Plastic Bertrand (Warlord ECW)

[Captain Blood]

Okay... Finished painting my free WI figure last night...

As this is the first plastic figure I have painted for at least 20 years – and as I am still debating whether to buy a box of these – thought I would report my findings 

First, the figure and assembly.

I chose the broad-brimmed hat, which is rather nicely done. The montero is hopeless. It looks like – well, a plastic hat from Captain Scarlet. Nowhere near ‘squashy’ enough.
The hat doesn’t quite sit down properly on the head though. I should have shaved half a mm off the top of the head to get the hat to sit better.
The arms didn’t fit on that well, and required a bit of carving. And even though I dressed the joins with a liberal layer of PVA, you can still see the joins.
The hands are tiny and not as well-defined as on a metal figure.
The gossamer-light feel of the figure is weird to handle, although I’ve mounted him on a metal washer, so it’s not quite so noticeable – and he’s never going to fall over!
The pose looks slightly unnatural to me – but then, to be fair, so do the poses of many metal figures.
There is a strange absence of detail – like absolutely no buckles anywhere in evidence on any of the belts, straps and so on. Is it that the plastic can’t take this sort of detail? Surely not. It all contributes to the figure looking strangely ‘smooth’…

Onto the painting…

There is a weird lack of ‘relief’. The surface of the figure is very smooth.
In some ways this makes it easier to paint because you can ‘paint in’ more detail that isn’t actually sculpted on.
In other ways it’s harder, because you don’t have such well defined surface contours to follow with the brush (like the line of belts, straps and so on)

Overall though, the end product doesn’t look too bad. He just looks a bit smooth and detail-less compared to my Bicorne, Renegade and TAG figures.










And, a quick height comparison - left to right, TAG, Warlord, Bicorne, Renegade...

[Orctrader]

Great painting and excellent review.

Your words of wisdom might dissuade some from buying the plastic figures that are appearing all over the place.  Not me though as I had no intention of moving from metal. 

In the comparison shot though all good - painting - the Bicorne and Renegade figures look fantastic.   

[Svennn]

What you moaning about - he looks great and fits in with the others rather well.

I know exactly what you mean though. Its that undefinable "plastic" thing - an amalgamation of lack of weight, smooth finish, soft or lack of detail, having to put it together, different painting tecniques, etc. etc.

They are a reasonable alternative but with all things considered nothing more. Not cheap enough to make enough difference compared with traditional wargames figures and ultimately a little inferior in quality.

Did he take longer to complete than a metal? Was he enjoyable or a bit of a niggle?

I'm not trying to knock the product, its great for what it is - a plastic ECW figure, just not for me I think.

[Mad Carew Snr]

You've made a great job of the painting and I understand your preferance for metal figures - I personally find plastic easier to paint

[Captain Blood]

You've made a great job of the painting and I understand your preferance for metal figures - I personally find plastic easier to paint

Yep. I can see how you could get to like them. Guess I'm just not used to them 

Did he take longer to complete than a metal? Was he enjoyable or a bit of a niggle?

About the same amount of time actually, Svennn. Not unenjoyable, and certainly no niggle at all. Just... Different. I'm still pondering whether to buy a box at Salute.

In the comparison shot though all good - painting - the Bicorne and Renegade figures look fantastic.  

Thanks OT, I should say the Renegade figure in the comparison shot was painted by Baner, and only titvated by me 

[Galman]

Nicely done.  Im with most, I like metal more than plastic, but I do not mind painting plastic though and will buy plastic minis if I need to.

[Aaron]

Good lord you make that hunk of plastic look like a work of art!

I debated for a while and in the end ordered a box of Victrix Brits yesterday for my Sharp Practice gang. I'll need 48 center company lads for my batallion so it seemed like the cheapest way to go.

[marianas_gamer]

Capn',
I think that in some ways it is unfortunate that a master painter like you should be the person to paint and review these plastic minis.  You could make a highly unfortunate piece of junk look good.  I would never have guessed, based on the final outcome, that you had misgivings or that you had any problems at all.  The mini looks bloody gorgeous.  It would have been better for a tyro like myself to paint it and then the many experts on this list could have seen the real problems that they might face.
LB

[Captain Blood]

I debated for a while and in the end ordered a box of Victrix Brits yesterday for my Sharp Practice gang.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I reckon - and it's just my impression, I could be wrong - that Victrix have a better level of definition than the other plastics out there.
Stylewise, they appear to have more of the look we're used to with metal figures.
I've also yet to see a bad paint job on a Victrix unit - they nearly always look great from the ones I've seen so far on the various forums.
This makes me think they are probably the best of the bunch.

Shame they aren't doing ECW!  

[Malamute]

Bloody Hell Captn
You have done a superb job with that.
I took one one look at the figure when I picked up my copy and immediately threw it in the bin. I was not impressed at all with the figure for all the reasons Svennn mentioned.
Top marks for what you have achieved with it.
I tend to agree that With the curent plastic craze, Victrix are in my opinion the pick of the bunch.

[Svennn]

I think both Victrix and Warlord are using Bob Naismith to sculpt the three ups? But then same sculptor does not mean same brief or even same budget and then different moulding and production?

I like the Victrix stuff and I got a sprue of Perry riflemen with my latest order in the post this morning which looks fine too but the bottom line for me is it is probably going to be a very long time before anybody releases a range in plastic that I want.

Its a growing market that can obviously stand the pricing structures of these guys but for me plastics should be cheaper than they are.

[Aaron]

I think both Victrix and Warlord are using Bob Naismith to sculpt the three ups? But then same sculptor does not mean same brief or even same budget and then different moulding and production?

That makes sense Bob has a lot of experience in the toy industry also so he knows a lot about what does and does not carry over well to plastics.

I saw the Victrix at Cold Wars and they do look very detailed. I didn't want to have to assemble 48+ of them, but there isn't room in the budget for that much Front Rank lead at the moment. If I have to get off my lazy butt and do some work at least the end result will be worth it!

[Hammers]

..."Plastic Bertrand"...

That cracked me up! 

[Poiter50]

Malamute! Don't bin them, pass them on to we poor colonials who pay extortionate prices for even the plastic packs. Collect from our your LAF colleagues as well! 

Bloody Hell Captn
You have done a superb job with that.
I took one one look at the figure when I picked up my copy and immediately threw it in the bin. I was not impressed at all with the figure for all the reasons Svennn mentioned.
Top marks for what you have achieved with it.
I tend to agree that With the curent plastic craze, Victrix are in my opinion the pick of the bunch.

[fastolfrus]

I suppose the plastic pricing is partly influenced by the cost of other plastic products - model kits, or GW.

Plastic figures are potentially a way of luring ex GW players to historical gaming - it's certainly the case with our school club, they are used to the ethos of metal figures only being affordable for personalities, officers, special pieces etc, and can't quite get used to metal historical figures that cost less than a plastic spacewomble. The boys tend to ask "what's wrong with them to make them so cheap".

On the plus side, the club has 18 regular members now, and 50% are playing historical games every week, (mostly WWII), but thanks to plastic Romans and Celts three are collecting ancients, and a couple were looking at Napoleonics this afternoon. Parents have said they are happier buying Ospreys (educational) rather than a "Codex", and have started coming into the club to chat occasionally.

If anyone else has surplus plastic figures that they don't want - don't just bin them because you don't like them, pass them on to a local school club if there is one.
Paul (Matakishi) runs a club in his school, I expect he'd happily accept any if offered, I know we would, we already use donated figures for club painting competitions (result being that the club cupboard now has some ready painted figures available for novices to borrow)