"Wargaming Napoleonics in 1/72 Plastic" Topic

Was thinking of starting to wargame in 1/72 plastic (Hat, Revell, Italeri, Esci figures). The cost is minimal to the amount of figures in a box. Are the plstic figures able to stay durable for normal wargaming without chipping. Is it worth doing in this scale and the use of the plastic

I've been using 1:72 plastics for Black Powder and Fire and Fury ACW games. In about 20 odd games, I've had to re-attach one gun barrel, and repaint one back pack. And that's it.

As long as you varnish the figures, and take care (as I do with all my figures, regardless of scale and material) you'll be fine.

Go for it!!!

Use PlastiDip clear spray to varnish the figures. You can step on your bayonets and the paint will stay on (not recommended
:-) Other varnishes or plastic primers don't work.

Wash the figs in soapy water, use a good plastic primer and seal when you are done. I think 1/72 is a great scale for someone on a budget. I am considering several Napoleonic projects that will be in 1/72 plastic.

I thoroughly recommend Napoleonic gaming in 1/72 scale! The best thing is the low cost of the figures, which means you can line them up in big, beautiful looking units for an affordable price. You can easily create all the Armies, Units and Generals of the Napoleonic wars in 1/72.
The Italeri & Zvezda models are very nice, and Strelets & HAT seem to be improving by the day and churning out lots of great new sets. Be sure to check out Plastic Soldier Review, it will be your favourite website during the months/years it takes to build up your collection.
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I don't even varnish to be honest. The only bits of paint that fleck off on my models seem to be on horses ankles now and then, & varnish probably wont help in this case anyway (although IQWARG1's PlastiDip tip sounds good).

I´ve never had a problem with chipping or breaking. Like TelesticWarrior says, the ranges are fantastic, the figures are lovely, so what´s not to like?
I really like the new HaT ranges divided into marching, attack, and command poses. So far the selection is quite limited with them, but they are in the process of expanding.
All in all, I highly recommend getting into 1/72 scale, you won´t be sorry!

I've been considering doing some 1/72 as well with Napoleonics. BUT it seems few is any of the plastic sets contain officers and standard bearers. Any recommendations for 20mm metal figures to fill out the units?

I am getting rid of my 20mm Nappy (general downsizing due to retirement and a ,soon, smaller house). I have French, Prussian, Russian and Austrian in the 1805-7 period . I can provide a list, photos and a VERY competitive price compared to un paintd. There also include some standard berers. South side you should go to the Plastic soldier review. In the napoleoinic section – russia, they explain how to convert to standard bearers. Also new mountd officers are on their list plus the old Stelets and Italeri command sets. If interested let me know at hgl1@cinci.rr.com H

I am in the progress of creating a 1/72 french army for black powder. you can see some photos on my blog.

plasticgeneral.blogspot.nl

as you can sse I do all my wargaming in 1/72 plastic, ancient, napoleonics, ww2 and fantasy (warmaster)

your frech army looks great. any problems with flaking?

I have been Wargaming with plastic 1:72 figures for over 50 years. My oldest Napoleonics were painted in 1969, have been rebased twice and are still going strong. I have never varnished and use Humbrol paints.

I have a real mixture of Airfix, Esci, Italeri, Revell, Waterloo 1815, Zvezda and Hat figures. I solve command figures, and personality figures, by converting using a miniature welding iron (available a most hobby shops). I also swap heads around as an easy conversion, using a pin to secure the new head,then lightly welding around the join.

I have so many figures (the equivalent of both armies at Salamanca at my 1:30 figure ratio) that I can rotate them so perhaps any one unit is not so heavily used, and any minor damage can easily be touched up.

I have just purchased all the figures (a mixture of Hat, Italeri and Waterloo 1815) to make a complete Austrian IV Korps as at Aspern Essling, and plan to paint those next year.

Rod

Gesso works a treat as a primer on 1/72 plastics. Since gesso is meant for canvases, it's also very flexible as well as rock hard. Just make sure to clean the plastic good, as always.

