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Hi Guys

I wonder if its just me, or is anybody else noticing that Spain is fast becoming the minatures centre of excellence worldwide. Now, I know there are outlets from other countries that are producing nice figures! However, the shere volume of compnaies springing up in Spain right now, and the extremely high quality of the products they're producing is simply astounding!

A few years ago (and feel free to correct me) I would have said the US and the UK were the "centres of excellence" for the miniatures hobby, but now I really don't think so.

Please feel free to comment!

Examples please

Yeah, pictures and company or sculptor names would be helpful.

Corvus Belli and Infinity is good stuff though, I'll say that much.

Well here you go!

1. Corvus Belli
2. Nocturna Miniatures
3. Andrea Miniatures.
4. Enigma Miniatures
5. Avatars of War
6. Gamezone Miniatures
7. Mad Puppet Miniatures
8. Resina Planet Miniatures
9. Zenit Miniatures
10. Pizarro Miniatures

These are to name a few I've seen, obviously there are more but I can't be bothered to detail a full listing!

Avatars of War is another. Sorry to nitpick, but you want to bring up a discussion and can't be bothered to bring any sources?

@ Dez

The Web is the best source availible. Anyone who looks outside the capture net of GW / Citadel would have come across a multitude of miniatures companies.....this discussion was really aimed at those people.

If all your gaming needs are met by GW, then I won't spend time listing every miniatures company (that happens to originate from spain) just to prove my point.

If you want to visit a site that supplies a multitude of miniature ranges (though strangely no GW stuff!) then try www.coolminiornot.com and visit their online store!

Delephont wrote:
If all your gaming needs are met by GW, then I won't spend time listing every miniatures company (that happens to originate from spain) just to prove my point.

Then you're just preaching to the choir...kind of like JJ's Standard Bearer articles. People
who aren't aware of minis outside of GW's should be introduced to them, so introduce
them if you're going to open this topic.

I like many of the miniature companies you list, and not just because Avatars of War is
sculpted by a man with a very manly name.

Hey Delephont, is there a specific reason Spain has become such a big player in the miniatures industry? Do Spanish people have a huge love of miniatures?

Spain is just trying to find a export product besides guitars and big hats that people will buy.

I know you all have perused the photos of the French and Itay Golden Demons. Just some fething awesome work going on over the pond in their neck of the woods. Seems only the natural progression of things that they've kicked the sculpting up a notch.

avatar of war has a few great models the one i love the most was lord of chaos can do fantasy or 40k....so cool you can custimize it to have a diferent head right arm and left arm.

I have to agree, SPain is putting out some minis that are just the shizzle. Gamezone gets top vote from me.

We, the lazy, demand more images delivered on a silver platter.

And a pizza.

With extra cheese.

Corey85 wrote:Hey Delephont, is there a specific reason Spain has become such a big player in the miniatures industry? Do Spanish people have a huge love of miniatures?

Where Britain leads, the rest of the world eventually follows.

I have a Corvus Belli 15mm Early Imperial Roman army.

They are very nice figures, great detail and come in a variety of poses so you can make up uniform units or mixed units.

@ Kilkrazy

Thats actually quite a saddening statement. Certainly it may be true that the UK once lead in this, a minor, field....but isn't it sad that companies like Citadel simply rested on their laurals rather then constantly pushing the line and getting better and better.

With the experience that Citadel and others should have amassed over their "long" history I would expect those guys to be top notch, however, they simply arn't.

Lolzman, that model looks incredible... where did you find it?

Well, competition is always good. So if the Spanish are becoming a force to be reckoned with that should push other companies to try harder and match their efforts.

On the painting front, I reckon France and Spain do so well because of their weather. While we in the parts of the US and most of the UK are huddled inside waiting for wind and rain to die down, our friends in France and Spain are outside in the dry warm air, undercoating and airbrushing, rapidly increasing their skills while we admire their gallery photos from inside in the warmth.

legoburner wrote:On the painting front, I reckon France and Spain do so well because of their weather. While we in the parts of the US and most of the UK are huddled inside waiting for wind and rain to die down, our friends in France and Spain are outside in the dry warm air, undercoating and airbrushing, rapidly increasing their skills while we admire their gallery photos from inside in the warmth.

???

Warm weather for me means getting out and doing stuff, cold is the time for huddling inside and painting.

I just meant we cant spray undercoat or airbrushes at certain times of the year unless you own a shed or specialist equipment. I can see how that might not be an issue in Northern Capital - even using a spray can inside would mean cleaner air than outside from what I experienced there

I refer you to this lovely article on Priming with Acrylic Gesso! Now you can prime anytime!

I still prime in the winter and just run inside with the goods quick as can be.

I blame European vacation time.

Oh wait, I still can't paint beyond the tabletop.

By the way, Andrea and Noctura miniatures have very few 28-30 mm scale stuff. The stuff they do have is good, but very little that will be of use to most of us.

legoburner wrote:I just meant we cant spray undercoat or airbrushes at certain times of the year unless you own a shed or specialist equipment. I can see how that might not be an issue in Northern Capital - even using a spray can inside would mean cleaner air than outside from what I experienced there

Rather large ex-pat apartments also help with that. I used to prime in my parking garage but my new place has a laundry room with a window.

If I were still into Warhammer Fantasy Battles, I would seriously be looking at those Gamezone miniatures, they are much better than the GW equivalent. Helldorado is also really interesting.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:I used to prime in my parking garage but my new place has a laundry room with a window.

Ah touché - using a parking garage is cunning. And if you use the hood of someone else's car - even better

Delephont wrote:@ Kilkrazy

Thats actually quite a saddening statement. Certainly it may be true that the UK once lead in this, a minor, field....but isn't it sad that companies like Citadel simply rested on their laurals rather then constantly pushing the line and getting better and better.

With the experience that Citadel and others should have amassed over their "long" history I would expect those guys to be top notch, however, they simply arn't.

It was half in joke.

There are some very good British companies and some not so good. Some British companies have been around for over 30 years. Some have improved their skills and others have rested on their laurels. It partly depends on the genre. If there is not much competition (1/3000 naval, for instance) there is no push to improve the products.

I don't know all Spanish companies, they may not all be the same level. I don't know how long Corvus Belli and other foreign companies have been going. Before the Internet it was much harder to find out about foreign companies.

Those Chaos mini's look really awesome!