Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: The Black Rider on November 22, 2008, 06:20:16 PM
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Anyone got any yet or seen them in the flesh? Anyone seen the perry french too?
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There are some nice painted examples of the Victrix that someone has done on the Steve Dean forum that look really good. Not seen anything personally since the 3 ups which also looked very good.
Seen the Perry French in the flesh and they too look brilliant. Better than the ACW I think. Not very much in it between them and the metals for me - only the weight. I am not a plastic fan but as soon as the undercoat hits I have to ask just what is the difference really?
No one will ever make ancient, medieval or renaissance Chinese in plastic so its probably not a conundrum I am ever going to have the pleasure of personally.
The Perry British posted on TMP this week looked good as well with a clever coat tail trick up their sleeve to boot.
Buy them all (not the WG or WF Romans though) and then my dream of Chinese will be that little bit closer.
Svennn
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A couple of Frothers have bought the Victrix plastics and been very disappointed about pronounced mould lines, level of detail and the lack of right ears!
http://www.frothersunite.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17362
I've bought the Perry French and am very happy with them, and I'm going to wait for the Perry Brits instead of buying the Victrix Brits for Sharp Practice.
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I really like the look of the Victrix British. In fact I picked a box up at the Warfare show today in Reading, fully intending to buy them.
But when I looked at them on the sprue they just look soooo... well... small.
Indeed, all the plastic figures seem to suffer from a degree of 'slightness' compared to metal figures. I appreciate this is rich coming from me, as I'm usually railing against the cartoony / squat / munchkin style of most metal wargames figures.
But the plastics just look so insubstantial and diminutive compared to what I'm used to...
Suffice to say, I put the box down again and saved my 20 quid.
I'd never have got round to painting 50 bloody Napoleonic infantry anyway.
Having said all that
1. They are extremely nicely packaged, come with a selection of LBM flags, rules, bases, painting guide etc, and
2. Looking at couple of painted units of the finished figures on the Victirx stand, they are beautifully sculpted.
Just not heroic enough in scale for my tastes. :(
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...But when I looked at them on the sprue they just look soooo... well... small.
Indeed, all the plastic figures seem to suffer from a degree of 'slightness' compared to metal figures. I appreciate this is rich coming from me, as I'm usually railing against the cartoony / squat / munchkin style of most metal wargames figures.
But the plastics just look so insubstantial and diminutive compared to what I'm used to...
I think the reason the plastics always look so slight is due to the fact that they are usually injection molded in steel molds while a lot of the metals are centrifugally or vacuum cast in a 'soft' mold. Steel will obviously not deform during the injection process so the finished product is exactly the same size as the master. The metal molds compress slightly as they spin or as they reach vacuum so they come out looking slightly 'squat'. That is my understanding, anyway.
No slight intended to Captain Blood, because he has a logical reason for not using plastics, but, isn't it interesting how modellers clamour for certain items, yet, as soon as the genie grants their wish, the vultures start circling. Suddenly, all the rivet counters and self-styled experts are out in force with their litany of complaints. We should be on our knees thanking the manufacturers for at least listening to our desires. So what if the mold line is slightly heavy (clean it!) or a detail is soft. If you game with your figures, nobody's going to see the flaws at the distance at which most figures are viewed. Go back 20 years and look at what was available then. Did that stop people from enjoying the hobby? Of course not! I, for one, am heartily grateful for the huge variety of figures available today. If they're not perfect this time, well, they're probably better than the previous effort so maybe next time. Besides, if someone ever did produce the 'perfect' figure, what would the naysayers have to complain about? They'd probably implode with frustration! :D
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I'm grateful for the amazing variety of figures as well, it means we get to choose something that meets our own exacting standards. Inevitably plastics from one company are going to be compared to another, and if we see what one company is capable of, then is it wrong to expect similar standards from another? if you read my post on Frothers, I was all set to buy the Victrix plastics, they certainly looked good in the photos, but those people that have bought them have been disappointed, so I'd rather wait for the Perry Brits that I expect to be of similar quality to their French. Certainly there are those who won't touch plastic, but suggestions that the vultures are circling is a bit of an exaggeration.
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Maybe I shouldn't have used vultures as an analogy since I didn't mean to imply they were waiting for the death of a range. I just have no use for those people whose sole purpose seems to be to pick holes in anything new. You see them at contests all the time - those 'experts' who haven't built a model or painted a figure in 20 years yet somehow they feel they are qualified to question the accuracy or finish of an item that somebody has just taken a month to complete. I remember an instance of someone who was adamant that 'the Germans never painted crosses on captured Russian tanks before reusing them', despite the evidence of hundreds of wartime photos.
I intend to get some Victrix Naps, as well as some of the Twins'. I consider myself a good enough modeler that I can make a decent display of them, despite 'pronounced mould lines, level of detail and lack of right ears'! That's what modelling is about, isn't it?
