| David Gray | 30 Jan 2010 10:54 a.m. PST |
Can anyone recommend some 20mm figures that would be reasonably proportioned to blend with 1/72 scale plastic figures for the AWI? |
| Howard Fromunda | 30 Jan 2010 11:26 a.m. PST |
You may wish to look at a few of the "true" 25mm manufacturers as well including Historifigs, Musket Miniatures, and Garrison. I believe their products may be a close fit with 1/72 plastics. |
| Grizwald | 30 Jan 2010 12:33 p.m. PST |
"You may wish to look at a few of the "true" 25mm manufacturers as well including Historifigs, Musket Miniatures, and Garrison." Most of those will be too big to go with 20mm plastics. |
| Major William Martin RM | 30 Jan 2010 12:39 p.m. PST |
David, You may want to look at this blog as well, where the host offers excellent side-by-side photos comparing metals to plastics. plasticpelisse.blogspot.com He also provides text analysis with height, style of physical build, etc. He has done several reviews covering the late 18th century and has links to some other sites as well. Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com |
| Major William Martin RM | 30 Jan 2010 12:46 p.m. PST |
Mike, Actually, about the only AWI figures that are still close to true 20mm are the old Airfix ones. The Italeri/ESCI, Revell/Accurate, A Call To Arms and others are closer to about 23mm and the old Scruby Historifigs and the Musket Miniatures AWI compare fairly well. Bill |
| Supercilius Maximus | 30 Jan 2010 1:23 p.m. PST |
B&B Miniatures – metal true 20mm, and a complete range (which the plastics won't give you). bandbminiatures.co.uk I have some of these and they aren't bad – a bit bulky next to the plastics (think of them as the Front Rank of 20mm), but not bad. Plenty of detail so easy to paint, and most R&F types have a pose variation. Also have the "Flags for the Lads" range so you don't need to worry about "sizing" 15/18 or 25/28mm versions. |
| nickhartley | 30 Jan 2010 2:10 p.m. PST |
try Irregular Miniatures theyclaim theirs fit with plastic figures |
| Jeigheff | 30 Jan 2010 3:14 p.m. PST |
Frying Pan and Blanket make 20mm metal American Revolution figures. They don't have a web site of their own, but this site helps: fryingpan.freewebtools.com Their figures aren't too bad (I used to own some.) But some of the poses are kind of static. FB&P make most of what a gamer would need, including some unique figures, such as American artillerymen in hunting shirts and mounted frontier riflemen. On the other side of the coin, some troop types are missing, such as German jaegers. Regular mail is the only way to contact them. The web site above has the address. |
| dwight shrute | 31 Jan 2010 4:33 a.m. PST |
the airfix figs match perfectly with the smaller accurate/call to arms sets . the imex/accurate/call to arms figures cover a large % of the units u will need . I am not a fan however of their artillery pieces . But i found it easy to find plastic and metal alternatives . i bought some samples of figures from those metal companies above – and imho none of them matched the plastics . BTW ; revell and esci have never entered the awi market … i also use the italeri brit light cavalry which fit in Ok . the italeri french and woodlands indians are a bit bigger and don't match that well … but i have no use for these units anyway . imex have some rogers rangers and other useful types in their 2010 catalogue … so i am hoping these will revive my interest in the period . |
John Leahy  | 31 Jan 2010 9:10 a.m. PST |
Yeah Musket will work. Just not intermixed. B&B I like a lot. They are bulkier but are nice to paint up and the range is large. Frying Pan and Blanket will NOT work with plastics or 20mm figs. The range is slim in heft and actually 20mm or less. Most plastics are 22-24mm. If you buy them use ONLY FP&B. They don't fit with any other figs. Thanks, John |
| David Gray | 31 Jan 2010 9:55 a.m. PST |
Many thanks for all the helpful advice. Regarding Musket Miniatures they seem to make 15mm and 25mm. Are you thinking the 25mm are the way to go? |
| Major William Martin RM | 31 Jan 2010 4:10 p.m. PST |
David, Yes, the 25's, they are true 25mm, similar to the old Der Kriegspeiler (sp?) "Continentals" range and in separate units will mix well with today's plastics. I also echo the comments, re: Frying Pan & Blanket. I have samples of FP&B, Outland Games SYW Prussians (Hessians), Irregular 20mm AWI, Wodensfeld SYW French and the old (now being produced again) Douglas and Higgins 20mm WSS. All except the Irregular and Wodensfeld are too small and slight to mix with today's plastics. The Irregulars mix reasonably well in separate units as Ian made them slightly larger specifically to fit with the plastics. The Wodensfeld are only available as later SYW French, but are lovely figures with a lot of variety (36 poses!). Dwight – I included ESCI (with a "/") with Italeri because the two companies have done several things in partnership, but you are correct, they have not released AWI under the ESCI label. However, Revell-Germany did license the AWI British from Accurate (possibly before the IMEX buyout?) and release them under their own label. Check PSR for the review/announcement here: link And I beg to differ on Airfix. I own all of the commercially-available AWI sets and the old Airfix Washington's Army and British Grenadiers do not "match perfectly". I would never use them in a combined unit as the Airfix figures, many of whom are in the dreaded "Airfix Crouching Run" are anywhere from 2 to 5mm shorter. There are a few selected figures that will mix; the kneeling firing, the standing firing and the kneeling ready. All of the others have their heads bent forward and several have their backs bent forward as well. In a separate unit they aren't bad, but I would never mix them. David (and others) – You can get a little additional variety in your AWI militia units and riflemen by mixing in selected figures from the IMEX Lewis & Clark, Alamo Defenders and Pilgrim sets. Bill |
| David Gray | 31 Jan 2010 4:40 p.m. PST |
Bill, Thanks. I've already picked up Lewis & Clark and the Alamo Defenders sets with just that in mind. Hadn't thought of the Pilgrims set. The tepees may come in handy for frontier scenarios as well. Does anyone, besides Airfix, actually put out a 1/72 plastic Continentals set? The Imex seems to be the old militia set. |
| Major William Martin RM | 31 Jan 2010 8:46 p.m. PST |
David, You are correct about the IMEX set, it is the same as the old Accurate set, which was also released by Revell-Germany. However, the IMEX set does add some additional figures that are useful; a mounted officer, a mounted ADC/Light Dragoon, a drummer boy (who's actually a boy); and one that's not as useful, a wounded man sitting on a log. Here's the PSR review and photos: link There is one other set of "Continentals" available, the Italeri "American Infantry" set. However, while it includes a few useful new figures, it also includes some very strange poses, including several figures who look like their hats are falling off and one kneeling behind a large rock (still losing his hat!). Not one of Italeri's best efforts! link However, the excellent Accurate/Revell/IMEX British set includes so many uniform variations that some of these can be used for Continentals. If you then do a few units of Musket Miniatures, you can get some pretty good variety. Thay have pictures of many of the figures on their site here: musketminiatures.com And don't forget Jack Scruby's old 25mm range, which were also designed to mix with plastics. link Figures And finally, I would (and have) use a few of Ian Kay's Irregular "20mm" range, which are actually about 22-23mm specifically to mix with plastics. irregularminiatures.co.uk Click on "20mm" then AWI (or French and Indian War, which are quite good also) for listings and a few pic's of painted samples. These are also quite useful because you can buy single figures and assemble any kind of unit you want or just fill in gaps. Good luck with your project! Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com |
paints brigs for the British fleet.
