Since the Grand Duchess is out of town for another week, and we had chilly, blustery, and rainy weather all day yesterday, I spent the time at work here in Zum Stollenkeller.
First, I sat myself down at the computer and wrote for a couple of hours. More than 1600 words. Very rough, but at least there is something on “paper”, which I’ll add to this evening.
Second, all flesh areas are painted on the 33 “Irish” grenzer. I divided the job into two lots, before dinner and after dinner, so it went fairly quickly. Still lots to do, but the painting gets more interesting from here on in, and the figures appear rather more life-like than a week ago. Tonight, it's on to the white gaiters and maybe the green breeches.
Finally, I’ve been pondering the various criteria that people might take into consideration when shopping around for wargame figures. So far, I’ve come up with the following: realistic proportions, casting quality (moldlines, flash, pitting), level of detail, pose, animation/demeanor/character, completeness of range, availability, and price. Is there anything else you look for when getting ready to place an order? Please drop me a line and let me know.
Comments
I've tried painting Front Rank SYW figures and all but gave up halfway through. Spencer Smith figures are nice and I do use them, but they require more attention because of the almost total lack of detail. In contrast I painted two entire 24 figure regiments of RSM's in the same time as the half-done Front Rank.
I don't want to spend a lot of time cleaning up the figures and prepping them for priming. This is one of the failings of the Suren range. I like the figures a lot, but for the price paid, the quality of the casting should be better.
For cavalry figures, I want to rider to fit snuggly onto the horse without having to file away significant amounts of the lead to get a decent fit.
Completeness of the range: does it provide me with all of the basics of infantry, cavalry and artillery? Within that, are all of the command figures available? That's not a deal breaker for me but is a factor to consider.
Price is probably lower down the list for me. If I like a figure enough, I will grit my teeth and buy it even if I don't care for the price. I just may not buy hundreds of the pricer figures,but rather a battalion or two instead.
Details: I could go with a figure having a minimal amount of equipment on his back (one of the things that I like about RSM). I assume that the extra gear got left back at the baggage park - I'd rather not paint all of the extra stuff.
I don't like overly fussy "correctness". Right now I'm painting some frustratingly over-equipped Old Glory Colonials. Sure they might actually have had all of that "stuff", but they really "muddy up" the figure.
I want figures that will look good en mass . . . I'm far less concerned with "excessive correctness".
Alas, for me price IS a significant factor. Fortunately the overly detailed figures generally tend to be pricier which knocks them out of contention with a double whammy.
-- Jeff
Size is one - how well does it fit in with the other figures in the collection.
Ease of painting is another - some figures paint very quickly some seem to take forever even though they both have comparitive levels of detail.
Strength - why spend good money on a beautiful figure only to find they have weak ankles when handled on the tabletop? Chariot Miniatures 15mm are a good example here, they look wonderful but they all slope to the left or right after being handled on the tabletop. Worse are Old Glory 25mm Malburians who not only slope but snap off after being erected.