"Has plastic helped you move to 28mm" Topic

They are very tempting and several times I have caught myself looking over one of those starter kits at the hobby store. However when it comes to plastics I'll always stick to the true scale 1/72.

Bought plastics. Have ACW and WW2. Find they break too easy. You can always fix them if you recover the pieces but it is a pain. Tried to sell some nicely painted ACW but no one wanted them. Everybody commented to me on the paint job, but plastic?

Old Glory metals are just as cheap with the discount. People complain about their figures, but give them the right paint job they look great on the table. That is what moves me to 25s. I also sell them easier when I get tired of them.

Not interested in 28mm.

Plastic kits (specifically Conquest Norman Knights) are what got me interested in historicals, and led me into other periods such as the Dark Ages and ECW, of which my collections are made up of both metal and plastic figures. I can appreciate the merits of both plastic and metal minis. Another interesting thing is, I have bought plastic box sets out of curiosity even if it isn't a period I am interested in but I am not going to buy 12-40 metal minis for the same reason.

As far as smaller scale figures, I have only tried painting 15mm and I don't get the same satisfaction but it sure doesn't take long to paint up an army for DBA!

Plastic figures made 28mm Napoleonics affordable for me. I don't mind buying the figures you can only get in metal if the bulk of the line infantry can be done cheaply. And, metal manufacturers note, it actually led me to buy figures from you that would otherwise not have been bought. So you have (sort of) gained from it.

The main limiter for me now is storage space.

Yes, this is true in my case. I loved the Perry plastic WOTR figures from Day 1.

I've never really extensively gamed any scale other than 28mm, so when I moved over to ancients that was the obvious one to pick. Having said that, that good plastics existed probably played a big part in making 28mm affordable and therefore getting me into historicals at all. Generally speaking I do prefer metals, but at the price they tend to command they're just too expensive to build sizeable armies out of. Even the expensive plastics at about 2/3 the price of metals per figure make a big difference at an army level.

Perhaps I might have ended up with 15mm if the plastics hadn't been there for 28mm. But it's probably at least as likely that I wouldn't have made the transition to ancients at all.

Plastics are great to assemble and to paint. They are getting better all the time.

Yes.

I admit it I can be cheap. While I don't mind paying more for cavalry, artillery and specialty units, there are limits to what I am willing to pay per useful figure for ordinary infantry. Metals for the most part exceed that figure. It was the arrival of Perry and WF plastics that got me into 28mm.

@normsmith, from your experience, I can tell you it isn't the plastic or the size that's drawing people into 28mm figures, it's the brand. Warlord games have done a terrific job of expanding their brand through all aspects of historical gaming. I personally hate 28mm gaming because I think it looks super ahistorical and is too large a scale to realistically reflect on the table top. All that said, I still commend and envy what Warlord has become. I just hope someday a good 15mm ancients/medieval manufacturer can produce a quality product and rules set that has the brand power that Warlord or Battlefront has been able to accomplish.

While well painted 28mm figures look spectacular, they take up to much volume when transporting them to a convention or club meeting. I have 28mm fantasy figures. The time required to paint them is also excessive compared to 6mm, which I use for historical armies. I also prefer to have several thousand figures on the table for each side of a historical battle I can't do that with 28mm unless there is a very large area available. So the answer to the original question is no.

I haven't made the jump to plastics for Hundred Years War--yet. I still have a lot of unpainted lead, but when they are a little more available I'm sure I'll pick up some of the Perry Agincourt to Orleans in plastic. I have some of the metal figures from this range, and they are very nice. Plastics just makes them more affordable.

I've tried both Victrix and Perry Napoleonics. They were a pain. But I think (hope) the HYW figures will be a little more manageable.

Normsmith – I think a large proportion of the sales of 28mm plastic are due to:

1) their attractiveness as salable stock to offline and online businesses due to the strong branding, aggressive marketing tactics, and intensive commercial support of their manufacturers.

2) their consequent visibility, and appeal, to a younger market segment familiar with boxed plastic figure sets, and on the lookout for new gaming options.

Early Morning Writer – the huge upfront costs of producing plastic figures mean that, in order to recover their costs, the manufacturers have to appeal to as broad a market as possible, and so figure sets are made (to varying degrees) to appeal not only to wargamers, but also diorama makers, and plastic modelers for whom assembling kits is the core of their hobby.

Strangely, I think one of the things I like about plastics is that I am part of the Airfix generation and I think there is a huge amount of nostalgic pleasure that comes from opening boxes of soldiers and also loving iconic box artwork.

it strikes me that the answers so far does offer some basis to support a view that cheapish plastics are getting people either into the scale or at least into a new period.

I deliberately did not cross-post this into the plastics forum, as I think people who visit there would automatically be pre-disposed to plastic, so the responses so far have been interesting, thanks.

I would add that I also stated out as a plastic kit builder. Airfix, Renwal, Monogram, Revell, etc. I built scads of model planes,tanks, and buildings, and I alsodabbled with model railroading,so was used to making trees, doing terrain work, etc.

Then, in 1968,a friend brought over a copy of Charles Grant's book on wargaming, and from that point on, we learned to play with our toys and never looked back.

