"1/72 vs 28mm" Topic

While looking for a cheaper alternative to metal 28mm figures that won't sacrifice the impressive size, I've encountered relatively inexpensive 1/72 box sets, usually of 48-64 figures. Revell, HaT, and Heller are some of the brands I've looked at online.

Properly painted, how do these mass-retailed plastics compared in quality to their 28mm metal cousins? I know that every manufacturer is different, but will these look more like children's toys than wargaming miniatures?

Thanks.

Quality will vary widely based on manufacturer as you say. I don't have any WW2 but you can see some modern plastics on my gallery:

link

If you have not run across it already, look at Plastic Soldier Review at link

you'll find 1/72 much smaller then 28mm

Generally 1:72 figures and models are considered compatible with 20mm figures, not 28mm.

Still there is a large variety of them out there, and quite a few gamers that do certain periods in 20mm / 1:72 as a result.

Also, there are gamers who mix 28mm figures with say, 1:72 vehicles and buildings, because the reduced footprint helps fit everything on the table (and BTW it will probably save quite a bit of money over buying 28mm vehicles and buildings).

The benefits of 1/72 plastics are the price and the very large ranges of comparatively inexpensive model kits for vehicles, guns, aircraft etc. As the figures are so cheap, buying a box to try them out is no big deal.

Of course the figures won't have the same level of detail that you can fit on a 28mm figure, but they are usually more naturally proportioned. Some people do prefer the 'squat' style of 28mms though.

If you don't get on with 1/72 plastics, there are a number of good ranges of metal 20mm figures too, and although they are more expensive than the plastics they are cheaper than 28mms and will go well with plastic 1/72 kits, so you'd save quite a bit.

20mm is a phenom scale and there many options. Check out the fantastic work on some of the many websites out there. What's nice about 20mm is you get decent detail but a lot more on the board, if you like.

The smaller figures will save you a lot of money for the figure size – much cheaper than 28mm plastics, much cheaper than 15mm metals.

Sculpt quality – varies by manufacturer, but there are some very nice figures – do check Plastic Solider Review, search through the reviews and see which style you prefer. There are literally hundreds of figure sets, it'd be fairly hard to think of a subject not covered. WWII is very well served.

Properly painted they are as good as any figures (IMHO) –

link
hat.com/Othr8/Sander99P.html
hat.com/Othr8/Gypson02P.html

They are no harder (but sadly no easier either) to paint than metals.

Down side ? There are still some who sneer at plastics. Let 'em ! You get the last laugh as you amass huge armies and don't go bankrupt in the process.

20thmain, but there are also some of us who sneer at 28mm figures.

Apologies in advance, Craig, please forgive me if I sound harsh. But, jeez, if you don't think a lot of the WWII 28mm figures out there that don't rsemble anything human, except possibly very fat children wearing combat fatigues, do not resemble "children's toys" then you are not going to like plastics at all.

There are plenty of pics of them in action on my site largly Revell and Italeri, but many other plastics as well. I use them because I am a military modeler (not a particularly great one) who plays wargames with my models.

My site, Tim's Toys is ucs.mun.ca/~tmarshal – Remember, I said I amnot the greatest at it.
--
Tim

IMEX's Easy Company WWII American set is amazing as well as being a hard plastic. Check them out.

To the questions:

1. Properly painted, how do these mass-retailed plastics compared in quality to their 28mm metal cousins?

I owned and modeled 1/72 for most of my gaming life. I've converted the Airfix Romans into just about everything, to paraphrase an ancient 1/72er cliche. I can answer that, no, they do not compare.

If you are thinking 1/72 will carry the same sort of impression that you would get from 28mm, then that will not happen. It will be different. Sculpting varies but is continually hampered by poor, and sometimes stupid, posing requiring heavy conversion. Revell once had the best sets but those are no longer in print, though some are back for WWII, they are a pale shadow of what they once were when they covered nearly every major period. HaT has decent sets, but many of the earlier sets are only basic, yet they cover a large number of periods. Caesar is good, but many of their miniatures come off smaller than 1/72. What I am saying is they have many of the same issues any other scale has. It is up to the beholder to whether they are worth dealing with. But the "glory" of 28mm will never be there if that is what you are asking, 1/72 has its own "glory", but one does not replace the other.

