"Wargames Factory WSS figures" Topic

I have recently bought 3 Infantry sets and am planning on building a French(ish) army for BLB.

TMPers have commented that, assembled direct from the box, that the necks are rather long, and this is confirmed by the photos that have been posted.

The recommended remedy is to file down the necks so that the heads sit closer to the shoulders. Is this best done by filing down the portion of the neck attached to the head or the portion of neck attached to the shoulders; or a bit of both?

Can anybody suggest an approach?

I had thought of using Front Rank figures for supernumeraries, but have seen a few comments in praise of the Ebor WSS line. Can anybody comment on which range gives the better mix with WF.

Thanks.

Ebor is a good mix with WF. I'm painting up 160 figures now where the cadre is Ebor.

I trimmed the neck at the shoulders, the long-neck syndrome only seemed to effect the 2 assembled bodies rather than the seperate torsos. Also, it seemed more pronounced with the grenadier heads.

The best thing to do is just cut it to the desired length with a hobby knife.

don't bother , they all look fine when finished I have done hundreds of them Front Rank are HUGE compared to them Ebor is much closer or you can convert you own supernumeries
TMP link
I have done gunners as well but am yet to take pics
here are some completed units
link
no neck lopping here ..
at the expense of being accused of "picture spamming" and of indulging in the "looK at me, look at me" syndrome I offer the following

Neck at the shoulders.

I have a 1" wide file I use mostly for filing down bases. About two quick passes is all it takes. twirl a hobby knife around the edge to smooth.

I test-glued one as-is, looked at it, winced, and yanked that noggin back off. Way too long, and the less-scale-distorted-than-most sculpting makes it look worse.

well I have no problem with them, when painted they are fine
link

the cravatte is meant to keep their heads up..

They look fine to me also. Your pictures of your project got me to start off on my own. I bought a bunch of them during their labor day sale.

stopitstopitstopitstopit!!!!

Must resist WSS… must resist the lure of the Sun King…

I have done some conversions so as to make more accurate , well interesting to be truthful, French cavalry.."you will nor resist". How are otheers dealing with the "big wig" concept?

anybody have any spare torsos and hangers they wish to part with, willing to swap for some conversions..

Hi DHautpol,I've added some comparison pictures of my figures alongside wargames factory,as you can see they are very good match and that officers could be used in the same units without any problem,I would like to know what you think the reaction would be to my metal range if I could retail them for close to the price of plastics for say 60p a figure.

all the Best Nick, eborminiatures.com

I would like to know what you think the reaction would be to my metal range if I could retail them for close to the price of plastics for say 60p a figure.

No offence Nick, but my first reaction would be to wonder about the source of the metal you would be using, and the second one, whether child labour was being exploited in the casting or packaging process somewhere… Once satisfied on both points, amazement would set in, probably followed by a lunge for my credit card.

Hi Musketier,you have spotted the slight problems with my plan,I can answer the one about the labour as I would be the slave labour as I do everything myself,the metal is a bigger problem as I am at the mercy of the market on that one,you also missed another problem that us metal figure manufacturers face,extra postage costs due to the extra weight we ship per figure,my postage costs are 30% for US 20% for Europe and 10% for UK,these just cover the cost of shipping from the UK once you add in the cost of Packaging materials making my figures cost £1.43 GBPp in the US and £1.32 GBPp in Europe,my point really was at what point does cost out weigh Quality at what price level would metal compete with plastic for building large armies,any feedback on pricing can only be good for metal figure manufactures.
cheers Nick

Wow those necks really do look …..stupid, very similar to the horses and those joins I have read elsewhere on tmp some critism of the plastic Perry Nap. hussars, something petty about the mirliton, the Perry plastics are pure gold compared to WF, some very hypocritical talk!

Nick, it is an interesting question and as usual the answer lies with customer perception and limitations. If the figure is attractive to the customer then the price that they are prepared to pay (for what in the eye of the beholder is quality) rises accordingly. Customer limitations temper this by, what they can afford and the quantity needed/desired for a project.

I strongly doubt many would say that Ebor figures dont measure up in nearly every regard so you are left having to consider the customer limitation factor as you pointed out above. In your case, having quality covered, the only lever left to you is price and as you have pointed out that lever is influenced by cost pressures beyond your control.

As far as I can see from observing my fellow gamers and collectors the one quid mark (minus postage) is the golden figure, anything less and the quality is permitted drop off (this doesn't effect manufacturing costs though), anything more and quality is expected to be high.

I think Calpe is a good yard stick, excellent research and sculpting, casting quality seems excellent also (so far) and the price although climbing doesn't seem to have diminished demand (well I don't think so?) yet.

