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I think plastic are better as easier to put together and convert and less weighty

Metal is better for detail.
Plastic is better for conversion.
Hybrid kits are better for huffers that like to breath multiple flavors of fumes.
(you forgot to add resin)

Sorry whats resin

Edit: i've added resin to the poll

i vote resin...
a lot better to work with, can get the detail of metal with out the weight and frailty in large models, and simplicity of plastic...

im a converter at heart, not the best painter but i really enjoy unique looking models, so i voted plastic, although resin is a very close second after a few kits I built

Plastic for me.

The old argument that it doesn't hold detail is now diminished somewhat. Take a peep at the new plastic Dark Elf Cold Ones. Amazing level of detail for plastic. Plus, plastic allows different kinds of detail, like jewellry hanging from the bridal. Lovely stuff.

Easier to work with, infinitely more convertible, and of course, depending on well laid out a sprue is, you get far more variety of troops to metal.

Well due to the limitations of plastic, metal will always have a place. People have said it has improved a lot but I'm not so sure that is the case.

A year ago I would have voted for metal but now I've been so impressed by the Ork kits that I actually prefer plastic for the bulk of the troops.
In fact, I don't own any metal Ork models yet and I've bought quite a few.

Resin all the way
ok, it needs cleaning, but once its been cleaned super glue bonds it very well.

Other than that i say plastic.


Metal is my nightmare (after metal+plastic multi-part iron hands marines im never buying metal and plastic kits again)

I've used all three over the years. Both from a model assembly and model MAKING/FABRICATION perspective.
There is no 'best' one overall. There is only a best for a particular application.

Plastic: For mass production of units that will sell by the 100,000s. Cost per unit at this level is the lowest. Can use common poly cement for sticking parts together.

For specialist units, command and suchlike, metal is the go. Limited number of poses, good detail and distinct from the 'troops' they lead. Drawback is that the molds wear out with use and need to be replaced more often. Needs a stronger adhesive to join parts, and pinning is often required.

For niche units, or some vehicles, resin is very good. Detail as good as metal, with a cost closer to plastic (per unit). For high volume, plastics are better. Setup cost similar to metals, and same drawbacks. Similar glue types as metal to assemble.

Hybrids. For variant units that share parts with the common ones, hybridised is often the cheapest compromise. Only the extra parts need to be made up, and for speed of production (concept to production) this is often fastest. This applies equally to resin/metal, resin/plastic and metal/plastic.
For best results, similar adhesives to resin kits or metal pieces is required.

Metals.

why? detail really. I love the detail on the models.

Of course, cost wise, I'd vote for plastics.

I have to go with plastic,simply becuase it's so much easier to work with for customizing and kit bashing.

'Matal' FTW!

Plastic. i find that the surface of the metal parts i've used is kinda pockmarked and isn't as smooth as plastic. it's also harder to prime.

The people who voted Resin have obviously never put together a Forge World Storm Blade kit (or they have, it drove them insane, and now they don't know what they're voting for).

Plastic all the way. Converting is so much easier these days with everything in plastic.

There are other manufacturers who use better resin and casting techniques than FW.

Of all the resin I've ever worked with, FWs have been the most variable quality (in terms of both the quality of the casting and the material itself).

Based on that, I don't even rate FW resin casting in my top 5 resin model producers (all of who were 'garage' operations with much better QC.).

Personally I prefer metal. The details are sharper than plastic can achieve because of undercuts, yet they aren't as brittle as resin, which tends to fragment at the slightest knock.

As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy assembling plastic kits, I vote metal.

Having said that, I'm quite prepared to buy plastic when the casting quality is there, and the sprues are intelligently designed to minimise the loss of detail from the casting process.

And I don't find assembling *most* multipart metals too fiddly. Generally speaking its only attaching an arm or a leg or something and a quick squirt of cyano-activator usually sorts that out pronto!

I *get* the preference for plastic *if* you are that kind of guy that likes assembling kits. Also, if you think that having your little men's heads *just so* makes your army that little bit more appealing to you, then I get it too. I also get that if you are manhandling your models in and out of cases all the time, then the paints don't rub off your plastic models so badly as they do metals.

BUT.

If you are none of these things (and I am none - I play primarily at home, I dislike the assembly process, and I'd rather pay the sculptor to come up with interesting sculpts rather than rely on tweaking arms and leg positions on the little models to give me what I want), then for any given price I'd rather buy metal men than plastic men.

