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Since I can't run multiple polls in one topic, I will have to create two separate topics. One for basically the material preference of miniatures and the other for the type of multi-piece style of miniature.

Miniatures can be manufactured in a few different ways, we all have our preferences and reasons for them. Some like metal because of the weight, less likely to break while others prefer resin for ease of painting and some like plastic. We all have our different reasons, some valid and others mostly just preferences. For all extents and purposes we will be talking about miniature game plastic quality, not board game plastic. We also will group most plastic's together so the choices are really: metal, resin, plastic and the order of preference.

What do you prefer as your miniatures material preference?

I'd like to take it a bit further and try to see what miniatures games we are currently playing or associate ourselves with the most and if that seems to have a bearing on the material preference or not. After responding if you could list what games your are playing, that would be great. You don't have to list them all, just the main one or two that you associate yourself with the most.

I was going to try to include those in the poll options but that would have been a huge poll then with 24 options, even if I kept them to the top 4 popular. This will probably be the easiest method.

I'm rather fond of Plastic and Resin, just because I find them less likely to chip if they are knocked over. From there it depends what the model is for (is it my leader, or a bunch of grunts?), based on cost.

They all have the merits but if I had to pick one It'd be bit metal. It gets fiddly with kits that have a ton of parts, but I hate kits with tons of parts. I like the weight, they're easy to remove paint from and the individual pieces are more resilient. Metal might be a bit harder to glue together/stay together but plastic swords seem to snap when dropped metal swords just bend.

Huge fan of resin, followed by metal for details.

Plastic is fine for bog standard stuff.

Resin over metal over plastic,

but the gaps between them are really small and it really depends on what I'm using the mini for

I mainly paint and convert, and resin works really well for that and gives me the best single figure: Mierce, Minion, Kingdom Death, Figone, Kromlech

If I'm gaming on a small scale I'd pick metal (resin is too prone to damage, and plastic just doesn't have the heft ): Infinity, Oldhammer (and a variety of makes of minis for use with)

if I'm gaming on a larger scale then plastic (HIPS) wins as you get multipose kits so everything can look different without lots of tedious conversion: so 40K and similar. It's also the only material where 28mm scale vehicle kits make sense


(and that doesn't even touch boardgames when pre-assembled PVC has to be preferred as unless you have this the game is unlikely to do well enough to attract sequels and expansions even though it would otherwise be bottom of my list)

I mostly play in 28-35mm range and skirmish games, so I don't deal with 10/15mm or large armies other than WH40K.

Resin > Metal > Plastic

Metal is easy to work with in terms of cleaning, stripping painting and painting compared to other materials. At least in my experience but your mileage will vary. It is also nice having that weight in your hand when painting for some reason, it feels more real. There are some great looking metal miniatures and a lot of really awful looking metal miniatures. It is one of those mediums that if they don't look good... I'd definitely prefer something else. I love my Infinity miniatures.

Resin is what I would prefer if I had to choice. For the most part there have been very few resin miniatures that I have gotten that have been awful. The details have always been great, stand out and it is easy to work with providing you clean it well. That is the real caveat is that resin tends to mean I have to spend more time prepping the miniature with cleaning. I've had a lot of practice dealing with resin since I like to use garage kits from Asia.

There are a few plastic kits that are really nice and I really tend to prefer them for vehicles or mecha. There are a few kits which have been nice.

I would have to say that I consider myself more an Infinity player over other games, despite that I don't play a lot of games anymore. I'm mostly painting and collecting these days or working on terrain. I find it amusing that I consider myself an Infinity player and I have a ton of Infinity miniatures but I tend to prefer resin.

Right now, I prefer Plastic over Metal over Resin. That said, I understand the economics of casting vs tooling, and appreciate that some games will be "forced" into one vs another.

I know it's not included in your poll, but I think mine is something like:
Boardgame Plastic - > Monopose Hard Plastic -> Single Piece Metal -> Multipart plastic -> Multipart Metal -> Restic -> Resin.

I like robust gaming pieces that don't need to be stored really carefully and that are easy to transport.

Metal resin plastic

assuming we are talking about a skirmish wargame, going to boardgames is a different story, going to mass battles is a different story.

Purely as medium I prefer metal resin and plastic are in the same place beneath it, I prefer resin but a really well cut plastic kit will also do, it will be just way too many bits, but the melting agent or "plastic glue" will stick it easier.

Overall though each material has its place depending on the game and company, I would suggest a new company to go either metal or resin, Plastic will severely limit a company that is developing, its almost impossible to change art direction for example when plastic moulds have been paid.