Which do you like better: painting plastic or metallic minis? It\'s hard to explain, but I feel a certain difference between the two materials while painting. Still, some people say that the surface properties of both plastic and metallic minis should be the same after it\'s primed. What do you think?
Plastic vs Metal
- Thread starter Margo
- Start date
tidoco2222
Active member
Personally I prefer metal. Two reasons for this,
a) I feel like I have more value for money spent,
b) I think that the detail on a mini is better when cast in metal, though it has to be said that plastic minis are getting better all the time.
I am not one for doing conversions which I think would sway to being easier with plastics.
a) I feel like I have more value for money spent,
b) I think that the detail on a mini is better when cast in metal, though it has to be said that plastic minis are getting better all the time.
I am not one for doing conversions which I think would sway to being easier with plastics.
Sounds very reasonable. I cannot make up my mind yet on which I like better. Somehow it seems to me that the paint evens out on the metal surfaces better than on plastic (or green stuff, for that matter). Yet plastic minis are lighter, easier to assemble and more proof to paint chipping.
green stuff
Active member
I prefer metal minis because they often have less mold lines to clean up. Painting is great, be it on plastic or metal, but spending hours to clean up the minis before painting them stresses me so 
.
Another bad point for plastic is that I tend to think that plastic will glue on better then metal, so I systematically pin the metal pieces and not the plastic ones. Needless to say how many plastic arms I\'ve lost because of that during transport.
.Another bad point for plastic is that I tend to think that plastic will glue on better then metal, so I systematically pin the metal pieces and not the plastic ones. Needless to say how many plastic arms I\'ve lost because of that during transport
.
D
donga666
Guest
There isn\'t a great deal of differance these days (especially for \'gaming\' pieces, maybe not so much for \'display\'). BUT I grew up painting metal miniatures and plastics will never feel right. Having said that plastics are now excellent and the conversion possibilites with plastics are endless and stress free.
@Greenstuff: I find plastic miniatures ALOT tougher than metals. Apart from the fact that they are lighter and if you drop them they don\'t tend to explode like metal minis. What glue are you using?
I am old fashioned and still like metal.
@Greenstuff: I find plastic miniatures ALOT tougher than metals. Apart from the fact that they are lighter and if you drop them they don\'t tend to explode like metal minis. What glue are you using?
I am old fashioned and still like metal.
green stuff
Active member
For plastic on plastic, I use the standard plastic glue that welds the two parts together. So usually thats OK. The problem is when it comes to plastic on metal, I use super glue. Now I always pin those whatever the size or shape. They just seem to snap off if I don\'t.
I prefer metal. I\'ve not painted any of the latest plastics, so I can\'t say anything about them, but metals always have finer sculpts. Fingers are better contoured, and faces have finer features. This means that the paint job has a better chance of looking less chunky because the miniature is less chunky.
Mould lines... ah, how we all hate mould lines. A poorly cast metal mini is the worse of the two, but plastics always seem to have the worst casts. And somehow, I find a plastic mini more difficult to clean, mainly because it\'s hard to recontour the surface with a knife and files tend to leave little bits stuck to the minis.
Anyhow, metal minis just feel better in the hand.
Mould lines... ah, how we all hate mould lines. A poorly cast metal mini is the worse of the two, but plastics always seem to have the worst casts. And somehow, I find a plastic mini more difficult to clean, mainly because it\'s hard to recontour the surface with a knife and files tend to leave little bits stuck to the minis.
Anyhow, metal minis just feel better in the hand.
Reading the replies there may be some confusion about plastics. There are basicly four main materials used for figures:
- metal (tin alloy)
- resin (polyurethane) - Fenryll, Illyad
- polystyrene (hard, injection moulded) - GW plastic figures
- polyethylene (soft, injection moulded) - Revell, Airfix, etc. boxed figures.
I prefer resin and metal. I like resin since details tend to come out very fine. I like metal for it\'s weight. Polystyrene figures get better every day but still suffer from the \"no undercuts\" problem. Polyethylene are a headache to paint because of flexibility.
- metal (tin alloy)
- resin (polyurethane) - Fenryll, Illyad
- polystyrene (hard, injection moulded) - GW plastic figures
- polyethylene (soft, injection moulded) - Revell, Airfix, etc. boxed figures.
I prefer resin and metal. I like resin since details tend to come out very fine. I like metal for it\'s weight. Polystyrene figures get better every day but still suffer from the \"no undercuts\" problem. Polyethylene are a headache to paint because of flexibility.
I prefer metal minis. Resin works for me as well, but the polystyrene stuff always bugs me. They\'re a pain in the arse to clean and, as has been pointed out, are often poorly cast with displacement between the moulds.
I like the weight of a metal mini in my hand as I paint. I don\'t know how many times I\'ve managed to catapult away a plastic mini by a sudden movement of my fingers. It rarely damage the painting or the mini itself, but my heart skips a beat every time it happens.
