Tim's Review of 15mm Miniatures

Tim's Review of Figures

This is an update of my original 15mm miniature review. I have been looking for some alternative 15mm WWII mini's and would like to share my thoughts. Be aware that these are my personal opinions, so if I have gored anyone's sacred ox…my apologies…

From Left to Right...

#4 - Battle Honors - US Marine Advancing
#5 - Battlefront - US Para
#6 - Old Glory/Command Decision - US Army in Greatcoat
#7 - Resistant Roosters - US Army in Greatcoat
#8 - Peter Pig - US Para

Height (I measured these, the scale in the pic is 1mm off)

• Battle Honors - 13mm
  
• Battlefront - 16mm
• Command Decision - 15mm
• Resistant Roosters - 18mm
• Peter Pig - 15mm

Proportions

• Battle Honors - BH mini's are in proportion for the scale, trouble is the scale is approx 13mm or 86% of what it should be.
• Battlefront - BF uses "heroic" or comic proportions for their mini's. It's like everyone is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Command Decision - CD's minis are proportioned ok, though sometimes hands and faces are too big.
• Resistant Roosters - RR guys are big. Not only do they measure in around 17-18mm, the proportions are off.
  
• Peter Pig - Pig's proportions are ok, the legs and feet are a little thick sometimes, but they look good.

General Comments

Battlefront (Flames of War) Currently the "Gold Standard". A wide variety, with good poses (ETO only!). These guys are a little on the large side or 'heroic' as they are called. Lots of detail and very dynamic; they are closer to 17mm than 15mm. Some of the early castings are true 15mm and look thin and static compared to the later ones. Nothing wrong with that, but it can look odd when you mix figures. BF's uses a soft casting alloy which makes the mini's easy to convert. The tank & gun barrels are a little thick scale wise, but that is done for miniature strength purposes and doesn't look out of place; perception is reality... They are also a bit pricy; an average tank company will have approx 12 tanks, at $9-$10 each…do the math.

Command Decision/Old Glory - Or WWII at a more economic level. OG has a good mix of poses and a good range of figures (ETO & PTO). I am a little mixed on OG's stuff. The price per mini is very good; foot is typically around 50 for $27 and vehicles three per pack at $21. They frequently run 20-40% off sales, so they are even a better value at times. The consistency between the ranges is mixed. A few fit in very well with BF's "heroic" figures. Others are much smaller and look too small next to BF's but fit well with Peter Pig's mini's.

With a little work their vehicles are just as good as BF's. OG's lead alloy is soft, which is most evident in smaller parts which bend easily (MG's and such). Some of their barrels seem a bit thin...I have noticed this most obviously on their Pz III's and some 37mm Flak mounted on halftracks. I am not sure if it extends to other tanks in the line. In general the newer the mini's are the better the sculpting and larger the size.

I have three big gripes about OG mini’s:

• The boots are often perfectly in scale – ie, they are thin and can snap off easily
• OG vehicles have an annoying tendency to have a mold line running around or through the middle of the model.
• OG models tend to have a lot of flash/molding lines that require cleanup.
  

Resisitant Roosters - Produce Finns, Germans, Japanese and some interesting US (ETO infantry in greatcoats!) in limited scope. These look good on the site, but are disappointing in person (at least the Japanese and US in greatcoats are). The castings are "soft" lacking crisp lines and detail. They may suffer from the 'Gripping Beast syndrome' of looking better painted up than not, so I may correct my first impression after I paint some. They don’t match well with any of the other ranges

Peter Pig (Range 8) I like Pig's miniatures. They cover everything from early war to late war; ETO; PTO; and probably a theater or two I have missed. To me they are the Ral Partha of 15mm. The problem is, like Ral Partha they are true to scale (15mm in this case) and in general the foot don't mix well with other lines. Not too much of a problem if you stick with Pig, but mixing is less than satisfactory. The alloy Pig uses for casting is strong, but can be brittle when you try to bend arms and heads. This is a good thing for MG's and such. Incidentally, Pig's vehicles are a good match for the other lines. Pig also makes heads, so for example you can use British heads with their pie pan helmets on the bodies of US Marines to create early Marines. My one gripe about Pigs mini's is some of the gun barrels on the tanks are a bit thick...

