Conte painted metal vs. Britians (1 Viewer)

[Cool_Guy]

I am thinking about buying several sets of the Norman and Viking figures by Conte. Since there is no other manufacturer that offers this time period, I am wondering if someone here at the forum can compare the quality of Conte painted metal WWII with that of Britians 54mm WWII.
Conte seems to be on the expensive side at $20 to $30 for a foot soldier.

 

[VIRIATO]

For now I can not make that comparison, but I've got some WWII by Britains and Conte WWII are definitely in my plans. I'm expecting a Conte british paratrooper I've bought anytime now, so I'll post again with my humblest of opinions. To me their ( Conte ) germans look awesome, but I've still got to get my hands on one. There is little distribution here in Europe.


Take care,
Paulo

 

[VIRIATO]

Hi, I'm back. I've just received my Conte British para ( WWII-001-«moment of truth», the officer with pistol ). To me it is excellent, better than I expected, I was a little suspicious of Conte WWII soldiers' faces, but it's one thing to see them on photos totally out of proportion and it's another to have them in one's hands. For my personal taste, based on this para and a few WWII Britains items I got, I'd say their quality is similar, good detail, both chinese painting with matte finish. But the faces on Britains soldiers look almost childish, with no realistic expression, very rough, and Conte surely beats them on this: their soldiers have good expression. Besides this, many people feel Britains is going through some kind of quality crisis, while others don't think so. On K&C I've never read any negative opinion at all...
Well, I guess it all depends a lot on one's taste. I'll be looking at both manufacturers and buy based on each set's quality, but certainly Conte is now catching my eye. On E-bay you can sometimes get better prices for Conte. Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Paulo

 

[Fubar]

The Conte Dark ages troops are for the most part very nice. Theres a couple sets that are a little bland in appearance, shield designs rather dull, but painted nice. "You've been axed" for the Vikings and " caped crusaders" for the Normans are excellent.Overall , above average in my book.The poses are very good and paint work clean and as mentioned vary from clean and basic to rather elaborate.This reflects the period very well I would think. From " Hirdsmen" to Warlords .

I also converted and painted many many of the plastics fromt he Warlord and Stamford Bridge playsets.Time for a village raid wargame I think.
Oh for a Battle of Hastings playset! Mr. Conte has promised one.It may take a while, but I bet we will see it.
Nuts as I have 1,000 painted 30mm metal Dark ages Vikings, Saxons and Normans{ a few Irish too}, Norman keep/ castle/villages ect. and Here I am duplicating it in another scale!
FUBAR/RAGNAR

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

The Conte Dark ages troops are for the most part very nice. Theres a couple sets that are a little bland in appearance, shield designs rather dull, but painted nice. "You've been axed" for the Vikings and " caped crusaders" for the Normans are excellent.Overall , above average in my book.The poses are very good and paint work clean and as mentioned vary from clean and basic to rather elaborate.This reflects the period very well I would think. From " Hirdsmen" to Warlords .

I also converted and painted many many of the plastics fromt he Warlord and Stamford Bridge playsets.Time for a village raid wargame I think.
Oh for a Battle of Hastings playset! Mr. Conte has promised one.It may take a while, but I bet we will see it.
Nuts as I have 1,000 painted 30mm metal Dark ages Vikings, Saxons and Normans{ a few Irish too}, Norman keep/ castle/villages ect. and Here I am duplicating it in another scale!
FUBAR/RAGNAR

Hello there, Ken Osen here. I sculpted 90+% of the Normans, Saxons and Vikings for the Conte range. Some of these are rather early sculpts for the Conte Collectibles range and they were designed to be made as injection molded plastic figures. At that time we were a bit restricted as far as poses becuase of the factory we were using. The figures had to be designed to be made in simple 2 part steel molds.
Later sculpts were more complex and as a result a bit more interesting. Recently I sculpted 4 new Norman/Crusaders and 4 new saracens for them although I can't say when they will be released. There may be more created later this year...

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Hi, I'm back. I've just received my Conte British para ( WWII-001-«moment of truth», the officer with pistol ). To me it is excellent, better than I expected, I was a little suspicious of Conte WWII soldiers' faces, but it's one thing to see them on photos totally out of proportion and it's another to have them in one's hands. For my personal taste, based on this para and a few WWII Britains items I got, I'd say their quality is similar, good detail, both chinese painting with matte finish. But the faces on Britains soldiers look almost childish, with no realistic expression, very rough, and Conte surely beats them on this: their soldiers have good expression. Besides this, many people feel Britains is going through some kind of quality crisis, while others don't think so. On K&C I've never read any negative opinion at all...
Well, I guess it all depends a lot on one's taste. I'll be looking at both manufacturers and buy based on each set's quality, but certainly Conte is now catching my eye. On E-bay you can sometimes get better prices for Conte. Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Paulo

Hi There! Ken Osen of ONWTC here. If you like the Conte WWII figures then please take a moment to check out the ONWTC WWII range which will go very well with the Conte figures, which I was involved with. Look for new releases in the Conte WWII series later this year! The ONWTC and Conte figures will help fill gaps and display well with Britain's WWII range, but none of them really display well with the excellent K&C figures which are considerably larger.

