"What make of Naps figs do you enjoy painting?" Topic

Whilst I like Perry figures when it comes to accuracy pose etc, I find them difficult to paint . Warlord figures I would also place in this category .

I thought it was just me at first but I have been watching some painting videos and one guy commented on Warlord being an absolute pain to paint whilst Front Rank being an absolute joy.

I do share his findings with Front Rank and I also find them a joy to paint and ideal if you are building a large Austrian army like me .

The Plastics I enjoy painting the most ( but hate building them) goes to Victrix.

So to conclude Metals I enjoy painting the Most ( Front Rank ) with Perry's the least.

The plastics I enjoy painting go to Victrix with Warlord being the least.

I am also curious as to opinions on other scales as well as 28s but keeping it to Naps

Hard question to answer. BUT… STRICTLY painting…

I like 15mm Minifigs for painting, I find them "quick" and relatively painless, and they look decent afterwards.

I like Tabletop (I think) single piece cavalry for similar reasons.

I don't think either of these are the most detailed, but they are the Napoleonics I like painting the best.

For something else… I like Old Glory "reserve" cavalry, there are some interesting figures sometimes, like guys reading books and the like…. but that is not strictly painting.

Chalfant

Zvesda. Beautiful figures.
Pity they no longer produce "proper" Napoleonic sets.

I love perry figures but front rank are the easiest to paint for me

For the finished look really like my Old Glory 15s

AB
Sho Boki
Perry

6mm Adler for both painting and conversions.

Could you elaborate on the Perry issue mysteron ? The main problem i find with them is it's a nightmare to get the faces anything like acceptable. The detail is just so fine it's hardly there at all on some of their sculps faces. The result of this can be a decent uniform paint job, but the face looks like a childs version of the human face ! Take a look at Front Rank faces, especially say figures in bicornes, and wow, the facial detail is incredible.

I agree with the comments that easiest to paint aren't necessarily the best or most accurate figures . But when you are painting BIG armies you need a range that's easiest to paint .

Case in point here. I painted a Perry Austrian Hussar and it took me 3 days to paint. The horses are beautiful. The Front Rank version took me 2 days to paint and was a joy to paint. My squadrons are going to be around 24 in number and despite being the better figure if being honest ,I just don't fancy painting 24 Perry Hussars . So my order will be going to Front Rank for that reason only .

Yes Harry its the face issue in the main with me as well . They aren't as well defined as say Front Rank or Victrix and you have no other choice but to use longer blending and layering techniques to get them anything like. That's OK when you just want the odd figure for the cabinet but not for a battalion.

The Dave Allsop Old Glory 15s before the molds wore out, followed by AB/BHs.
My minifigs, I fine myself adding detail that does not exist thus making them more difficult and timely then they should be but…..just need that look it gives them.

MG

28mm: Elite are fun to paint. Concur with Front Rank opinions. I do enjoy painting Foundry Perry and the new Perry figures.

15 mm: Museum Miniatures are fun to paint. AB are beautiful, but take longer. For ECW, Donnington and Old Glory are my favs.

Front Rank every time. Chunky detail that is easy to see. While a finely sculpted figure is great, it can be hard to paint the details without going over, thus ruining the effect of the fine sculpt – if you can even get to the detail because of the pose….
I'm painting battalions, not individual museum pieces.

While my collection includes 15mm Essex, Battle Honours and a few Minifig, the vast majority of my Napoleonic figures are Old Glory 15s which I bought and painted nearly 2 decades ago. I haven't purchased any in years but they were great figures back in the day. You can see pics of my collection in diorama form at link

Calpe Prussians are the easiest and nicest figures I have ever painted in 28mm for the Napoleonic period. The folds in the clothing and the way the figures are positioned seems to make the painting and drybrushing far easier than other brands where the detail is slight.

I have not tried the French yet, but I plan to do so next month. If they are anything like the Prussians, I'm sure I will be thrilled.

Erik

Definitely AB; not the easiest to paint, but definitely the most satisfying end product.

6mm Baccus.
Easy to paint and good detail. can paint 30 figs in about 90 mins

My favorites are Calpe and Front Rank.

I do not like Perry either. It think the poses and sculpts are fine by themselves, but the casting quality can be so abysmal that you have to be extremely careful not to ruin the mini while cleaning it up. And I often have big bad mould lines running over the faces of the characters!

Burkhard

Oddzial Osmy! I can do an entire battalion in less than an hour

I never thought about it in terms of enjoying. Painting is painting to me whether it's a Minifigs stick figure or a GHQ Micronaut.

Mysteron, what's the issue with Warlord figs? (just curious)

I try to limit myself to Perry metals, the new Front Rank "reinforcement" packs (nothing wrong with the old stuff, but these are better), and anything done by Paul Hicks (Brigade, Murawski, Westphalia, etc.). When I started up in Napoleonics a couple of years ago I began by painting some old Foundry stuff I had, but now I don't like painting those because the new stuff is so much better.

I painted some Perry plastics and hated the experience, got some plastic Warlord figures and didn't even bother starting them.

Front Rank, Brigade Games and Warlord metals.

25mm Minifigs

Pendraken, Bend Sinister or MM, all 10mm

Front Rank.
Very nice clean castings, the details are clearly engraved, they are easier than the Perry's etc.

