Best thing I found for metal models was regular car undercoat spray before spraying regular undercoat. Didn't even need to varnish the model after that. Personally I prefer the GW plastic but the poses and too many spiky bits means they get damaged too easily in transport.
I do my own sculpting, molding and casting. I personally prefer casting in pewter because if I get a miscast then I can simply melt it down and recast it, something which you can't do with plastic or resin.
Metal is my favourite. I use an etch primer (SMS) followed by acrylic lacquer for the undercoat. I find that to be rock solid to prevent chipping; I dropped a white metal viking (previous mentioned primer + painted in oil paint), the hand bent but no paint chipped off.
I own some Forge World stuff and that is a pain in the butt to clean and paint. I have owned plenty of metal miniatures and have broke a few too. I like plastic the most.
Personally, I like metal figures, probably due to nostalgic reasons mostly. But if you use pins and magnets, that helps the flying apart issues. Plus, they are way easier to strip and repaint. Plastic can be a nightmare to strip and repaint, especially if you bought the figures 2nd hand and the person used some obnoxious paint on them, then they are basically trash at that point. Plus, they can last 100+ years which every other material listed wont.
Haha. I had to cut out about 1 minute of crowing, I kept trying to start talking and he would Crow again. I'm glad you liked it! That's why I left the first Crow in. LOL
Good video 👍 One of the classic facebook arguments in which newer players claim that hard plastic is just the best, but as with everything in life, the truth is more nuanced. My opinion: Detail crispness: well cast resin (varies massively) > metal > plastic > poorly cast resin Durability: single piece metal > plastic > resin > multi metal Ease of use / conversions: plastic > everything else painting: plastic > resin > metal Overall I love one piece metal models, but hate multi-piece. Metal armies are also heavy to carry. As such, I like plastic as gaming pieces - easy to handle, light to transport and durable (paint never comes off). I like metal for nostalgia and as display pieces, and I find resin is a sort of compromise between the two, but varies massively - I would say my most crisp, highly detailed mini is in resin, but also my worst, softest, most warped mini is in resin! I have limited experience with 3D-printing, so have no opinion.
I'm an outlier in this topic. I prefer resion, the hard and rigid type. Usually they require less pieces to assemble, and they are sharper in details compared with plastic. Sure, they are much harder to work with than plastic, but not that hard once you get the hang of it.
I feel like the only one you missed is PVC plastic, which is similar to your thoughts on PLA. But overall this was a nice rundown of the different materials used for minis. Ultimately I think I prefer hard plastic for its combination of durability, workability, and detail. But honestly they all work well enough for making pew pew noises and pretending I’m 10 again.
Be aware of metal minis in cold areas! Super glue bonds get fragile in subzero temperature. Many horror stories exist of an army being forgotten in the car in winter.
I've never heard of that! Although I live in a somewhat moderate climate. It does go below freezing here but not for the entire winter. That's good to know!
@@LetsTalkTabletop It also serves as advice for anyone wanting to loosen up a bond with superglue if they wish to remove parts (or correct a badly placed bit).
Definitely prefer plastic. Too many metal minis that just don’t stay together. I have only recently started resin-printing, so the jury’s still out on that.
Lead in miniatures in America was banned for no reason. They still use it in the U.K. theres never been a case of ingestion of miniatures causing illness.
Plastic is best for wargame figures, cast resin is also great but a little more fragile. 3d printed is for me, the worst for , say historic minis. Some companies are experimenting with their own resin, again, one reviewer had a completely broken figure in the box. I think 3d printing will hurt many manufactures.
attach the metal lance arm to the old undead Black Knights (WHFB 6th edition) is TERRIBLE; also, the chaos raptors (WH40 3,5 edition), were impossible to make stand still, with their 25mm base and the center of balance 5 cm above the ground
Gluing together resin, whether 3d printed or professional, can be a nightmare depending on the particular resin used.
Best thing I found for metal models was regular car undercoat spray before spraying regular undercoat. Didn't even need to varnish the model after that.
Personally I prefer the GW plastic but the poses and too many spiky bits means they get damaged too easily in transport.
I do my own sculpting, molding and casting. I personally prefer casting in pewter because if I get a miscast then I can simply melt it down and recast it, something which you can't do with plastic or resin.
I never thought about that. Do you use a furnace?