 

[Fubar]

Well Hello Mr. Osen!!!
Love your efforts in the world of miniatures.I have went off the deep end in a big way in 54mm plastics I paint and metals I collect and it's all your fault!
Have not touched any 25/30mm metals { other than some LOTR troops for me and the kidz} in 3 years or longer. Only 54mm and the original 54mm WW2 British And Germans are what finally broke my morale. Now I'm a hopeless 54mm collector. I hope your happy with yourself!!! Just kidding of course.
FUBAR

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Well Hello Mr. Osen!!!
Love your efforts in the world of miniatures.I have went off the deep end in a big way in 54mm plastics I paint and metals I collect and it's all your fault!
Have not touched any 25/30mm metals { other than some LOTR troops for me and the kidz} in 3 years or longer. Only 54mm and the original 54mm WW2 British And Germans are what finally broke my morale. Now I'm a hopeless 54mm collector. I hope your happy with yourself!!! Just kidding of course.
FUBAR

Thanks! You know there are worse things... Although 54mm is probably my favorite, I still sculpt in other scales for myself. What kind of poses or armies (German, Russian, US, British) would you like to see in 54mm?

 

[VIRIATO]

Hi There! Ken Osen of ONWTC here. If you like the Conte WWII figures then please take a moment to check out the ONWTC WWII range which will go very well with the Conte figures, which I was involved with. Look for new releases in the Conte WWII series later this year! The ONWTC and Conte figures will help fill gaps and display well with Britain's WWII range, but none of them really display well with the excellent K&C figures which are considerably larger.

Hello,
Thanks for your tip. I have checked the ONWTC and posted on them on the ONWTC thread on this forum. At the moment, I'm more interested in Conte, but ONWTC look very promising. I think that the scenic pieces are an excellent idea and they look very good. I also think the figures have very good detail. But their faces, well... I must respectfully say that ( from seeing them on the photos, I might be wrong ), they sometimes look weird, the panzer crew, for example. It´s their eyes, I guess, they look too big or out of proportion in some figures or something. This is just my modest opinion though, one among others, take it as consumer feedback...

Best regards,
Paulo

 

[Fubar]

New poses or troops? Well, for WW2 theres a mile wide gap for Russian Infantry { talking plastic here} , Crew served weapons for all US, Germans, British, Russians. German Panzer grenadiers in smocks would be good, rather than the non PC SS.
Japanese and Marines???? Oh my , that would be a treble hook in my mouth!
I can just imagine what kind of little masterpiece's you would come up with there!
FUBAR

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Yes you are spot on again! I have tried to 'sell' the idea of Russians or British/Commonwealth troops to a couple of manufacturers with no luck. The usual answer is that the sales wouldn't justify the exspense. I suppose that might be true, but I would still like to have them!

 

[Fubar]

Ken, Manufacturers don't think WW2 Russian Infantry would sell?
And WW2 Romanians will!?? Oh my.2 makers released Romanians and Italians a year or so ago.Figures look very good. Nice trimmings but we still need the meat and potatos please.

I scored x 6 Britains t34's , 2 styles from Shannon for $25.00 each, what a deal, the tanks are simply great.Guess what I have to use for their Infantry support? Thats right, Airfix solid plastics.I bought my 1 st box of these in 1972.Those long ago met their fate at the business end of a 22 long rifle, but my point is theres still no other infantry for the Russians. The other point is After 30 years the Airfix figures are still being produced by someone, and they STILL sell. I guess those steel molds last a while!

The Airfix Russians are still very nice figures, I'm just a pose freak. I want as many as possible!

FUBAR

 

[Ken & Ericka Osen/H&A Studio]

Well I want Soviet infantry too. I have a complete uniform and a couple of weapons and have sculpted a few Russians, which sometime next year ONWTC will release. I really like the Greatcoat, padded jacket and M40 helmet look with PpSh and M44 carbines!
Have you thought about converting some of your Airfix figures and painting them for now? I suppose you could even make a mold or two of some of the poses and cast them out of resin to make furter conversions for yourself.

 

[Fubar]

Ken, I agree with your visions. Yes, I will convert some Airfix guys , as soon as I take the time to order them!
Irregular Miniatures In the UK have a list of about a dozen or better metal kits they have including a HMG and crew, maybe an anti tank gun too as I recall.About $7.00 per kit , so thats not to bad to add some variety.
I was going to stay away from the Eastern Front simply for the lack of troops and vehicles for the Soviets. FOV and Britians offer a couple different t/34's.
I have tons of good entrenchments and bbunkers , formtech, conte ect. all painted up. Envisioned a " CROSS OF IRON " German defensive position being assailed by hordes of Russians . Just have to do the work! Lots of ideas rolling through my puny mind all the time. Some actually get accomplished!
FUBAR