"Plastic vs metal/resin" Topic

I'm trying to figure out what scale I'd like to skrimish game in.

Plastic is mainly 20mm and up, correct? And 15mm is predominately metal/resin.

The 15mm is nice looking and the detail on some of the mini's are pretty slick, but the cost is a bit much for me. It seems like for the price of 1 15mm mini you can buy 2 plastic tanks for the same price.

I'm not terribly versed in plastic tank manufacturers in 20mm. Is there a list somewhere of who makes what in this scale?

Is there a HUGE difference in 20mm vs 28mm?

Thanks for any insight!

Plenty of 15mm hard plastic from both Battlefront and the Plastic Soldier Company. The latter has just rereleased some of their, umm, 'just satisfactory' infantry into stunning sculpts of late war Brits and Germans.

There is a HUGE difference between 20mm 1/76th or 1/72nd and 28mm 1/56th scale.

Once again PSC is your friend when it comes to stunning 1/72nd scale hard plastic easy assembly vehicles.

Thousands of plastic kits in 1/72nd (20mm), quite literally!

Plus hundreds in resin and metal… indeed you woukd be hard pushed to not find a vehicle.

Plus 20mm has the best figures…

Join here to see what 20mm has to offer for WW2…

Www.guildwargamers.com

1/72 is mostly plastic (various degrees of hardness), even though some metals are available listed as "20mm."

15mm and 28mm started out with metal figures and resin (or hybrid resin and metal) vehicles, but for the past few years have been steadily supplemented or replaced with hard plastic for both infantry and vehicles thanks to manufacturers like PSC, Warlord, Wargames Factory and Rubicon.

If cost is a main concern you really can't go wrong with 1/72 due to the plethora of cheap figures available from companies such as Caesar Miniatures and Italeri.

OTOH if you prefer big (as in 28mm) like myself you won't need as many figures, since the force size in a typical tabletop battle is going to be smaller.

But again, you can't go wrong with 1/72.

I'm a big fan of Zvezda's 1:100 scale models …

… and they are great value – combining 15mm figures (even economical plastic ones, now) with Zvezda vehicles is a really cost effective way to build good looking collections (less expensive than 20mm/1:72 though, at a small cost, metal figures give you a bit more variety and quality).

That said, if you end up doing something that you can only source from, say, Battlefront, you'd find plastic 1:72 cheaper these days. I find making the kits tedious so am glad I moved on …

Phil
P.B.Eye-Candy

Take a look at the AB 20mm figures then decide.

Uhm…..Bolt Action? Yea, I don't think so. Is that made out of gold? WOW

Hi Phil

Those are nice but 15mm is just a tad too small. I want them a little bigger for the model kit/painting enjoyment part too.

I'm gaming with model kit/painting thrown in so I'm thinking 20mm is a perfect scale.

28mm is massive compared with 20mm, I think the plastics in 28mm are getting pretty comprehensive for the major theares of war, including the armour!

No problem acctingman … I love painting, collecting converting, staging, the lot but I don't like building kits (happy to make an Airfix Panzer IV for the fascination – and mine will be as good as anyone's – but I don't want to have to do it time and again as it is tedious*) …

You get more battle into a given playing space with 15mm too (but you can figure that out yourself I'm sure)

But if you like building kits, 1:72 is for you.

Re 20mm/1:72 vs 28mm: no contest (20mm wins hands down)

Phil
*back when I did 1:72, I used quite a lot of Matchbox and similar stuff … I made the specials, paid someone to build and spray the bulk, then did the staging, tweaking and drybrushing myself. Life is too short.

If you will game in a group go with whatever the others are using – if I was going to play solo I think I would look at AB 20mm. Just stunning …

Solo play here Teppsta. Yes, that Action Bolt stuff is stunning, but $20 USD+ per kit? Yikes

The 20mm, 1/76, 1/72 scale contains every aircraft that ever flew, ships as big as corvettes and U-boats, and nearly every army of any consequence in all of history, in either plastic, hard plastic, metal, or resin.

AB makes some of the best figures ever in metal. Pegasus and Caesar make some of the best figures ever in plastic. Many companies like Dragon, make pre-assembled vehicles that are already painted and decaled.

28mm is good if you want a small number of figures and are willing to pay a lot per figure, and only want to game the most popular eras. 15mm is good for popular eras and takes up a little less space than 20mm. In my opinion most of the metal 15mm figures are poor.

Plastic Soldier Review has a review of nearly every plastic figure made in 1/72nd scale. Between plastic, metal and resin you can get nearly every significant military vehicle in 1/72nd scale. Used figures and vehicles can be much cheaper and are readily available on The Marketplace and eBay.

Metal figures and resin figures are not difficult to build compared to plastic, just different. Most of your plastic model skills will carry over to resin and metal.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
bunkermeister.blogspot.com

Sounds like 20mm/1:72 is right for you from both the affordability and variety standpoints.

