"Super-detailed or simple?" Topic

Maybe I'm just particularly attuned to this problem as I'm painting hundreds of samuari, but it seems that many gamers prefer either super-detailed miniatures or simple miniatures. In my mind, I'm thinking of the recent McVey sculpt (http://theminiaturespage.com/news/579288/) to the miniatures of Crusader, Artizan, Copplestone, etc.

I notice that Frothers/Lead Adventures Forum tends to like the super-detailed sculpts whereas TMP prefers a more simple sculpt. Is it because TMPers field and paint hundreds of miniatures while others only paint a few?

Steve
cavalcadewargames.com
nycjadie.wordpress.com

My gaming armies have hundreds of figures in them and most of them are detailed sculps (Foundry and Perry) I'm not sure where you get the idea that simple sculps are preferred by most.

the game is in the details (of the minis…not in the rules…)

Detailed miniatures are easier to paint. JMHO

I don't care too much. If it looks the part I use it.

I think it's an issue of form and function.

Some figures are clearly designed as display pieces, to be painted very carefully, taking time to bring out the details. They may certainly be used as gaming models – usually as leaders or other character types – but they are expensive and slow to paint to the standard they merit.

Other figures may be just as well sculpted in terms of anatomy, animation and eye for key detail, but are kept clean and simple for ease of painting. These may very well be rank and file figures, because the collector/painter/owner/choose-your-term needs a lot of them at reasonable expenditure of his time and money.

One is not better than the other. They serve different purposes.

Some while ago I painted a collection of fantasy pirate types for a friend, who pays me to paint, but doesn't have a lot of spare cash. So I try not to charge him very much, and that means not spending two hours on a figure when he's paying me for twenty minutes.

Some of the pirates were by Crusader – nice, straightforward sculpts with a bit of exaggeration on selected details. Very much 'army figures', and good ones. They were a pleasure to paint. The rest were by Rackham, highly detailed models with all sorts of extraneous details, like fish sticking out of pockets. They took about three times as long to paint.

If I'd been in the mood for about eight hours of extra painting, I might have cherished the whimsical detail. As it was I cursed the sculptor as a pretentious show-off.

I used to carry fish in my pocket. I agree; in retrospect it was pretentious.

Now I just blow my nose on the nearest invertebrate.

"I'm not sure where you get the idea that simple sculps are preferred by most."

I don't. I think some people prefer detailed and others plain. I would also put most Perry and Foundry miniatures in the simple category.

Yes, I think people are reading your wrong here. Simple sculpts are Perry (for the most part – some are more ornate), Foundry, Artizan, Crusader, us (Wargames Factory), especially Mark Copplestone, etc.

By simple – nycjadie means that the miniatures are designed to be easy to paint quickly. The design helps enhance the detail that is there when paint is applied.

Whereas you look at something like Scibor (GW-esque miniatures) and every square millimeter is covered in "stuff" that needs attention from a brush.

But to your first point – yeah, I think TMP'ers are mostly wargamers who want to "get them on the table" and prefer a simpler design that when paint is applied results in a great wargames miniature. They don't expect their 500 figure Zulu army to be judged for a Golden Demon (if GW judged other miniatures that is!!!) ;-)

It totally depends on what I'm trying to accomplish. Time and money are both resources.

For WWII or ACW 15mm I spend very little of either and get an 'acceptable' product. These are not my favorite periods but they are popular in the local area. I will probably never win a painting contest but my stuff is still better than 75% of the FOW stuff you will see -- sad really because I don't spend any time at all painting the stuff.

My 28mm Gauls get all kinds of attention. Every one is different. 2/3 of them were professionally painted (and I paid a pretty penny for these) while the others are done by myself and took all kinds of time. This is my show boat army -- snazzier than my Napoleonics by quite a bit.

Finally my 1/72 aircraft aren't that hard to paint but are that hard to research. I try to identify specific aircraft and do what I can to get it 'just right'. Here the time and money is in historical research. I'd like to think folks like my planes when they get done as well.

mjc

If you buy a detailed figure and your not an expert painter, the detail can help.

Also if you are wanting to paint up an army quickly you can always add more details later.

Detailed figures tend to be "keepers" and less detailed figures are the ones that end up being traded or sold.

When I did my Sahel Africa, Three Kingdom Koreans and the new North American Pre-Columbian tribes; I went with the simplier no super detail on the 15mm. Easy to paint, not difficult.

I'm a fan of the Copplestone, Crusader, etc. that you mention. And it usually is because of the mass-painting issue, as you mention. I prefer smooth, crisp figures without extraneous detail, where possible. At least for the rank & file.

However, even for something that I'm going to try spending a bit of time on and try to make a "showpiece," I prefer not to have the figure overwhelmed with a bunch of crap. I'd rather show off that I can blend or paint something freehand rather than try to pick out details on a dead rat dangling from someone's belt (or whatever.)

That goes for both historical and fantasy figures. I prefer some of the older GW figures, for example, or (again Copplestone) the old Grenadier/Mirliton fantasy to some of the more recent GW figures toting around a million skulls, spikes, hourglasses, dead birds, crosses, etc.

simple is best.
ymmv,
R.

For moderns, I just want something which takes a wash and a drybrush well, so plenty of raised detail please.

For Ancients, something simple and clean. I do NOT want sculpted on shield designs.

Horse and Musket? Hard enough to paint as it is without a whole lot of fiddly detail. Simple in the larger scales, exaggerated details for 6mm so I can drybrush and highlight.