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Old 02-16-2020, 10:30 PM   #311
pdenham
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The wings.

The Wings are made of resin and it seems to only be solid around the keys and the rest of the area that's in proximity to the back of the figure. As you move further out to the wing tips, it becomes hollower and the walls progressively thinner.
The keys themselves look substantial enough. There are two progressive shapes in the resin for each key, and ultimately a brass rod extending from the smaller key that fits into a channel itself.



Once you put the wing up to fit, you see the first dumb design decision. Rather than having the key enter the back at a downward angle, to let gravity help lock it in place, it slides in horizontally and possibly even at a slight incline of a degree or two. Because of that, it's critical that channel the the peg is housed in is secure enough.

I tried fitting the left wing first, but it was difficult to see the how the channel for the peg was orientated- if it was at any kind of an angle that needed to be accounted for (like the back foot on the last SS Wolverine PF that gave so many people problems). Since I was meeting to much resistance after hitting the peg hole, I decided to back off for a bit and try the other wing instead. Pulling it out I noticed, even though I wasn't forcing it, I was still chipping the edges around the hole.



That sure doesn't seem like any heavy duty resin there.

The right wing went in with less trouble and seemed to slide in secure and snug- but because of the wing's weight and the angle of the key, I don't have a huge amount of confidence in it's long term security.
Even less so for someone like myself who regularly rotates pieces in and out of display and will need to break it down and reassemble it a half dozen more times over it's lifespan.
AA was right on in in suggesting that this looks to be something to set up in a more or less permanent installation. Switching out wings is going to be asking for trouble, even when the keys and locks seem fine to start.

So I went back to the left wing and with some slight wiggle finally got it in only to hear a noticeable crack as I fitted it flush. While it seemed to be be in securely, something was obviously now broken so I reluctantly pulled it back out.
This is what I saw.

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Old 02-16-2020, 10:56 PM   #312
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I could not believe
1) that there was no real channel for that peg after all, as the left side opened to a complete void
2)just how thin the resin was in this critical an area. That area would have shattered from a toothpick pressing too hard against it.


For comparison, this is the peg channel on the right side of the figure.






As you can see, there are walls on all four sides that are at least a half inch deep to securely grab the brass rod.

I took a thin styrene strip and probed the opening on the left to get a better sense of what all was lacking.




As you can see, there is no boundary on the left side at all. In the last pic, looking up, the top wall is visible and looks to deep enough. The right side wall also seems substantial enough.
It's the bottom (second to last pic), that is barely there while the left side is nothing but air.
At this point the wing won't stay in at all, and just slides out completely.
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Old 02-16-2020, 11:18 PM   #313
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So here's the deal.
With just about anything else I'd say, this just ain't worth it. I want my money back, this is garbage.

Except, this isn't exactly crap. It's crap QC, crap casting, and almost certainly crap engineering which possibly isn't built to last.

But the design, and sculpt and paint apps, are flat out phenomenal. This thing rocks... hard.



I mean seriously, look at the wrinkles on the elbow- an area most viewers are likely to never see.



This is world class work, and I hate to give it up without exhausting at least a little effort.
While it's not something I relish doing, there has got to be a way to address this short of rolling the dice on another copy of it altogether. Given the low run, I doubt they have any real amount of replacements anyway.
Also, having lurked around the RPF forum for the last couple years, and seeing all the amazing things modelers there can scratch build and engineer out of practically nothing, it seems like something like this has to have a fixable solution.
Maybe filling the chamber with silicone and then using some JB weld or Aves to build up the left wall and reinforce the other sides?

I'll need to contact SS tomorrow and see what the options are. Unfortunately this is the worst time for me to do this as I have to hit the road for work Friday, and will be gone for several weeks.
I doubt SS is going to allow me the time to brainstorm this. So it's down to a either paying full price for a broken fixer-upper, or else not having it at all.
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Old 02-17-2020, 12:02 AM   #314
mars
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Thank you very much pdenham for you're very thorough review on the quality of this Iron Studio statue.

With what you said I'm going to give this a thumbs down I feel that IS have short-changed us, meaning I was expecting a true polystone heavy statue! this is costing me Two and a half thousand dollars and for that sort of money I would expect something better.

Because I am able to cancel this order now and not lose any money I'm going to do so, but I'm going to put the money towards something much better that I've been wanting to get for some time but resisted because of the amount and that is Romell Chopraa P1 Lobo DX

If you choose to keep this good luck with Him, personally I thinks Iron studio have done the dirty on us given us this crap and I'm not going to support them by keeping it.
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Old 02-17-2020, 01:01 AM   #315
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That's not an unreasonable reaction mars. If this was a $600 statue that came in one 2' x 3' box, I'd say for anyone that liked the looks of it enough, to go ahead and take the chance.

Mine isn't the only lemon that's out there though and it sounded like aa's issue was almost certainly what I'm experiencing as well.