Quality Casting/Battle Honors miniatures – Nice large range that covers both ETO & PTO); QC has some problems, however:

• The infantry are very small at 13-14mm (the vehicles are in scale)
• They are a little pricy (three vehicles for $29)
• Castings in general not as good as OG and more expensive.
• Some of QC’s vehicle castings are very poor representations of their originals.
• For some reason QC's tires are only one sided (the back is smooth). Not a real problem on trucks and such, but it looks bad on towed AT guns.
  

Conclusions

The Good
If I buy more troops they will be either Battlefront or Peter Pig. Both have great detail and a wide range of figures. It is unfortunate that the figures don't mix well. BF's are more heroic and PP's less so. So in most cases it is all BF or all PP...CD/OG can mix well with PP, but not BF.


The Not so Good...
CD/OG figures are good in a pinch, the price is right and you can afford some bad castings. They also make some teams and accessories that are hard or impossible to find from other manufacturers ranges, I also find that if you want to put crew in vehicles (fighting from half-tracks, etc), CD/OG is the way to go...


The Bad...
Battle Honors/Quality Casting (They are the same) There is no reasons to use these figures. Maybe if you got the whole company for free...maybe. The figures are small and not particularly well sculpted. They don't mix well with anything else...DON'T GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT...I don't mean to be so vitriolic about it, but I have been burned twice on these guys...It has been an expensive lesson and I am a bit annoyed

And the Ugly...
Resistant Roosters, I just don't know where to go here. I have seen a number of examples from two different lines and they just don't cut it. The web site shows them off nicely, but I was shocked when I got my order from them. They are too big; the sculpting is was below standard; the proportions completely off. I don't know how else to put it.

Remember these are my opinions...feel free to disagree and by all means comment!

Web Resources

Size Comparisons

Article on 15mm and "large" 15mm figures
http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~trochim/articles/15mmNap.pdf

For 25's – 28's
http://www.warflag.com/shadow/cast/figuresize/figuresize1.jpg

Where to buy:

BattleFront/Flames of War
http://www.thewarstore.com/battlefrontflamesofwarwwii.html

Command Decision/Old Glory
http://www.warweb.com/old-glory-15mm-world-war-c-70_138_1417_413.html

Resistant Roosters
http://www.thewarstore.com/resistantroosterswwii.html

Peter Pig
http://www.brookhursthobbies.com/Peter%20Pig/peter_pigR8.htm

Quality Casting.Battle Honors
http://www.warweb.com/quality-casting-wwii-c-70_153_420.html

Entry for January 30, 2007

Last night I was tired and spent more time reading than painting. I think the biggest problem I have in finishing an army is getting past the point I enjoy.

I enjoy cleaning, organizing the figures, priming them and getting them on stands. I like texturing the stands and doing detail work like adding sandbags, ammo belts, pouches, bags, packs, spent brass, etc... I just really hate painting the infantry. Which probably explains why my Aufklarungs company has it's vehicles done and no real infantry painted to speak of. Damn...I have to think about what I am doing...

To date I have the following "armies":

Russian Mixed Tank Battalion [base coated] ( 7 x KVIs, 10 x T34s, 7 x BA10s, 10 x Lend Lease Stuarts, 10 x Tank Riders and 3 x Stormoviks )

US Parachute Company (D/2/506th PIR - Bastogne) [complete] ( 3 x Para Rifle/Mg platoons, Mortar platoon, MG platoon, AAA platoon, TD, 105mm Arty & M4 support and 3 x P51s)

US Parachute Company (E/2/506th PIR - (Normandy) [base coated] ( 2 x Para Rifle/Mg platoons, Mortar platoon, MG platoon, TD & M4 support and 3 x P38s)

DAK PzGdr Kompanie [base coated] (2 x PzGdr platoons, HMG platoon, 3 xPak 38, 2 x 88mm Flak 36, 8 x Pz III J. (long 50), 5 x PZ IV G. 2 x Tiger I, 3 x Diana, 3 x Stuka Ds)

Aufklarungs Squadron (16 SS) [partial complete] (1 x Aufklarungs platoon 1 x Armored Pioneer platoon (7 x SdKfx 251D/7s), 3 x lG 75's, 3 x Armored Car Patrols (SdKfz 250 & SdKfz 250/9 2cm), 3 x Marder III, 3 x Armoured SdKfz 7/2 (3.7cm))

