Talk Fantasy Football

As I was assembling and modding some minis last night, a thought struck my mind as to what sort of miniature material most people prefer. They all seem to have their advantages and disadvantages. Especially when it comes to modding and weight of the mini. I haven't noticed any real differences when painting, but I'm not an expert painter either.

If you have a different preference than the ones listed, check "Other" and let us know in the comments.

I went for plastic.

• Easy to build, convert or reposition.
• Plastic glue works just fine without any pinning.
• Plastic minis Big Guys are of resonable weight.
• Kitbashing is awesome!

for modelling, you really can't beat plastic. Easier to cut, lighter, doesn't bend.

But in general, it depends on what you're going to do with it. For a model that I'm just going to paint as-is, I like metal (more durable, and if I screw up, I can just dip it in paint thinner overnight and it's clean).

Plastic is *usually* a little bit cheaper, as I said it's easier to cut, and for long, straight parts (spears, long guns, stuff you don't usually see in Blood Bowl), the plastic is much smoother. But it doesn't seem to really hold detail well.

Resin ... you see a lot of varying quality, and some people (and companies) have no idea what they're doing. And they sometimes don't hold paint well (although I hear Impact has a new Trollcast recipe which is less of an issue).
If possible, try to look at a sample of whatever resin figure you're looking at. It's more of a risk from the material than with metal or plastic.
But you can sometimes get good quality resin models for amazingly low prices.

I prefer the weight of metal. Like already mentioned, I also don't have to worry about what type of resin I'm getting and if my primer will stick to it or not.

No doubt about it, for miniatures, I prefer metal.

-Miniatures cast in metal can have tremendous detail, like resin

-Paint adheres well to metal, after an initial layer of primer, like plastic

-Cutting small pieces precisely works well when using the right tools, like with resin and very much unlike plastic

-A small amount of surrounding material can support a considerable amount of weight, which makes pinning and attaching long steel rods to hands easier and mor of a durable solution, very much unlike resin or plastic

-Cleaning/stripping miniatures is possible, which means there is a used miniatures market where you can buy and sell metal miniatures with the intent of repainting them properly

-Miniatures made of metal have, in my opinion, a pleasant weight to them, making them feel substantial, less prone to toppling and make a satisfactory sound when placing them down on a BloodBowl pitch

-Miniatures made of metal travel a smaller distance when hit by an object (dice) then ones made of plastic. Mainly due to the weight

-Sculpting on a metal miniature, to me, is easier then on plastic because I do not need to worry as much obscuring or destroying detail on the original miniature using the tools I use for sculpting

-Greenstuff and other modelling putties adhere better to metal then to plastic

Those are just the first few things that come to mind

Some great comments all around!

Nothing beats the weight of metal figures when playing. Yea, paint goes on pretty well. The softness of metal can be a problem though, over time the details can get blunted more easily than plastics. Usually pretty easy to mod metal as well. Cost, usually runs more. Availability, harder to find metal minis these days.

I chose plastic. With the right plastic, you can use the boiling water/reshaping trick. Overall pretty easy to mod. Paint applies well. Cheaper. Sadly, lighter than metal. Once I get around to it, I'll probably look into weighted bases to see if I can add some heft back to the minis. I'm not sure if anyone makes them, but metal bases would probably be the best bet.

Resin, has not been my friend in general. Paint can be problematic. Harder to work with, and I like a mini that I can mod. More expensive.

For those who strip minis, I've used the following trick with good success on metal/plastic minis. Only had one failure, on some plastic (Mantic) minis. Melted/fused the paint/plastic and turned into a horrible mess. Not sure what kind of plastic that Mantic was using early on, but it was a pain.
https://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dakk ... o_Strip...

I've "bent" resin into shape by dipping it into near-boiling water, which made it soft and putty-like, then dipping it in ice water, which set immediately.

Obvs this might not work with every mixture, which seems to be the biggest knock against resin - not that it's impossible to work with but that every resin seems more or less different. More a "test out beforehand" than "avoid Resin at all costs" kind of situation.

Most of the resins I've worked with have been Black Scorpion and Impact figures.

I choose metal, and I see a lot of others did as well.

I would be curious though to have another poll about what you think a good price for a full team is 16 figures, all positionals and no big guys (lets assume big guys are easily purchased to fill roster as needed, but in the case of metal big guys add big cost quickly).

bouncergriim wrote:I choose metal, and I see a lot of others did as well.

