Well, kind words from Chris. While I am pleased to have played a part, there is no doubt that credit for the quality of the figures is due to him.
Probably my last word on shrinkage. As hsf62 suggests, any alloy will have a combination of spin speed, temperature and to a lesser extent mould pressure, where it gives best reproduction. A cold mould or a hot mould can cause problems of their own – moulds expand and contract too. Generally, the amount of shrinkage is tiny especially at 32mm scale. It becomes more apparent with larger models. Which is a shame since those the are ones which use most metal and where you may need to use a cheaper alloy. Bismuth and tin are expensive metals. (And when you are using different alloys, there is always the possibility of contamination. Contamination is bad.)
(The only effect on design I recall was making the bases thinner to use less metal. Some of the PA figures which preceded Mithril had very thick bases and these probably made up a third of their weight.)
Other factors besides reproduction accuracy and cost matter too by the way. Mechanical strength is more important as figures become larger or more intricate. And some alloys especially with antimony cast with a hard surface which doesn’t take paint well.
Chris did and probably still does measure things, but at this scale, there is bound to be a little variation figure to figure. And people aren’t all 2M high after all.
So slight differences in size could arise from any number of factors. Even looking too hard!
