"Moving on from plastics" Topic

Ok. Maybe I am ranting, but after several tries I've decided to move on from using plastics for my armies.

I know, I know… They are a cheap way to field big armies. However, I have became to realize that I do not need big armies, after all. I am such slow painter that for me 12 battalions and 4 cavalry regiments ARE a big army!

I've tried to like plastics, you know. Honest! But the process of cleaning, gluing and preparing the minis for being painted is so boring that when I finish a batch, I have lost all interest already. The poor fellas sit in the painting table, looking at me with accusing eyes and knowing that they will never be painted.

Even good plastic sets make me shudder with fear.

The bright part is that I am once again into XVIIIth Century, which has not that many plastic sets available. I can buy Minden's, Ebor's or Fife&Drum with clear conscience that there is not a cheaper option available in the market (and no, I won't consider Wargames Factory WSS sets as an option! I don't like those figures at all!)

Well, back to painting some lovely Minden's French Fusiliers!

If you werenīt interested in the 18th century then I would recommend going to 1/72 scale. Hat is coming out with some great Napoleonic sets in the (hopefully)near future, based on their marching, attack, and command concept.

So are you going to stay with your scale and try to mix in the plastic with the metal, or go the radical route and change scale as well?

For me, I do 10mm metal in ACW, but for the pageantry of Napoleonics I want bigger figures, and for that all my wife says our budget allows is 1/72 plastics. Still, I had them on the table for a game over the weekend, and really they are lovely.

Texas jack, he just got through telling us he is done with plastic. Why are you telling him about 1:72 Hat??? Aren't they plastic? :)

Even good plastic sets make me shudder with fear.

I here you. Been there, done that! Welcome back to the land of the living!

Simply because he said he didnīt like the prepping gluing together of the things. Hat would not have that problem.

And to be fair to me, I was speaking in the subjunctive, so it wasnīt a true recommendation.

ah that good old subjunctive mood..

You can send you cast-off projects to:

Jay Arnold
PO Box 102
Pleasant Hill, IL 62366

I'll make sure they are disposed of properly.

Hey, isnīt this an example of the Parzival School of Free Minis???

There's a school for free minis? Can they earn a degree?

Darth, yes there is. If they are sent to me, I will be sure to send a certificate of graduation.

Well darth, as galvinm and Jay Arnold have demonstrated, there are many different options that donīt depend on the false end of the world.
As far as degrees go, each participant earns a degree from the prestigious School of Hard Knocks, suitable for framing, or toilet paper, whichever you prefer.

But back on topic, I am still very interested in which direction Basileus intends to go.

basileus66
A warm welcome back to proper Wargaming

I second that emotion! Sure, what's another couple of stifles. . . .

Lol: Actually, I will donate my plastics to the wargaming club of my old alma mater! They will surely find some use for them.

Bad metal is as bad as bad plastic.

Go take a look at the Malifauex Gremlins, and tell me that metal is superior just on the basis of being metal. (Four part models, not very well fitting, for those who haven't tried them.)

That said, I'm not going to argue for plastic in your period. I have no clue what those minis look like.

It's not like that, Meiczyslaw. I agree that bad metal can be a nightmare. Some OG miniatures I have painted for commissions have been a real pain in the ass. What I am saying is that plastics don't work for me: too much prep work before I can start painting. May be it is that I am getting older and have not that much patience as when I was younger.

People like what they like; I don't like preparing metals, or how vulnerable to chipping the paint is. I do like putting them together, deciding on the right pose and making each one an individual.

If you like something, go for it :) Hobby time is too valuable to waste not having fun.

What I am saying is that plastics don't work for me: too much prep work before I can start painting.

I can see that; one of the advantages of the hard plastic is the multi-part models that can give you different looks, and makes conversions easier. If you don't care about either of those, then that's not really an advantage.

But I agree with Hazkal — with minis that I intend to knock around a bit, plastic is better because the paint is a bit more rugged. (And if you have to assemble them, the glue isn't fighting as much weight.)

Basically, this discussion boils down to what people want in their hobby. Some people want the modeling aspect that comes with hard plastics, whereas others don't and will settle for one piece metals and the poses they come in.

This can be applied to the people that buy miniatures and have them sent out to a painting service to be painted. They like gaming. They like miniatures. But, they don't like to paint them, and as long as someone else is willing to paint them, they will enjoy their hobby of wargaming.

If I were to assemble the plastic figs., I would be trying to assembly-line them and make them as similar as possible to save time. This would of course completely defeat the main advantage of choosing to use plastics in the first place, other than the lesser expense. The way I look at it, what you don't pay in cash for these figs., you'll more than pay in labor & time to assemble the little s.

Sorry, I did not realize that word was a bleeper.

I have finished my first plastic unit (Victrix French Old Guard Grenadier) and while I like the models, the based figures just don't feel right to me. The heft is all wrong. I also did a unit of Front Rank Old Guard Chasseurs and I know which I prefer. I have about 8 boxes of plastic figures who are also mocking me – so I know how you feel.