Considering figure modelling need a bit of guidance

[Dave Jay]

Hi peeps, I'm contemplating entering or rather re entering the realms of figure modelling. I have dabbled in the past with verlinden 120mm kits but found them expensive even 20 years ago and also started to pick faults with them (long arms and odd looking faces) but back then we didn't have a great deal of options. But today, having the beauty of the interweb I am able to access what's available and my god is there a lot available, question is though what's good and what isn't?


I imagine the Tamiya and Dragon stuff to be good but what about Miniart etc, are the lesser known brands of lower quality?


I'm happy to do either 1/16 and/or 1/35th scales.


Any advice greatly appreciated.

[takeslousyphotos]

Mini art are pretty good, and surprisingly,Zvezda 1/35 figures are well detailed and go together well.

[Dave Jay]

Thanks for that mate.

[Guest]

Depends on what you want to do Dave. Dragon 1/16 figures are good as standalone builds, as seen from Alan's one.


In 1/35 there's nothing to beat the Dragon Gen 2 stuff. The molding is fantastic & the heads, hands & boots come separate for easier painting. Even the gun barrels are hollowed out!


Tamiya figures are not so good IMHO - older ones fit poorly, the cloth folds are too shallow & many are under-sized.


Masterbox & Miniart are very good. The fit (especially arms) are better than most. Look out for the Panzer tank crew in winter gear by Miniart - I used them with my E-50 build & would happily use them again.

[takeslousyphotos]

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[Alan 45]

Dragon are great Tamiya well it depends if it's new or not then you have master box I've built quite a few of these and they are great I've never had a bad set and they do quite a few different types like German tankers playing football , they do figures that go in cars there is only one thing though they tend to do more German than others , miniart are very good figures and they do a wide range from civilians through military and they do French resistance so you can do quite a few


That covers 1/35


Now 1/16 can be iffy , tamiya are like their 1/35 range I've built two one was good and went together well and it had nice detail but the other was an awfull fit and poor detail


Dragon I've only built one but it was a great kit with great detail and fitted well


Miniart really nice detail but can be poor fitting but they are the cheapest out of the others I've tried which is great for practice


So that's my take on the figures I've built so far


I hope it helps

[john i am]

Hi peeps, I'm contemplating entering or rather re entering the realms of figure modelling. I have dabbled in the past with verlinden 120mm kits but found them expensive even 20 years ago and also started to pick faults with them (long arms and odd looking faces) but back then we didn't have a great deal of options. But today, having the beauty of the interweb I am able to access what's available and my god is there a lot available, question is though what's good and what isn't?
I imagine the Tamiya and Dragon stuff to be good but what about Miniart etc, are the lesser known brands of lower quality?


I'm happy to do either 1/16 and/or 1/35th scales.


Any advice greatly appreciated.

IMHO Dave I'd ditch the 1/35 scale as these look great in dioaramas with tanks etc but not good as stand alone displays as much as a 1/16 scale figure does.


The larger scale 1/16 will be easier for practice of tones shading high n low lights etc.


Best to re cut your teeth on mini art and tamiya figures (£10ish)then move onto the more expensive resin ones


Good luck


I've always said you can't beat a nice figure Cheers John

[Dave Jay]

Depends on what you want to do Dave. Dragon 1/16 figures are good as standalone builds, as seen from Alan's one.
In 1/35 there's nothing to beat the Dragon Gen 2 stuff. The molding is fantastic & the heads, hands & boots come separate for easier painting. Even the gun barrels are hollowed out!


Tamiya figures are not so good IMHO - older ones fit poorly, the cloth folds are too shallow & many are under-sized.


Masterbox & Miniart are very good. The fit (especially arms) are better than most. Look out for the Panzer tank crew in winter gear by Miniart - I used them with my E-50 build & would happily use them again.

Thanks for your input Patrick, it's all been taken on board.


I was thinking of 1/16 as stand alone figures, I like the idea of that. I was contemplating 1/35 for mini dioramas/cameos and eventually head to doing a larger diorama.