Painting is no longer so much an issue as long as correct plastic primer (Krylon is one) is used and the models are cleaned well before-hand in soap and water. Following a good seal coat, they ought to render long service.

2. I know that every manufacturer is different, but will these look more like children's toys than wargaming miniatures?.

No. They will not look any more like children's toys than anything else out there in miniature-dom.

I will not recommend which direction you should go in. My advice, if you are looking for it at all, is to wait, maybe pick up a few sets on the cheap, make'm then decide.

If by 'properly painted' you mean you can paint the details pretty well, then 1/72 hard plastics are definitely worth considering due to their much cheaper cost vis-a-vis metal 28mm figures. Also, 1/72 figures (not 20mm), unlike 28mm, are true scale, meaning the anatomical proportions are more correct and less 'exaggerated' than 28mm.

There are many fine 1/72 manufacturers available. I recommend Caesar Miniatures, Italeri and Pegasus (Hobbies) Miniatures. You can also get heavy weapon teams, motorcycles and tanks/vehicles from Armorfast. And for terrain, Conflix makes a nice range of pre-painted ones that are affordable.

If you're a decent painter, there's no reason your 1/72 WWII army won't have the same 'wow' factor as a 28mm one.

Then again, those new Warlord 28mm plastics sure look nice at under $2 USD each…..

Ditto Bird 19 Jul 2010 6:36 p.m. PST
20thmain, but there are also some of us who sneer at 28mm figures.

Very true. But not me – I am the original wargaming idiot : I have figures in 2mm, 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 25mm, 28mm !

But, I realised a few years ago that if I were starting out all over again (say the house burnt down and I lost everything) then I'd do it all in "20mm" plastics.

Just started some 20mm plastics WWII for the Little Prince – I have the Valiant figs, and they seem to paint up very well

If you want to stay with 28mm, then an alternative is 1:48 scale plastic figures. They are cheap and comparable in size, though the poprtions are realistic instead of the weird mutant looks of regular 28's.

Depending on what you're playing, look into 54mm as well. Cheaper, nicer, and certainly won't "sacrifice the impressive size".

Tim (Ditto bird) is too modest, check out his site, he's a great modeler and gamer.

Don't forget the huge range of 20mm metals on the market, there are some really nice figs out there.

Boomstick, here are some of mine.
picture
2 and 4 from thel left are metal (Elhiem and SHQ), the rest are Italeri plastics.

picture
Guy on the left is Caesar plastic, the rest SHQ metal.

picture
All Caesar plastics

Good point DS6151!!!
As a 1/48 manufacturer I must agree with you 100%,These days 1/48 is coming back slowly but surely as it is a matter of quality.

Many of us like 1/48 soldiers that look like humans rather than 28mm cartoon/mutant looking armies.There are more 1/48 producers here is mine:

gothicline.webs.com

boomstick86,

As others have said, they will give a different impression on-table, but there are some very nice figures out there in the scale.

They're smaller, so the "feel" is different. It means the table can reasonably hold a bigger set of armies, but they're not generally as impressive. Though I prefer well-crafted 20s to poorly crafted 28s, personally.

I have a few different vendors, Valiant, SMM, SHQ, Pegasus… And all are the same quality as most 28mm, better than some, worse than others.

Biggest problem I have with them is weight. I've taken to basing them on heavy washers to give them a solid footing no matter where on the table they are. Otherwise we had them tipping and sliding.

I'm kind of a miniatures geek, so I use both scales – I play NUTS! in 28mm and Rapid Fire/Operation WWII in 20mm. The two sets in 20mm is because one (Rapid Fire) leans toward larger units and more abstraction, so they're different-feeling games.

I really do like the 1:48s, because few sculptors can make 28mm AFVs to compete with Tamiya 1:48th, and I don't want my little minis to look tiny next to my massive Tamiya collection :-).

Don.

Don you are absolutely right as to 1/48 don´t forget Italieri is also joining in the 1/48 ranges with some vehicles this year,I was taking a look at their catalog and they are looking good,let´s see what they are like when all of the range hits the stores!
As to me I am working on my 1/48 Dingo as usual!!!If only I knew the interior was such hard work!!!but it is turning out great!