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I find that metal is harder to work with and breaks much more easily than plastic.
It also is heavy and if you have to lug your army around to a tourny or Games day plastic takes off about 20 pounds. It's also more expensive.

But some people say that metal is better than plastic.
It has more detail.
Some people say - not me- that it is easier to model with and is better for conversions (I completely disagree)

I dunno.

I like metal models, because they tend to have details and cooler poses, but I find I like working with plastic for conversions and such. I have grown to love both equally. Huge metal models are a pain to put together.

I cannot see any benefit in metal models, from a hobbying perspective, I really dislike them. I can see why they were necessary but I can also see that they are not as necessary now. The only upside is the cost of making moulds for metal models is about 10 times less than that of making moulds for plastic models, so it makes low volume minis viable. We wouldn't have some of the cooler quirkier one off and special character models we do if there was only plastic.

However, if i have an option between plastic and metal, i choose plastic absolutely every time, it's just nicer to use every time, in every way.

Does anyone have any real-life examples of the whole "metal models = more detail" thing? I really don't see it...

I like the weight of metal minis but am finding the new GW plastics so lovely & easy to convert that I don't mind either.
Sometimes I add a coin under the base of the plastics to simulate weight.
Also if a plastic gets damaged i feel less bad than if it was metal.
Also you can do more extreme conversions & bigger models without the fear of the superglue bonds failing

Also can someone suggest another word for also as i find i am using the word also too much.
Ta
also thanks

The weight is half the problem though, it's why the break and chip paintwork more easily than plastic minis when they fall over. :S

bubber wrote:Also can someone suggest another word for also as i find i am using the word also too much.
Ta
also thanks

Additionally?

bubber wrote:Also can someone suggest another word for also as i find i am using the word also too much.
Ta
also thanks

Aswell

I'd never have said this ten years ago but I prefer
plastic.Simply for this reason:The quality of metal
that is being used is crap.Don't get me wrong the
designs are still good,but overall castings are rough
to say the least.Also quality control seems to have
went to the dogs.These minis now cost a small fortune
so why should we expect to have to try to hack off
chunks of detail destroying gunk?Marine models used
to have an almost perfect finnish,now it's not unusual
to buy brand newly released models and find a pock
marked model with excess metal because a damaged mould
that should have been taken out of use is still in
service.

That's not a fundamental disdvantage of metal, though. Plastic moulds are also suject to wear and gradually produce mismoulded models.

Metal has two basic advantages:

1. Low setup cost which means it can easily be used for much smaller volumes of figures than plastic.

2. Better strength for making very thin or small figures, such as 6mm. This is irrelevant for 40K of course.

I'm perfectly happy with plastic models. In fact I prefer them for large models such as vehicles.

Metal vehicles are hell even at 15mm scale.

Nuclear Mekanik wrote:
Does anyone have any real-life examples of the whole "metal models = more detail" thing? I really don't see it...

the first model that comes to mind in having alot of detail, as compared to any plastic model with similar pose, is the SM Terminator Chaplain. even with the advances in molding and whatnot, i dont think they could get the same level of details onto one model if it were cast in plastic.

Even companies like Tamiya use metal parts for really fine detail on vehicle kits. It's photo etched metal not moulded so I don't know if that counts.

It's all a matter of detail vs parts count. That terminator chaplain in plastic would be like seven or eight parts as opposed to three or so.

To get what I mean compare the new plastic terminator feet with the old metal ones. The metal guys have perfectly round boot tips, as opposed to the plastics that have a little relief cut so they will drop out of the mold.

Silicone mold, flexible=fewer parts, more detail

Tool steel mold, hard=more parts, same detail

As for QC, we can blame that on the economy.

I believe metal minis used to be more detailed than plastic minis, but GW's new plastics have since changed that trend. The latest plastics are really astounding.

However, there is one reason I do like metal minis: they are much more easily stripped. I have used Simple Green to great effect on my plastic minis...but you will occasionally find some sort of paint that is impossible to remove without damaging the plastic, including brief Pinesol treatments.

When I buy painted minis in the secondary market, I always make sure they are metal. Also, because they are metal, they are less likely to have stupid hack jobs done on them by the previous owner. It's also a great way to recycle "test minis". Try a paint job, and if you don't like it, send it to the dip.

It really depends on the model, scale, purpose, and sculpt.

For single-pose figures, and even fairly dynamic ones, I like metal.

For large vehicles with lots of little greeblies, I prefer plastic.

