
I bought about 3 sets of the 1/32 Russians several years ago (I believe when they first came out) and then bought the command set a few months ago.
I have to say that these are the worst Hat sets I have purchased in terms of sizing, molding and sculpting. While disappointing, particularly when considering how awesome ever other Hat set I’ve ever bought has been, it did not shake my support for Hat or willingness to buy their other sets.
No one can be perfect all the time, and I think Hat puts a lot of effort into its research, quality control and listening to their customers both before and after production. That makes me confident that their hits will far exceed their misses.
Cheers
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Post by rbhjr on Aug 26, 2019 17:49:00 GMT
Sorry, and to add;
While the 1/32 Russians were disappointing, they were still certainly good enough for me to buy a couple more sets to fill out my units.
I’ll take the Hat Russians any day over many other producers figures!
Cheers
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Post by Stan on Aug 26, 2019 17:49:30 GMT
I bought about 3 sets of the 1/32 Russians several years ago (I believe when they first came out) and then bought the command set a few months ago. I have to say that these are the worst Hat sets I have purchased in terms of sizing, molding and sculpting. While disappointing, particularly when considering how awesome ever other Hat set I’ve ever bought has been, it did not shake my support for Hat or willingness to buy their other sets. No one can be perfect all the time, and I think Hat puts a lot of effort into its research, quality control and listening to their customers both before and after production. That makes me confident that their hits will far exceed their misses. Cheers Wise words to which I can only agree! Hurrah for HaT!
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Post by pinotnoir on Aug 27, 2019 20:21:24 GMT
Bought a number of1/32 Russian Command sets to "lead" a horde of black cat Russians purchased on ebay. The command set looks to be closer to scale than the line and blend in with the rest of the BC army. Added plumes on this stand as it "commands" a grenadier regiment. The detail is quite crisp- none of the issues Q experienced with his set. I consider the backward leaning NCO to be checking alignment of his soldiers. He is usually the first figure in the second rank of a unit- saw lots of NCOs doing the same thing in my uniform wearing days. The backpack gets treated with boiling water/ice cubes to better fit the figure.
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