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I've bought all the plastic boxes available at the moment. And yes some are of a different finish than others, but at least they are all compatible within the boxes and of the same style. Soft plastic ones used to suffer from that (remember Airfix Napoleonics? British did'nt match French at all as far as height, sculpture and look were concerned and what about the French Guard, Scots, Prussians, all different sculpters and thus different looks. So if you can't say Victrix with Perry, who cares? In metal ranges you can't mix every one with another either. At least somebody is doing something about the metal prices and gets out cheap(er) plastic figures. It's exactly like in the movies: in the sixties we had mass spectacles like Cleopatra with enormeous amounts of extra's playing the vast armies. Nowadays this is far too expensive until somebody discovered what you could do with cgi. There too the first cgi images were of lower quality. If you see what e.g. Jackson did in LOTR with his mass armies we've come a long way. I'm sure the same will happen with plastics. Evolution doesn't stop and products will get better. When I started with wargaming I had to do with Lamming and Minifigs, I do think -without putting these down- we've come a long way as well in metal.
So whatever plastics the manufacturers will throw at me I'll look at and if the period interests me, i'll buy. (Where are those ECW that Warlords has on their website, I need them now.)
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No slight intended to Captain Blood, because he has a logical reason for not using plastics
None taken ;)
I agree with much of what you have to say there. I think Victrix have done an excellent job from what I saw - it's just that the slightness of the actual figures is just not to my taste, and I was a little disappointed by this, because of course when they show you the 'three-ups' they look kinda chunky... :?
I think the plastic manufacturer that cracks the conundrum of how to get the end 28mm plastic figure retaining the proportions and detail of the 'three-up' will be the one who makes the real breakthrough and will win over a serious volume share of wargamers and modellers.
Let's hope it's Warlord with their forthcoming ECW!
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No slight intended to Captain Blood, because he has a logical reason for not using plastics
None taken ;)
I agree with much of what you have to say there. I think Victrix have done an excellent job from what I saw - it's just that the slightness of the actual figures is just not to my taste, and I was a little disappointed by this, because of course when they show you the 'three-ups' they look kinda chunky... :?
I think the plastic manufacturer that cracks the conundrum of how to get the end 28mm plastic figure retaining the proportions and detail of the 'three-up' will be the one who makes the real breakthrough and will win over a serious volume share of wargamers and modellers.
Let's hope it's Warlord with their forthcoming ECW!
My thoughts are they will match Perry, Fodnry and the Eureka in scale when the ECW figures are produced mainly because John Stallard wrote the WECW and has some close ties with the Perrys.
So if you have Rnegade or Bicorne and Redoubt I suspect they will be too small.
The Heroic scale is certainly the norm and this is why I think a lot of gamers dont like the more anatomically correct figures. I have picked up all the Conquest figures for FIW and they on first impressions seem tiny but with a bit of an undercoat the detail comes out and they are sweet.
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Maybe I shouldn't have used vultures as an analogy since I didn't mean to imply they were waiting for the death of a range. I just have no use for those people whose sole purpose seems to be to pick holes in anything new. You see them at contests all the time - those 'experts' who haven't built a model or painted a figure in 20 years yet somehow they feel they are qualified to question the accuracy or finish of an item that somebody has just taken a month to complete. I remember an instance of someone who was adamant that 'the Germans never painted crosses on captured Russian tanks before reusing them', despite the evidence of hundreds of wartime photos.
I intend to get some Victrix Naps, as well as some of the Twins'. I consider myself a good enough modeler that I can make a decent display of them, despite 'pronounced mould lines, level of detail and lack of right ears'! That's what modelling is about, isn't it?
Well I'm no button brigader, and fair enough if you are willing to put in the work to clean them up to an acceptable standard, but I have that many projects on the go I'd rather wait until the plastic Brits by the Perrys come out. It's a shame because the Victrix are slightly bigger than the Perry, and I was hoping to mix in metal figures from other ranges for my Brits while sticking to Perry for the French. Apparently one of the motivations behind Victrix is to encourage young'uns into historical wargaming, and it will be interesting to see if the kids recognise a bargain or if they compare the figures unfavourably to the overpriced but detailed GW plastics.
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aww looks like im going to buy the perry ones anyways! Their acw stuff is great (I have it) so I am expecting similar stuff from them! Does anyone know where you can grab a copy of sharpes practice or something similar?
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aww looks like im going to buy the perry ones anyways! Their acw stuff is great (I have it) so I am expecting similar stuff from them! Does anyone know where you can grab a copy of sharpes practice or something similar?
You need to go to the Two Fat Lardies website. You can buy it as a PDF or order a printed copy. I think the PDF is £7.
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...fair enough if you are willing to put in the work to clean them up to an acceptable standard...
I guess I have a slight advantage, here, in that I am not a wargamer. (I know. Shocking, isn't it! ;) ) I usually do vignettes and dioramas so I don't have to paint up an entire box of figures before I can use them on the table. I have the luxury to pick and choose those I want and can take the time to bring them up to snuff. There are times, though, when I wish I could blitz a regiment. I know I'm a decent painter but I'm constantly astounded by the speed at which some of the LAFers can paint up 20 figs or so without a loss of quality. I can be quite anal when painting official uniforms. ACW is bad enough but Napoleonics can give me fits!
