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Excuse me for asking, but what IS the difference (painting wise)? I was looking through Reaper and noticed that they had put the same mini twice. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the one that cost more was plastic while the other one was presumably metal. So if I where planning on painting a model and this situation was presented to me, which one should I get. I don't have any preferences...

Do you want to convert? Yes = Plastic.
Do you like the weight and heft of a metal miniature? Yes = Metal.
Do you have the money? Yes = your choice.

... unless you really don't care about working with the material at all, or your budget just doesn't cover it, I would always recommend plastic. It's simply a better material.

Personally I don't see a great deal of difference in final painted model and material the model is made of.

If the material captures the details, then the model will look the same after you cover it in paint

Reaper has a "bones" material that they have started pumping out a lot of models in (they have a kickstarter running at the moment if you are interested in getting a bunch of models) - it has been a little hit and miss on a few models in the range but most of the figures you cannot tell from looking at a painted/undercoated model that it is made in "bones" rather than metal, resin or plastic.

However, some people swear by metal models, while others prefer plastic. Personally metal is a PITA as it is heavy and often requires pinning. Plastic is better for modelling and converting (IMO).

Resin is often brittle so dropping resin figures or using them in regular play can cause breakages.

Bones is a PVC which is slightly bendy but holds paint and detail pretty well.

Plastic can cost more to make, but is easier to work with modeling wise. It cuts, drills and all that easier than the metal does. And is compatible with poly-cement giving you an extra option for glueing.

To paint... theyre all about the same. Metal figures tend to chip the paint off more easily, and benefit more from a coat of hard wearing varnish than a plastic mini does.

Metal strips easier, as its resistant to all the harsher chemicals.. acetone being a good one. (never put plastics in acetone unless you want a melted blob to be left; but theres other ways to strip plastics and resins without damaging them, it just takes a bit more elbow grease usually)

The plastic one likely costs more because of the tooling involved. Injection molded plastics are expensive to produce the innitial toolings. GW must spend a fortune on their molds, I beleive the subcontract it out nowadays to a laser cutting company, that cut it from a cad drawing of the frame.
While the metal models will likely be cast by molding a master copy in rubber, and then spin cast with the metal.

The metal material might well cost more than the plastic does, but the tooling is a much bigger chunk of the costs, and the plastic's tooling will probably last them a lot longer too.

Resin is easy to convert and is light weight, but can be riddled with miss casts and bubbles. as well thin pieces warp like no ones business

Metal is well heavy and will hold its shape, especially for thin pieces like swords but is prone to paint chipping if not properly sealed. Great for when you like to strip and repaint everything though as you can chuck it into some acetone and start new again and again.....and again

Plastics should be cheaper. easy to work with and can be put together using plastic glue which melts parts together (less pinning) stuff like that

Thank you for all the help. But what I was mainly asking was which one is easier to paint?

 Squiddy wrote:
Thank you for all the help. But what I was mainly asking was which one is easier to paint?

There isn't too much difference between them. You might need to wait longer between priming and painting with metal to ensure the primer is set as it can scratch off more easily, and you might want to seal it all when fully painted, again as it is easier to scratch off.

Plastic should be a lot easier to paint.

That would be all 3 as you should be priming them

So, I guess it boils down to this, if the metal one is $2.49 and the plastic one is $4.99, is the plastic one worth getting?

 Squiddy wrote:
So, I guess it boils down to this, if the metal one is $2.49 and the plastic one is $4.99, is the plastic one worth getting?

It depends on the mini, if it would have lots of spears and other long frail things I would probably get the metal one for the extra toughness.
If its a bulky model with not so many fragile parts, I could go with the plastic since its easier to clean up and assemble.

I ask, is there some kind of scientific reason for metal's inability to go together?

I was thinking oxide layers for a sec but i don't think pewter rust

also im talking out my arse

 Desubot wrote:
I was thinking oxide layers for a sec but i don't think pewter rust

also im talking out my arse

I think all metals oxidise in some way.

 sing your life wrote:
I ask, is there some kind of scientific reason for metal's inability to go together?

I'm not an expert on glues, though I have used my fair share. My guess is that metal is hard to glue mostly because its not a porous material and the glue cannot sink into the material
as it can into wood for instance. Plastic models are great to glue with poly cement because it melts the plastics together creating a great bond, in this case its not actually the glue holding
the parts together, they're more fused to eachother.

Plastics in general (lexan etc.) are really tough to glue because the material is oily and very hard to adhere to. I also think that regarding metals, many times some kind of oxidizing layer can be the culprit as well.

 Tommy wrote:

 sing your life wrote:
I ask, is there some kind of scientific reason for metal's inability to go together?

I'm not an expert on glues, though I have used my fair share. My guess is that metal is hard to glue mostly because its not a porous material and the glue cannot sink into the material
as it can into wood for instance. Plastic models are great to glue with poly cement because it melts the plastics together creating a great bond, in this case its not actually the glue holding
the parts together, they're more fused to eachother.

Plastics in general (lexan etc.) are really tough to glue because the material is oily and very hard to adhere to. I also think that regarding metals, many times some kind of oxidizing layer can be the culprit as well.

If you want metal to superglue to metal, you need to roughen the surfaces to give the glue something to grip to.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Tommy wrote:

 sing your life wrote:
I ask, is there some kind of scientific reason for metal's inability to go together?

