Hi guys, my recent Centaur project has re kindled my interest in 1/72 WWII (not that I lost interest, just have been caught up in other eras and scales) I have 300+ plastic WWII kits in my stash, and I must have over 1000 plastic Germans alone, so have decided on starting another 3 WWII projects covering, Germans, Brits, and Russians.
Although there are some really great plastic fig ranges out there, I really love metal figs, the variety of poses is usually better, and they tend to have a more 3D look, although they do tend to be less anatomically correct then the good plastic ranges, generally more cartoony, but I can put up with that, as this will be a war gaming project and not dio building the war gaming look of the figure will be ok.
I decided on Battlefield Miniatures for my first purchase, I have decided on doing this review because I couldn't find any good unpainted picture of these figs, I bought 18 different packs.
Size - 20-21mm bottom of soul to eyes, they are smaller them most of the current 1/72 plastic figures, and smaller then ABs.
Style - chunky war gaming
Details - the detail is quite good, little details like tank kill arm patches, collar patches etc are sculpted on, equipment and weapons stand out more then most plastics, in fact every thing stands out more and is crisper then plastic figures.
Anatomy - generally good, there is the odd fig with odd length arms or big hands, heads/helmets are generally larger, giving that war gaming look.
Poses - this is where these metal figures win hands down, plastic figures often have a flat 2D look, and they are often in very static straight up and down poses, even the ones posed in combat, whilst these metal figures have that crouching/advancing under fire feel, it makes them more 3D and believable, there is a good selection of standing around doing nothing types and dynamic in combat poses, something for every one, there are very few odd poses in the 18 packs I got, only 1 really, in the 5th pic down, the 4th figure, is holding his rifle in a very peculiar way, I might have to bend the rifle back instead of straight up, still, a strange way to carry your weapon, but thats pretty good out of 18 packs, in a pack of plastic figs with 15 poses you will generally get 4 or 5 poor poses.
Faces - this is a bit of a mixed bag, most of the faces look good, but there is a couple that have the cap/helmet to low over the eyes, and it makes them look a little odd, but this is the minority.
Molds - theres not to much flash on these, about average for metal figs, no mold slippage.
General look - fairly good, the thing that really sells these metal figures over sticking with just plastic are the poses, the variety of equipment and weapons, equipment looks correct and in scale, no tiny little radio sets or to skinny weapons here, they are not to over scale either, and look just right. (although I haven't measured any of the equipment or weapons, just using the Mk I eyeball)
Packs come between with 3 and 5 figs and can be found here Battlefield Miniatures I have no affiliation with this company and paid full price for all my figures, I would give them a 8/10 not quite as nice as ABs but more affordable, I will be mixing some plastic figs with these metals, were I can get away with it, the service from BM was good, and postage from the U.K to Australia was within the norm, I highly recommend these for WWII war gaming.