If even a 28mm diehard like myself says you should go with 1:72/20mm what more endorsement do you need?

Why the shock at Bolt Action prices? Anyone priced 1/48 models recently? Asside from the uber-basic hobbyboss/kitech kits which are about $15 USD each, they're pretty much on par with the Bolt Action prices.

Plus, with 28mm, Unless you've got a massive table or are prepping an exhibition game you're not going to need nearly as many vehicles as with most 10/15/20mm games.

I gamed WW2 in both 1:72 and 28mm (thats 1:48 to me, not 1:56)

Both have ups and downs, but I landed with 28mm because I play Platoon sized skirmishes mostly. With such a small force on the table I wanted bigger figures to enhance the action/appeal, so to speak.

I can get 1:48 kits very cheap, and my figures come from Wargames Factory, which gives you 30 for 20 bucks, a steal in the 28mm market. I only buy from Warlord/others out of necessity.

All that being said, if I could go back in time and redo my whole hobby collection, I'd end up with 1:72. Just the right value at just the right size.

Asside from the uber-basic hobbyboss/kitech kits which are about $15 USD USD each, they're pretty much on par with the Bolt Action prices.

… my figures come from Wargames Factory, which gives you 30 for 20 bucks…

Sometimes I am amazed at what people pay for hobby items.

$15 USD for an "uber-basic" kit? As in ONE vehicle? $20 USD for thirty figures? Like one un-supported platoon?

For $20 USD I expect to get the better part of a company of vehicles! Or a company of infantry!

Glad I've stuck with my scale. Your stuff costs too much.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

You might find these threads useful?

TMP link

TMP link

TMP link

"Plastic is mainly 20mm and up, correct? And 15mm is predominately metal/resin."

Not really. There are loads of plastic 15mm things out there these days (and if you include Roco and Roskopf, have been for decades).

There are loads of metal/resin 20mm models too.

As in 15mm, some 20mm is cheap (Armorfast?) and some is very, very expensive (looking for a Schneider CA1 some years before the Lancer offerings I could only find a metal kit with etched brass fittings which cost around 90 quid).

Second hand plastic kits can be bought very, very cheap. I generally manage to pay £1.00 GBP-£2 per model for second hand 20m plastics, although they are usually fairly crappy and need some tlc and repainting.

My new purchases are almost exclusively 15mm these days though. As noted above, BF is eye wateringly expensive, but other manufacturers aren't. Bought nine Zvezda models at Triples and came away with change from 30 quid.

I play 15mm & a buddy plays 1/72 (NOT to be confused with the rarer 1/76 as there is a discernible difference on the table). Price-wise they are about the same as I mostly field metal Battlefront infantry and Plastic Soldier Company vehicles (although I'm changing over to PSC infantry as they come available).

There is a much wider selection of models in 15mm (1:100) than 1/72 models. However, for skirmish games with individual infantry, I'd go 1/72.

I used to play 28mm (before Bolt Action) and got out of it due to limited availability & it was much more expensive.

Sorry, but there is not a wider range in 15mm than 1/72.

1/72 is a modellers scale and there are thousands of vehicle models available, just look at the Dragon range alone… then add in the rest, plus metals and resin makers, plus Braille scale add on kits… not too mention diecasts. You will find any vehicle you need.

As for figures, its even more varied. Hundreds in pkastic, metal and resin. As for variety, I can buy 20mm Royal Thai Army for WW2. Thats pretty niche…

Check out Henk of Hollands review site to see some of the variety.

While 15mm is growing in variety it will have a way to go before it hits the volume and variety of the model making scales.

Hi PiersBrand.

Who is the maker of the carriers crews on that fantastic display?

Long live the 20s!

Warm regards.

Mark1,
Glad you've found your scale that you love, but why is it so tiny?
;-)

Folks who play in larger scales are usually those who prefer to have greater detail and modeling opportunities while running smaller skirmishes.

That said, if I were interested in WW2 gaming and just starting in wargaming, I'd be strongly tempted to go with 1/72, 20mm, 1/76, etc. It really is extraordinary what you can get in terms of a massive range of well detailed minis at good prices. The crossover (with some compression) of railroading items is also a huge boon.

In the end, I'd probably go with whatever is being played most locally, which might also be 15mm or 28mm.

"In the end, I'd probably go with whatever is being played most locally, which might also be 15mm or 28mm."

This: The best scale is the one your friends play in.

If you don't have any friends playing WW2, go with whatever scale you already game in in other periods; terrain takes up more space than troops.

BTW, the smaller scales become less appealing as you go nearsighted. May not matter much now but when you hit 50 it will.

Murvihill,

46yr old here and yes, my sight isn't what it used to be. Anything under 15mm is just too small.

Those are PSC carriers & crews on Piers display; I know because I have some myself. The Churchill tanks too!