I'm not an expert on glues, though I have used my fair share. My guess is that metal is hard to glue mostly because its not a porous material and the glue cannot sink into the material
as it can into wood for instance. Plastic models are great to glue with poly cement because it melts the plastics together creating a great bond, in this case its not actually the glue holding
the parts together, they're more fused to eachother.

Plastics in general (lexan etc.) are really tough to glue because the material is oily and very hard to adhere to. I also think that regarding metals, many times some kind of oxidizing layer can be the culprit as well.

If you want metal to superglue to metal, you need to roughen the surfaces to give the glue something to grip to.

I know that you should always roughen the surfaces, but I have yet to find a superglue that can really hold metals together properly.
Whenever I need to glue metals for something that needs to be able to take more stress than a mini I always use epoxy glue.
For metal minis I use Zap at the moment, it works quite okay, Loctite is also a good brand of superglue, still - they wont hold for much abuse.

 Tommy wrote:
I know that you should always roughen the surfaces,

Sorry, I was just commenting in general rather than to you specifically

but I have yet to find a superglue that can really hold metals together properly.
Whenever I need to glue metals for something that needs to be able to take more stress than a mini I always use epoxy glue.
For metal minis I use Zap at the moment, it works quite okay, Loctite is also a good brand of superglue, still - they wont hold for much abuse.

Pinning and epoxy are the main ways to go for metal. I have a few metal models where I have had to pin tiny things like hands because they just will not stay on the damn model - really annoying and not something you tend to get with plastic, though sometimes resin can be a little bit finicky about sticking together.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Tommy wrote:
I know that you should always roughen the surfaces,

Sorry, I was just commenting in general rather than to you specifically

but I have yet to find a superglue that can really hold metals together properly.
Whenever I need to glue metals for something that needs to be able to take more stress than a mini I always use epoxy glue.
For metal minis I use Zap at the moment, it works quite okay, Loctite is also a good brand of superglue, still - they wont hold for much abuse.

Pinning and epoxy are the main ways to go for metal. I have a few metal models where I have had to pin tiny things like hands because they just will not stay on the damn model - really annoying and not something you tend to get with plastic, though sometimes resin can be a little bit finicky about sticking together.

As I only keep my minis on a shelf looking pretty I am usually fine just using superglue with metal, but I can see if someone wants to move their models around on a game table that epoxy is where its at.
As for the topic I think the OP can see that there are a few things to consider, but I dont think that choosing between metal and plastic is that serious of a decision, and I would usually go with the cheapest if I can be sure the cast is good.
I've been cleaning out my local shop for metal minis that is clearing out all its metal models, got a lot of GW metal blisters for about 4-5£ I think I need to go back there to loot some more, even though I have too many minis laying around already

 Tommy wrote:

 Squiddy wrote:
So, I guess it boils down to this, if the metal one is $2.49 and the plastic one is $4.99, is the plastic one worth getting?

It depends on the mini, if it would have lots of spears and other long frail things I would probably get the metal one for the extra toughness.
If its a bulky model with not so many fragile parts, I could go with the plastic since its easier to clean up and assemble.

It is a Not-Mind Flayer with a staff.

Here it is:

http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/bathalian/sku-down/20021#detail/20021_w_2_a

 Squiddy wrote:
It is a Not-Mind Flayer with a staff.

Here it is:

http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStore/bathalian/sku-down/20021#detail/20021_w_2_a

I've seen that model painted both in metal and plastic and you really can't tell the difference.

It looks like I'm getting the metal one. The plastic one is pre-painted.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wait, hold on... is this model... resin?

https://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/bathalian/sku-down/77020

 Squiddy wrote:
It looks like I'm getting the metal one. The plastic one is pre-painted.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wait, hold on... is this model... resin?

https://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/bathalian/sku-down/77020

That one is in their "bones" material - it is as mentioned above a slightly softer plastic PVC.

This is the comparison I mentioned earlier.

A review of painting Bones by Victoria Miniatures - she sculpts, sells and paints awesome models.

one final comment;
If you ever need to strip the mini....metal can handle much stronger solvents than plastic or resin, and thus strips much easier.

best of luck!

HairySticks wrote:
Injection molded plastics are expensive to produce the innitial toolings. GW must spend a fortune on their molds, I beleive the subcontract it out nowadays to a laser cutting company, that cut it from a cad drawing of the frame.

The vehicle molds at least are made using a CNC milling machine, the tooling marks are visible on the flat surfaces (a faint concentric rectangular pattern)

Makes sense, I've noticed those marks too, and used to work in engineering, so recognised them
They probably ought to have polished it out on the mold lol.
I would expect them to keep using the old molds for rhino, predator, landraider, and the other races bigger kits that havent changed in design since they moved onto laser cutting.

I'l be paying attention to it on any new vehicle designs, I don't have a stalker / hunter kit, From looking at it, I can't tell if its the old rhino hull with bits glued on, or is a freshly designed hull? Do these have the same chatter marks on them flat surfaces as the older kits? (Just wondering if theyve moved the vehicles to laser cutting too?)

edit; looking at the sprues on the GW site, it looks as though its the same old rhino frame, with a new extra one that makes it a stalker or hunter.... Would like to inspect the rhino frame vs the extras frame. It makes sense that they will run the old molds into the dust before updating them, its just more economical that way.