For other stuff, it really depends. I love my Warlord Reven Orcs and my Chainmail metal figs. The Wargames Factory colonial brits are great little kits, even though the poses are limited, as are the AOBR orks. Some WM figs have given me fits, but then again, so have some GW figs (plastic and metal).

As a resident Resin Junkie I have to put my vote with them.


Sure you have to spend more prep time on cleaning them, but you can't argue with the details, and they are easier to work with than metal.

Outside of resin, I love metal and plastic equally, metal for details and single part guardsmen (go Tallarn 89th!) and plastics for conversions and ease of assembly.

Im a fan of metal, some of the best stances ie Eldar 4ed Howling Banshees (my fav). The only reason they have switch to plastic is to save money. I think we are being done over and they should drop the prices. i know thats not going to happen tho.

I love the Grey knights minis but the fact that they are all metal bugs me.
I would love to see plastic Grey Knights.

I love the heft of metal models. When I pick up a metal Warjack it really FEELS like something.

I don't care so much for the difficulty in working with them, or the higher prices.

Detail seems to be a moot issue any more. Plastic is better, since it's normal to have multi-part plastic kits, which allow for a lot more modeling opportunities, vs the metal models with 2-3 guys who all end up looking the same.

Also, I'm not sure what models people have been buying that have casting issues, but that's always been an issue. I've had some really nasty old GW minis that you had to spend hours cleaning up. If anything, it seems to be less of an issue now, since they're usually doing figures that have a shorter production run, vs years past when common units were all done in metal (like shoota boyz).

I think we'll probably see GW go all plastic for everything buy single buy per army models. (Special characters, limit single model units, HQ etc.)

Man, me and my friend argue over this all the time.

I hate metal models. They're very difficult to convert, the flash can ruin detail (especially faces), they bend and break easily, and the paint will scratch off at the nearest oppotunity, with or without 'ardcoat.

With GW's current skill at making models metal should be rendered obsolete. Models like the Carnifex, Wraithlord or any tactical marine show the material in a perfect light. Metal is just horrible. I've been put off entire metal army's by their lack of plastics.

If GW wanted to make plastic GK's they could do it in a second. As it stands, GK's are nails; so by default everyone who plays Inquisition will want (and pay for) them.

To be honest I was stunned when the new Cold Ones came out in plastic. They're another ''tick box'' unit that looks slowed good; miles better than the embarrasing metal sculpts of yesteryear.

Plastic = fantastic. I'd be happy to never work with another metal model ever again.

The heft of metal models is one of the problems.
I too like holding metal models. The feel substantial. but lugging an army of all metal (DH, GODDDAMIT GW! PLASTIC GK!) to a tournament kills. Especially standing in line with them (i have a backpack). And don't get me started about dragging them to Apoc. games . . .

I'm also wondering if the new CAD approach for plastics makes them superior to metal. If you're doing a CAD model, it's very easy to fix mistakes, take things out, redo the look. With a normal greenstuff sculpt you're stuck with the way it turned out.

As Killkrazy hinted, plastic molds are far superior for mass production, even if the molds do need to be re-cut eventually, which is extremely expensive. For the smaller production models, like veteran sergeants, HQ units, etc. metal is cheaper to set up.
The extra strength of metal allows more fine detail, which would depreciate after a few years if it was a plastic sprue. Anyone who has been playing for a while has seen the most popular sprue set - the many incarnations of the SM tac squad - go through various stages of casting quality.

I like both.

Metal minis use rubber molds that allow for undercuts for true 3-D models that are hard to cast in plastic. Plus they have weight that keeps them planted.

Plastics are easier to convert or multi-pose from pieces.

While metal models are far superior in detail, there is no two ways around it: they are pain in the arse to assemble decently, often requiring the use of green stuff, lots and lots of filing off flashes, and mold-lines and are a nuisance to glue together.
Plastics may be easier to use but you have to sacrifice detial for conveniance unfortunately.
It would be nice if they put some more stuff in plasyic but i guess they are all the time....

Huh?

Plastic has mold lines to file, and doesn't necessarily go together well...

*cough*plastic Landspeeder*cough*

A teeny ball of greenstuff and a bit of pinning is comparable to assembling plastics IMO. The setup is a little higher, but once you've done it a few times... I mean, assembling plastic kits can get awfully repetitive.

WarhammerFB armies with large numbers of metal models have always been killjoys though.

If you took a decent plastic model from today back in time ten years everyone would swear it was metal. I doubt anyone could tell the difference these days from an 'eavy metal shot.

I know what you mean about large numbers of metal models. it's painful and can often turn violent.