"Plastic miniatures - love or hate?" Topic

I have nothing against plastics but I prefer metal miniatures. I just can't be bothered to assemble figures and I game exclusively in 15mm so 28's have zero appeal.

That said, I have nothing against 15mm plastic AFV's and own PSC and Zvezda stuff.

Love them or hate them, it would appear that plastic miniatures are a growing market with some companies investing a considerable amount of money into development and production.

One point that has not been mentioned in this discussion, is the re-sale value of painted plastic miniatures. I have often changed wargaming periods and ended up selling collections to fund another project. With painted metal miniatures, I have always sold them at a resonable profit for the time and effort that has been invested into the job of painting and basing them.

However when I look at the price of second-hand plastic miniatures, rarely do they sell at a good price. Although this is not the main reason that I avoid plastic miniatures, it is certainly a reinforcing factor in my choice of only selecting metal miniatures for my collections.

Raglan

I like both metal and plastic. I prefer carrying plastic armies though.

I love good metals and good plastics!

Ditto.

Hard plastics better than soft ones, though.

Excellent idea which in the long run should entice young gamers to try historical gaming but personally will hold out for 20mm slim figure hard plastics in the early periods before committing.

I think a lot of hard plastic sets have excellent detail. They are easy to convert and the ability to generate your own poses is part of the fun. Of course assembling plastic minis can be a bit of a chore sometimes, especially with sets that do have a lot of parts. I don't have a problem with the lack of heft, having lugged metal armies around, wishing they were plastics instead.

I have loved plastic figures since the late 1960s and continue to do so. Nice human proportions, easy to convert, easy to carry even if they do have some goofy poses:)

Modern hard plastic figures are all very well, but the spindly bits (like rifles etc) are very vulnerable to breakage in teh smaller scale unless you go for overscale weapon proportions. I've got some hard plastics from the 70s and they are mainly missing their rifle barrels too, unlike my trusty Airfix figures.

My trusty Airfix figures have mostly gone brittle with age and disintegrated, a problem hard plastic doesn't seem to suffer from.

To those who say they dislike assembling plastics – I find them a lot easier to stick together than many metal figures which require shields and spears to be added. Plastic glue gives a nice strong bond, whereas with metals one has to prop them up with blu-tack while the shield and spear are glued.
Metals also often require quite a bit of prep with files to remove flash. I don't think plastic are any worse, really, just different.

One point that has not been mentioned in this discussion, is the re-sale value of painted plastic miniatures. However when I look at the price of second-hand plastic miniatures, rarely do they sell at a good price.

Can't say I've noticed this and looked at a lot of second hand figures over the last few months, both on Ebay and at shows. Seen painted Perry's go for 3x the price of the box, which seems a reasonable profit to me. Conversely have seen metals go and bargain bin prices – less than the cost of the bare metal. IMHO how well painted they are is more important.

The future is plastic, although metals will surely always get their pick for special things (the less profitable).

I have not seen such a difference in reselling value; I'd say it should have more to do with quality of painting, but maybe the basic material being cheaper can lower the top.

I guess the "heft" thing has much to do with a feeling for "old times"; I started gaming with plastics back in the early 90s and never have had any issue with "lack of heft". If I ever want to put more weight in my hands, there are other ways to do so… ;-)

I'm happy to use both plastic and metals in my armies and would be prepared to mix them for conversions etc.

Does nt mean that I like all plastics, in the same way that I don't like all metals. For example some of the Wargames Factory plastic kits lack detail and some look slightly oddly proportioned. I refer mainly to their earlier kits but they have improved over time. However you still need to turn to a metals range for characters and specialist units.

For that reason I tend to think of Perry Miniatures and Warlord Games as the best balance, with plastic for core troops and then metals to finish the range. Of the two then Perry comes out trumps with barely any poor sculpts across their entire catalogue.

Mix and match.

Cheers

James

They may not be your cup, but "hate?" Really?

Could you explain how you have to "adjust" your painting style" to paint plastics? I don't get that. I paint them exactly the same way as I do metals except I don't worry as much about the varnish because plastics rarely chip.

My main concern with Plastics is cutting them off the spur's and then having to assemble them. Usually I end up doing a lot pinning, arms to body's, heads to body's. I do prefer metal!

Both: 6mm metal, 20mm plastic. Not enough time to try 15mm metal, but I would.

Oldbob- some plastics are easier than others to assemble, in the same way as some metals. Thus for example for 28mm plastic Napoleonics, I have found Vicrtix's British/French much more fiddly than their Perry Miniatures equivalents.

And again many metals require some assembly. Many ancients figures have separate weapons and shields and some have separate heads. So metals might involve 3-4 components whilst plastics might involve 6-7. That is a difference but not massive.

Re pinning that is not really a true comparison of plastics vs metals. As you would probably have to pin just as many metals as plastics. Sometimes less as plastic glue gives a stronger bond on plastics than superglue on metals.

Thus I'm happy to use plastic and metal models- mix and match.

Cheers

James

One point that has not been mentioned in this discussion, is the re-sale value of painted plastic miniatures. …..