Whether the general wargaming public can accept the cost re the size of planned army build is once again the limiting factor, quantity of sales vs price per unit.

My god man! If you could knock out figures at 60 new pence we would all be building WSS armies, 80 and there would be many seriously considering it…… If they hadn't spent all their money on antiquarian books from bloody Caliver

regards
dave

I'm going to repost this over home, it is worth mulling over…

labour is usually more expensive than the metal..and I probably paid a bit less than 60 pence ecj for these…I got a very good deal buying 8 boxes at a time, and I have bought some Ebor Spanish officers sergeants and standards because it is too much work to convert them to their equivalent in plastic, you need no belts outside the coat and no sashes..Ebor was the most companionable..
Whatever people may think the Perry mirliton is a bit of a letdown,
Of interestto me is with the bright light factor one notes potentially fatal error errors ,often from the 1st varnishing , when looked at under natural light, at the wargaming distance so often metioned in posts all seesm ok. I always said this project was a speed thing.ecconomy paint level to what is to me an acceptable level not too much mucking abpout , 24 units of foot ,8 guns and at leat 8 units of horse on the table in as quick a time as acceptable , nearly half way..the Blue King's army is nearing completion and a quarter of the White Emperor's infantry are done. If I can get enough lower torsos and some more hangers I will do a unit of dragoons on foot for each army as well.
I was looking to do colours and standards on the cheap but in the end had to commison many of them as there are none I needed close at hand.. I do derive some satisfaction from being the only person in the world at the moment with these colours, guidons and standards, this certianly helps me sleep at night in this time of turmoil.
There is quite a lot more that needs to be posted up..though I am not that happy with many of the pics but it is a very time consuming activity so point and auto shoot will have do.
I doubt anybody could turn out metal 28s for 60p these days.
I was aided by Rosie throughout the picture taking.
It wouldn't have been as much fun without her.

I would like some Ebor officers with no belts outside the coat , or with sashes , with no moustaches..they would make good cleanshaven French offcers

my plan was to get things up an running faily promptly without the usual time lag that dogs new plans, by the time you have finished your army everything has moved on. More often than not it takes years to get a playable force onto the table, let along both side..

I'll jump in with the obvious…No VAT on US shipments should mean a reduction that will partially offset the horrendous shipping costs. Having been "sniffing" about Nick's figures for quite a while now (now guys, leave me alone, I'm looking for work!) I can say it all looks excellent…but the price for UK figures is a bit over the top sometimes (better than 20 dollar Assyrian Chariots, anyone?).

As an aside, the prices of metals have been declining for a while, but no prices have gone down in the industry (that I have seen). I don't mind at all, happy to support what is often a labor of love, and never something people get rich with – and I think most of us would agree! However, rationales based on higher metals pricing are perhaps a bit self-defeating in the long run.

Without the sales and with shipping, WF WSS foot in the US come to about .75 USD. Old Glory, with the Army discount, to about 1.00 USD. I am always willing to pay as much as a pound apiece for good English/Euro quality, but much more than that and purchases tail off pretty quickly…at 60-80p/figure, perhaps 80p delivered, I would buy many many more (once I am working again). Once you hit the pound per figure delivered level (about $1.50 USD-1.60) I start to stop, and defer purchases (sometimes indefinitely).

Just my 2 cents' worth. And I loooove the Ebor WSS! If you drool on the "oooh shiny", do they get shinier? <grin>

Thank you all very much for your suggestions and comments.

A big attraction of the WF figures is their price. I usually do 15mm and 6mm and saw these as an opportunity to do nice sized armies for both sides in 28mm, as a change, without breaking the bank.

Planning to do 16 battalions:
1 x French Guards
1 x Swiss Guards
9 x Provincial Foot
2 x Swiss Foot
2 x Irish Foot
1 x German Foot

and then 16 squadrons of cavalry; I haven't thought about the split between gendarmerie, horse and dragoons yet.

To Nick @ eboracomb – WSSO 08 and WSSO 09 look just the thing, the photos look as if the figures are sculpted with moustaches or is this just an effect of the lighting?

Hi DHautpol,the officers you mentioned have moustaches as these are Spanish officers essentially,glad you like them.
cheers Nick

DHautpol

That is a pretty handy list your building, look forward to seeing the finished figures and your approach to assembling them. It appears you have already identified one of the problem areas and look to rectifying it.

regards
dave

@ eboracomb

I would like to see you repost your question to the plastic figures board. I think it is significant and deserves to be explored.

regards
dave

I would gladly do that Dave If I only knew where the plastic figures board was,also thanks to Ashurman for your well thought out reply and your honest opinion on pricing.
regards Nick

In the General Messages board old bean

thanks Dave sorry for being a bit slow.
cheers Nick