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I know what you mean, I'm deeply envious of speed painters. A few months ago I painted 20 skaven at once and it seemed to take forever. Part of the reason why i'm sticking to skirmish level games.
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...A few months ago I painted 20 skaven at once and it seemed to take forever...
Quite. You'd think something like Skaven would be quick jobs, would'nt you. Basecoat, wash, drybrush, done. Hah! What colour should I paint the clothing? That's too bright. They live underground, right? How dirty should I make them? Rusty armour or newly stolen? Etc, etc... My biggest problem with Fantasy/SciFi figures is that I have no imagination when it comes to colour schemes. Give me a uniform or a list of choices and I'm fine. Make up my own? ??? :?
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...A few months ago I painted 20 skaven at once and it seemed to take forever...
Quite. You'd think something like Skaven would be quick jobs, would'nt you. Basecoat, wash, drybrush, done. Hah! What colour should I paint the clothing? That's too bright. They live underground, right? How dirty should I make them? Rusty armour or newly stolen? Etc, etc... My biggest problem with Fantasy/SciFi figures is that I have no imagination when it comes to colour schemes. Give me a uniform or a list of choices and I'm fine. Make up my own? ??? :?
It didn't help that I was given the Advanced Heroquest game by my future in-laws, so it was important that I made a good impression, and I went GW old school - ink washes and five drybrushes for highlights. Now they know that they're not so much losing a daughter as gaining a geek. Rust is always tricky and I've yet to find a technique I'm totally happy with, but they turned out well. Definitely less drybrushes in the future though.
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Lately, I've been picking up some of Dr.Ben's Weathering Pigments , including his three different rusts. Haven't had much of a chance to play with them yet but the little bit I've tried looks good. They've got a binder in them so they stay where they're put but they are apparently easy to remove if you aren't quite satisfied. There's an awful lot of powder in those containers, too. He's also got a large range of stains and weathering solutions.
http://www.debenllc.com/servlet/the-Doctor-Ben%27s-Scale-Consortium-cln--dsh--Weathering-Pigments/Categories
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Cheers Archangel, I'll have to give them a go. The most successful rust technique I've found so far was in one of the issues of Wargames Painting & Modelling. Well worth downloading the mag if you havent already.
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I figure I could post it here...
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll206/Calimero_34/Photo814.jpg)
...this is my first finished Victrix figure! Not a bad choice if you want to build cheaper Napoleonic Army. :D
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He's a nice looking figure. Real character in the pose... Looking forward to seeing more.
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Very nice Calimero, those Victrix seem be rather good! if you have the chance please post another picture side by side with another miniature for scale comparison, please!
I'm getting more tempted to buy a box of those chaps! :)
are you painting any specific regiment! fusiliers had blue pipping, is he one of those guys?
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Here a picture of the same Victrix figures side by side with a Crusader Miniature French Fusilier (left) and an Artizan Design WWII British (right)…
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll206/Calimero_34/Photo823.jpg)
… and a picture with a Front Rank Miniature British Dragoon…
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll206/Calimero_34/Photo829.jpg)
I intend to paint my figures as the 4th Kings Own Regiment since his flag is one of the two provided in the box (the other is for the 35th Regiment of Foot – The Sussex Regiment). One of the thing I like with the Victrix product is that the box have plenty of drawings to help paint the figures. :D
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That looks very good and in scale with other figures there.
Was there a lot of cleaning up to do on mould lines?
That seems to have been a critisism earlier on?
Dodge
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I was impressed with the Victrix figures when I saw them in the flesh at Warfare. He looks great and is very compatible with the other figures you have there. :)
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Thanks Calimero! :) nice work!
and it's good news to see that the plastic minis are not smaller than the other ones! it scales perfectly with almost every 28mm miniatures, at least from my point of view!
Me thinks Santa Claus will give me a box of Victrix for christmas! now I must go and send him an e-mail :D
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... Was there a lot of cleaning up to do on mould lines? ...
Not at all. At least on the sprues I received. There were some "plastic flash" here and there but that’s really minimal.
I have two small critics though. The bases on some figures are way too large (but they can be cut quite easily). Also, I find that putting some of the arms together were a little tricky (but I have the dexterity of a drunken chimp!). lol
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... Was there a lot of cleaning up to do on mould lines? ...
Not at all. At least on the sprues I received. There were some "plastic flash" here and there but that’s really minimal.
I have two small critics though. The bases on some figures are way too large (but they can be cut quite easily). Also, I find that putting some of the arms together were a little tricky (but I have the dexterity of a drunken chimp!). lol
Did you have any problems fitting the backpacks and have to do anything with the right ears?
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Did you have any problems fitting the backpacks and have to do anything with the right ears?
The details on the side of the head are sometime a little weak but, in those cases, I just build-up any missing ears with a small blob of paint (in an half circle shape).
As for the backpack, I had absolutely no problem making them fit… I read of people who had problem with it but, frankly, I couldn’t say why…