However when I look at the price of second-hand plastic miniatures, rarely do they sell at a good price.

Really ?How about this :
auction

Dear Oldbob,
Re your comment "My main concern with Plastics is cutting them off the spur's and then having to assemble them. Usually I end up doing a lot pinning, arms to body's, heads to body's"

There are different techniques and tools for plastics. If you use the same techniques as with metal figures, you are making life hard for yourself.

If you use polystyrene cement such as Revell Contacta, there is no need to pin hard plastic figures. I buy the bottle with a brush and paint a little on each part. After about 30 seconds I assemble and get an instant bond. This hardens properly in a few minutes. I usually assemble 4 or 5 figures at a time so that the last added parts have set when I come back to the figure.

A good pair of sprue cutters (GW or Tamiya) makes a world of difference to assembling plastics. I have a pair of Tamiya sharp pointed sprue cutters and I can cut completely flush so that I do not even need to file away the sprue remains. This makes assembly 5 times as fast.

Mick

Re pinning that is not really a true comparison of plastics vs metals. As you would probably have to pin just as many metals as plastics. Sometimes less as plastic glue gives a stronger bond on plastics than superglue on metals.

Agreed. In fact, you shouldn't have to pin plastics at all, as there is so little weight in the component you are gluing that it is unlikely to come off. Also when you use polystyrene cement you get a few seconds to adjust the part you are gluing, but still retaining the bond, which you don't get when gluing metal with superglue.

Good points guys, somethings I'm a little to anal!

Marshal Mark

The world has gone nuts!

Raglan

Raglan; I'm working on Ptolemy right now, using two of the Aventine figures.

Bob,

Will you post a photo or two of the finished product?

I am pretty much nearing completion of the Successor project.

Raglan

Most figures I have are plastics, with some metal, mainly for the characters/leaders/specialists.

I know it's a bone of contention for some, but the multipart aspect of plastics is a big bonus.

I really like plastics, if I could have waited longer I could have done every half finished metal project in plastics instead !

HaT, Zvezda, Orion, Strelets, all great figures.

I honestly wish I'd never bought any historicals in metal, and just got the fantasy/SF stuff (and even that is starting to appear in plastic – thanks Caesar !!).

So I guess that's love.

I am a big fan of plastic troops. They are inexpensive and are fairly easy to convert with a sharp hobby knife and some glue. Many of the sets are sufficiently detailed that a mediocre painter can get acceptable results. When you get to more modern subjects there is also the advantage of being able to buy vehicles and scenery items that are either the same scale or close enough to be useful.

Now I do wish that manufacturers had done a better job of coordinating metal and plastic scales so we had more metal figures that could be used to supplement or upgrade plastic figures.

I'd happily use hard plastics if they came in one piece, but I simply have no interest in gluing together individual arms, legs, torsos, heads, and weapons.
Someone with an entrepreneurial streak should start a hard plastic assembly business.

not a fan of plastics as they break easily and have fidly bits.

@ Soldat- you can't tar ALL plastic figures with same brush.

SOME plastics are fiddly and fragile, some are not. In the same way SOME metals are fiddly and fragile, some are not.

I wish people would avoid making excessive generalisations about plastic vs metal. Both are good and have their place. Some examples of both are poor and should be avoided.

Cheers

James

"Welcome to 3TMP talkback radio. Our next caller wants to talk about soldiers…"

"Yes sonny. Back in my day we had metal miniatures and we bloody well liked it. We had to smelt the metal ourselves from ore we mined ourselves – this was before those namby-pamby laws against kiddys working in the mines, and not being in National Service – and we had to haul that ore back to our houses 40 miles away, walking across snow in bare feet, and there was broken glass under the snow, and we bloody well liked it. It we wanted to modify our figures we had to bite that arm off – this was before those bloody wimps invented lead poisoning, along with the fluoride mind control in the water – and we had to bite that arm off. If a bit of metal flew out and took out your eye, we bloody well liked it. I lost seven eyes to flying toy bayonets. I also lost another 8 to real bayonets, and I bloody well liked it. Mind you, laddie, the generation before complained about our metal figures, they did. Always complaining that it was better when they had miniatures carved out of stone. Improbable rants they made over the carrier pigeon network, you see. Now, where's my scone and cup of tea?"

Plastics are really increasing my ability to get into to new periods and scales. So plastics are working out great for me.

Me too. I can now consider armies that before were out of reach to me.

Time is money and both are limited

Plastics have a place of that there is no doubt but, by the time I have scratched off the mold lines, glued on the heads, arms, torso's hat and what have you (different for the various brands of course) filled and sanded the joins on 24 figures, well, I've pretty much had a gut full before I even lay down a coat of primer.

The quality of the metal figure manufacturers is very good at the moment (plenty of competition) and I rarely have to spend much time on flash and mold lines per figure. So from a purely practicable point of view I'm not a plastics fan at the moment.

There are some great plastics out there and they offer a cheap alternative for those with the time.

regards
dave

I've bought a couple of boxes. Didn't enjoy putting them together and don't feel confident in their longevity. Economically, I'm short on the time, not the money. I doubt I'll be buying more boxes. Might buy some ready painted though.