I have a 1/72 French Napoleonic army i painted years ago and although i only have one consistent opponent for Napoleonic games the army has lasted me several years without a problem of paint flaking off .Its all about prep work before painting and care afterwards . Send me your email address and ill send you some photos of how a basic painted army can look en masse in 1/72. I use basic falt black auto spray as undercoat and a good flat spray varnish for a clear coat

Another 1/72 Nappy gamer here. I like the availability, affordability, size/proportions, and ease of painting in this scale. Paint adherence is not a problem if you follow the advice above (cleaning, priming sealing) except for Airfix, which I find hopeless.

The downside in my opinion is the selection of poses that comes out of a box is not always optimal for wargaming. But on balance I choose not to change from 1/72. Works for me, an example of my stuff is here on my blog:

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Great looking stuff DColtman.

Thanks, 79thPA.

Rod MacArthur,

I didn't even know they were making plastic 1:72 models in 1969! Your 50 year stint sounds like a real labour of love, I wager you have a lovely collection.

Bravo Sir!!!!

TelesticWarrior wrote:

I didn't even know they were making plastic 1:72 models in 1969! Your 50 year stint sounds like a real labour of love, I wager you have a lovely collection.

I started with Airfix ACW figures in the very early 1960s. The only figures available at the start were infantry and artillery and to make cavalry one had to modify artillery draught horses, then US Cavalry arrived!!. In the mid 60s, inspired by the film, I made a Zulu war set-up, with British converted from Airfix Guards Colour Party and 300 Zulus individually homecast metal from an Airfix Red Indian converted to a Zulu.

Then in the late 1960s Airfix began their Napoleonic range. My first figures were highlanders, painted as 92nd Gordons, and I still have them.

When I started wargaming as a teenager in Southampton, I was one of a group meeting at Don Featherstone's house and he said plastics were the future. I think he was right.

Rod

Big 1/72 Naps fan (and WW2, but that is another thread). The paint jobs stand up well – I base all my figures (of course) so that takes some of the strain away I guess, but these days I use the Frost primer, acrylics, and normally Liquitex Acrylic Matte Medium to varnish, but also use the Dip and Matte spray.

Some figures seem more prone to flaking (ie Airfix and the silver Italeri, oh, and Strelets, but once varnished I have no problems. Barrels etc can be bent with impunity.

the ranges are excellent these days, and poses are getting better – Zvezda and HaT score highest for most sensible poses, and HaT these days are making command sets, so that really helps.

So good luck, and have fun. I really like mine.

Oops – final point. Really light weight to carry as armies :-)

Watch out for "scale creep" between the different manufacturers, and even within some brands.

The scale creep warning is very valid. I have some old Airfix French infantry that look like giants compared to my Italeri and HaT figures. For that reason I would never mix manufacturers in a unit. Italeri and HaT are okay, but only okay. Better to keep like with like.

Regarding the poses, I really agree some of the poses are really useless for wargaming, though like has been stated, they are getting better. Plastic Soldier Review is great for looking at poses before you buy.

I would say now is the time to start a 1/72 Napoleonic army. The figures have really improved by leaps and bounds since the 1960's. I do think wargame figures in general have improved greatly over the years, but truly plastics have come the farthest. A good example for this is have a look at the Zvezda Napoleonic figures. They are miniature works of art. Also compare the HsT figures that were released over a decade ago and compare with their most recent releases. Have a look at the upcoming releases on HaT's website. The figures look fantastic!

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Though not Napoleonic, here are some HaT 1/72 Zulu War British I recently sold on Ebay:

auction

My painting isn't that great, but I really enjoyed working on these.

One thing I started to do about a year ago was to weight the bases, so they were less likely to be knocked over. As a result they do not feel much lighter than metal figures. I use magnetic tape, not for the magnet, but because it is heavy and cuts easily. In UK it comes in rolls 1.2 cm (1/2 inch) wide and 7.6m (25 feet) long. It is self adhesive so I put a strip along my base, then glue the figures on top and build up a base around them (actually by welding plastic sprue, but any other base construction material would work.

I plan to retro-weight my existing bases later this year. The tape is only about 1mm thick so does not add much to the model height. I bought mine in Hobbycraft, but I am sure there are other suppliers and it can be bought on-line.

Rod

And Dave, that is a lovely blog, so I have favourited that one. Your paint jobs look really effective and very nice. Thanks. Hope you continue to do the 1/72 Naps (and so glad you chose them over 28mm :-)