Panzer Kompanie (17SS) [models built] (14 x Stug III, 2 x StuG IV, 2 x 88mm Flak 36, 3 x Pak 40's)

GD Panzer Grenadier Kompanie [base coated] (1 x Armored PzGdr platoon (5 xSdKfz 251 Cs) 1 x Motorized PzGdr platoon, Armored Mortar platoon (2 x SdKfz 251/2 (81mm) & 1 x SdKfz 251/3), 2 x Tiger IEs and 3 Stuka Gs (37mm))

Marine Rifle Company (E series) [working] 3 x Marine Rifle platoon, Weapons platoon (LMG & 60mm mortar), HMG platoon, Mortar platoon, AT platoon (4 x 37 mm AT), Cannon platoon (2 x SPM (75mm)) and 3 x Wildcats.)

Unattached: US Battery SPA (6 x M7 Priests); US Transport (6 x 2.5 ton trucks); US AT platoon (4 x GMC 3 (75mm) SP AT mounts); 2 x 88mm Flak 36; 2 x 88mm Pak 43; 1 x T34;

This doesn't count the Nebelwurfers, Fallschirmjager, More StuG's ; German Arty, etc that is still in the box...

Anyone want to buy some FoW troops??

Sigh...I did eventually pick up my AT gun platoon. The crew all had helmets without the covers so I spent some time texturing the helmets and painting the base coat flesh and light tan for the helmet covers. More tonight...

Tim, they call him...

Entry for January 28, 2007

I did a little more work on my scout platoon. I added green back into the camo mix as the browns made them get a little lost on the bases. I know that is the point of camo, but if I am going to spend all that time painting them I want people to notice them. They look pretty good. I just have to paint the rifles & weapons, and finish off the bases (palm branches, bushes, low/tall grass...not sure yet). Next the 37 mm AT guns are up...I replaced the trucks from QC/BH with Battlefront ones.

I did order some CD M37 trucks, SPM's for my comparison. Old Glory/CD doesn't make US 37mm AT guns (I guess their primary focus is on ETO), but I have some from QC & BF that I will compare. Maybe I should add some StuG's or tanks to this....

Tim, they call him...

Entry for January 25, 2007

Ok...I can finally say my Marines are standed on textured, painted bases and have their uniforms base coated!

The remainder is mostly detail work (which I enjoy). I also found a color I like for the Marine's equipment and vehicles. I mixed up some Vallejo Brown Violet & US Dark Green with some white to shade it and came up with a nice green color. I tested it on one of the 37mm AT guns and liked it so much I painted the remaining three with it.

I am now staring at my SPMs which are a different green and wondering if I should strip them or leave them be. I can always strip them later...

As for my trucks...sigh...I need to mention something. I ordered some vehicles from the War Web by Quality Casting. I an guessing here that Quality Casting is a division of Battle Honors. Everything I ordered from the Quality Casting page showed up in Battle Honors packaging. The down side is that I know I don't like the Battle Honors stuff. The figures are on the small side (12-13mm); the models have trouble with tires (no detail on the reverse side; usually too small and obvious casting lines down the center of the tread) and they have way too many pieces.

The M37 3/4 ton truck is typical of QC's offerings. It comes in nine parts: body, frame, four tires, windscreen, soft top and steering wheel. I was particularly impressed by the steering wheel and frame. One of my gripes about Battlefront is their lack of steering wheels for unoccupied vehicles. With minimal flash removal and cleanup I began to assemble the trucks. QC uses soft lead so it was easy to bend/align the parts correctly. The frame, body and windscreens went on nicely. I decided to leave the soft top off.

So far so good... Then I tried to install the steering wheel. The "dash" of the M37 has a hole cast in it so I tried fitting the stearing wheel. It was so big that most of it was above the dash top. Ok, no big deal...I will solve the problem by placing a driver in the front seat. Using one of QC's drivers (which is a small figure) his knees come up over the top of the dash and his head over the top of the windscreen. Ok... I decided to revisit this later and at least complete the M37 and get it painted. Next I went to install the wheels...Looking at pictures of this vehicle I noticed the tires are pretty close to the fenders (see picture above). The model's tires were way too low (or the tires too small). I thought about all the things I could to do correct this and decided to consign them to the parts bin and never order from QC again...never!

