For those who wouldnt mind helping....(Plastic WW2 Germans) (1 Viewer)

[Aggie99]

For those who wouldnt mind helping me out. I am trying to find my next set of figures to purchase. I am still new to military miniature collecting, but have settled on plastic 1/32 WWII Germans and US GIs.

However, I am finding that there are all sorts of different manufacturers and places to get these figures.

I am getting back into painting (as well as collecting) and have decided that my next purchase will be German Troops. If you wouldnt mind posting a link to some that you recommend, that would be very helpful to me.

Thanks (in advance) to anyone who can help!!

 

[Aggie99]

http://www.contecostore.com/german_plastics.html

Just found these.....and am liking set #2. However, I am still undecided. (And I cant tell if these require any assembly or not.)

 

[ketelone]

Conte plastics are nice pieces and they paint well. There is very minimal assembly on just a few pieces. I also recommend San Diego Toy soldier, Classic Toy Soldier, Airfix, Tamiya... If you are just getting into this realm, you have plenty of options and choices available.

 

[binder001]

First welcome to the forum. There are a minority of plastic guys here, but we are pretty noisy to make up for our numbers!

For general collecting and display of WW2 figures my current favorites are Conte's GIs. They are in a decent plastic that is easy for me to work with. They are well researched - the uniforms and equipment are pretty correct for 1944. Their multi-part assembly means they look very good.

The earlier Conte plastic figures are basically plastic castings of Conte metal figures. They aren't bad but aren't quite as nice as the later GIs. These sets include US paratroopers (two sets), German infantry (2 sets) German SS (1 set) and British airborne troops. These are in a softer, more "rubbery" plastic. THey paint well, but cleaning up seam lines can be a royal pain (IMHO).

Toy Soldiers of San Diego have a set of GIs, a set of US fire support with extra infantry in winter uniforms. They also make Germans in overcoats, as well as Germans in later war uniforms.

Now, to size - TSSD works very well with Conte. They are both a "large 54mm size". These plastic figures also work well with metal figures from Conte, Old Northwest Trading Co and recent metal figures from Britains. That gives you some good options to add figures and have them look like they belong in size and build. Those companies have metal GIs and Germans that can add to your display. You can paint your plstics to match them, or your paint your metals the same as the plastics.

The older Airfix plastic figures are still quite good. They are a little smaller than the Conte/TSSD/ONTC size. They offer a number of sets. The old Marx figures still aren't too bad either.

As you get into your plastics you will find that some of us convert or customize our figures and you will see occasional posting of our work. That gives you a wider variety of figures and poses.

Enjoy the hobby!

Gary B.

 

[Aggie99]

Gary & kettelone,

Thanks for the info. You dont happen to have any direct links to the plastics from Conti that you were talking about? As in the old vs. the new?

I appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[ketelone]

Go to Conteco.com and to the plastics section. The first WWII plastics released by Conte were German SS, US Airborne and British paratroopers. Later Conte released US GIs for the D-Day invasion, which came with the Bloody Omaha Beach sets. Conte often has sales regarding these plastics. Their playsets are awesome. Good hunting!

 

[PJDeluhery]

I'm not a big plastics guy, but I have painted the Conte Arabs series and can endorse them as being well-made and very paintable. I would guess the other Conte lines are no different. You may eventually end up with other brands, but Conte is a good place to start.

Replicants is another very fine brand, but they do not make WW2 figures.

 

[Denver]

Welcome aboard
Also available from Toy Soldier Makers are Playsets.
These contain figures and accessories in a larger quantity
and usually at a savings from buying the items individually.

 

[Obee]

I started by collecting AIRFIX 1/32 when they were first released way back in the 1960's ???? Good news is that they have now been re-released so still available.

I've also painted Conte and they are better deatiled figures, so I'd go for them, but why not get them all, and they you will have agreat reange of differnent figures.

My Conte Germans

but don't forget the Paras,

John

 

[larso]

I like to display the range of figures available on a given theme - ie Germans. It's interesting to compare what the individual manufacturers do in terms of poses and so on. As for dioramas, Airfix and Matchbox work well - i don't paint so I like the colour options available too. Revell are a bit smaller again but fit in OK. TSSD and Conte work pretty well together but I've thought that the Conte weapons are a bit on the small size - well gun barrels at least.