syracusepops | 04 Jun 2016 10:07 a.m. PST |
Which manufacturer makes the best line of miniatures for 15/18mm World War II? Bet line of vehicles that are compataible? I am focused on the European theater of operations. While I have played many a world war II game, I never collected the miniatures myself. I am looking to start this period in this scale and am looking for suggestions. |
Winston Smith | 04 Jun 2016 10:19 a.m. PST |
Sometimes you are limited by rarity of models. For instance I prefer OldGlory/Command Decision infantry and Artillerists. But they don't make Finns. Battlefront does. Battlefront tends to cover every single vehicle in their supplements but can be rather expensive. Everybody makes Shermsns but as far as I am aware only Battlefront makes weird stuff like Shermsn flails, Caliopes, etc. I tend to mix all sorts of manufacturers without issue. |
Rod I Robertson | 04 Jun 2016 11:03 a.m. PST |
Beauty and utility are in the eyes of the beholder. There are many manufacturers which make great products but what is right for you, only you can tell. Some names you might investigate for metal or resin models are: Old Glory 15's Command Decision. Old Glory 15's Quality Castings. QRF/TSS. Peter Pig Miniatures. Forged in Battle Miniatures. Battleground Miniatures (Flames of War). Resistant Rooster Miniatures. Eureka Miniatures. True North Miniatures. Take a look at their pages and decide what is best for your pocket book and your tastes. If plastic model kits are the way you want to go, then also look at: Zvezda Models. The Plastic Soldier Company. Good luck and enjoy the journey! Cheers. Rod Robertson. |
Saber6 | 04 Jun 2016 1:21 p.m. PST |
I second Rod's list. Most of mine are Old Glory Command Decision with some Battlefront and Plastic Soldier Company |
Weasel | 04 Jun 2016 1:57 p.m. PST |
A mix of Battlefront, QRF and Peter Pig for me, but leaning towards Command Decision more now that I am rebuilding. |
syracusepops | 04 Jun 2016 4:05 p.m. PST |
How well do the battlefront and command decision figures and vehicles mix? |
kallman | 04 Jun 2016 6:34 p.m. PST |
The Battlefront and Command Decision mix well, however many of the Command Decision metal vehicles are showing considerable mold wear and often come with lots of flash and mold line clean up. You cannot beat the price for the Old Glory Command Decision but be prepared to put extra work into the getting the models ready to prime and paint. Their infantry figures are top notch however and have some of the best detail bar none. In many ways I have found that going with Plastic Soldier Company is the best of all worlds for vehicles. Of course there are a number of the more esoteric as well as common vehicles they still have not produced molds for. Zvezda is another good way to go. Now for quality of casting and giving you those extra things like stowage and rare earth magnets so your turrets don't go flying all over the place while being transported Battlefront is hard to beat. But you pay for it. As Sabre stated, Rod's list is pretty comprehensive if 15mm is the way you want to go with doing WW II. In many ways you are spoiled for choice. |
Terry37 | 04 Jun 2016 7:29 p.m. PST |
Essex also has a range, but it's not as extensive as others. Very nice figures though. However, although I have some Essex, I use mostly Peter Pig just because of the great range and detail they offer. Terry |
guineapigfury | 04 Jun 2016 10:35 p.m. PST |
I've got a mix of Battlefront, QRF, True North, Zvezda, BloodAxe Miniatures, Gaming Models, and Plastic Soldier Company. Be aware that Battlefront has high quality models, the best selection and the best looking tank commanders but they are the priciest. PSC is just as good with quality, better on price but with crappier tank commanders. PSC also sells most of their guns in boxes of 4, which is perfect for FOW. However, if you hate assembling models, you will be sad if you buy PSC tanks. The infantry are the same way. Zvezda has the cheapest tanks, but they have no tank commanders and the turrets are modeled with the hatches shut. They are not quite as detailed as BF or PSC. That said they can often