Which producer is the best ?

[Kane]

Hello everybody.

I was thinking of starting a WWII army, American Paratroopers. I have been browsing around the internet (and this forum) to find some decent miniatures, but I would like to hear from you which is, in your opinion, the best producer of mini's regarding price & quality.

I have came accross several different sites which looked interesting, with interesting deals as well. There is Blacktree designs, with a 64 paratrooper deal for currently 50 euro's (but I'm not sure about the quality of the mini's)
There is of course artizan designs, but they seem somewhat expensive...
And there is offensive miniatures, which, to me, seem to have very high quality paratroopers. Price however is 85 pounds for 58 mini's and I'm not sure if they are entirely worth it.

Also for vehicles (I was thinking a willys jeep or 2, a greyhound and a Sherman (perhaps 2, or 1 Jackson) I would like to hear your tips. Diewaffenkammer.com seemed nice, but only for the Shermans.

Thanks in advance for the help & advice!

[Calimero]

Personally I would go with Bolt Action Miniatures (BAM) figures if I were to build a WWII US airborne army;
http://shop.warlordgames.co.uk/us-airborne-123-c.asp
I don’t own any of these figures myself but they do look good…

You're right about Black Tree Design. They are cheaper but the figures are a mixed lots… some are nice, others are not. Also you will need to e-mail them about figures availability before ordering since they seem to have quite a few problems with delivery delays and out of stock figures…

For WWII vehicles there’s also Company B in the US;
http://homepage.mac.com/brentdietrich/companyB_models_US.htm

[Adey]

Kane, I'll second Calimeros' recommendations the Bolt Action paras are superb. I'll post some pics when I get the time to paint them. Excellent sculpts and good value for money, well worth it.

[Kane]

My humblest apologies, I indeed forgot to mention Bolt Action mini's. I do have to admit however that I could not find many pictures on their site, so thank you Calimero.
I must admit I am torn between BA and Offensive mini's. They have an awesome range as well. Maybe it's not a bad idea to mix them... About the vehicles, also thank you Calimero, Company B indeed has a nice collection.

More opinions are of course always valued, but I could go an end with these 2. Might talk to a couple of friends of mine nearby about the subject too. Thanks both of you !

[redzed]

Colonel Marbles WW2 American Showcase

personally I'd go BAM then Artizan. The BAM version are some the finest 28mm figures ever crafted.

[Weird WWII]

I use Victory Force Miniatures.

Brian

[Lowtardog]

I agree with Redzed, some of the BTD ones seem to have been done by different sculptors, some are nice whilst others can be a bit off

[Kane]

Thanks for the help everybody. I was considering to buy the support weapons (30. cal, bazooka etc) from BAM. I would like to hear from you what you think of Offensive:
http://www.offensiveminiatures.com/photo_list.asp?l=1&c=5&g=US%20Paras

I found these a while back on this forum and I like them alot. I just don't know how the price/quality ratio is.

[Cosmotiger]

I agree with Redzed, some of the BTD ones seem to have been done by different sculptors, some are nice whilst others can be a bit off

I think the BTD Airborne are from one of the later waves, which are the not-so-nicely sculpted ones.   

The Artizan airborne are my favorites.

[Calimero]

I think the BTD Airborne are from one of the later waves, which are the not-so-nicely sculpted ones.  

That’s true. The BTD US Airborne are not amongst the better sculpts IMHO.

[jtrnka]

Can't go wrong with BAM or Artizan For U.S. Paras. I have both and I'm partial to both  .

Artizan, BAM, and Co.B all do great jeeps.

I'm partial to my Shermans though

Cheers,

Jeff @JTFM

[Commander Vyper]

Thanks for the help everybody. I was considering to buy the support weapons (30. cal, bazooka etc) from BAM. I would like to hear from you what you think of Offensive:
http://www.offensiveminiatures.com/photo_list.asp?l=1&c=5&g=US%20Paras

I found these a while back on this forum and I like them alot. I just don't know how the price/quality ratio is.

Well worth it and lovely sculpts and great castings. Nice guys too!

The Commander

[Mr.J]

I have a bunch from Artizan and they are really nice. By far my favourites, but I also like the look of BAM and Offensive.

[pixelgeek]

personally I'd go BAM then Artizan. The BAM version are some the finest 28mm figures ever crafted.

Also historically accurate weapon sculpts.

[Michi]

I was thinking of WWII American Paratroopers.
And there is offensive miniatures and a Sherman (perhaps 2)

If you are willing to accept 1/48 scale kits for gaming with 28mm figures, I can offer this:





I believe it´s para squad 2 and para command, 14 figs in total (one is missing in the pic I noticed, but he´s there).
I´d offer the lot or any combination of kits and figures (well, figures should actually go together as lot).
Any offers?