I remember Tamiya 1/35 figures from years ago and they seemed to look a bit odd even back then, that's when I started looking at dragon kits, they always seemed a great deal better. Am I correct in thinking that the later Tamiya figures in the smaller scale are better these days?


Thanks again for your time.

[Dave Jay]

Dragon are great Tamiya well it depends if it's new or not then you have master box I've built quite a few of these and they are great I've never had a bad set and they do quite a few different types like German tankers playing football , they do figures that go in cars there is only one thing though they tend to do more German than others , miniart are very good figures and they do a wide range from civilians through military and they do French resistance so you can do quite a few
That covers 1/35


Now 1/16 can be iffy , tamiya are like their 1/35 range I've built two one was good and went together well and it had nice detail but the other was an awfull fit and poor detail


Dragon I've only built one but it was a great kit with great detail and fitted well


Miniart really nice detail but can be poor fitting but they are the cheapest out of the others I've tried which is great for practice


So that's my take on the figures I've built so far


I hope it helps

Thanks Alan for all that. I think that figure modelling has similar traps to fall in to as most other genres of modelling, there always seems to be some good and some not so good, but a least with figures there are less parts and as long as the detail is good then they are doable!


I guess the only way to check a item out is use the threads on here and good old scalemates!

[Dave Jay]

IMHO Dave I'd ditch the 1/35 scale as these look great in dioaramas with tanks etc but not good as stand alone displays as much as a 1/16 scale figure does.
The larger scale 1/16 will be easier for practice of tones shading high n low lights etc.


Best to re cut your teeth on mini art and tamiya figures (£10ish)then move onto the more expensive resin ones


Good luck


I've always said you can't beat a nice figure Cheers John

Thanks John, I agree that 1/35 are ideal for dioramas to make a scene of separate cameos meld in to one whole 3D picture and 1/16 for stand alone.


I must admit though that some years ago I did a little set scene of some German machine gunners hidden behind a hedgerow and some foliage but it looked as though the were firing at thin air!


I defo agree with using the cheaper ones to get a feel for figure modelling before committing money to the more expensive resin kits.


Also with resin the dust is carcinogenic so how is the best way to keep dust to a minimum, I hate having to use a mask as it makes my specs steam up!...........I suppose it can be cut and sanded when wet.


And yes you can't beat a good figure, as long as it's modelled correctly!

[Robert1968]

Masterbox & Miniart are very good. The fit (especially arms) are better than most. Look out for the Panzer tank crew in winter gear by Miniart - I used them with my E-50 build & would happily use them again.


Just posted A Marder 3 away to a fellow modeller and I put in Masterbox 1/35 winter Panzer crew and recommend them. Detail is brilliant but my painting skills not hence why I got rid of this kit and the crew I got for it .


I have used Masrerbox on a number of occasions and I don't think there price is too heavy but the detail is over and above to others and they go together well and look in proportion ( my opinion


Robert

[Guest]

Thanks for your input Patrick, it's all been taken on board.
I was thinking of 1/16 as stand alone figures, I like the idea of that. I was contemplating 1/35 for mini dioramas/cameos and eventually head to doing a larger diorama.


I remember Tamiya 1/35 figures from years ago and they seemed to look a bit odd even back then, that's when I started looking at dragon kits, they always seemed a great deal better. Am I correct in thinking that the later Tamiya figures in the smaller scale are better these days?


Thanks again for your time.

Yeah the newer stuff from Tamiya is much better, both in terms of size & quality.

[Dave Jay]

Masterbox & Miniart are very good. The fit (especially arms) are better than most. Look out for the Panzer tank crew in winter gear by Miniart - I used them with my E-50 build & would happily use them again.

Just posted A Marder 3 away to a fellow modeller and I put in Masterbox 1/35 winter Panzer crew and recommend them. Detail is brilliant but my painting skills not hence why I got rid of this kit and the crew I got for it .


I have used Masrerbox on a number of occasions and I don't think there price is too heavy but the detail is over and above to others and they go together well and look in proportion ( my opinion


Robert


Thanks Robert, I'm going to have a browse on the net at the Masterbox items, I did see one on here called one man and his dog, an RAF officer with his dog on a small vignette base, looked superb.