Perfectly happy for others to use them, just not for me.

My preference was for the heft of metal, but I like the versatility of plastics. They are easy to convert which gives you more variety.

Mind, I have just spent four hours assembling a mere five Necron Immortals, so the increasing complexity of GW kits is not welcome. The early skeletons and Space Marine kits were (for me) the happy medium between variety/versatility.

Earlier in the year I purchased the Wargames Factory yari ashigaru set. Have not built them yet, but just looking at the sprues they seem more reasonable.

To each their own. I like plastics due to the cost advantage and I find assembling / customizing to be a fun part of the hobby. Most of my 28mm armies contain a mix of plastics for the bulk troops (basic infantry) and metals for the specialized ones (leaders / artillery / cavalry).

In terms of painting, I find painting plastics to be much easier than metals but I've only been in the miniature hobby 4 years or so.

The only plastics I do not recommend are the original Victrix French as they were very difficult to assemble and do not stand up to gaming wear and tear very well.

Miles

For me, the coming of plastics has allowed me to build bigger and better armies. I started about five years ago with about 45 metal Mirliton Swiss. I wanted to add to this but they were expensive figures. They remained as a small skirmish force.

When the Perry plastics came out I started to expand my Swiss and build a mostly plastic Burgundian army.

The Perry plastic figures are fun to build as you can make each one different. They are also nice to paint if you use Burgundian livery and Swiss Cantonal colours. So far, I am up to 160 plastic infantry, 24 plastic cavalry, two metal guns and 80+ metal infantry.

Mick

4500+ metal, 1 plastic. But would give plastics a chance if they came in 15 – 18mm French Nap's

I like plastic because varnish a plastic fig it stays, metal sometimes develop a small spot that needs re-painting. I like & mix both plastic figures plus you can get some great deals buying metal fig so cost is`nt an issue.
I like fantasy in metal display figs are better in metal

I love how fall-resistant most hard plastic minis are. The paint doesn't come off easily, whereas an innocent tumble from a couple cms high may be enough to get a chip of paint go off a metal mini. Plastic has a higher tolerance to rough-handling i find. Handy when you're not all that careful or have kids involved.

Not a fan of the soft-plastic stuff though, like you typically get in Fantasy flight board games. About impossible for me to fold the flawed ones back straight (all my hot water attempts resulted in the mini folding back over time).

Soft plastics work well for me – nostalgia, cost and great ranges for my fave period Naps.

hard plastic are nice

metal are nice

So no real love hate relationship – I like them all.

The only plastics I have worked with are Napoleonic Austrians from Victrix. They were easy to assemble, look really good painted and I got a box of 56 figures (including a mounted officer) and flags for about $34 USD! I am looking forward to getting more of these. Nothing against metal mind you, but I am now leaning toward plastics.

Paul

Prefer metal, and 99.99% of my collection is effectively metal.
However, I have to admit that some of the plastic boxes offer separate arms and such that are very useful( and cheaper than cutting up another metal figure) for conversion work.
Absolutely no resin except for vehicles.

Plastics everytime.Good fun to put together. Easy to work with the poly glue. great quality figures, and far better value than metals.

Metals – expensive, and superglue a pain to work with. Finished quality no better than plastic.

I guess the quality of the finished models (metals vs plasics) is subjective, and will vary between manufacturers. What is a bit of a disapointment to me is the trend towards the plastics sets just being 'cannon fodder' – eg whole napoleonic unit in march attack mode. It would be good to have some character models in the plastic sets – that is one downside for me.

And that is where ranges like Warlord Games and Perry Miniatures score highly for me. Plastic rank and file and metal characters, command, front rank and specialist troops.

I just received a number of Warlords TYW boxed sets, my second foray into plastics along with Perry's Wars of the Roses.

Sure the Warlord plastics lack some detail but overall they look quite nice. I enjoy putting them together as well. I think the boxed regiments that are plastic with metal command figures is a model for other companies to emulate.

Whats not to like?

Love both buy both. Mix both together.

My painting style is the same and the only thing that marks them out is the weight. Plastics are my bulk troops my redcoats my longbows and bills. My metals are my fancy units. I certainly can build up armies faster than I could relying on just metals. Metals can be a pain to prep and glue together.

I love how fall-resistant most hard plastic minis are. The paint doesn't come off easily, whereas an innocent tumble from a couple cms high may be enough to get a chip of paint go off a metal mini.

This is true. Several weeks ago I tripped over the family cat and dropped the Romans I was working on. About 120 little Warlord plastic Romans hit the concrete floor of the basement.

The only casualty was a simgle pilum which snapped; I was able to glue it back on.

If they'd been metal, I would have abandoned the army.

I don't like metal and prefer softer plastics.

I prefer both metal and soft plastic to hard plastic

Years ago, I swore I was gonna set up my own plastic miniature company so I could make the men I needed. I hated buying a few boxes of soldiers and having only three or four attacking/standing firing/etc per box.

Then I found metals. Yeah, maybe half as many men per box, but I could get as many of a type as I needed. So, didn't consider my own plastics ideas anymore.