Black outlining/detailing (1 Viewer)

[Vicknor]

I just thought I'd give you a little background as I used to collect the range and have been a collector for 12 years but, of course, it is up to you what you decide to do. You are fortunate that you can see items in person but most can't do that.

Heads' up always appreciated. Now that the K&C UK website has been taken down for obvious reasons, a huge amount of historical data has also disappeared. I'd never looked at Crimea, but will add it to this weeks' shopping list.

Anyway. Back to outlining. It seems we all hate it but buy obsessvley none the less

 

[Pauck]

If you're going to pick up some Crimean pieces, I recommend the ones originally issued by K & C UK; Treefrog still has some and you can find others on eBay. They were some of the best figures K & C ever made. The later ones, after K & C took over the line, are not very good.

KH Norton have a sale with same figurines from the CRW line, 15 - 35 GBP. Don't know if that is a good price, not my collecting theme
http://www.norton.co.uk/figures-c557#m90

 

[jazzeum]

Looks to be a good deal, especially the mounted figures.

 

[thebritfarmer]

I am not a fan of the lines and maybe the main reason why I do not collect K&C. The lines for me give the figures a cartoonish look. I do quite like the SOHK series and do not think that they are afflicted with the same lines. This may be a series I visit in future although not having the ability to view them is a bit of a turnoff (this fact not just being limited to K&C but all TS manufacturers based on my location)

 

[LTC PaulN]

I'm happy that we're talking about an aspect of TS that hasn't been previously beaten to death like scale and/or price.

I personally don't mind the outlining, in fact I enjoy the detail though sometimes I think that the black contrast is a little "heavier" than necessary. Not necessarily the thickness of the lines themselves, but that the effect would still be there if a similar shade of color to the background were used and not "black."

This is very much signature K&C style, and I am very much a fan of their products... I am against a return to their earlier styles...especially on vehicles. The high water mark was the Tunisian Tiger, the M26 Recovery vehicle and the SL "Tour of Inspection" Sherman for sculpting, painting and accessories, IMO.

 

[Vicknor]

Just further to the detailing.

I've just been to collect my new Mussolini and Hitler car and although the detailing is heavy, it is in a greyer shade and the level of shadowing is much higher.

Even further, I've just picked up a bunch of CR (06,14 and can't remember) and the detailing is VERY heavy on those yet the darker shades of dress help blending so much more.

I keep buying but would like to see a softer use.

 

[Desertkiwi]

I'm happy that we're talking about an aspect of TS that hasn't been previously beaten to death like scale and/or price.

I personally don't mind the outlining, in fact I enjoy the detail though sometimes I think that the black contrast is a little "heavier" than necessary. Not necessarily the thickness of the lines themselves, but that the effect would still be there if a similar shade of color to the background were used and not "black."

This is very much signature K&C style, and I am very much a fan of their products... I am against a return to their earlier styles...especially on vehicles. The high water mark was the Tunisian Tiger, the M26 Recovery vehicle and the SL "Tour of Inspection" Sherman for sculpting, painting and accessories, IMO.

Interesting post and I agree with much of what you've said, although I think K&C's sculpting and painting is improving all the time.

 

[LTC PaulN]

Interesting post and I agree with much of what you've said, although I think K&C's sculpting and painting is improving all the time.

I'm in violent agreement that they get better all of the time, but some of those older pieces had a more "battle worn" appearance with crew stowage, track and road wheels, and other accoutrements attached to the outside of the vehicles, and upwards of 5 additional figures rounding out the set...

 

[ivanmoe]

Two points...

Personally, I'd prefer something more subtle. Why black? Why not a somewhat darker shade of the background color for highlighting?

but,

I've simply come to accept the lines as denoting a figure from King and Country. It's part of their style, as are the often exaggerated facial features and somewhat "heavy set" body types.

I, likewise, find style-aspects of figures from other manufacturers to be problematic. I suppose that we either love the figures that we collect, warts and all, or we move on to something that we fancy more.

-Moe

 

[HB120050]

Totally agree the use of a darker shade of the background color for highlighting would look far more realistic.

Two points...

Personally, I'd prefer something more subtle. Why black? Why not a somewhat darker shade of the background color for highlighting?

but,

I've simply come to accept the lines as denoting a figure from King and Country. It's part of their style, as are the often exaggerated facial features and somewhat "heavy set" body types.