Metal is my favourite. I use an etch primer (SMS) followed by acrylic lacquer for the undercoat. I find that to be rock solid to prevent chipping; I dropped a white metal viking (previous mentioned primer + painted in oil paint), the hand bent but no paint chipped off.
Never heard of an etch primer! I'll have to look into that.
I own some Forge World stuff and that is a pain in the butt to clean and paint. I have owned plenty of metal miniatures and have broke a few too. I like plastic the most.
Personally, I like metal figures, probably due to nostalgic reasons mostly. But if you use pins and magnets, that helps the flying apart issues. Plus, they are way easier to strip and repaint. Plastic can be a nightmare to strip and repaint, especially if you bought the figures 2nd hand and the person used some obnoxious paint on them, then they are basically trash at that point. Plus, they can last 100+ years which every other material listed wont.
That rooster crowing was hilarious and absolutely made my day.
Haha. I had to cut out about 1 minute of crowing, I kept trying to start talking and he would Crow again. I'm glad you liked it! That's why I left the first Crow in. LOL
Good video 👍
One of the classic facebook arguments in which newer players claim that hard plastic is just the best, but as with everything in life, the truth is more nuanced.
My opinion:
Detail crispness: well cast resin (varies massively) > metal > plastic > poorly cast resin
Durability: single piece metal > plastic > resin > multi metal
Ease of use / conversions: plastic > everything else
painting: plastic > resin > metal
Overall I love one piece metal models, but hate multi-piece. Metal armies are also heavy to carry. As such, I like plastic as gaming pieces - easy to handle, light to transport and durable (paint never comes off). I like metal for nostalgia and as display pieces, and I find resin is a sort of compromise between the two, but varies massively - I would say my most crisp, highly detailed mini is in resin, but also my worst, softest, most warped mini is in resin!
I have limited experience with 3D-printing, so have no opinion.
Yeah I think I agree with you on pretty much all of those points. Sometimes well cast resin can have very crisp detail that's fun to paint.
I'm an outlier in this topic. I prefer resion, the hard and rigid type. Usually they require less pieces to assemble, and they are sharper in details compared with plastic. Sure, they are much harder to work with than plastic, but not that hard once you get the hang of it.
Hard plastic minis for me
I feel like the only one you missed is PVC plastic, which is similar to your thoughts on PLA. But overall this was a nice rundown of the different materials used for minis.
Ultimately I think I prefer hard plastic for its combination of durability, workability, and detail. But honestly they all work well enough for making pew pew noises and pretending I’m 10 again.
I personally like metal and how sturdy and heavy they feel, but plastic is definetly much much easier to work with.
Be aware of metal minis in cold areas! Super glue bonds get fragile in subzero temperature. Many horror stories exist of an army being forgotten in the car in winter.
I've never heard of that! Although I live in a somewhat moderate climate. It does go below freezing here but not for the entire winter. That's good to know!
@@LetsTalkTabletop It also serves as advice for anyone wanting to loosen up a bond with superglue if they wish to remove parts (or correct a badly placed bit).
Definitely prefer plastic. Too many metal minis that just don’t stay together. I have only recently started resin-printing, so the jury’s still out on that.
The detail on resin printing is second to none!
The old metal nids models we horrendous for breaking. Glued too.many scything talons in my life time as the raveners were top heavy and tumble
Especially the raveners!
Lead in miniatures in America was banned for no reason. They still use it in the U.K. theres never been a case of ingestion of miniatures causing illness.
Normally lead is 12-13% of the mixture with tin, antimony or bismuth.
F, resin, I'm printing in Bort!
👍👍
Plastic for me.
Plastic is best for wargame figures, cast resin is also great but a little more fragile. 3d printed is for me, the worst for , say historic minis. Some companies are experimenting with their own resin, again, one reviewer had a completely
broken figure in the box.
I think 3d printing will hurt many manufactures.
attach the metal lance arm to the old undead Black Knights (WHFB 6th edition) is TERRIBLE; also, the chaos raptors (WH40 3,5 edition), were impossible to make stand still, with their 25mm base and the center of balance 5 cm above the ground
Oh man, I know that black knights in plastic are hard enough to glue the arms on. I can't even imagine in metal.
easy answer: plastic
I HATE metal. I'm not even sure why.
Oh man, I love metal. I'm not even sure why. I think it's the weight when you pick them up. Probably the hardest to kit bash with though.
@@LetsTalkTabletop I don't like the weight. So that probably explains the dichotomy.