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To start of this is not a thread for ranting nor an excuse to bash on GW kits or what not (I think we already of enough of those ), so shame on you if you do

To get back on topic, I was browsing GW site today when I noticed that the High Elves will receive the new Phoenix Guard, White Lions and Dragon Princes in plastic kits.
Loved the Dragon Princes, but the reaction to the Phoenix Guards and White Lions were more of 'meh' then impressed. I really think that the previous metal ones looked better.

This got me thinking....

When I first started the hobby, about 6 years ago, I wanted GW to produce plastic kits for a lot of reasons, but mostly because they were easier to maintain and easy on converting, etc.

Ever since its been a hit and miss with some of the new plastic kits that are coming out...some were great like the Giant and Dragon and some well not so impressive.

Which brings me down to this....and this is entirely my opinion btw....that when GW design pewter models, whether its for elite units, characters and so forth, they take better care in designing the models in order the justify the cost of producing pewter mini's. When it goes into plastic kits, its like they go they other way around.

So what's your take on them....

I'm honestly happy with the current set up. HQ's are metal and most units now are plastic. I was pretty happy with the plastic bestigors!

When I get back into the game (when GW finally releases plastic Sisters of Battle), I'll be using nothing but plastics, and if necessary convert the leaders myself. Some of the metal models are very nice, but so are some of the plastics, and I far prefer the customisation options that come with the latter.

The worst looking plastics look bad because of the sculpts, not because of the limitations of the material.

You just said it yourself it is entirely a personal choice but the improvement in level of detail I have seen after a sabbatical of 10 years is very pleasing indeed.

The metal ones are inferior IMO. Just bought a new metal apothecary and it doesn't come close to the plastic one.

I'll take plastic over any other type of model. So much easier to convert, more bits, and so on.

Some of the plastic kits are great. Then there are the other ones. I like metal.

I think plastic is great - for 40k models at least you have the potential to bash bits from various sets together. If you don't like the design of a certain piece, it's much easier to change without anything more complicated than a stanley knife. And you get loads of little extras in the average box. Plastic for life!

Incidentally, am I the only one who saw the new HE phoenix guard and thought 'great models, silly hats'?

So far, I am a fan of the units being plastic and the HQs and such being metal. As stated before, plastic is much easier to convert. :-)

Having assembled thousands of metal minis for other games, I don't really care what the kit is made from. I can work with it without too much difficulty.

My biggest gripe with Fantasy was regiments in metal and the difficulty in converting them. Plastic regiments are a great improvement and while some kind of miss, they're still general;ly better than metal.

As an example, the new Bloodcrusher kits are pretty good with lots of options vs. the metals. I didn't notice too much difference in detail, if any.

For plastic kits you don't care for, you can atleast convert them more easily than a metal kit you don't care for.

As always, I'm a big fan of plastic kits. In the long term, I want everything to be plastic. HQ choices in plastic is a great idea; look at the Space Marine Commander, or the CSM Terminator Lord. Even the Daemon Prince box is pretty aces.
Imagine a Farseer/Autarch boxed set with all the codex options - awesome.

I can work with metal, but it does require a little more effort.

I am probably in the minority but I perfer:

Simplified or one-pose plastics for rank and file. Around 50% of my Marine army uses starter kit models for ease of construction. (One piece metals are ok too)

Multipart plastics for command.

Metal models for special characters and elites.

My gripe with the "moar bitz" arguement is that most of the extra bits that are provided do not fit well on the model without a lot of work. Examples include the various holsters, icons and pouches provided with the Marine Captain kit... they take a bit of work, both shaving and greenstuffing to properly afix so they look like they are part of the model and not just surface mounted! While you save time cutting and trimming, its not like there is a huge savings in effort if you want to do a proper conversion job.

On an aside, I'm hugely unimpressed with the "Pheonix Guards". They suffer from Goldsword pricing and look like Gak in my opinion compared to the Sea Guard in the starter kit.

scipunk wrote:Which brings me down to this....and this is entirely my opinion btw....that when GW design pewter models, whether its for elite units, characters and so forth, they take better care in designing the models in order the justify the cost of producing pewter mini's. When it goes into plastic kits, its like they go they other way around.

Which is weirdly backwards from how it should be- as plastic kits cost more to make in the beginning and thus have to sell for longer (or sell in much higher quantities) to justify their cost.

My guess is that you're right but for the wrong reason. It's not anything to do with using plastic as a material, and more to do with the way GW does releases. Back when I started in 40K 2nd Edition there wasn't as much of a push to release products in waves- stuff got released when sculptors finished the kit. So as a consequence I think sculptors basically worked on what they had inspiration to sculpt. Nowadays product releases are determined by people higher up the ladder and I think it's more likely sculptors are being tasked with making models they aren't especially interested in more often as a result. While this has the benefit of making sure that (eventually) all armies get some kind of support, it means some of the support is not well thought out. Half-assed even in some cases.

New Plastic minis, two words. FETH YEAH!!!

