1:72 scale fantasy miniatures

[Kris]

A while back I saw that a few companies had started to produce some 1:72 scale fantasy miniatures - and (not surprisingly) I picked up a few packs to see how they looked ...well they are only £5 or £6 for a box that contains anywhere between thirty and fifty figures (depending on the manufacturer), so you can't really grumble about the price.

Anyway (since I've been having some computer issues lately - and not really able to do anything other than browse the internet on my patched up frankenstein of a machine), I have been slapping some paint on a few of these miniatures in some of my (newly acquired) spare time

So, I thought I'd start and post a few pictures of some of the stuff that I have got finished, beginning with the elves:

The figures themselves are from Caesar Miniatures, and the box says that you get 35+ figures in the box (I got 37). Photo's of the rest of their figures can be found at:
Plastic Soldier Review - Caesar Fantasy Figures

Most of these elves do have a LotR look to them (which is OK with me) - except for the huge ears (which I despise) as shown below...

...though I have simply cut them off the ones I have painted and tried to re-sculpt the hair with a bit of greenstuff where necessary. I've also added a shield to one of the figures, as it kinda looked as though it should have been holding one. Also note that I have based them on a (UK) penny - to give them a bit of weight.

And just in case anyone is interested, here's a size comparison with one of the D&D pre-painted miniatures:

...which makes me think that they might also be passable for gnomes or halflings if used with regular sized miniatures.

On the whole I think the figures themselves are great (apart from the ears ...did I mention I hate the oversized ears ). The plastic they are made from is probably a bit harder than the stuff used to make the D&D plastics (but some of the swords and bows are still bent out of shape), and there really isn't all that much flash/mouldlines on the figures at all.

Next up ...a few dwarves...

 

[Kris]

Like the elves above, the dwarves I have are from Caesar Miniatures - and similarly the box states that it contains 35+ miniatures (I got 36).

Some of the figures have more of a warhammer look to them than I would like (once again, I prefer the ones with a LotR appearance), but that is just down to my own personal preference.

Just like the elves, they are very well sculpted, and (despite their small size) not that difficult to paint (due to them being sparsely equipped and not having OTT armour etc.).

Next up ...humans...

 

[Kris]

At first it seemed like I was spoiled for choice for 1:72 scale human figures (because of all the historical ranges available), but since I wanted to go with a bit of a dark age theme for them (as I hope to use them for a Silmarillion-type game one day) that narrowed things down quite a bit.

The first box of figures I got hold of (again, around the £5 mark) was Revell's Anglo-Saxons...
Plastic Soldier Review - Revell Anglo-Saxons
...as it looked to contain a wide variety of suitable figures. However, upon opening the box I discovered that they were really poorly done, and I've not really done anything with them.

So I then got hold of a box of Zvezda Vikings - which were much better (though probably still not as good as the Caesar figures up close)...
Plastic Soldier Review - Zvezda Vikings
...a few of which I have finished up and posted below:

And here's a quick size comparison of the Caesar elves, Caesar dwarves, and Zvezda Vikings:

Next up ...wildmen/barbarians...

 

[Kris]

For wildmen/barbarians I have gone for a box of Italeri Barbarian Warriors - which are exactly the same as an old Esci set as shown in the following link:
Plastic Soldier Review - Esci Barbarian Warriors

I used to have a box of these when I was a kid - though I couldn't find them when I went rummaging around in the attic, and so I got hold of a new box for around £3 (which I guess is not bad for 46 figures ).

Anyway, here's the few that I have painted:

I dunno if you can tell from the pictures, but these guys come with separate shields and spears that you have to glue in place (and it is from this set that I stole the round shield to put on the elf swordsman in the first post).

Next up ...the orc horde...

 

[Kris]

For my 1:72 orcs, I chose not to buy the Caesar ones (as I think they have too much of a comical/warhammer look about them - which doesn't really sit well with me) and instead opted to go with some Dark Alliance orcs.

From the box art you can see that it is almost a direct copy of a scene from the LotR movies - with set 2 being exactly the same but with a red border. For anyone who is interested it is worth noting that set 1 contains 45 miniatures (in 9 different poses), and set 2 contains 50 figures (in 10 different poses, and is the only set with any archers). I will also say that the orcs in set 1 were moulded a little better than those in set 2 (with regard to excess flash and general details) - but that might just be a random thing.

Anyhow, here's 12 (a mix from both sets) that I've finished:

...and as quick size comparison with a Zvezda Viking:

Next up ...beastmen...

 

[pogre]

Cool stuff! Looking forward to the beastmen!

 

[Kris]

Now I don't know if there are any plastic 1:72 scale beastmen-type miniatures available at the moment (all I know is that I couldn't find any) ...and so I thought I would try some 15mm goatmen and minotaurs from 'Magister Militum'...

They are still pretty cheap (you get 8 of the goatmen for £2.80, and two of each minotaur for the same price) ...and the scale is not too bad either:

However all of the goatmen are in exactly the same pose ...and so I have attempted a few minor conversions - just to give them a bit more variation:

And here's another quick size comparison when stood next to a 1:72 scale dwarf:

It's also worth noting that these were painted pretty quickly with the aid of the new(ish) GamesWorkshop washes ...which I have to admit are very nice indeed.

Next up ...skeletons...

 

[rgard]

Hi All, I have some links some place on some PC for 1/72 fantasy miniatures; I'll look for them.

Anyway I googled 1/72 Orcs and found this page:

1/72 Multiverse: ...an orc!

The blog mentions 3 sources for 1/72 scale orcs:

Caesar, Orion/Dark Alliance, and Rebel.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Good job Kris, especially considering they are quite small minis.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Kris]

...I have some links some place on some PC for 1/72 fantasy miniatures; I'll look for them.

Any other 1:72 fantasy ranges would be cool to know about

Anyway I googled 1/72 Orcs... ...the blog mentions 3 sources for 1/72 scale orcs: Caesar, Orion/Dark Alliance, and Rebel.

I think I stumbled on the same ranges myself when I was first looking into getting some 1:72 orcs ...and if I'm honest I would have liked to get hold of the Rebel mini's - but I couldn't find anywhere over here in the UK that sold them (which is why I settled on the dark alliance ones instead). On the other hand, the two boxes of the 'Dark Alliance' orcs has given me a ton of orc figures (or even goblin figures if used with 28mm miniatures) - which might be cool to use if I ever get back into wargaming.

I also hope to use some larger figures too (some Ral Partha Orcs should be about the right size for Trolls I think), though I'll have to wait for their online store to be up an running again before I can place my order.

Good job Kris, especially considering they are quite small minis.

Thanks. In truth I have probably enjoyed painting these a lot more than regular sized figures (probably because they are not cluttered with extra oddments, fancy armour, and the like - which makes things a little easier).