Of course vehicles are different. And there, provided the casting is fine, I go for resin every day. Particularly 1-piece models in 20mm scale that require no assembly at all!

I find Plastic and Resin are about the same, for the most part. On the table, I cannot tell the difference, and the `extra posing' of plastic runs out after the first ten or twenty guys, which you also cannot really tell on the table. Plastic, however, does make conversions easier, so it is better if you are into that. It is also a heck of a lot lighter to lug around than a large, all-metal army.

I voted plastic, just so easy to work with and the collection end up weighing very little.

The plastic is getting to be such a high quality now that it's a very difficult choice. Plastic is easier to work with and you have a pleasing finish especially with the larger generic units in the army. I like the character figures though, and the quality of casting is greater and you can achieve a greater undercut. Though this problem is being diminished through the production of multi-part models and the use of use of multipart moulds including slide moulding technology (don't think GW use that though). Metal is more difficult to work with and it can be hell to cut, drill and file a lot of it.

I think metal and plastic both have their pros and cons, it's difficult to choose, I imagine it's a matter of personal preference.

Resin on the other hand...resin is hard work. It can achieve the best finish of any models, but it's awful to work with. Usually resin kits suffer a bit of warping, now assuming you get a kit that isn't grossly miscast meaning you have to return or bin it, you usually have to bend and straighten various parts under heating, but you often struggle to get it just right. Then you're faced with modelling the damn stuff. First you have to fill in the various airbubbles that many kits seem to get. It's brittle and cracks easily meaning you have to whittle and saw it about carefully, all the time producing a poisonous dust. Then you have to paint it, and that's when you can have a nasty suprise, because some resins react with different paints ruining the finish. And for all that you have to pay several times more than you would for a comparable plastic kit.

You don't make a resin kit because it's the 'best choice of materials', you make a kit from resin because it's the only material your kit is is available in.

Vulkan_He'stan wrote:Sorry whats resin

Edit: i've added resin to the poll

Resin is a material used for a lot of high-quality specialized products. Forge World is one of the best known examples (at least for here) but it can be used for anything. I think there's an episode of Dirty Jobs where hehelps make surfboards that use resin for much of the body.

Forge World isn't the only resin caster and from what I hear they've had some quality issues (possibly in part due to doing a lot of large pieces like the Thunderhawks and such) but there's some smaller resin production out there, too. For example, Dream Pod 9 is doing many of it's larger models in resin now, such as the Coyote. I don't have enough experience to really compare things, but I've hear people say DP9's Resin quality is very good as compared to FW. The DP9 stuff is done by the guy who runs Fusion Models who primarily does upgrade kits for high-detail WWII fighter planes and similar.

I've got a Coyote to assemble and it looks pretty detailed with very crisp edges. Also the resin kits like this come with a bunch of weapon options and such.

For most things (especially big ones), plastic. For small character models with little assembly required, metal.

Resin is actually a generic term for materials that start out liquid (@ room temp) and then cure into a harder solid (@ room temp). So there are actually about a million different materials that fall under this category. I'm guessing the material used most often in the hobby casting area should actually be called a urethane.

@BALANCE THANKS FOR THE INFO

Plastic's great for large models, but i MUCH prefer the look, feel, weight and type of detail you get on metal models. Metal models all the way for me.

I also heavily convert everything - I've never had a problem converting metal. As long as you use the right tools, it's fine...

I'm going to go ahead and say plastic is better, for one, it's easier to glue plus plastics sets are cheaper. Example, two Hive Tyrants, (metal)= $90.00. One Battleforce, any army,(plastic)= $90.00. A way better deal on plastic.

I voted plastic because it's less likely for a plastic mini thrown at your head by a sore loser to cause serious damage.

Hey, if you get one of these Carnifex talons in your eye...

I've got to say I prefer plastic, easier to paint and easier to, how do you say, "convert" or is it "customize"?

Anywho, I dread getting metal models for... well... one reason is that I paint the figures before I assemble them... :/

Plastic. It's easier to work with and makes my hands stick together a lot less. Not to add I find the super glue hurts my head a lot more than the plastic glue.


EDIT: Crazy_Carnifex, I once was clipping plastic models and a loose piece of plastic flew into my eye... OUCH!





-Orkishly

Plastic.