"Cost of Perry Metal Miniatures Going Up" Topic

This quote from the Perrys, 'This is a prior warning that we'll be increasing the metal codes by 50p on April 2nd (we didn't want to make it April 1st as customers might think it was a joke!). So if your thinking of buying get those orders in pronto to save some money!'

A shame, but understandable. However, despite this price rise, Perry figures are still some of the cheapest around as well as being, in my humble opinion, the best (not sure how that works but still…).

Let's hope there's a commensurate upgrade in casting quality.

The sculpting is magnificent but the casting quality, not so much anymore.

Agreed on both sculpting quality, and sadly on casting quality.

If they would fix their casting problems, I might consider buying from them again….

I must be lucky. I have not noted any great problems in casting.

Happy to pay more if the casting quality matched Murawski or Calpe.

The last Perry figures I bought were well cast.

I'd happily pay more if the casting was consistently as good as Fife & Drum. I have never understood why the Perrys let their creatively and output be blunted by what is generally pretty poor production quality. I just don't get it. I hate preparing their figures so only have one period – Sudan using their models. I'd love to add more to my collection but it's just such hard work when it should just be fun.

I bought some of the metal DAK line packs in May 2017 I believe (or perhaps earlier in that year).The casting wasn't up to their normal standards. Since I live in the US I just sucked it up and cleaned them but… it took a lot of work. I am not going to buy anything else from the DAK line.

Don

Devastating news!

No, seriously, it might be a good time to start painting that lead mountain, and stop constantly adding to it!

As long as I live to be 247 I should get everything finished and then I can put in my next order.

Casting remains their biggest problem. Spent the past two evenings de-burring 50 figures. Front Rank and Calpe casting is so clean. Why can't the Perry's fix it?

At long last, they are still about 50% way way way too cheap anyway, costs of moulds and rubber has rocketed in recent years and it is only the fact that these boys are millionaires that they have probably no analysed the costs properly! I can put my prices up at long last. And yeah I had picked up on their poor casting quality too.

It is the finishing that is the problem.

Sculpting/Mouldings are great, castings are generally sharp with very few dimples..but….

What can let them down is the flash that is so noticeable beween horses' legs and which can create the mould lines, right across one-piece figures' faces (eg second ADC, Levavasseur, with Ney). Sanding does fix most problems and it is something not to skip!

More annoying are the ejection pins. These always arise on riders' heels and toes, on the corners of their shabraques, the right edge of the cartouche, the tip of the scabbard, the butt of the carbine etc etc. The snag is that they are not always evident until undercoated or, worse, until one starts painting.

I should stress that 90% of my collection is Perry work and I know the debt we all owe them……..

Yeah, I've been buying Perry for years, and the castings _have_ improved since that low point a couple years ago. They're very quick to respond to emails, and say that they're sending my photos on to the casters--which is great--but yeah, a Front Rank or Calpe figure is going to be much quicker to get to prime. In that recent WI YouTube video, where they discussed the number of metal packs they have for sale--it was something like 2,100. I don't think a comprehensive retooling is on the way.

Agreed very much with deadhead on the pins--and the little bits on every spoke of every wheel. Otoh, a lot of folks like cleaning up figures, so here ya go.

I have no idea who does the casting, but they need a refresher course on how to do so. It is a travesty that for the quality of the sculptors, we have to receive poorly cast figures for the price. No matter what the price, there is no quality control. Unfortunate. Hopefully the Perry's will see the concern from their customers and do something about it.

The snag is that they are not always evident until undercoated or, worse, until one starts painting.

I agree, still I prefer Perrys to cleaner casted miniatures due to their excellent poses and research.

Agree 100%. They are unbeatable even with casting issues.

Wheels! I had forgotten wheels and flash………..yes indeed

I wonder if they would sell more or make a greater profit if they got their casting up to the standard of Griffin.

I think I read that they sell 25,000 figures a month. It would be interesting to know the UK/rest of the world split. With a weak pound the £0.50 GBP isn't that much of an increase if your country's currency is doing well against sterling.

I had some casts of masters back from griffin recently and I wasn't that impressed with the casting, I think I'll carry on using Sgts Mess for now. The slip line accross the face issue is a constant lottery, sadly you cant control where it goes as easily as you think. Personally if it was accross the face I'd re mould but sadly you are doubling your fixed costs… and on command figures it just dont justify the re-mould even if you are the 'big boys' like the Perrys. The problem with mould vents and feeds is if you dont have them then the figure desn't form properly, so it's a bit of rough with the smooth I'm afraid. Injection pins only exist on plastic frames and generally now they are on the sprue part so are not an issue. What you refer to on the metal figures are what we would call 'vents' which allow air to escape the mould, without it the figure would not form that musket tip or boot toe etc. Hope this helps but i guess it's all as clear as mud now lol. And yes it's not going to stop me buying more perry figures either.

+1 jeffreyw3
Calpe and Front Rank for me.

I've gone with their plastics for my recent WOTR and AWI purchases.
The cleanest metal castings that I've ever seen are those from Fife & Drum – they are literally ready to prime right out of the package.