I would be curious though to have another poll about what you think a good price for a full team is 16 figures, all positionals and no big guys (lets assume big guys are easily purchased to fill roster as needed, but in the case of metal big guys add big cost quickly).

That's a good idea bouncegrim! I've been thinking about running a monthly poll, with a few other questions bouncing around in my head. Mind if I borrow your idea (with due credit of course) for the next one?

My resin experience is mostly tainted by GW’s awful Finecast so for me it is down to plastic vs metal.

Plastic makes it is so easy to convert, kitbashing modular plastic kits allows you to make some awesome looking conversions with little cutting required. More elaborate conversions can be done easily as well since cutting plastic is simple and you can use hand tools to remove larger areas. With metal you have to use an electric routing tool or hack away for ages and are more likely to slip and damage the surrounding area or yourself.

I can cut off the tiniest bit of detail on a plastic model such as a skull on a helmet and it will stay in one piece. I can even use a less sharp knife and cut a tiny bit of plastic in my hand without cutting myself, something not possible with plastic.

Gluing plastic models is much easier as well and the bond is so strong they rarely need pinning.

One difference between Blood Bowl and other games is that the models get a lot more handling. This is where things are more even, metal models have the weight so are less likely to get knocked over or accidentally pushed into the wrong square. You can add base weights to plastic models but that only does so much and it is very uneven. That extra weight can be a bad thing if you have to lug models about all day, less of an issue with small Blood Bowl teams, but a big deal with armies for battle games.

On the other hand the paint is far less likely to chip or rub off with plastic models. I’ve even dropped them off a table onto a wood floor and have them survive ok. Varnish will help reduce the chances of chipping or rubbing off but metal models are vastly more likely to have bits break off.

faust_33 wrote:

bouncergriim wrote:I choose metal, and I see a lot of others did as well.

I would be curious though to have another poll about what you think a good price for a full team is 16 figures, all positionals and no big guys (lets assume big guys are easily purchased to fill roster as needed, but in the case of metal big guys add big cost quickly).

That's a good idea bouncegrim! I've been thinking about running a monthly poll, with a few other questions bouncing around in my head. Mind if I borrow your idea (with due credit of course) for the next one?

Go for it. Might be nice for manufacturers out there to see what the perceived sweet spot is.

Plastic is by far my fave.

Easier to glue together and convert.
Lighter - metal models fall over so easily on even the slightest slope (fair enough this is a problem in other games only).
I find primer sticks to it better so it's easier to paint.
I've had paint on metal models chip if they get knocked over, even if they are varnished. Whereas I've full-on-dropped painted plastic minis and not had them chip at all, even unvarnished. Maybe I should be less clumsy, but where's the fun in that?

rolo wrote:And they sometimes don't hold paint well (although I hear Impact has a new Trollcast recipe which is less of an issue).

Not just less an issue ... not an issue at all now. Even brush on primer works after a standard figure wash and dry.

For bloodbowl miniature, i will always go for plastic now unless i have no choice.
All my metal teams are chipped out and turned into crappy painted teams once i made 2 or 3 games, even with varnish. Bloodbowl is a very tough game for the players they get manipulated (turned forward backward, stunned, unstunned) more than in other games. Miniatures in bloodbowl are more like pawns in a boardgame. The lifespan of plastic painted miniature is far better than metal because they don't get hurt by their own weight.

Elyoukey wrote:For bloodbowl miniature, i will always go for plastic now unless i have no choice.
All my metal teams are chipped out and turned into crappy painted teams once i made 2 or 3 games, even with varnish. Bloodbowl is a very tough game for the players they get manipulated (turned forward backward, stunned, unstunned) more than in other games. Miniatures in bloodbowl are more like pawns in a boardgame. The lifespan of plastic painted miniature is far better than metal because they don't get hurt by their own weight.

The secret of longeivity lies in how you apply your paint.

-You need a good basecoat/primer. Learn how to apply this the right way, and under the right conditions
-Apply many thin layers rather then few thick ones
-Learn how to apply clearcoat to protect your paintjob

I have a few teams in use since the late 1990's and no paintchips. Same goes for full armies of metal soldiers. My main reason to repaint something is because I can now do a better job with less brushstrokes then I could hen I originally applied the paint.

My tin soldiers travelled with me through 5 countries. Every time I stuffed them in big moving boxes in layers of bubblerap but without adequate protection. Laying down a good layer of clearcoat is worth a lot