mix right in with the BF or PSC models and are a great way to bulk out your forces. They've also got by far the cheapest planes. Now to the metal stuff: Bloodaxe has cheap infantry (about 25c apiece) without a lot of variety. Perfect for bulking out your masses of bayonet wielding conscripts. The QRF tanks I've painted up where incredibly easy to assemble (4 parts: turret, body, 2 treads). However no open hatches or tank commanders. The True North vehicles are similar but with less detail. Also the gun barrels needed replacing, but they were fairly puny IRL (Toldi Is and Csabas). Nothing a bit of brass rod couldn't fix. The Vehicles were also a bit lacking in detail, but are quite reasonably priced. The infantry are nice, with a wide selection and high quality sculpts. Again, quite reasonably priced. Last and kind of least is Gaming Models. They're humble resin models. Tanks tend to be two piece (body with treads cast on and a turret). They're also absurdly cheap. If you're a beginner or on a tight budget, this is a good place to start. Assembly is literally just placing the turret on the tank, so you don't need superglue. They've got just enough detail to pick out and take well to dry-brushing. Hard to go wrong with $5 USD per tank. Also a quite wide selection of vehicles and guns. |
repaint | 05 Jun 2016 3:47 a.m. PST |
Syracuse, you are so much spoiled for choice. It is almost endless at this stage. Tell us your objectives in terms of gaming and interest in WWII, it will be easier to guide you towards a few decent alternatives. you prefer early war, late war, mid war? East Front, Crete, North Africa? etc… |
wizbangs | 05 Jun 2016 5:32 a.m. PST |
Plastic Soldier Company is always my first choice. Behind them I would go with Battlefront, since they have a lot of the rare stuff. I'll also consider Forged in Battle if I want a variety of models. I've tried Peter Pig & QRF, but the metal vehicles are hard to work with since (I found) the pieces don't fit together as cleanly as the plastic or resin kits. |
PiersBrand | 05 Jun 2016 6:07 a.m. PST |
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Marc33594 | 05 Jun 2016 7:23 a.m. PST |
Another vote for PSC though you do need to go with other companies, such as Flames of War, for some vehicles. As to beating $5 USD Gaming Models if you purchase from NWS Online ( link ) a box of 5 Shermans, for example, cost you $20 USD or $4 USD a model. You do need to assemble the PSC kits, they are almost mini models, but also a reason they look so good and a reason why you can make several varieties of the vehicle from the same box. |
guineapigfury | 05 Jun 2016 9:11 a.m. PST |
I did neglect to mention that PSC often let's you build multiple variants of a vehicle from the same box. I picked up 3 boxes of Panzer 38s/Marders which worked out to 7 Panzer 38s and 4 each of the Marder III variants. |
guineapigfury | 05 Jun 2016 12:32 p.m. PST |
Also, check out this website for seeing who makes what: link |
Gus51RM | 05 Jun 2016 3:45 p.m. PST |
I to will second what Rod I Robertson came up with. Something to be aware of is in 15mm the Skytrex 15mm from England are very clean molds compared with those done by Old Glory. I have a mix of Skytrex and Flames of War roughly 45% and 45% and the rest from plastic suppliers. |
ancientsgamer | 05 Jun 2016 10:18 p.m. PST |
There is a resin manufacturer for vehicles. Anyone remember the name and have contact info? They cone base,painted in your choice of colors |
Kelly Armstrong | 06 Jun 2016 4:58 a.m. PST |
I prefer Battle Honors/Quality Castings for my 15mm Vehicles. QC are scaled at 1/100 vs the larger 15mm of Old Glory 25/Command Decision, Battlefront. I prefer Peter Pig for infantry but use a mix from all mfrs except the giants of Battlefront. For pics, here is my blog. Search WWII label and I usually identify minis by size and mfr. link |
Weasel | 06 Jun 2016 1:21 p.m. PST |
Battlefront infantry tend to be a bit chunkier than most of the rest. Not too bad but it is a bit noticeable. I've always felt Command Decision, Peter Pig and QRF match up quite well. Vehicles, I'd settle on one company for all of them.