I don't much care for the pre-moulded single pose joints of a lot of the newer plastic models as well as some of the built in details that could have been separate pieces for conversions.

That being said I like that the plastics are easy to assemble and they don't get as damaged as the metals.

They need to make more friggin plasma and melta guns for IG RARR!!!

Love the plastic kits for many reasons. Mostly due to the conversion possibilities, the other reasons are light weight for transport and display(especialy on a glass shelf display cab). Got a WM army and have to keep the majority on bottom wooden base or to the very side of the shelfs to stop them from being to much for the shelf to take. As in bend, crack, smash = tears. lol. Which brings me to the point that you can drop a plastic model and generally it will be fine, drop a metal model and as we all know, somthing will ping off if not all attached parts.

As far as HQ's goes, metal is cool for special GW models. But tend to make HQ's out of kit bashing anyways(mostly).

To comment on the HE unit in question"Pheonix Guards", yeah nice models dumb helmets, almost as bad a Helbrechts head band.

It really depends on the model.

I like good plastic models. I like good metal models.
I don't like rubbish models, regardless of what they're made from.

GW's range, both metal and plastic, has always been a little hit and miss. They make some of the best models in the field... and also some of the worst. What they're made from doesn't change my opinion of the final product a great deal, unless it's something I plan on chopping up for conversions, in which case plastic is usually better...

Gotta say I love the idea that most of the new stuff is plastic, I remember ages ago when there was so much metal in armies, literally anything that wasn't run vanilla had to have a metal model (ork mob for example, nobs: metal, HW:metal) and having the upgrades on a sprue is wicked for conversions, and keeps the cost of the units down (also a plus!)

Definitely like plastic more, cause you usually get much more for your money. 30 bucks can get me 10 plastic Dire Avengers with bits to spare, or 5 metal Howling Banshees, with like one extra sword.

And they really need to make a plastic Ork Kommando kit, 40 bucks for 5 of them is ridiculous.

MandalorynOranj wrote:And they really need to make a plastic Ork Kommando kit, 40 bucks for 5 of them is ridiculous.

At least you can convert Kommandos from your basic troops. It's been eight years and I'm still waiting for cheap, convertible plastic Sisters of Battle.

Plastic is better coming from a mediocre painter so the paint will waste metal details easily.

Plus it annoys me when all my metal IG weapons are all the same pose.

I convert a large portion of my armies so I think plastic minatures are a blessing. I'm not opposed to metal models, although I tend to pin everything that is metal. As a result I prefer plastic, its lighter, easier to carry, easier to convert, and goes together quicker and smoother with plastic glue.

I've never understood GW pricing theory. I know its all based on some sort of business model, the prices are slowly becoming stream lined for kits. One thought on plastics~ I hate monotone look of models. If your going to offer plastic, offer more dynamic poses. It looks like all the new High Elves have sticks up their butts

I like plastic and metal equelly, I just prefer the weight of a metal model in my hand. Metal is also easier to strip, which can be useful in some cases.

I had a dream once. A dream that some day, All GW kits will be plastic. When I awoke, I cried tears of joy, for it was the most beautiful dream I've ever had.

metallifan wrote:I had a dream once. A dream that some day, All GW kits will be plastic. When I awoke, I cried tears of joy, for it was the most beautiful dream I've ever had.

Sigged.

Klawz wrote:Sigged.

Added to Sig count

Both have ups and downs:

Metal:
+heavier which makes them feel nice to hold
+less chance of snapping spears off, they just bend
+very nice to paint
+much more detail
-Expensive
-Sometimes a pain to assemble
-Less poses
-Less options

Plastic
+Cheaper
+More customisable
+Extra Bitz
+Lighter to carry around
+Glue joins not liable to falling apart without pinning
-Too light!
-Can snap
-Lack of detail
-Less Dynamic or special


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I guess I greatly prefer painting metal and greatly prefer playing with plastic figures

lunarman wrote:
Plastic

-Too light!
-Can snap
-Lack of detail
-Less Dynamic or special

I'll have to call BS on all of these.

I don't see how "Too light" is a con. Lighter minis mean they're less likely to smash to pieces if you drop them. Disagree? Drop one of each - plastic and pewter - minis on the floor. See which comes out better.

Pewter can snap as well - keep bending it and eventually, it goes.

Lack of detail might have been agreeable 20 or 30 years ago, but today's plastics can potentially look just as good (better, even) as their pewter counterparts.

"Dynamic poses" and special appearances have less to do with what they're made of and more to do with the way they were just sculpted. A stale plastic mini wouldn't be any more special or dynamic if it were cast in pewter. It would just be a heavier version of that stale mini.

I like both.
I mainly paint centrepiece models, so Metal is the way to go for that, as it allows for undercuts within the model, as the moulds are flexible, as opposed to plastic, which cannot be undercut one jot. (on new models, not including older metal models)
On the other hand, plastic is much cheaper, incredibly light, and easier to model than metal.