Tuesday 30 March 2010

Your Questions answered about the Wargames hobby

... so I've been getting a few questions and comments about the sizes and stuff of some of my miniatures... so I'll try and explain and answer some of your questions here ......

What is this Wargaming?
it would take ages to explain about miniature Wargaming so here's the wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_wargaming ;)
most people think its all dungeons and dragons.... they couldn't be more wrong.... i've never played either of those.... I grew up on historical miniatures.... Zulu wars.. Napoleonic’s, dark ages.... and ww2....... only recently got into the Sci Fi and fantasy stuff.....

i rarely play games with them.... the fun bit for me is the making stuff and painting it... not sitting at a table rolling dice going ...oh, is that a hit??..... do i have to roll again?..... 5 hours later... erm attack bonus roll?...you say what?? ;) however i do sometimes play a game when my dad or someone forces me too lol

a lot of gamers don't game these days... there are many painters out there who paint and collect for fun or for competitions, where you can win some big prizes like money, miniatures and maybe even bananas ..or just the vanity of saying ah i'm the Diorama of doom blu - tack award winner 2008 ...kneel before me.... i am you know... no really i am ;) .....

Did ya make em????
No.... well not most of them... i have made some bits myself though, and converted some bought miniatures......all miniatures have been painted by me though..... many people don't realise that you can buy rather a lot of different miniatures out there... it's not just all Warhammer and Dungeons and dragons....
There are zombies, demons...historical stuff from any period you can think of.... TV shows like doctor who, Scooby doo...... girls with guns.... naked chicks ;) ....dragons, monsters etc etc....

think of it and it's probably out there...... roughly i have about 500ish 28mm figurines and 1000s of 15mm ... most of them unpainted in lots of different genres and periods..... us gamers tend to joke.. that's another one for the lead mountain..... we tend to buy 100s of the things and never get around to painting them.... we are addicted to lead ;)

What are they made of??
most are made of a lead tin alloy called white metal some refer to it as pewter.... and they come unpainted....

there are also plastic miniatures out there and their more expensive detailed cousin.... resin ...... i tend to call them poly miniatures.... most plastics and resins are made from polymers hence the name....

i'm not a fan of poly for miniatures.... much prefer metal..... to me poly is cheap, brittle and associated with children’s toys.... call me a snob but its true ;) poly has less weight to metal too, is a pain in the rear to paint, paint won't stick and peals off too easily..... also from a collectors and investment point of view plastic devalues where as metal goes up..... in theory even if i don't do any thing with the lead mountain... I’ll have made money, at least on the "scrap value" .... in theory ;)

although resin holds better detail than metal ... i think it is far better for scenery and vehicles than it is for miniatures...

something to think about..... white metal contains lead...... in theory shouldn't they withstand a nuclear war?? won't i be sheilded from the radiation if i surround my house with the things? ;) i'm safe from Nuclear war...are you??? unless of course it's dirrect hit.... or friendly fire... :/

"Say NO to Poly"

Where can i get them??
Google is your friend ;) ..... there's far too many places to list.... if you want some, type 28mm miniatures into Google and go from there.... or ask me if you want something specific and i tell you where to get it :)

Gosh they are tiny!!!!....
Well yes and no.... lol .. most of the miniatures seen on this blog are known to wargamers as "28mm miniatures" although i have some "15mm" and even "6mm" so in the scale of things these are quite big...

most 28mm miniatures are around 1:60 scale or at least that’s the scale i work to..... ie.. if a human man is 6 feet tall in real life he'll be 30mm (3cms) ... so 1 foot = 5mm

Sizes and scales tend to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and gamer to gamer....... some say 1:56 scale others say 1:64th scale..........
sizes for a 28mm mini human male. Range from an average overall size of 25mm-about 35mm depending on who sculpts them.... gamers rule of thumb......if it looks right it will do ;)

the pictures below give an idea of the different sizes of the models from several mini manufactures


Click image for a bigger picture


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