How do you One-Seventy-Two?

[Mr. White]

My first proper experience with 1/72 models was with the Citadel Dark Future line back in the late 80’s. I’ve recharged my love for those models with a new project using lots of 1/72 models in a near future dystopian setting of my creation to use the Gaslands and Zona Alfa rulesets in. The log on that project is here: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=129236.0

Since starting that project I have fallen in love with the Lion Rampant family of rules. After starting a few threads here about the viability of 1/72 for fantasy and historicals…I went all in over the past two months.

I’ve now got boxes of 1/72 figures for Lion Rampant, Dragon Rampant, and Pikeman’s Lament.



I’m a patient man, so will dive into these projects in 2022. I’ve got some Blood Bowl and a few more Gaslands models I want to finish this year.

So, what are you doing or have done in 1/72?

[swiftnick]

Oof where to start?
Well 1/72 plastics is where a lot of us cut our teeth. I soon moved on to platoon 20 metals and spent many happy years in Nam and Africa.
In the noughties I played a lot of WW2 and moderns. You have already seen my Dark Future stuff but also gamed everything from Riots to Bank raids.
This year I have returned to plastics with  mythical Greek style maybe Runequest or Jackals project.
This is on pause at the moment as I have a proper think about where I am going. Had fallen into the old habit of amassing loads of figures without a plan.

[Moriarty]

Airfix WW2 back in short trousers. Thence a hiatus while metal 25mm ancients (and others) occupied my attention. Currently turning an assorted pile of 1/72 plastics into SCW troops via the magic of ‘paint-job conversions’. SCW has been an interest for a while, an incongruous mix of biplanes and monoplanes, cavalry and motorised infantry, First War and Second War armour, improvised vehicles and standards on the 20th century battlefield.

[crafty]

I love the scale it's in my goldilocks zone.

A good size, good definition and easy to paint, plus you don't need to be an amazing painter to make them look decent. It's a good scale for the tabletop too I reckon...they figures don't clutter the tabletop in mass formation.

I collect & paint 1/72 plastics. The boxes are so cheap, and usually you get enough in one box to start an army for one side for most skirmish games. I started with Second World War figures, playing Bolt Action and Crossfire, but this year have really gotten into the medieval & dark age period. Ive lost count of how many WW2 1/72 painted figures I have...I just keep plugging away....I've got hordes of Russians, loads of Germans, Brits, Italians...

I've painted roughly four boxes of medieval figures this year and have gotten into a bit of a 'groove' with how I paint and manufacture them, so I must be getting faster and improving slightly...

I'm currently tackling two boxes of Italeri English HYW figures so I can top up my English & French Lion Rampant games with some more units, as I need more archers in particular. I've also got a few more 1/72 boxes in my queue....Zvezda French Cav, Miniart 'Housits' and a box of Miniart French siege figures on their way...

I have become fascinated with the Thirty Years War period, and I've decided that next year, that will be my focus...finding enough plastics to create two opposing armies is going to be a bit tricky however. The other period tempting me is the Colonial period...who knows?

[sultanbev]

Yes, 1/72  plastics have a quality all of their own. Where to start indeed.

I started with the ubiqitous Airfix kits, driving my tanks over the model railway layout. The model rail layout got taken down so my gran could stay, so that was that, but the tanks stayed. I now have a World of Tanks collection of over 500 AFVs in 1/72.....

When the Matchbox tanks came out that was a revolution - two colours of plastic in a box, and tanks such as Fireflys and Comets! Now these days we have 3d printed resin bringing vehicles you'd never see in kit form.

Decades later our gaming group got into 15mm Napoleonics picking up some cheap, just before the explosion of 1/72 plastic Napoleonics from assorted manufacturers, which we've regretted since as the plastics would have been more visual spectacle, and cheaper for the infantry at least, as we play at 1:20 ratio.

I do have a load of ancients-medieaval in 20mm to build up and paint, currently working on a 12th century Georgian army to fight Mongols, Saracens and Crusaders. Holding me back is a lack of decent rules that reflect actual units - I want to see the individual cohorts in action for example, but field entire legions. I originally started like our Napoleonics at 1:20 but as most ancient units are decimal organisation, a "regiment" being 1000 men in many cases, it was too many figures to move, so am downscaling a bit, thinking of 1 base is 125 men approx, so units vary from 2 bases to 8 bases, then use the number of figures per base to display formation, like many rules do.

I would have been quite happy if 1/72 was the only scale ever used in wargaming!

[black hat miniatures]

I have 20mm WW2 which is a mix of SHQ early war brits and Airfix plastics from the 1970s.

I also have a big collection of 1/72 ACW which are mostly revel.

Just started a 20mm Sudan collection using Newline Designs.

I think that they are a good compromise between 15mm and 28mm for getting figures you can see and paint at a reasonable price and fit onto a slightly smaller table.  That last reason was why I went with 20mm Sudan rather than 28mm (or 54mm) because of the size of games I wanted to play.

I am contemplating 20mm plains Wars as well in the future.

[Onebigriver]

I have Punic Wars armies for Warmaster Ancients using the HaT 1/72 plastics - possibly cheaper than attempting to do it in 10mm metal.