I, likewise, find style-aspects of figures from other manufacturers to be problematic. I suppose that we either love the figures that we collect, warts and all, or we move on to something that we fancy more.

-Moe

 

[Desertkiwi]

I'm in violent agreement that they get better all of the time, but some of those older pieces had a more "battle worn" appearance with crew stowage, track and road wheels, and other accoutrements attached to the outside of the vehicles, and upwards of 5 additional figures rounding out the set...

Yes agreed, some of those early 'battle-worn' sets had real character, with loads of detail and added crew and are widely sort after. My summer Panther with it's 5x crew is still one of my favourite's.

Unfortunately to keep prices down these 'extra's' have to be purchased as add on's now-a-days which makes sense. I still think the sculpting & painting has improved no end, you only have to compare wheels and tank tracks from some of the older sets to see that, plus the painting on ranges such as the Brit Para's and Napoleonics is quite something.

 

[Vicknor]

With photo credits to Horus on his excellent Waterloo thread, it looks like Kronprinz, amongst others allready mentioned by Chris, use extensive black outlining

 

[bradleyl30]

I am not a fan of it and have sold almost all of my collection that have them.

Looking at WesternOutlaw's pictures, they immediately jump out at me and turn me off.

 

[Baymax]

I think it is less apparent on the Napoleonic picture where I think they do not show as much. They do on WWII figures and similar but, are easily changed. I am sure that nobody would complain were they to be removed from the figure. It seems not to be a style just a convenience and the figures would be better without them. No matter who the company is that uses them

 

[Peter Reuss]

Baymax has been removed from this thread.

 

[Vicknor]

I think that it's also important to note that although K&C and a number of other companies use heavy outlining, it is reducing in frequency and this can only be a good thing.

It's impossible for suppliers not to be aware of customers' feelings on this, but you can't just change the paintwork on a range that is not complete over night can you.

As new and varied ranges come out, we'll see less and less

 

[Poppo]

I think it would be good if they used a light colour ( brown, light brown, beige and green, light green) for lining instead of black....Sometimes, they have already done this way.

 

[King & Country]

Hi Guys,

I have been following this discussion since it began and am happy to report that K&C have been diminishing “black outlining” for quite some time now.

I believe in the near future it will disappear completely except in special cases that merit such detailing.

Collectors of our “Pike & Musket” ... “Robin Hood” and many of our Napoleonic ranges perhaps can attest to that .... As well as a number of our current WW2 series and other ranges.

Designing, carving and painting model figures and toy soldiers is and should be a constantly evolving process and anything that we believe makes for a better and more satisfying figure for the collector gets my vote!

Many thanks for your thoughts and happy collecting.
Andy

 

[ivanmoe]

Collectors of our “Pike & Musket” ... “Robin Hood” and many of our Napoleonic ranges perhaps can attest to that .... As well as a number of our current WW2 series and other ranges.

I collect RAF figures and the black outlining has all but disappeared from the newer sets:

View attachment 194622

If you look hard enough, you'll see some outlining in the pic above. However, I don't believe that it's any more obvious than shading/outlining employed by other manufacturers. The differences are particularly dramatic when contrasted with some of the earlier/earliest KC/RAF sets.

Finally, it's been suggested that KC figures aren't what they used to be. In effect, it's been stated that the product line exhibits a decline in the quality of both its sculpting and painting. While this may the case in some isolated instances, my Mk.I eyeball tells me that the exact opposite is true, at least for the overwhelming majority of sets that I collect.

-Moe

 

[sammy719]

Hi Guys,

I have been following this discussion since it began and am happy to report that K&C have been diminishing “black outlining” for quite some time now.

I believe in the near future it will disappear completely except in special cases that merit such detailing.

Collectors of our “Pike & Musket” ... “Robin Hood” and many of our Napoleonic ranges perhaps can attest to that .... As well as a number of our current WW2 series and other ranges.

Designing, carving and painting model figures and toy soldiers is and should be a constantly evolving process and anything that we believe makes for a better and more satisfying figure for the collector gets my vote!

Many thanks for your thoughts and happy collecting.
Andy

Glad to hear of the diminishing of the black outlines Andy, I'm certainly no painter or expert when it comes to painting toy soldiers but I seem to enjoy the older K&C WWII sets that didn't have as much outlining done, also congrats on the new WWII Paras they look very well done...Sammy