New or Old ?
Or should that be Quantity or Quality ?
A comparison of some 1/35th scale figures
I don’t like disrespecting figures and how they’ve been sculpted or produced.
Especially older kits, which possibly at the time of introduction, were the only option barring sculpting your own.
But sometimes it’s worth having a look at “old” kits, maybe comparing them to something newer, and realising just how lucky we are in this day and age to be able to source such great kits.
Even with old kits, there’s a lot of after market replacements that can be added, I suppose it’s simply a case of where you stop.
Photo #1 is an old plastic kit of a WWII Russian soldier in 1/35th scale, possibly from around forty years ago….. Possibly longer.
It’s had a recent repaint, and with the skills I now have – compared to painting by catapult back then – it doesn’t look half bad.
Next to a vehicle, and particularly standing amongst several other similar figures of the same type – i.e. older Tamiya, Revell or Italeri, then he’d not be under so much scrutiny perhaps, and the staging of multiple figures can have a similar effect as when you see large numbers of Britains “toy soldier” figures, posed in ranks or on the march that en-mass the simpler paint finish is disguised by the overall group effect.
Could this figure be improved ?
Of course it could, in fact I think that it already has been, in that the weapon looks more like a Dragon Miniatures offering.
Further additions could be a replacement head, my personal favourites being the Hornet Miniature Heads. Careful though, as some are for !/35th scale and others are for 1/32nd. It might not seem much of a difference, but in actual fact, it can make the model look almost like one of those Bobble-head caricatures you see on car dashboards.
Hornet also do a range of hands, so these could be replaced too, or perhaps a replacement holding a weapon already, so the fingers are in the right position, again sourcing perhaps from a Dragon Miniatures kit.
Photo #2 – the same figure from the back.
Ah, but then you think “How much is this costing ?”
Well, Hornet head sets come usually in fives, and cost around £9 plus postage.
Cannibalising a Dragon set is going to cost a minimum of £10, again for a full set, but I don’t think that they provide extras, so any parts removed mean the effective loss of that full figure’s usefulness.
Hand sets from Hornet cost around £8 plus postage if memory serves.
So, £27 and we’ve got a very much improved figure…….
Did anyone go “Ouch !” out there ?
OK, in fairness the Dragon kit will have another three or four useable figures, the head and hand sets will also provide for other alterations in the future, so the £27 isn’t really being spent on this chap, but the initial outlay is still there, and £27 will get you over halfway to a decent ICM AFV kit.
The resin option
Photo #3 shows a resin offering from Alpine Miniatures, again in 1/35th scale.
I think it’s fair to say that things have advanced and there’s a lot more detail and it’s very crisp detail at that.
There’s so many companies now producing figures in this scale, it’s pretty impossible for me to list them here, however, and in no particular order, here’s a few to look up – Verlinden, Rado, Alpine, M Models, Sovereign 2000, Wolf Miniatures, Hornet Miniatures, Historex Miniatures, Pegaso, Andrea, Scale 75, Nuts Planet, Exter Company, Black Dog and Panzer Model, First Legion, Border Miniatures,ToRo Miniatures…….
Well, I’m sure I’ve missed a lot, but it’s a start.
One thing I will note here.
All the above produce ORIGINAL figures, they’ve paid someone to make a master sculpture, paid for moulds to be made, and possibly paid someone to paint one to show you what it’ll look like when assembled and finished.
Talking of which, photo #4 shows the back of this same figure.
The operative word is COST
Buying copies, PIRATE copies might seem like it’s not harming anyone, but it is.
It’s ultimately harming you, because if genuine companies go out of business, then they won’t produce any more cool kits for you to get hold of – pirated, cheap and poor quality kits included.
So please, please, support the genuine artist / sculptor / company, because he’s probably the guy who’s already working a forty hour week in a boring job, then coming home and sculpting something cool for you to buy a casting of.
Photo #5 now I mentioned that there’s a lot of new companies out there, this is one that I’ve just come across – Lerckik Miniatures.
OK maybe I’m late to the party, because it says 2021 on the box, but 2026 is when I got this one, and to be honest they knock a lot of other similar kits into a cocked hat.
Photo #6 is another one of the Lerchik figures painted up, this one designed to be posed on the back of a Russian tank ( T34 or similar ) and holding on to one of the turret grab handles.
Resin figures have been around for quite some while, and it’s probably Verlinden sets that are one of the more recognisable “old” companies. Although Verlinden shut down several years ago, enough seem to have been produced that they regularly crop up on places like eBay to still be an option for the modeller.
Back to the plastic
Photo #7. Tristar set Box Art.
So I’m definitely not saying that “New is best” or that “Resin is the way you have to go”, because there are still a lot of great plastic sets out there – Dragon Gen II in particular and the new sets released a couple of years back from Tamiya, and if you can get them, the old Tristar figure sets, some of which were reboxed as Hobbyboss and use the same box art, so they’re easily recognised once you know what the Tristar ones looked like.
In fairness, with even just a little “tender loving care” the old offerings can be refreshed and improved, this article is simply to point out how far advances have made our choices easier, although even then, we’ll all develop ( or already have ) our “go to” supplier. But it is worth exploring the marketplace for newer companies that have emerged, or ones – certainly in my case – that haven’t come onto the radar yet.
Photos #8 and #9. I mentioned the Dragon Gen II sets above, here’s the pictures from the back of the box showing unpainted and assembled miniatures, and one of them in an exploded view showing the parts breakdown.
As you can see from that picture theres a lot more separate parts that go to making up the figure than in older sets from say thirty years ago, and whilst with two part metal dies producing the castings, there will be some flash clean-up required.
It’ll be easy to find though, and quick to remove, and after all, most resin figures have mould lines on them anyway.
Photos #10 and #11.
I also mentioned the new Tamiya offerings, this is one of three sprues in the German set, there’s weapons and accessories on the other two.
Tamiya have gone in a different direction from past releases, splitting the body laterally down it’s length,
I think with the intention that detail is not lost on the sides of the figure, as was sometimes the case in the past.
As with the Dragon Gen II, there’s a lot more separate pasts, again offering better detail for the modeller.
Photo #12 Historex resin Loader from the WWII US Bazooka team
Photo #13 Verlinden resin Brooke Rifle figures from their North and South range.
Photo #14 A Metal figure from the Hornet range.
Photo #15 If you can find one, then this resin one from Mauser Earth is superb
Photo #16. One of the resin figures from Wolf Miniatures
Photo #17 not to be left out, a plastic Modern Tanker figure from Masterbox
Photo #18 To be honest, this is one of my favourite plastic figures in this scale, it's one of those rare Tristar plastic figures.