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Howling Hank | 15 Jun 2016 3:30 a.m. PST |
ancientsgamer, I think you might be referring to Gaming Models. Resin tanks ready to game out of the box. At their price point and ease of painting them up (they do come pre-painted with a single color) I feel they are a pretty good deal, and Craig (the owner) does take requests. Check 'em out at gamodls.com |
specforc12 | 21 Dec 2016 3:28 a.m. PST |
My preference is Battlefront (FoW) models, nice detail, the best range of vehicles – very comprehensive, and certain boxed (older) sets have different moldings of that particular vehicle, in essence already "kit-bashed" for you with battle damage and varied equipment on them. I prefer the heavier resin kits – less parts, easy to assemble, and I like the "heft" of the models. Some of their recent releases are now in plastic kits – more fussy to build, but nicely detailed. Also, their models are also sold in individual tank packages. A close second is the PSC line of plastic models they also come in box sets also, typically, come in 5-tank sets. They come out a lot cheaper price which breaks down to $5.00 USD USD, roughly half the price of the Battlefront models. One of the nice things, as someone mentioned above, is, depending on the vehicle type, some kits provide versions of a given vehicle. Also, depending on the vehicle, you can build them in a partially loose fashion where you can easily convert a vehicle to it's variation by switching out the partially assembled vehicle sections, so, you have the ability to provide a particular variant without having to buy more models! A clever trick a buddy did, was take the 3-tank boxed set from Battlefront's plastic SU-85/SU-100 models and build up the upper body of the variants independent of the hull bottom and tracks. By using rare earth magnets he can switch out the 3 vehicles to be SU-85's or SU-100's!!!! With Quality Castings, some of their models are very nice and I like the all metal heft these provide, but some of their earlier casting designs leave a lot to be desired. For example, I bought variants of the Sherman tank. Some model types were accurate and nicely detailed. Others were clearly badly proportioned, like the turret way too small compared to the hull!!! Many of their models have been "re-tooled" correcting and greatly improving the representation of a particular model. You have to see photos of them to make the right choice otherwise it's hit or miss. I didn't see anyone mention Skytrex. Skytrex have some very nice molds in all metal at competitive prices, but not as cheap as plastic models. Skytrex also has some nice unique variants. The one I liked particularly to augment my predominantly Battlefront made forces is the Radio/communication version of the SdKfz 251 Hanomag both in the "C" and "D" versions, with arrays of radios and bristling with antennaes – pretty cool! Forged in Battle models are nice but they're molded with an integral base! I hate that. I don't want bases on my tanks. It looks dorky on the battlefield and isn't necessary and can conflict with the terrain being played on! Bases are necessary evil for infantry for obvious reasons, but totally superfluous for major vehicles like AFV's and trucks. And, for that reason this brand is a "no-go" for me. Besides they're not any cheaper and their range is very limited, besides. Next to Battlefront, Quality Castings has a pretty extensive range with Skytrex a close 3rd. PSC had the more popular vehicle types and their range is growing but limited when compared to the other (3) brands I just mentioned, Battlefront, Quality Castings, and Skytrex. By the way, Skytrex has some awesome tank decals you should check out. As far as infantry figures – I don't know enough about them to advise you and I'd go by what the other posters suggested above – they would know. That's pretty much my opinion in descending order. Most everything else is pretty much junk. I'm not a big fan of Zvezda, for two(2) reasons: crappy detail and buying their products supports the Russian Mafia who own it. Some of their early war Russian stuff is okay – but I'm all about quality on the game table. If the quality is not your biggest concern then, it doesn't matter much what you get. As in many things, you get what you pay for. I rather prefer to have 1st rate looking models on my game table. |
Lion in the Stars | 21 Dec 2016 4:29 a.m. PST |
There's no one company that has all the best models. For tanks, if Plastic Soldier makes it, that's probably your best bet. Definitely best value. PSC is also working on getting trucks made. For those damn Soviet Katyusha rocket trucks, Zvezda plastic models all the way. Forged in Battle has some excellent models, too, including a lot of Paper Panzers if you're into that. Battlefront has a lot of good infantry, though check the reviews as they do have an occasional dud. Peter Pig has a good variety of figures, including some specialists like Fallschirmjager with FG42 rifles. |
doctorphalanx | 21 Dec 2016 11:58 a.m. PST |
I found what I wanted in Peter Pig infantry and Battlefront AFVs. |
VonBurge | 21 Dec 2016 12:23 p.m. PST |
I personally only want to work in plastic going forward. PSC has the most comprehensive lines for these, especially now that BF is putting a halt to producing plastic infantry. |