Metal or resin, would you pay a little more

[FortunesOfWarModels]

never seen any metal kits for sale, have only worked with resin and hollow plastic.

i have to say, resin does have great detailing qualities, but is a bit of a pain to work with (when your as inexperienced with it as i am!)

i would have thought though, converting a metal kit would be a pain, so on that alone, im going with resin on this one

 

[Hans]

It depends. Metal could be polished. Metal could be soldered. Metal is too heavy for large scales. Resin is more easily clued and gives usually more detail, but there are of course brilliant sharp detailed metal figures. A quick answer: in 54mm metal, in 120mm resin.
Resin cast-on sections are often a pain to remove and I definitely hates resin dust. OK, white metal contains lead, but this can be more easily handeled.
At last, the figure makes the decision. When it is good, then it is good. I alway will prefer a historical accurate figure in 62,5mm scale in resin over a perfectly cast 54mm fantasy figure.
H

 

[Joe55]

If a figure is well done and the subject matter interests me, I'll buy it regardless . Macht nichts to me if the medium is resin or metal . One last thing to consider though, if for some reason I seriously goof up a resin figure it just gets tossed out , but if that happens to a metal one, then it goes into the wheel weight pile for when I cast up some .45 caliber rounds for my six shooter .

Joe

 

[Anders Heintz]

It doesnt matter to me as a consumer really. If the figure is good, it is good. Good metal casting is as good as good resin casting as far as details etc.

Now, from a production standpoint I think metal is probably the better option, especially if you are planning on large scale production runs. I've only ever worked with resin casting, and have cast larger production runs. It's a pain and very time consuming. Metal is a lot quicker to cast, you can turn around a mold about every minute or so, while in resin you need to wait 30-60 min before demolding. But with that said, its cheaper to get set up with resin, and if you are not looking at running 100's of copies that's probably the way to go. If you have the availability and option to cast either or, I'd suggest, making the weapons and such in metal while the bulk of the figure in resin, as resin weapons are far from ideal.

 

[Joe55]

It doesnt matter to me as a consumer really. If the figure is good, it is good. Good metal casting is as good as good resin casting as far as details etc.

Now, from a production standpoint I think metal is probably the better option, especially if you are planning on large scale production runs. I've only ever worked with resin casting, and have cast larger production runs. It's a pain and very time consuming. Metal is a lot quicker to cast, you can turn around a mold about every minute or so, while in resin you need to wait 30-60 min before demolding. But with that said, its cheaper to get set up with resin, and if you are not looking at running 100's of copies that's probably the way to go. If you have the availability and option to cast either or, I'd suggest, making the weapons and such in metal while the bulk of the figure in resin, as resin weapons are far from ideal.

Don't want to get too far off subject, but now I'm curious. What are the quantities for a typical production run? If there is a typical quantity.

Joe

 

[Figurenfreund66]

Actually I do not care whether the character that I like metal, or resin is.
Amazingly, only the fact that a resin bust cost the same as the oh-so-expensivemetal?

How do you explain that?


Cheers

Hendryk

 

[gorgosaurus]

Back in the last century I worked on white metal figures.
Have yet to see a metre long T. rex in white metal.
Resin, for me, every time.
Spike.

 

[MCPWilk]

White metal does polish up beautifully, resin dust is a pain to deal with. Large scale conversions are easier in resin, but small scale conversions can be effected with the help of a soldering iron. Many manufacturers produce mixed-media kits which seem to recognise the advantages of both. I suspect that white metal moulds last longer than resin. As regards life span, lead does deteriorate quite badly with time, but I'm not sure about pewter. It still comes down to the quality of the figure sculpt and the subject.

Mike

 

[polyphemus]

I've been at this game for a very long time & for me resin wins over metal on every count. I've seen far too many problems with metal figures after a few years; legs on horses failing, oxidation of metal, shelves (and me) groaning under the weight etc.

Geoff

 

[oldtrousers]

I also have figures in both mediums and Anders is right, a good figure is a good figure. Having said that, I do think resin is much easier to work with and if a manufacturer were to offer the same kit in resin or metal I would take the resin version.

 

[sippog]

Resin or metal - it all depends on the quality of the casting; which in turn depends on the process (vacuum cast or not, for example) the hardiness of the original master, and the number of castings the current mould has been used for.

The material is really secondary to that. Poste Militaire were always pin sharp castings in metal - others less so. Some of the ageing Phoenix castings (legitimate or not) I've seen on sale seem to be definitely getting softer.

The one thing metal kits do have going for them is hardiness - less likely for crucial bits to snap off! It's a darn sight easier to straighten a bent sword than fix a broken one.

(Of course nobody's mentioned vinyl, elastolin or plastic - the other cheaper alternatives. I wrote something on vinyl and will be doing an article on it at some point on my own site)