A question of scale....15mm WW2

[JoV]

Hi guys

I am about to make the plunge into WW2 miniatures, up to now its been mostly Perry WotR and Napoleonics in regards to Historicals, and am thinking of trying out some 15mm scale stuff, particularly what is put out by the Plastic Soldier Company.

Since I only model and dont game, my question is really one of aesthetics; can 15mm actually look any good painted up? It is a tossup for me between the 28mm Bolt Action germans, which look brilliant, or the 15mm Plastic Soldier Germans, and at the moment the idea of getting 100 infantry in a box is tempting me....

Can I hope for reasonable results in 15mm scale (all of the reviews I have seen of Plastic Soldier releases have been positive)? Or should I stick with painting 28mm figures?

Its a pity I cannot see the minis in the flesh beforehand in order to make up my mind, but there is not a distributor within 200 kilometres of me, sadly.

Many thanks for any advice

[IanR]

PSC are quite good, but i think their figures (men) are a bit small. dont forget there is also 20mm or 1/72 scale. plenty of model kits available for bits. i've got a fair collection of pieces, tanks from PSC (very cheap), figures from valiant & grubby tanks to name a few. where you based JoV?

[Ozorik]

Do you have a particular aim for WWII aside from collecting? I only have 15mm to use for games.

28mm would probably be best from a modelling perspective as 15mm are quite small and fiddly. 20mm is a decent alternative as they still have quite a lot of detail but you can get a lot of them cheaply.

[Zaustus]

28mm are obviously larger and more detailed, though they're significantly more expensive. From what I've read, 20mm is the most popular size for WW2, and the figures are very inexpensive. Plastic Soldier Review is a fantastic resource for 20mm miniatures.

[JoV]

I am based in Oz, so am trying to limit myself to what is available from local distributors as at that keeps costs down and I want to support local hobby businesses really.

At the moment I could either buy a German 28mm Bolt Action effective Platoon (one of their plastic box sets, plus metal special, heavy weapons etc), or get about 100, 15mm infantry and 5 Tanks for the same price

I was thinking that in 15mm scale the best effect you could reasonably expect was a simple wash and a few highlights, which might look good on a tabletop, but from a modelling perspective is a bit limited. I am only collecting so as to paint them and display them really, like all of my models.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have looked at that Plastic Soldier Review site before, and their ratings of the PSC was what got me thinking they would be a good alternative. I might, in the end, go down both paths, 28mm for Germans, 15mm for Russians, as there isnt a plastic Bolt Action set, and I would rather not work in metal if I can avoid it

[Lars Porsenna]

Really, if all you're going to do is paint and display, I wouldn't even bother with 15mm or even 28mm. I would look at 1/35 scale. For as good as PSC is (or really ANY plastic manufacturer in the wargames market) there are hundreds of plastic 1/35 kits on the market, and at very good quality too. Take a look at Dragon/DML (especially their Generation 2 figures), Masterbox, Zvezda's newer offerings, even newer Tamiya. Even some of the older figures can be spiffed up with some Dragon weapons and Hornet (resin aftermarket) heads.

Edit: I should also add if you want to spend a bit more money, there are utterly stunning figures coming out of manufacturers like Alpine. Such that if you compare them with the top quality 28mm figures IMHO the latter will look very crude in comparison...

Damon.

[JoV]

Cheers. Those Alpine Miniatures especially look very good.

Its a bit daunting dropping into a product range this broad for the first time...I was swamped when I visited a local hobby store.

[IanR]

TBH JoV i usually just buy the shiny things/or things that i like/or in sale.