All we knew about were Airfix plastic HO/OO sets, so there were tons of Afrika Corps versus British 8th Army games, or Romans versus Britons. Then we discovered metals and the hobby became a full-on paet of my life.

Which leads me to the point that I don't mind at all what others refer to as all those fiddly bits. I grew up building very detailed models with lots of tiny parts, and so building a box of 28mm plastics was no big deal to me. Still isn't. So I suspect that a true survey with more detailed and/or specific questions might well show a propensity towards hard plastic minis from folks used to building model kits, as well as former (and even current) Games Workshop folks who learned to assemble multi-part hard plastic kits for their Warhammer or WH40K armies.

YMMV, but that's my 2-cent's worth on the subject.

There's a lot in what maverick2909 said

Phil

No-to me the advantage of plastic figures is the price and 28mm plastic figures just aren't that cheap when compared to the polythene alternative.

No.

Moved to 15mm 41 years ago. Only interested in smaller scale since. Why go to 28mm when there are 10mm and 6mm available?

No. Although I have one 28mm metal collection (both sides) and the same for older sized 25mm I much prefer 18mm for big battle gaming. I chose 28mm for one period as there simply weren't the quality of figures available for the period I wanted to do in 18mm.

Plastics are available for the 28mm period I game but I really don't like them. The assembly is a pain – I needed to resort to green stuff to make hats fit and to disguise the arm shoulder joins. Lots of the poses make the figures look like they are waddling along from side to side with their arms curiously hanging.

I have a few plastics here as my crash-test dummies for trying things out on. Even with careful priming the paint is flaking off.

I much prefer metal figures of 18mm size and smaller. I can paint the 28mm stuff but it takes so long to do it justice and units take up so much table-top space.

Absolutely.
Plastic 28's have given me the opportunity to add ECW [Warlord] and ACW [Perry] collections for both convention and home games. My Napoleonics have also grown as a result of being able to add numerous units to my older metal collection. There are also options to add to my AWI collection, which is great!

I love plastics, I also love metals – bottom line, I love my hobby, and accept that I'm going to be gluing plastic figures together or bending weapons and scrapping flash from metal figures, it's all part and parcel of the hobby.

No

Yes for some new periods for me like AWI, great deals by Warlord 20% off sale and then good deal on Perry Plastics on Ebay.

@normsmith, from your experience, I can tell you it isn't the plastic or the size that's drawing people into 28mm figures, it's the brand. Warlord games have done a terrific job of expanding their brand through all aspects of historical gaming.

I think it's a combination of all 3. Warlord (like every other company that has produced plastic kits since the turn of the century) has seen the light Games Workshop has shone on the hobby. It isn't just terrific marketing, it's a response to a market.

Prefer plastic for both 28mm medieval armies and 20mm WWII.

Have lots of old metal but you can't beat plastic price and quality. Assembly small draw back considering it allows you to vary posses and weapons.

20mm plastic fantastic value and looks great on the table top.

Ease of painting also big factor.

TomT

I am primarily a Napoleonic wargamer, and I want to be able to simulate battles large enough to be significant. I abandoned 25mm decades ago, so the answer is categorically NO to 28mm, whether plastic or metal, for wargaming units. However, I also do some modelling for display, and I might consider using plastic 28mm for diorama purposes.

This has nothing to do with games workshop. Actually it does, the popularity could be attributed to the incredibly cheaper price per figure then GW price gouging. Warlord Games and the Perry's prove 28mm plastic is affordable. GW no so much.

his has nothing to do with games workshop. Actually it does, the popularity could be attributed to the incredibly cheaper price per figure then GW price gouging. Warlord Games and the Perry's prove 28mm plastic is affordable. GW no so much.

It only has to do with GW in that GW showed that there was a huge demand for 28mm plastic kits and that profit could be made. Perry's, Warlord and Mantic- all run by ex-GW employees- also knew it could be done without charging an arm and a leg (yes, you are right, thanks to GW ).

A lift of the arm and a toast to ex-GW employee.

SALUTE to the Perry Twins, John STallard, and Mantic, not sure who runs that.

WELL DONE BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Definitely. Ease of transport, ease of conversion, cheaper price – in that order. And with Perry and Wargames Factory, I've had no breakage.
Can't understand some people's issue with having to put the figures together – but then I used to build plastic kits too. With figures it's a great opportunity for slight variants and outright conversions.

I was captivated by the figures my lads bought from GW. Got me back into painting model figures. I had no idea that anyone was doing 28mm figures in anything but bendy plastic, to which Humbrol simply would not stick. Then I learnt about Knights of Gondor, Rohan cavalry and Catachans in Jungle cammo and tiger stripes in proper hard polystyrene as in my Airfix kits. (I still have a metal sniper in ARVN tiger stripes somewhere). Then came the metal figures which were even better…all from someone called Perry (who was he?, I asked)

Turned out they did their own Napoleonics…better than the Hinchliffe I did in 1970s…the rest is history

No.

I only wargame in 28mm. But plastics makes the shlepability* much better.

