"1/72 Plastics" Topic

Noticed that there is enough variety to do most armies now in 1/72 plastic. I am tempted because a like to scale and look of 15mm especially in Napoleonics. But is it really any more cost effective now?

Definitely more cost effective. For infantry something like 25 cents per figure assuming a box of 40 figures goes for $10. USD

Cavalry is about 80 cents to $1 USD for a rider and mount. This assumes 12 figures go for $10 USD-$12.

15mm is now at 60 cents per figure and cavalry about twice that.

Can't comment on artillery but I presume you will get similar cost savings..

I like them …

Phil

They sure are and they look pretty good too…

Well, Hannants have HaT Napoleonics at £4.25 GBP per standard box – 12 cavalry or 48 infantry.

About £0.35 GBP per cavalry, and £0.18 GBP per infantry. That's hard to beat.

And they have a huge range.

Do you guys do a lot of converting though? It looked like most boxes only came with one set of command and sometimes no standard. I guess it is a lot cheaper when you plan on covering the table. Any good blogs of mainly plastics for motivation?

We have allot of armies in 1/72 for various periods , it looks great en masse with large armies and quite often historical inaccuracies are overlooked in favour of visual appeal .
I dont have a blog but if you PM me your email address I'd be glad to send through some piccies of some recent battles in 1/72.
Plastic Soldier Review is also very good for reference on 1/72 sets .
cheers Tom

Thanks Tom. leadjunky AT yahoo Dot com
I have found the plastic soldier review site and a couple of nice blogs too. Looks appealing.

I started sending but it took so long , ill have to break it up and send later tonight , cheers Tom

It looked like most boxes only came with one set of command and sometimes no standard.

HaT figures come with a command per spru in many cases. In other cases, they have boxes of command only. So you get several line boxes and then a command box to make a bunch of battalions.

Look around here a bit

link

and just to wet the appetite:

Thanks. I also stumbled across bennosfiguresforum.com which has a massive gallery.

Also are there some metal lines that might mix in well to 1/72 to cover the shortfalls?

Also are there some metal lines that might mix in well to 1/72 to cover the shortfalls?

Newline Designs perhaps? They are 20mm but will probably look OK against other plastic figures since metal lines are a bit bulkier. The extra bulk is lost on a slightly smaller figure.

Very good website:
bennosfiguresforum.com/index.php

Irregular has a lot of 20mm stuff that fits plastics reasonably well.

irregularminiatures.co.uk

SHQ/Kennington fit with HaT very well, Newline tend to be a bit small.

link

I use their command figures sometimes and am really pleased with them in terms of fit/size/bulk.

I have never regretted the move over (or back to in my case) to 1/72 soft plastic. Some really great figures, and massive ranges, with good availability.

Yup, I like 1/72 plastics too. Don't like converting so careful research can avoid having to and filling gaps with metals is the way to go, bearing in mind the size differences which exist.

A typical project for me is a recently planned Napoleonic Spanish one:

4 maybe 5 battalions of Line infantry plus grenadier companies from three HaT boxes. Two battalions of light infantry from one HaT box. No plastic cavalry available so I'm slightly converting two HaT sets to get line and light cavalry regiments. No plastic artillery so I'm using SHQ and Irregular metals. No general officers so metal subs. This would be impossible for me to do in 28mm through cost, 15mm or 10mm through practicalities.

Some Naps at: link

Nice piccies Cam – always good to see 1/72 Naps.

Cheers Marc, just can't keep the little beggars down!

No general officers

What about these?

link

Now that's a set I haven't seen before, added to the list of gets. Cheers ochoin.

@ cameronian

In case it hasn't occurred to you yet, these figures can be used as generals for other armies, too.

e.g. link

Oddly enough that has occurred to me in the past, Bavarians from Italeri Russians and Austrians:

BTW that HaT set is as scarce as hens' teeth unless I want it for 20 plus quid on ebay! Back to Italeri or Irregular I think.

Have you emailed HaT re that set – they often can supply direct (although not, sadly, Prussian 1806 musketeers, so I am waiting for the re-release)

HaT, I have found, are very good at supplying things direct where suppliers in Europe are out. I recently asked them for 6 boxes worth of 1806 Prussian Cavalry (for use as Spanish, but that's by the by). If you tell them you don't need the boxes it reduces the price. They will offer you a discount that off-sets the extra postage cost from the States. I wish I had thought to ask for a box of the Napoleonic Mounted Officers as I could really do with the 3 Spanish figures from that set; duh!

Accuracy, sculpting and production techniques, and subject coverage in 1/72nd have improved dramatically in the last few years (with HaT giving the necessary critical mass), so I think plastic 1/72nd has become a viable option and deserves consideration; dare I say, more consideration than it currently gets. It is massively cheaper; especially useful where 1:20 Napoleonics are the aim.

PS: Another metal manufacturer to fill any gaps is link