Painting Napoleonics is a huge effort so I'll only paint my favourite figures of all – AB. I find them easy to paint because the sculpting and casting is so good and a very enjoyable process – the results are worth it. I find I can really whizz through the horses. Minifigs 15mm are easy and fun as well.

Of all the other ranges I've painted I find everything about the same except for Perry which are very time consuming but they can give a fantastic result if you are prepared to put in the effort.

Not technically napoleonic, bonapartistic maybe, but i love to paint Eureka FRW figures. Cleanly cast, most of the time historically accurate, they're a God sent gift, for those, who like myself, are more interested in the 1792-1806 period than in the later part of the 1st empire.

I agree with Burkhard.
My favorites are Calpe and Front Rank.

Yep, Front Rank and Calpe.

AB, CGM, Fantassin, and maybe bluemoon if they ever get out something I need LOL

These

link

Front Rank for ease of detail.
Perry for accuracy of detail.
Victrix for those fabulous faces.

AB figures are just stunning.

My Old Glory 15mms were my first historical minis and still my favorite to paint or repaint. =)

AB in 15/18. Easiest figures I have ever painted, and I need all the help I can get. John Miller

Foundry, Front Rank and Perry – all for different reasons.

Any I can get.

Elite and Calpe.

AB and Fantassin Staff figures.

Minifigs 25mm are still my favourite, although I've painted almost all the makes listed above. Don't think I've painted any Warlord yet.

Adler 6mm.

I'm really enjoying painting HAT 54mm Bavarians at the moment – they are easy to paint and reward a toy soldier/shaded style really well.

Mike

@ Lord Hill- For me Warlord Plastic Naps are a little on the Soft Side. They can vary in consistency . Don't like their Prussian Landwehr for their soft details for example but their Russians are OK. Some of the metals for me are just to "Fuzzy " . I have however painted before some of their ECW range which I found to be excellent and very enjoyable to paint.

The key thing here is that I am no way knocking any makes as regards accuracy etc. What I am trying to do is to make a Naps Army quite enjoyable when it comes to painting rather than it becoming a chore. If it becomes a chore , then that's the stage when many projects are abandoned which is a lose, lose situation for both me and the manufacturers( because I won't buy any more) .

I need this to be a win win situation which I am confident in doing the Victrix and Front Rank for my Austrians which is a major project.

AB are the most enjoyable to paint figures I have ever painted.

Odd, as I never considered a figure more difficult to paint because it was more finely sculpted. What's hard for me about Napoleonics in general is the complexity of the uniforms. Painting a a Hussar with braid all over his outfit is a pain in the ass no matter who sculpted it. When it comes to things like cloaks and greatcoats I also find it much easier to paint a well-defined figure wheras with a largely flat cloak/coat you need to invent folds and creases to make it look like something real. The Perry stuff is still my favorite, but I have to confess to not have painted them in large quantities and mostly to admire it for its artistic virtue.

Scruby (Historifgs)

Mysteron, that's a good point – the "best" figures, in terms of accuracy, detail etc aren't necessarily the most fun to paint!
When I paint Perry (or old Foundry by Perry) I often notice that they have done the painter a favour by tucking away various intricacies – there will be no canteen or haversack strap, for example, as these are "hidden" beneath the webbing crossbelt. And while the faces are beautifully sculpted, most muskets are just crude planks (with the musket strap always flush against the barrel).

Victrix, in contrast, contain the most amazing level of naturalistic detail – canteen and haversack straps tangle very realistically across the crossbelt – their muskets show every tiny detail and the musket straps bulge and hang realistically. All of this beautiful detail is a nightmare to paint (at least when painting in bulk)!

Front Rank are, for me, hands down the nicest figs to paint – the exaggerated collars etc are nice and easy to get at with the brush and all the poses allow easy access to the lace on the stomach etc. But (and again obviously this is just a matter of opinion), where once they were the masters of 28mm they have been left behind in recent years by Victrix/Perry/Calpe/Westfalia in terms of character.

Having just finished a load of Black Watch, the one thing I am sure of is that the type of uniform is a far greater factor than which manufacturer it comes from. Highlanders are, frankly, a pain in the backside – the usual tricky British lace then a tartan kilt, highland band around bonnet, highland dicing around socks – and take at least double (maybe X 5?!) the time of a nice French fusilier in covered shako and greatcoat!

Figures that reward the time you spend painting them.

Not figures with odd mould lines that waste your painting time.

All

The newer Warlord Plastics (i'm currently painting 185 British Waterloo Line Infantry) are much better in quality and easy to paint.

link

The older Warlord stuff I agree (like the Russians) need re-casting/updating

Thanks

F

Hello mysteron!

I've been painting Napoleonic's for almost 40 years. Painted different scales, but found 6mm to be the most practical for big Napoleonic battles.

I always found painting to be a major chore with very little enjoyment until I starting painting Baccus6mm figures. For the past ten years I just can't wait to start and finish another Baccus project. The figures are perfectly designed to catch your paint brush where the different features meet. I can knock off an entire unit in a couple of days or a Division in a month.

The satisfaction meter just jumps off the scale at the end of every month as another Division is finished. Painting was never so much fun before I started using Baccus figures.

Best regards,

Glenn