* not sure if that is a word

If I was starting out I would be all about the plastics. A less intimidating way of starting big armies, quickly. But in this life I don't have any real desire to get any 28mm plastics. One guy I game with is the opposite to my thinking and uses 95% plastics. They both look good on the table.

Can't understand some people's issue with having to put the figures together – but then I used to build plastic kits too. With figures it's a great opportunity for slight variants and outright conversions.

It's swings and roundabouts I think. I do sometimes welcome the customisability of plastic, but when you just want some "bog-standard troops" then having to clip, clean and assemble four or five components each for twenty or thirty guys can get incredibly tedious. Multipart plastic kits always seem to require a lot more preparation work before I can even start painting than metals do, to the point where metals always seem to jump to the front of the painting queue while the plastics languish awaiting assembly.

But with that said, plastic multiparts are a lot easier to assemble than metal ones, thanks to the poly cement and the relative ease of trimming flash or joints that otherwise aren't quite flush.

Somewhat ironically, with the way things are now, it would almost seem preferable to have metals for the bulk-quantity troops and plastics for the special stuff, with sculpt quality now being roughly comparable at the top end. Instead we've got it the other way round, where the fiddlier plastics are the el cheapo rank and file and the "unmodifiable" metals form the elite troops and characters where we'd probably most welcome the chance to convert. I've sometimes mused on whether resin could be an acceptable halfway house but that seems to be limited to large pieces like terrain, and after GW's disastrous attempt to roll it out over their line more widely it's probably put a number of manufacturers off trying the same.

Plastics didn't get me into 28mm but they did jump start my resurgence into 28mm. About 10 years ago I made the decision to dump a large amount of my 25/28mm lead that I had collected over the years to focus on 10mm & 6mm for large battles. I decided then I would only keep a handful of 28mm for skirmish games. Then I Perry Miniatures & Victrix started to come out with their Napoleonics and at the same time I picked up Sharp Practice so the match was made. Now I have either 6mm or 10mm for large scale battles and I have 28mm figures (predominately plastic) for skirmish games in the same period. The attraction for me is that I can have 40 of a figure and no two will be exactly alike, which gives the skirmish game more character.

Some periods I do in 15mm others in 28mm. Prefer metal but will go with plastic to get the figures I want for a certain unit. I don't even try to assemble them. I pay someone else to do that. Fortunately I have a grand total of four plastic figures in my army.

Only for skirmish games
10mm for actual battles.

I did plastic ACW purely because plastic are so much easier to use and paint chips off less. I would do plastic in other periods if they did other scales.

I use 15mm for my AWI, Napoleonics. 28mm for WW2-era skirmish games and Romans/Ancients.

Growing tired of them. Too fidgety.

Prefer 10mm and I have not finished any 28mm project to date.
Best

Literally only got into Napoleonics because of plastics.
Ordered the Waterloo starter set + the French and British army sets, plus a few plastic cavalry sets, from Warlord. The discounts made it cheaper than buying 15mm/18mm metals.

This again? Yes – plastics don't chip, peel or scatch anything like metal. When I've finished painting a batch of plastics I often just tip them all into a bag or box, something that would be unimaginable with metals.

But best of all I can afford TONS of beautiful 28mm figs, which used to be way beyond my wildest dreams when buying at metal prices. This link has been entirely the result of Victrix and Perrys introduced affordable (and gorgeous) 28mm figs.

Plastic haven't got me into 25/8mm I have painted thousands of Napoleonic metals over the years, BUT, the beautiful Perry Wars of the Roses, along with the great Bloody Barons rules, have meant I could get into an era I had long admired, and then had no reason not to do it! Amazing figures, great price, nice flags included.Painted about 300 figs for a Lancastrian force, about to say 'sod it' and paint up Yorkists too. I dont have the baffling 'oh I prefer the heft of metal' or, 'just don't like plastics' I would've thought, given Wargamers legendary tightness, they'd be all over 'em! teeheehee. Given the amount of truly incredible figures avaliable now, we are in a golden age, where everything is just there!

A couple of small economics posers:

In terms of commercial demand, how many wargamers equate to one Lord Hill?

What are the total wargames miniatures market commercial demand share percentages of wargamers and Lord Hills?

I'm 27, just turned that today actually, and I was introduced into the hobby over 15 years ago with Games Workshop's Warhammer. I struggled and came back and left the hobby time and time again. Then I realized that it was simply the scale that was putting me off. I, personally, prefer 15mm for mass battle games, leaving 28mm for skirmish games.

So I have 28mm for Saga, and 28mm for Sharpe Practice, but 15mm for WWII (Battlefront, Chain of Command) and ACW (Johnny Reb 3 and Regimental Fire & Fury).

I don't really have a big preference on material, but I don't convert much so multi-part kits are lost on me to a great extent.

I have zero interest in plastic miniatures, regardless of their size.

Duplicate post, due to 'locktime error.'

Maybe I'm odd, but I find 28mm to be easier to paint than 15mm in many ways. The details are larger and thus easier to get to and paint nicely.

We all know it's the people who don't play with toy soldiers who are odd.

I won't build plastic why can't they just cast them into a single piece?