last updated 10/19/98
Finally, a meeting place for those of us enlightened ones who realize that plastic is the best thing to happen to miniature figures since tin. Here you'll find a list of sources for plastic miniatures, tips on plastic figure painting and maintenance, and the Top Ten Reasons Why Plastic Is Better Than Pewter. Welcome to the Age of Plastic!
My love of plastic miniatures goes back to my childhood, before there really even were such things. I remember a Space:1999 model kit I had, which included several of the main characters as 20mm scale figures. I painted those darn things with the same loving care I used on my lead figures. I'll be darned if they didn't turn out just as nice! Not only that, but I found that I could drop one of those plastic guys from above my head onto the cold concrete basement floor, and they wouldn't suffer a scratch. Not so with my soft-but-heavy lead figures! But in the early 70's there was not much of a selection available in plastic, and so my yearning for plastic figures remained a secret dream.
Plastic figures have a past deeply rooted in the dawn of role-playing games. Did you know that at least one creature in the Dungeons & Dragons game (the Rust Monster) was inspired by a cheap imported Chinese plastic toy? At the time when D&D was created, lead figures of monsters were practically unheard-of. They used what they could find. It was only after fantasy games became popular that the variety of lead monster figures we see today became available. And the reason why they were made of lead was largely an economic one.
As I have been led to understand, the equipment needed to cast lead figures is cheaper than the injection-mold equipment needed for plastic. Financial reality, and undoubtedly a good dose of bias toward established tradition, dictated that gaming miniatures should be made of lead.
I am unclear as to the reason for Games Workshop's bold decision to break with that tradition. Perhaps it was prompted by the high cost of shipping lead across the Atlantic. Perhaps they heard the first murmurings of those idiots who decided that lead miniatures were a menace to America's children. Or perhaps they were merely bold visionaries with a glimmer in their eye of the future of gaming. Whatever the reason, GW was the first gaming miniature manufacturer to experiment with plastic figures.
Meanwhile, as we all know, the rest of the industry faced a crisis when it looked like New York State was going to ban lead miniatures, under a law meant to limit lead content in toys. By the time lobbyists had managed to save the industry from that, it was too late. The manufacturers had already re-tooled their machinery to accept a new pewter alloy, and fearing that what happened in New York might happen again elsewhere, they decided to stick with it. Now I hear that lead is making a comeback, but it's too late. I have seen the light!
The Top 10 Reasons Why Plastic Miniatures Are Better Than Pewter:
1. They come in pretty colors, and look better when unpainted. 2. Plastic weighs about 1/3 as much as pewter. 3. You can use simple model glue instead of epoxy or super-glue. 4. Plastic Miniatures cost less. 5. They're less likely to break when you drop 'em. 6. Enamel paints stick better. 7. Easier to carve and modify. 8. No moron is going to try to make plastic toys illegal. 9. Plastic is better than lead, and lead is better than pewter. 10. Cuz I say so, that's why.
Click here for my Resource List of products containing plastic figures. I'll be expanding and updating this list, so check back often!
Click here for a link to the Miniatures Page WWW Magazine, where you can find all kinds of stuff about horrible lead & pewter miniatures if you really want.
Painting and Maintenance Tips for Plastic Miniatures:
1. Be sure the figures you're working on are made of the right kind of plastic - hard, solid plastic like they make model kits out of. If you try to work with figures made of softer flexible plastic, don't expect very good results. Your glue won't work, your paint won't stick, and ultimately it will be a very unsatisfying experience.
2. Trim off all the flash. Plastic figures are generally cast on sprues just like model kit parts, often with many more connecting points than most lead figures have. Hunt them down and neutralize them.
2. If you plan on using acrylics, you'll need to prepare your figures with spray primer. I prefer a flat white primer. If you're going to use enamel paints, you don't have to use primer; the paint will stick, and not flake off like it would on lead. Still, use primer anyway. It'll give you a nicer surface to work on.
3. After you're done painting, protect your models by applying a spray or brush varnish.
4. Don't step on your plastic figures. Don't light fire to them. Don't put them in a bucket with a firecracker in the bottom and watch them fly into the air. Don't overfeed them.
5. If they break, clean the two surfaces and stick 'em back together with model glue. Be careful with your glue; using too much is just messy, and the glue can soften the plastic, making the repaired spot more susceptible to future breaks. If you've stepped on them, don't waste your time. Buy new ones.
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