To round out my recent rash of 15mm Plastic reviews, here are some photos and my thoughts on The Plastic Soldier Company's 15mm Russian Infantry. In short, I have to admit that I really like this offering and wish that I had something of this quality a few years ago :) The box comes with 5 plastic sprues with several poses on each sprue (all 5 sprues are the same). I ordered directly from PSC and was impressed with the speed of shipping and delivery... I got everything from the UK (I'm in the U.S.) in 1 week. With the current exchange rate I think I paid about $28 for the box.
What really struck me was to see the infantry through the little plastic window on the box... I thought "Geez, these guys are small!" However, when I actually compared them alongside Battlefront's Flames of War figures I was surprised to see they were about the same height. The difference being that I was used to the unrealistic proportions of Flames of War figures (Pumpkin Heads, etc.).
Overall quality and detail is very good on these Plastic Soldier Company infantry... you can easily see eyes, noses, and mouths... not to mention individual fingers! I found these small details to be fairly sturdy, however, I can certainly see some PPSh's or Mosin Nagant's breaking off if the figures are dropped or gripped too aggressively.
As you can see below, PSC size up pretty well with Flames of War... although as mentioned the FOW figures sport thicker details. To be fair, some of the poses for PSC are a bit odd and out of proportion; the grunt throwing a grenade is a perfect example. But for the most part, I was happy with the selection of the poses.
A huge benefit that I see with The Plastic Soldier Company's offering is clean up and mould lines. Cleaning Flames of War infantry is more often than not a huge undertaking... sanding, scraping, cutting; I always ended with a pile of metal scrap when I was done with a Flames of War platoon. I'm really looking forward to quickly scraping a small mould line with these PSC and then moving on.
In Summary, The Plastic Soldier Company has produced a great set of Soviet Infantry. With 120 figures per box you're going to get great value; many people might only need a single box. I for one, will no longer be purchasing Flames of War Russian Infantry... I have found my set of choice.
Those do look really nice. And yes the heads do look more realistic!
ReplyDeletevery nice fig. They are almost identical in size but with thinner features
ReplyDeleteGreat review, though I don't play Soviets in FOW I'm tempted because of these...!
ReplyDeleteI certainly like the idea of one box shopping. No more buying three or four packs of figures to get what I need, except for some specialist troop types of course.
ReplyDeleteHow do they compare size wise to Peter Pig figures?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't have any Peter Pig miniatures so I can't comment.
ReplyDeleteI have a large force of Peter Pig Soviets, and the usual 'Edvard Munch Scream-face' rule applies, so I think these PSC models might look a tad too good. ;) But, as I'd like to quickly complete my rifle battalion on a budget and vary the poses a little, these could be worth a try...
ReplyDeleteNice review. Great looking figs. Plastic is often overlooked in gaming but these look very nice indeed. May have to grab me some and compare them to my Command Decision minis.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, T. Nice to see you up and active again. I frequented the WWIICentral page and GHQ forum on occasion and am glad to have stumbled on this new blog.
Glad you found it :) this blog is so much easier to maintain than the WWIICentral site and it's free!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
Tanner
Hello, I am looking into buying one of the PSC german infantry boxes and was wondering what do you do to put them on appropriately sized bases for FoW? Great blog!
ReplyDeleteCory,
ReplyDeleteFortuntaley FoW sells their bases in packs for each size: small, medium, large. I would base these the same as a FoW platoon using mostly medium bases. Since this would be plastic on plastic I would probably use plastic cement rather than CA glue... although once they are on with plastic cement they are likely never coming off.
The plastic looks like cheap resin that will not paint well, how do they hold primer? If you go cheap thats usually what you get: cheap product. Ill stick with Battlefront
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their preference and that's ok.
ReplyDeleteI'd say it's anything but cheap. I've painted all kinds of materials including countless Battlefront vehicles/figures, and I think these plastics beat the Battlefront resin and metal hands down.
Of course this is just my opinion, but I think we'll see the end (or major decline) of Battlefront's resins and metals in the next few years. Get them while you can :)
do they come with any bases like FOW or non at all cheers
ReplyDeleteNo, unfortunately they don't... but you could certainly use the FOW bases.
ReplyDeleteI have a question about the GHQ models, are the infantry any good i was going to buy some GHQ this week for a diorama and was wondering if the infantry actually look decent have you ever painted and 1/285 scale infantry?
ReplyDeletewhat color does it recommend for the russian uniform on the back of the box??
ReplyDeleteBack of the box:
ReplyDeleteUniform - Tan Yellow 912 & Ivory 918
Helmet - Russian Green 894
Webbing/Bags - Khaki Grey 880
Boots - Black Grey 862
"In Summary, The Plastic Soldier Company has produced a great set of Soviet Infantry. With 120 figures per box you're going to get great value; many people might only need a single box. I for one, will no longer be purchasing Flames of War Russian Infantry... I have found my set of choice."
ReplyDeleteThis is really not a good thing to say friend. I understand the other company makes a product you like due to cost and how easy it is to assemble, but if you want FOW to stay in business and keep making the game you should really still buy from them (even if its just half and half).
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete"This is really not a good thing to say friend."
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your opinion, but I respectfully disagree :) Buying an inferior product to keep it in business just perpetuates mediocrity; competition breeds improvement. Take for example the new (Part) Plastic Panther's that Battlefront just put out... those tracks look pretty darn good and all of that is a direct reaction to Plastic Soldier Company's offering.
I'm sure we could argue this point endlessly; to avoid this, let me just say that this is my own opinion and everyone else is entitled to their own opinions as well.
respectfully,
Tanner