Just starting a life long hobby

[DancingShaman]

Hi everyone. This is Osman from İstanbul, Turkey. Thanks for having me in this great community. Amazing works all around. I was literally looking for a hobby lately that would help relieve some of the life's stress. I was looking into 3d Printers and somehow I got hooked to miniature figure painting. Kinda funny if you ask me.

I already started shopping for Tools and materials. Poor wallet! I think 75-90 mm is the perfect spot for me. In accordance with my obsession with WW2 history, I want to bring some military figures to life as for the beginning. However I have come to realize that the market is dominated by 1/35 which is too small for my taste.

To sum up, I am more than happy to be kicking off with this miniature painting hobby. And I would appreciate some recommendations for 75-90mm ww2 resin figures. Btw, if metal painting is no different than resin in terms of difficulty for a beginner, then feel free to suggest metal ww2 figures as well.

Thank you for your replies in advance, moreover thank you all for this great infomative community.

Best,
Osman

 

[Bailey]

Welcome!

Have you looked at Young Miniatures? They do a lot of busts but also some full figures in 70 and 90mm. They have a big selection of WWII era busts, so you may find those interesting too. The majority of their stuff is resin.
http://young-miniatures.com/English/products1-English.htm

Andrea has some nice 90mm figures, although they are metal. You can also take a look at Pegaso Models, though their selection of WWII figures is not that large. I don't feel like there is that big a difference in working with metal than resin. Metal will be a bit heavier, so you'll want to make extra sure larger parts are secure when you assemble the figures. But, once you've got them primed, there's no difference between painting metal vs resin.
http://www.andreadepotusa.com/en/1/andrea-miniatures/128/the-third-reich.html?p=1

Nocturna is more fantasy stuff, but they do have this one neat 70mm WWII figure in resin
http://nocturnamodels.com/product.php?id_product=28

I don't do WWI or WWII stuff, so I'm not aware of many companies that really specialize in that. You may want to check out some general retailer sites like Red Lancers
https://redlancers.com/
They are based in the USA, so I doubt you will want to order though them. But their site can clue you in to a lot of different miniature ranges and companies.

Hope that helps!

 

[kenshin393]

Welcome to the hobby! I hope it gives you as much satisfaction as it does the rest of us.
A closer supplier for you would be historexagents.com based in the uk. I'm sure our continental members would be able to point you toward a closer supplier. Good luck!

 

[Tutilo17]

Welcome to the world of mininatures!

I can actually recommend www.miniaturasfortes.com for some nice 75mm WW2 figures. You can order them directly from the website. By the way Diego sculpted a 75mm figure of an WW2 US GI for me (see below). I still have a few copies left.

Have fun!
Stefan

 

[Claude Portsmouth]

Have a look at Mitches Military Models and Stormtroopers in the UK.

Claude

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I think there are plenty more figures related to WWII in 120mm scale than any other except for 1/35, 1/32 or 54mm.
So if you feel more comfortable with larger scales, I think that would be a better choice.

Most of them come in resin or polystyrene.

Cheers
Janne Nilsson

 

[DancingShaman]

Bailey, your point of metal and resin not being different after priming definitely opens up more choices. You have been really helpful, thank you.

Kenshin393, historexagents.com seems like a great alternative. Thanks for the nice wishes.

Tutilo17, that is a site I will definitely check right away. Thank you.

Janne, you are absolutely right. There are so many more 120mm than 75 and 90mm combined. Havent hold one in my hands, I will try to find a Local store and see myself. Thank you very much for the suggestion.

Cheers to all.

 

[swralph]

Hello Osman and welcome to PF.
Ralph.

 

[DancingShaman]

Thank you Ralph.

 

[theBaron]

Welcome to the Planet, Osman!

 

[DancingShaman]

Thank you theBaron!

 

[megroot]

Welcome to the dark site of the modelworld.
For WW 2 figures in larger scale this is where you have to look: http://www.mitchesmilitarymodels.co.uk/home/4550845838
and this one: http://www.stormtrooperminiatures.co.uk/

Marc

 

[DEL]

Welcome, as Marc says Stormtroopers and MMM could keep you going for years

 

[DancingShaman]

Thanks Mark and Del. Since I'm currently in Turkey, UK Shops are the best in terms of fast and cheap shipping.

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Osman,

Welcome to Planet Figure. I can personally recommend Alpine Miniatures who do a very good range of 120mm resin figures.

Pegaso are one of the market leaders, as are Andrea but there is a huge amount of variety in a wide range of sizes and scales from 28mm to 350mm and everything in between. Stormtroopers and MMM are also excellent.

WW2 is probably the most popular period of history next to Napoleonic, but there is also a growing range of figures representing WW1, which isn't surprising considering all the centenary events on at the moment.

 

[NickM]

Welcome Osman, I hope you enjoy your stay here at PF.

I too love WW2 subjects, and can highly recommend Alpine Miniatures and Mitches Military Models for 120mm figures. Alpine sculpts are the best out there in my opinion, and Mitches Military Models set themselves apart by offering some superb British/Commonwealth WW2 subjects.

Jeff Shiu also has a wide range of top quality German 120mm figures:
http://jeffshiu.lsft.com/products.html

Hope that helps a bit

 

[DancingShaman]

Tony and Nick, I appreciate the suggestions. Thanks to you guys, my first ever welcome thread here on forums has become a great source of information.

One thing though, I have a feeling that 120mm is a bit out of my comfort zone. I think I would be the happiest with 90mm figures, which oddly seems to be the most scarce amongst 75,90 and 120mm figures. And also for some reason, 90mm are much more expensive than the 75mm figures, which I hope to see change in the future. Maybe it is a supply demand thing, Who knows. Andrea 90mm figures run in the range of 75-100 usd. Like you acknowledged, they do look really good except for their high prices. I guess that is a price I need to pay to work with my desired scale. If Jeff Shiu offered as many 90mm's, that store could have easily been my favourite.

Cheers,
Osman

 

[Ferris]

Welcome Osman.

For An interest in WW2 you will be a happy shopper by going to 1/16 scale. Not too much around in 75mm and 90mm, although Andrea have an excellent Japanese officer in the latter scale. 1/16 is also relatively cheaper; 90mm can indeed be strangely expensive. I consider Alpine 1/16 the best value: around 40 Euros each, easy to build and, thanks to excellent sculpts, a breeze to paint. I don't think there will be much difference in technique you'll need for 90mm vs 1/16 scale.
Best is simply to try and find your preference while doing. All the best with that. See you around.

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[Ferris]

Almost forgot: FeR Miniatures have a very nice 75mm resin German soldier. I painted it a while ago:

 

[DancingShaman]

Adrian, Fer Miniatures has a couple WW2 German figures as well. In terms of painting technique, I dont think 120 will be any different than 90mm. You are right on that. I guess I will order one from each size and then keep the one I like better.