As far as the cost- , when you factor in simple monetary inflation, this came out $1000 less than the Wolverine LSF did seven years ago. When you factor in the rate of upward price creep we've seen in this particular hobby over that same period, the price of this Hawkman is likely equivalent to at least $1500-$2000 less than that Wolverine.
That I had much less of a problem sending back, though I was just as impressed with it then as I am this one now.
This one is problematic, with -for most people- some absolutely stay-away, deal killing issues. But if you get one that doesn't have issues, it's an insane value piece.

I almost wished I hadn't set it up yet so that I would be out of the return period and forced to find a solution for it. Necessity-invention and all that. As it is, I can still cash out completely and will probably, reluctantly, have to do that.
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Old 02-17-2020, 01:36 AM   #316
mars
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Yes I hear what you're saying pdenham and for the most part I do agree with you.

I am glad that I have not yet received mine and I get the opportunity to ring my supplier and tell them I'm not interested in taking it. With what I've been reading I don't see this lasting the length of time. And YES I can understand them making the wings light because that way it won't fall or drag down like Prime 1 Hush Batman is.

But the photos that you have shown above and that the internal of the statue is Hollow! and does not support the key in for the wings!? That is what made me decide not to go ahead with it even if you fill it in as you mentioned. Then you definitely got no chance of returning it and you might be getting yourself into more trouble than you think and might regret it and then you've wasted all that money.


IS can Keep it!
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Old 02-17-2020, 09:20 AM   #317
ambasah
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aa909 View Post
Congrats! Sounds like you got a good one. BTW How do the pegs "feel" when you insert the wings? and have you tried doing a few swaps between open and closed to see how the pegs/keys hold up?

Post some pics!
I put the open wings first and they were easy. Then the closed...one of which was a -----...I actually sprayed some Wd40 on the peg to help it slide in. I was going to display open but actually liked the closed more. Given everything I am hearing, I don't think I am going to switch them much...if ever.

ADVICE: Put the damn sword in first, before the wings. I didn't realize how much of a pain in the ass it is so did not bother to "do it right". Here is a pic of my setup:
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Old 02-17-2020, 04:05 PM   #318
aa909
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdenham View Post
I could not believe
1) that there was no real channel for that peg after all, as the left side opened to a complete void
2)just how thin the resin was in this critical an area. That area would have shattered from a toothpick pressing too hard against it.


For comparison, this is the peg channel on the right side of the figure.






As you can see, there are walls on all four sides that are at least a half inch deep to securely grab the brass rod.

I took a thin styrene strip and probed the opening on the left to get a better sense of what all was lacking.




As you can see, there is no boundary on the left side at all. In the last pic, looking up, the top wall is visible and looks to deep enough. The right side wall also seems substantial enough.
It's the bottom (second to last pic), that is barely there while the left side is nothing but air.
At this point the wing won't stay in at all, and just slides out completely.
pdenham what a freakin bummer

I know exactly how you feel, unfortunately commiserating doesn't fix these issues which is so frustrating given the immense presence of this piece

The damage you show to the left wing key hole breaking is likely what I had as well. I noticed that when I went to pack up the statue there was something rolling around in the body, which was not the case when I initially unpacked it and handled the piece. It must've been a piece of the key hole which broke off in to the body of the statue.

From your pictures this looks like a casting issue where the walls of the key are not very thick. Unfortunately there is no way to know if you've got a good or bad piece until a breakage like this happens. However you are spot on with your point that they should've engineered the keys in such a manner where the pegs insert on an angle, which would add significantly more stability and support over time.

Let us know what you decide. I'll be following closely If you decide to keep it and repair it. Good Luck
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Old 02-17-2020, 04:43 PM   #319
pdenham
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I contacted SS and am waiting to hear back now.

I've started researching some possible solutions, but have a lot of questions on their viability or potential for effectiveness. I don't think I will get answers in the next couple days, so right now I'm just hoping for an extension on the return window- if they can't get me a replacement.

Even if I could get a functional replacement, I'm still going to work towards a better engineering solution for the wings, as from what I've seen so far, failure over time is certainly a possibility given the weight they exert on those connection points.

On this sample here, those wings have to be between 1/4-1/3 the weight of the entire statue. That's too heavy for how thinly cast the rest of it is.

It's possible that for the owners like ambash, they were fortunate to get one that's been more robustly cast in general. I hope that's the rule and cases like ours are just the exception.

Also- Damn! I didn't realize the Hush Superman was that tall. I'm not a big Jim Lee fan, but that's an impressive piece!
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Old 02-17-2020, 08:45 PM   #320
leplant
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Unless your statue arrives broken, or breaks during set up, you wouldn't be aware of its impending failure until the window for returning has passed. Based on reviews it doesn’t sound like this is an anomaly. Iron Studios should consider a recall
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