Now I have learnt something. I have long cursed Ejection pins, knowing they were pushing metal out of the figure mould, but was confusing them with INjection pins in plastics.

So now I will curse the vents and those little metal spikes that are so easily missed in preparation…but I know where to look these days.

Front Rank, Calpe, Gringos40 seem to be able to avoid them. But where would we be without the Perrys?

Fife and Drum? New to me, so checked them. They look superb, SYW and AWI, with some very imaginative 18th Century civilians too……if only they did Napoleonics, early 19th C

my vote for extremly clean casts and superbly researched miniatures Black Hussar – 7YW – their caster and mould maker, Schilling is one of the best world wide.

Love Perry's and have bought thousands. But yes casting is disappointing compared to Murawski, Black Hussar and Front Rank figures I've received which have all been consistently good across multiple orders.

Will still be doing another big order or two to Perry before April 2nd though! Need loads more Austrian cavalry and Hungarian infantry to complete some OOB's…

Maybe their castings have a lot of vents etc because their poses are a bit more animated than others, so the moulds need a bit of help in getting metal into all the corners ? That dosent explain the wheel castings though .Those are pretty straightforward I would have thought.

Interesting thought….that what I have always (wrongly) called ejection pins, the metal spike that remains after seeping through the vent, might relate to the challenges of dynamic casting.

Certainly many of their figures are quite remarkable sculptures. I have here in front of me a shot and falling Nassau infantryman and to produce this as a single casting is quite amazing.

The pins I have learnt to live with and I know where to find them now, very consistently on every figure. They are a price I will pay, but that doesn't stop me having a moan!

I was excited to start painting a couple of Bavarian Artillery sets and all I can say is I wish I had started with the figures… instead I start d with the cannons and stopped at the wheels… went right back to the Perry French Horse artillery, then to Heroics Ros Polish artillery teams then to Perry French leger and so on, the Bavarians keep getting pushed back in the queue, that being said, I am keen to order more Bavarian Artillery, need the 12pdrs and howitzers…

I dont have a problem with it really. Some metal miniatures need cleaning up but then all plastics need cleaning up and assembling . I just see it as part of the process . However as Markconz said earlier the Black Hussar miniatures are almost ready to prime as they come.Maybe they just dont have to deal with the volume that the Perrys have to cope with .

I've never minded doing the cleaning-up of new figures. It's something to do on a small board on my lap while watching TV, with knife and file.

And occasionally Dremel, to smooth the undersides of the bases. (Now that I DON'T do in the lounge).

Be sure to wear goggles. If only once in your life a bit of metal should fly onto your cornea……….

Cutting metal with scalpel was new to me, until I read it was perfectly possible. No loss of metal between the two halves as with even the finest saw. But if that scalpel blade snaps……..ouch.

Too late for me to wear ear defenders now. But I have started to when using proper power tools…..far too late.

Dangerous business this modelling. Do you lick your brush to a point? Do you inhale ceramic dust when grinding? Do you find a swift libation or two steadies your painting hand?

Yes !!!!! Especially the libation

Three Armies: I had some casts of masters back from griffin recently and I wasn't that impressed with the casting, I think I'll carry on using Sgts Mess for now. The slip line accross the face issue is a constant lottery, sadly you cant control where it goes as easily as you think. Personally if it was accross the face I'd re mould but sadly you are doubling your fixed costs… and on command figures it just dont justify the re-mould even if you are the 'big boys' like the Perrys. The problem with mould vents and feeds is if you dont have them then the figure desn't form properly, so it's a bit of rough with the smooth I'm afraid. Injection pins only exist on plastic frames and generally now they are on the sprue part so are not an issue. What you refer to on the metal figures are what we would call 'vents' which allow air to escape the mould, without it the figure would not form that musket tip or boot toe etc. Hope this helps but i guess it's all as clear as mud now lol. And yes it's not going to stop me buying more perry figures either.

As I type this I'm cleaning your Spanish Line infantry figures. There is flash on practically every bayonet, and on the underside of many of the bicornes. I've lost a couple of bayonets (which are very fine) during the cleaning process. And big chunks on the bottom of many bases. The figures are beautiful once they are cleaned and primed however.

yes indeed, we do suffer from that too, There will alwys need to be a vent on the end of every bayonet wherever you go even griffin, otherwise the air will not vent and the bayonet will not form. The popularity of the Spanish did rather catch me out and they are already on new moulds! I could go to griffin but do people really want to pay twice the price? I'm glad you like them though. :) If you want the broken figures replaced I'm happy to do that, just drop me a mail on the web site. No problem.

Thanks for the offer but, frankly, the problem is more irritating than a deal breaker. I went from eager to paint them to putting them to the back of my painting queue – behind Calpe and Front Rank figures which display no such problems.

And I think that is the problem – those people, like me, who buy from Calpe, Front Rank and (apparently Murawski), expect that kind of quality, particularly as we're also painting plastics which just need a scrape of the blade over mould lines. Essentially, we're used to minimal prep time.

You only need to browse the fora to see there are people who won't buy Perry because of the perceived poor quality of the castings, whether justified or not.