"Which plastic kits are recommended/which to avoid?" Topic

Looking at getting into 1:72 skirmish/platoon-type games due to the relatively inexpensive plastic kits available. I've been looking at Plastic Soldier Review to see what's out there, but I wanted to ask the community what kits they have had a good experience with as far as:

1) Number of figures per box
2) Price/Economics (e.g. how many boxes to make a platoon)
3) Equipment (e.g. does the kit come with additional weapons)
4) Quality
5) Historical accuracy (I'm less concerned about this as long as it's nothing really egregious)

I'm specifically considering either the early Eastern Front (around Case Blue) or the late Western Front (post-D-Day in France), not sure yet which so I'm looking at either early war or late war.

I'm specifically looking at *plastic* kits, not metals. Seems like there's a huge amount of choice, but I am used to the approach of "one company sells all the units/special weapons" so trying to pick out a kit/set of kits that are compatible is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

-Wayne

plasticsoldierreview.com
Plastic Soldier Review provides in depth interviews on nearly every 1/72nd scale plastic figure set ever released. They show photos of every figure and how many you get in a box. They also rate each set for historical accuracy, quality of casting and sculpting.

They can answer most of your questions. The site can be sorted by manufacturer or by era. We are not likely to be much better than that resource you already have used.

Most WWII platoons are about 40 to 50 men, so about one box of plastic figures will get you about a platoon.

Most plastic figure sets contain 36 to 48 figures, older sets give you more figures.

Caesar Miniatures are without a doubt the best overall line of figures ever made. Most are WWII era. They are expensive, have about 36 figures per box and each set is limited production. Once it's gone it's ebay time.

Few sets come with extra weapons since soft plastics don't take glue well. Caesar Miniatures did a short series of WWII Germans that were hard plastic and had lots of pieces per figure with hats and helmets and rifles and machine guns. They had about 8 figures per set and cost about $20. USD It is a good source for extra WWII German gear if you need it.

Nearly all old Esci WWII sets if matched with the same WWII Revell set work well together. For example the Esci WWII British and Revell WWII British. They give you all the guys with picks and shovels to make a reasonable balance in the squads. The Esci and Revell WWII US Army sets give you all the weapons that you would find in an infantry battalion except the 60mm mortar. Easy fix, cut the barrel of the Esci 81mm mortar in 1/2 and it works fine.

While Esci is long out of business all their WWII stuff is now made by Revell or Italeri. A check of PSR will tell you if the figures were originally made by Esci or someone else.

Good luck.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek

Caesar, when you can find them, are the best in my opinion. Otherwise, I like newer Airfix and some Esci

Strelets is generally amazing. Make sure to look at pics of Orion or Mars boxes on Plastic Solider Review before you buy them. Some are down right terrible. Others are perfect. Also, check the prices from Rebelalpha on Ebay and from Hobbylinc.com. I have been buying from the former for more than a decade and his prices are hard to beat. The latter (HL) can be hit or miss but has some steep sales. They have a reputation for slow shipping but I have never had that problem in the last 2 years.

Also Bunkermeister will not steer you wrong. I am convinced he has more 1/72 stuff than anyone :)

Thanks! I'll look at PSR more. I currently like the look of PSC which I'm familiar with already, Valiant (I understand a lot of these are too big), Caesar, Zvezda and actually the old airfix set still looks pretty good to my eye.

Is there a site like PSR for vehicles/tanks?

Plastic soldier miniatures sold 1/72 rigid plastic. I don't know if they still do it. Here's some examples of painted ones:

And a comparative sizd shot with Valiant and Plastic Soldier:

Also, new Italeri sets are quite hard plastic and sharp miniatures:

Revell is also great but plastic is quite soft and bendy:

Cheers,

There is a polish company, they are specialy in the german / polish war of 1939. Their game is "First to Fight", the scale is 1/72. They have a big range and their plastic tanks, guns and transports are really nice. Their early PzKpw 3 Ausf. E is a beauty and the infantry is close to Caesar / Miniknight. This series is brand new and expanding.
Their whole tank tracs are one piece per side, alone that stand out Revell, Matchbox, Italeri or Esci. If you want to play with tanks, try to avoid to fix single tracs, it is not funy. The only bad thing for "Wrzesien 1939 / First to fight" is, I don't know if they accepted paypal.

I support Caesar if you can get them. I have their Fallschirmjager sets and they're phenomenal. In a pinch Imex Korean War US infantry work. Only major problem is they have Brens instead of BARs which doesn't make sense in either war

I consider 20mm to be compatible to 1/72 and a very good range of figures can be found at Eureka, Australia in the name of AB Figures,20mm. (Anthony Barton) and also Adler figs.
Since you are starting out take a look at 3D Printed items. Blaubaer names First To Fight. Their products are great. They focus on 1939 Poland, German and Polish.

Thank you cloudcaptain. You may be right if you only include 20th Century. Some of those Nappy guys beat me for sure in numbers of infantry.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek

It's been a decade since I built a plastic tank model, but the two kits that gave me nightmares were:
Airfix Churchill kits. Old, crotchety and hard to assemble.
Unimodels T-26 kits. Soo, so many parts…

The plastic kits to avoid are those with individual tank track pieces…groan I find these a nightmare and it always seems pot luck as to whether the kit you buy has them. Mind you I also find the single rubber tracks difficult to melt join. I end up sewing them with cotton thread. Of course some folks will love 'em and have no difficulty at all.

Much prefer the solid pieces tracks to the belts; some use a high-quality track piece which will NOT fit around the wheels and sprockets, and some use horrific obsolete plastic to make a track piece which can fit around the wheels because it is pulling apart. The recent Airfix Cromwell had final drives moulded in two pieces; just stick the outer layer of wheels into the inner layer/track component, and it's ready to attach to the hull.

S-Model are also good for that. They have been known to have photoetch in their kits, but it's not like the nightmare of your average Dragon kit.
If you are close enough to Amercom Hobby, maybe check out their military vehicle magazine models?

I would not like Airfix's old figure kits as they must be completely worn out by now, and often unpaintable. Beware of kits with figures made out of the same plastics as army men.
Similar problems with Italeri's German motorcycle troops.

I would recommend Zvezda, but their weapons are so frail it may yet prove difficult to game with them; also they're Russian so they can wait until the war is over before I'd consider them again.