ok a little while ago i decided to paint miniature soldiers and such,was going to try WH 40K but discovered to my horror its very expensive,so decided to try my hand at the American Civil War,anyway trying to decide if i should go 1/72 or 1/32,just got me 2 boxs of ESCI 1/72 scale of 50 confederate and union soldiers,but found out their very,very,very,very small,so now i’m trying to figure out if i should muddle my way thru 1/72 or switch over to 1/32 before i get in to deep?
which offers the best options and what not on a low budget,as it goes i might be here awhile perusing the site since i plan on also making my own terrain and such.
Surprisingly, they get even smaller. The 1/72 are about 20mm from foot to eye.
When painting these figures, it’s all about trade-offs on detail. Whereas on a 1/32 scale or a WH40K figure, you might want to paint some great detail, such as eyes, small buttons and so on, on the smaller figures you don’t. For example, on the 1/72, you just block in the flesh color on the face, rather than painting in eyes. If you’re neat about the borders and outlines, it’ll look pretty good at arm’s distance.
One way to make the figures look pretty good is to block on the base colors, and then use a wash, or a dip to add shadows and bring out details. See the following entries in the wiki here:
To which, I’ll add on plastics, many people begin my painting a coat of white elmer’s glue on the figure. When this dries, it shrinks and conforms to the figure’s details. The elmer’s gives a good base to paint on. You’ll have to experiment to get the consistency and coating correct.
Not sure if your question is about painting or collecting/gaming?
If Gaming:
Of all the conventions I have attended, I have only seen one 1/32 scale game with painted figures and it was the Alamo (skirmish) not ACW. I have seen many in 1/72 and smaller scale. The reason being the game scale. If you want to game this period you will need to field companies/battalions/regiments of troops. This size means larger game tables and hundreds of troops. Playing in 1/32 scale would be prohibitive. The other factor is that those who do game with 1/32 plastic figures often shoot them with rubber bands etc. You wouldn’t want to paint them if they are going to take that kind of abuse.
If Painting:
Obviously the quantity of time and paint required to paint the figures based on size would be an issue. If your eyesight is failing, larger might be better. If number of figures to paint is the issue you could choose skirmish (small scale) battles and go with the larger scale. If you choose the smaller scale try the 4 color paint method:
1 - Spray paint the main color theme (grey or blue)
2 - Paint flesh
3 - Paint wood and or boots (brown)
4 - Paint boots and or hats/visors (black)
This level is usually considered acceptable by other gamers.
Basing may be you largest question as choice of a specific ruleset will determine your size of figure basing and many rule sets requirements for base size are not convertable. Which means breaking figures off of the old bases and remounting on new ones.
base size?you mean they make rules for the size of your miniatures base?sorry but that seems a bit ostentious,especially since their is no guideline in the model maker world to adhere to,you would think at 1:72 scale 1” square would be the average overall space size,and from what i’ve seen most 1:72 bases fit within those limits,so please elaborate on this base size ruling.
Another alternative to remove the mold lubricants off the minis is to spray them with “Sanding Sealer” Doesn’t so much remove them, more like cover them up. Works great!
Since it sounds like you are just interested in painting then you can forget the comment about basing. You can mount the figure any way you like. You may want to stick with the larger scale for better presentation when on display.
Are you looking at displaying them individually or in a diorama?
well i aim to make a diorama and since if say i do a 4’ x 6’ diorama 1/72 will let me get a more detailed look overall,while a 1/32 will let me get a better detail fig wise,as it goes i’ve always been into making large battle scenes and such,but until now it has been with LEGO,so this will be unique since i’ve never done it with plastic figures i had to paint before.
here is a picture folder of my LEGO stuff. several pics if clicked open up folders of more pics.
well as it goes got most of my supplies today and even a magnifier on a stand,and plan to start painting in a couple of days,as it goes got most of the paints needed except for a “wood” color,my local hobby store didn’t have any so deciding if i should wait since the rifles will need a wood color along with the wagons and artillery cassoks and fences.
so what do you guys think?should i start now or wait till i get some “Wood” color paint,and which type would be best for the above mentioned parts?
also any clue where i can find 25mm (1/72) scale civil war flags?
I’ve found that cleaning the figures thoroughly with a grease-cutting dish detergent (Dawn, for US consumers, for example) and letting them dry very well is an essential first step.
For a primer, I use Krylon spray paint, specially formulated to stick to plastic. This is a specific brand and intended use, so ask your hardware store. It comes in several colors. I’m using a buff/brown color for 1/72 WWII figures, followed by a spray coat of Testors Military spray in the basic uniform color so they’re primed in their basic color to start with.
Miracle Dip is great, though you’ll have to follow it up with a coat of Testors Dull-Cote, which knocks the satin-gloss finish off the varnish.
well as it goes got most of my supplies today and even a magnifier on a stand,and plan to start painting in a couple of days,as it goes got most of the paints needed except for a “wood” color,my local hobby store didn’t have any so deciding if i should wait since the rifles will need a wood color along with the wagons and artillery cassoks and fences.
so what do you guys think?should i start now or wait till i get some “Wood” color paint,and which type would be best for the above mentioned parts?
also any clue where i can find 25mm (1/72) scale civil war flags?
well as it goes got most of my supplies today and even a magnifier on a stand,and plan to start painting in a couple of days,as it goes got most of the paints needed except for a “wood” color,my local hobby store didn’t have any so deciding if i should wait since the rifles will need a wood color along with the wagons and artillery cassoks and fences.
so what do you guys think?should i start now or wait till i get some “Wood” color paint,and which type would be best for the above mentioned parts?
also any clue where i can find 25mm (1/72) scale civil war flags?
well as it goes got most of my supplies today and even a magnifier on a stand,and plan to start painting in a couple of days,as it goes got most of the paints needed except for a “wood” color,my local hobby store didn’t have any so deciding if i should wait since the rifles will need a wood color along with the wagons and artillery cassoks and fences.
so what do you guys think?should i start now or wait till i get some “Wood” color paint,and which type would be best for the above mentioned parts?
also any clue where i can find 25mm (1/72) scale civil war flags?
well as it goes got most of my supplies today and even a magnifier on a stand,and plan to start painting in a couple of days,as it goes got most of the paints needed except for a “wood” color,my local hobby store didn’t have any so deciding if i should wait since the rifles will need a wood color along with the wagons and artillery cassoks and fences.
so what do you guys think?should i start now or wait till i get some “Wood” color paint,and which type would be best for the above mentioned parts?
also any clue where i can find 25mm (1/72) scale civil war flags?
well i’ve been buying a few Osprey books for painting ideas,in fact i’ve already started painting some items,i’m working in 4 areas,American Civil War,American Revolutionary War,Waterloo ajnd Ancients,need to work on some terrain though and these plastic terrains in the big Imex sets won’t cut it.