I also have 1/72 Axis and Allied late WW2 armies after "accidentally" picking up an Airfix D-Day boxed set from a charity shop, and ending up buying more figures, Armourfast tanks, the odd diecast tank from Ebay etc. Figures are based for Crossfire.

I've also got Warhammer Great War armies primarily using Emhar's plastics with figures based on pennies.

Economy is the primary reason for choosing 1/72 over 28mm for me, as much as I love 28mm. For example, you can pick up an Armourfast WW2 tank up on Ebay for around a fiver, compared  to £20 to £30 for a 28mm tank. OK, some plastics aren't great for retaining paint, but a coat of PVA over the varnish helps protect the figures.

[Pattus Magnus]

I use 1/72 plastic figures for my “side trip” projects- periods I’m interested in dabbling in, but which aren’t my main obsessions. They’re great for that since, like others have said, they’re relatively cheap, a practical size for gaming, and oddly easy to paint *. I used them for my WW1 western front project, samurai skirmishes, WW2 skirmishes, Vietnam war games, Napoleonics skirmishing, and war of 1812. Thinking about using them for modern/Cold War, but haven’t bought in yet.

The only drawback I have found is that I didn’t  have an extensi scenery/building collection for 1/72, so I have had to build some stuff for games. Paper buildings can fill that fairly cheaply, though.

* I don’t really understand why I find 1/72s easy/quick to paint, compared to 28s or 15s. It may be that they’re enough smaller than 28s that I don’t feel obligated to try painting every detail. It may also be that they’re cheap, so I feel like I can loosen up and just do a simple job. 15s should be similar in that, but I find them more frustrating and almost as slow to paint as 28s. It could also be a matter of using 1/72 figures in side projects, so I don’t feel quite so hung up on doing the best job. Whatever the reason, I enjoy my 1/72s!

[manic _miner]

 I loved the 1/72 scale figures as a kid.Airfix and Matchbox had some great sets.As did Atlantic for the Greek and Egyptian figures.

 Got a lot of the Dark Alliance range of sets and looking forward to seeing what the next releases will be for the range.

[Jacksarge]

I've painted & collected a lot of 1/72nd stuff over the years & still find them really appealing. Nowadays I baulk at buying them because they don't seem to have any re-sale value (unless you are talking metals like AB WW2 & Newline). The older I get the more I try & be sober about these things, one day I'm going to be gone & if my son doesn't want them, they aren't going to sell - I've tried selling collections of 1/72 that I no longer wanted before,  with very limited success, often ending up giving them away. On the other hand, I sometimes wish I had started my current Sudan collection with Newline 1/72 metals instead of Perry 28mm 

[Fred Mills]

I have a large and (still) growing 1/72 collection, mostly WWII and Cold War, with small batches of Napoleonic, ancient, and medieval. No 20mm Newline, but I am sorely tempted. While most of my stuff is in micro-armour or 15mm, the 1/72 collection was pure modelling goodness, beginning in the early '70s, and then intended for small unit or skirmish scenarios. But the 15mm and micro stuff has now been a 30-year-long diversion!!

As retirement edges closer, the 1/72 mountain stands a better chance of being climbed, eyesight permitting. The kits these days are often brilliant, and in such variety. Truly a golden age for wargamers and modellers.

[Iain R]

Colonials, WWII, Cold War and Moderns.

When it comes to 20th-21st century combined-arms warfare, 1:72/ 1:76/ 20mm call it what you will, hits the sweets spot for availability of anything required.

[CapnJim]

AWI, War of 1812, Vietnam, and Modern.   I mix 1/72 and 20mm pretty freely....

Although I also have 28mm War of 1812 and Modern, and am working on 28mm Vietnam. 

[Mr. White]

AWI, War of 1812, Vietnam, and Modern.   I mix 1/72 and 20mm pretty freely....

Although I also have 28mm War of 1812 and Modern, and am working on 28mm Vietnam.

What are you using for War of 1812 in 1/72? I was looking for models to use with Rebels and Patriots, but wasn’t having a lot of luck for those eras in 1/72.

[Pattus Magnus]

CapnJim might have used a different approach, but for my War of 1812 collection I mostly used British figures for the US and painted in the details that were different, such as shako cords and piping on the uniforms. I used figures with Belgic shakos for regulars on both sides, and figures with stovepipe shakos for militia. I’m planning to use the Belgians from Hat Industries’ ‘Dutch and Belgians at Waterloo’ box for my next unit of US regulars - they have the Belgic shakos, but a simpler uniform that is close to the US W1812 one. The Dutch have stovepipe shakos and simpler uniforms. They will be getting drafted into militia units.

I also used part of a box of Strelets “British regulars in Egypt” for a US militia unit in round hats. The guys with pants went into the militia, the ones wearing tall gaiters will be joining the British marines. I figure the marines can be used for scenarios based on raids along the US coast.

 Strelets also makes (or made? Not sure if they’re still in production) a box of Tecumseh’s Warriors, which I used for native warriors on both sides.

For cavalry, the US light dragoons uniform is fairly close to the later British heavy dragoons uniform with helmets, so I got those and will do “paint conversions “ when I get around to them.

Once you get looking for “good enough” equivalents, there are quite a few options for doing War of 1812 in 1/72 plastics.