What really annoys me is that someone sculpted these miniatures and even accepting they were working from a smaller scale then traditional 15mm, you would think that a driver from the same company and the same line would fit in it's own vehicles (I had QC's SPMs and they have the same problem with the drivers). Does no one test fit these things? What about the steering wheel? That came with the M37 model. Why doesn't that fit? These things aren't cheap and I don't understand how a company can continue to market and sell something which to me is substandard?

I am going to order some 15mm items from different companies and do a complete review and comparison (with pictures).

Tim, they call him...

WHFB Vampire Army - Entry for January 24, 2007

I have been half-assed working on a WHFB Vampire Counts army for a while now. I picked the list of the Army of Sylvania and want to do a "van Helsing" theme.

Here are my planned substitutions:

Vampire Lord/Count:Count Vladislaus Draculea

Vampire Thralls:

• Marishka
• Aleera
• Verona

Zombies: Dwergii

Bat Swarms: Draculea’s Children (green bat swarms, imps)

Black Coaches:

#1 van Helsing driving coach fighting werewolf and harpies (Draculea's wives)

#2 Substitution - Igor riding Frankenstein's Monster into party.

Dire Wolves: Lots and lots of them...got to have wolves!.

One of the nice things about blogging, is it reminds you of what you are working on...

Have to find some way to work mini-sloths into this theme...or not...

Tim

Entry for January 24, 2007

That article on painting an army in a week (http://wargames.nordalia.com/index.php?page=viewarticle&id=19) I have been inspired. Last night I finished the base coat on most of my bases. At this stage I have paused to reflect on a few things.

My current painting sequence:

1. Clean and organize the figures.
2. Mount the figures and texture the bases
3. Prime everything at once
4. Paint the figures
5. Paint the bases
6. Clean up and dry brush everything
7. Static grass, etc
8. Seal with varnish

For my next army it will be:

1. Clean and organize the figures.
2. Mount them in base order on sticks
3. Prime & paint
4. Mount the figures and texture the bases (with colored texture medium)
5. Clean up and drybrush everything
6. Static grass, etc
7. Seal with varnish

One less step and lots less frustration. Lar-Lar had commented that it is hard to paint the figures when they are already mounted on a base. I don't find it any harder to paint them on a base compared to mounted in a line on sticks. What I do find harder is to paint the base around the figures. I have to do it twice...once with a small brush for the hard to reach spots and then once with a large brush to cover the big areas...if I mix paint in with the Liquitex sand medium, I won't have to do much more than drybrush...

I will have to remember that for my mini-sloths...

Tim, they call him...

Entry for January 23, 2007

More Success!

Last night I decided to get the basic uniform (base color shirt & pants. So I mixed up some of my "Marine Green" and got to work. Surprisingly it only took a few hours for the 200+ mini's involved. I then started in on some of the helmets.

In doing some more research I noticed a aberration in my previous paint scheme for the brown camo. In one picture I used (from Osprey) the brown camo has some green spots in it. I was using Battlefront's 2nd Armored ETO camo uniform as a base to do my Marines. It also has green in it. But the more I looked, the more I found the brown camo without the green in it. I don't know if the USMC had variations in their camo (it appears the camo for the USMC para's is different from the "regular" Marines); or if different contractors produced variations; or maybe the single Osprey drawing is wrong (Osprey makes more errors than I care to admit). Anyway...I decided to go with the all "brown" brown camo.

My new colors for the Marine camo uniforms are as follows:

Brown Camo
Base: Vallejo German WWII Beige-Camo (faded)
Color 1: Vallejo US Field Drab (medium patches - faded)
Color 2: Vallejo German Camouflage Orange Ochre (medium patches - faded)
Color 3: Vallejo Flat Brown (small patches - faded)


Its not a very good pic, but the pic above has this pattern on the figures helmets.

Happy with my new camo, I went to work on my scouts and snipers. After completing the first two camouflage colors I became concerned about my somnambulistic painting skills and after cleaning my brush, drifted off into the land of Nod.

More painting tomorrow!

Tim, they call him...