I like the weight of a metal mini in my hand as I paint. I don\'t know how many times I\'ve managed to catapult away a plastic mini by a sudden movement of my fingers. It rarely damage the painting or the mini itself, but my heart skips a beat every time it happens.
tidoco2222
Active member
I am wonderring if there is an age thing here as well. All the points already mentioned are valid and I have to say that I am happy with plastic and resin and metal but metal most of all. My son who is new to the mini painting world has come into it when plastics are more common now than they were when alot of us got into it.
He loves to work with plastic and hates to do metal I usually end up putting his metal or metal/plastic combo minis to gether (I usually end up painting most of his as well which takes me away from doing my own )
He loves to work with plastic and hates to do metal I usually end up putting his metal or metal/plastic combo minis to gether (I usually end up painting most of his as well which takes me away from doing my own
)
D
donga666
Guest
I think (or assume) that when we say \'plastic\' we meen Polystyrene (GW type thing, but alot of \'Model\' manufactures us it to. Tamiya do).
I don\'t think there would be too many people on this forum using Polyethylene, not being a \'model making\' forum, as such.
Metal is Metal, but I think that \'Epoxy\' resin/polyurethane moulded figures could be \'lumped\' together with metals. Because they are cast in a similar way, ie they have undercuts and similar moulds (I know they are poured, instead of using a centrifuge cast mechanism like metals/pewter). But the cast quality is very similar, I know it is still \'plastic\' but not a thermo-plastic.
But I still like Metal more, its all in the weight
Yes, that\'s what I\'ve noticed, too. I wonder, does GW change the quality of its polystrene over time? It seems to me that recently it got significantly better in terms of paint coverage -- the surface of the newly released models (say, Bretonnians) \"recives\" the paint better than before. Or maybe I just started painting a little differently, I don\'t know. Have any of you noticed any changes of the GW plastic quality?
Ming-Hua, thanks for the info on plastics!
I think it depends on goal....
I like metal figures for larger display pieces/monsters. I wish my Forgeworld Bloodthirster was metal so I won\'t be as afraid of it breaking, but I hear Resin is more detailed, hence forgeworld uses it.
That said, plastic is so much easier to mod; i wish my Daemonhunter grey knights were plastic. since they are all one piece metals, the mods I want to do will be quite difficult and time consuming...
So I think it just depends on what you do. I find people who like huge mods, prefer plastic. Those that paint more for display prefer Metal or Resin.
And I do find the metal minis are more detailed though.
Sanjay
I like metal figures for larger display pieces/monsters. I wish my Forgeworld Bloodthirster was metal so I won\'t be as afraid of it breaking, but I hear Resin is more detailed, hence forgeworld uses it.
That said, plastic is so much easier to mod; i wish my Daemonhunter grey knights were plastic. since they are all one piece metals, the mods I want to do will be quite difficult and time consuming...
So I think it just depends on what you do. I find people who like huge mods, prefer plastic. Those that paint more for display prefer Metal or Resin.
And I do find the metal minis are more detailed though.
Sanjay
Oh one more thing in favour of plastics: they\'re easier to transport. I\'ve sent my Pegasus Knights Regiment all the way to US via regular mail, and it arrived well. Not to mention the regiment travelled from Russia to UK bfore that.
D
DanseMacabre
Guest
I was an hard supporter of metal minis as the most of you, but recently i\'ve changed my mind,the reasons were already writted i want just to add the fact that for gaming purposes the plastic is far better expecially in terms of money and transport.
Think about the cost of a whfb army in metal and one in plastic.
My feeling is that the growing popularity of the plastic enlarged the gaming community base for two reasons mostly: the plastic models gives a more \"toy\" feeling than the \"elite\" metal and second it\'s no more a so expensive hobby, well at least not expensive as a full metal army
Think about the cost of a whfb army in metal and one in plastic.
My feeling is that the growing popularity of the plastic enlarged the gaming community base for two reasons mostly: the plastic models gives a more \"toy\" feeling than the \"elite\" metal and second it\'s no more a so expensive hobby, well at least not expensive as a full metal army
hmm..
I do like many of the plastic miniatures, and putting plastics together is so much easier. It does seem to be a bit more of a pain to \'demold line\' them though....
As for being cheaper, I have my doubts on this...GW still charges an arm and a leg for a PLASTIC box of miniatures. I am sure they favor plastics much more because of the insane mark ups they can get on them (after the larger initial investment of course).
I agree with the sentiment that metal figs have a more \'elite\' status. They do feel much more like collectible items than a plastic mini does.
So, that all being said, I\'ll revert to my normal \'non-bias, equal opportunity miniature lover\' status...lol
I do like many of the plastic miniatures, and putting plastics together is so much easier. It does seem to be a bit more of a pain to \'demold line\' them though....
As for being cheaper, I have my doubts on this...GW still charges an arm and a leg for a PLASTIC box of miniatures. I am sure they favor plastics much more because of the insane mark ups they can get on them (after the larger initial investment of course).
I agree with the sentiment that metal figs have a more \'elite\' status. They do feel much more like collectible items than a plastic mini does.
So, that all being said, I\'ll revert to my normal \'non-bias, equal opportunity miniature lover\' status...lol
