I've been receiving a greal deal of mail asking if I am still actively painting.  My 1/72 plastics page hasn't been updated as frequently over the past few months.  This doesn't mean I've hung up my brushes; I've just found a new scale that has been taking up a lot of my time.

Regular readers of my page will know that I have something of a love-hate relationship with plastics.  This is the scale that got me into the hobby, this is the scale that got me started in wargaming, and this is the scale in which I prefer to work.

But plastics have a definite downside.  The sets are not designed with a consistent philosophy behind them.  The poses, or mix of poses, is all wrong.  Basic troops types are under-represented, or even unavailable, while elite specialists have multiple sets.  Weapons mixes within a set are off.  I've gradually been coming to the conclusion that plastic figures are not well suited to wargaming or diorama building.  This is not because of any flaw in the plastic medium, but because of the strange inability of manufacturers to tailor their product to their consumer base.

Last Fall my close friend finally talked me into wargaming World War II with him.  He games the period in 15mm, so I bought a few packs.  I've never been a fan of 15mm as a figure scale.  The figures are easy to paint, but so small that much of the detail gets lost.  All the 15mm figures I had seen were so poorly proportioned that they were barely recognizable as human.

I don't know if it was the luck of the draw or if 15mm as a scale has been improving, but the figures I bought were top-notch.  I started a Soviet army, and was so pleased with the look of the figures that I began an American Airborne force as well.  All of the figures and vehicles I bought were from Battlefront, a New Zealand company that appears to be the industry leader at the moment.  Here are the 15mm figures with some 1/72 plastic figures for comparison.

The US Airborne is well represented in plastic, with sets from Esci and Revell.  These are widely considered two of the best sets in plastic.  So how can I hope to top them with 15mm figures?  Take a look at the troops below.  The metal figures to appear a little pudgy, but not grotequely so.  The plastic figures, by contrast, are well proportioned.  But the level of detail, particularly raised detail, is comparable, even though the metal figures are about 1/2 the size of the plastics!  The effect of the same detail on a smaller figure is spectacular.  The poses of the metal figures are also much more natural.  Compare the two greande throwers.  The metal figure looks right--he is throwing with a natural motion--while the plastic figure looks posed--stiff and unnatural.  Look at the standing/firing plastic paratrooper.  He is about to seriously injure himself because, even though he is an elite sodier, he is not nestling the stock of his rifle in the hollow of his shoulder.
 

Of course, anyone wishing to field a unit of paratroopers must see that they possess the necessary support weapons.  Battlefront includes .30 caliber light machine guns in their command packs and sells seperate packs of 80mm mortars.  What is available in plastic?  Only a .30-cal team in the Revell box that is so hideous that I have never painted it.  There are not U.S. airborne mortar teams.  Take a look at what Battlefront offers:
 

After I built my infantry force, I started looking into vehicles.  I was apprehensive about building a World War II armored force.  My experience with 1/72 or 1/76 scale plastic models was not good.  The models were expensive, a pain to build, and always lacked detail or historical authenticity.  When I opened my Battlefront Shermans, I experienced a kind of epiphany.  Look at the four models below.
 
 

You just can't get these kinds of models in 1/72 plastic.

Don't get me wrong.  I still like plastic figures, but the convenience of metal 15mm figures for wargaming makes them the only choice.  I'll continue to paint, scan, and display 1/72 plastic sets as they catch my fancy, but the main focus of my painting will by in 15mm for the foreseeable future.

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Last updated 17 March, 2003