Miniatures - Painting - Mounting
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How to get Started in Miniature Wargaming by John Davis Introduction - Miniatures - Painting - Mounting Introduction What is miniature wargaming? Miniature wargaming is when you use scale models or figures of real- life people or equipment to recreate battles from some period in history – or even the future. This is done with the help of rules which are used to create the actual conditions of movement, casualties and morale. Miniature wargaming rules range from simple to complex, depending on the goal of the rule designers. Complex rules usually move at a slow pace and require a lot of work, but the way combat plays out will closely match the results of real life combat. Simple rules can move at a faster pace and require less work, but they will be less concerned with historical accuracy for the various game steps or final results. These later rule types emphasize fast and enjoyable game play. This is well known as the "Speed versus Accuracy" issue, which most designers resolve by creating a modestly accurate system that can be learned by most people. A solution used at WTJ is to speed up game play by abstracting mid-turn combat elements, while still assuring that final results are accurate. This hybrid approach has proven very popular. Because there is no international standard for rating the complexity of miniature wargaming rules, it is up to individual players to decide for themselves which rules are too simple or complex for them. Rules used to be sold almost exclusively through hobby stores, but the advent of the Internet has brought a huge new selection on-line, some of which cost money and some of which are free. So the two most important items for gaming are rules and figures. The rest of this section will address the issue of figures and how to prepare them for use. The actual process of painting figures and playing wargames is fairly simple, but where to begin can be a difficult decision. The best way to begin is to choose a period or story type which you find interesting. Your best incentive for historical gaming will be the reading of eyewitness accounts and narratives for the battles you re-create, so if you are already interested in the subject, it helps a lot. For science-fiction or fantasy, then the books or computer games themselves will usually be your best sources. Another valuable thing to remember is that your interest in gaming or in a particular genre of gaming will vary over time. If you seem to lose interest in a particular period, don't worry about all those miniatures you bought. Humans thrive on variety, so you will probably develop interests in several different genres of gaming, and will bounce around from one to the other, alternately putting away and pulling out batches of miniatures to fill your most recent interest. You would be surprised at how many people I know who sold their stuff only to get back into it again a year or two later. Never get rid of your stuff, rotating interests is a normal thing. Once you decide on a genre that interests you, contact local players or gaming groups which put on games for that period (if you have not gamed before). Try to play with more than one group so that you have variety in the games played. Beware of isolated groups made up of people who argue too much, or groups who have individuals that are allowed to capitalize on everybody else's time (a problem common to all hobbies). Wargaming involves a hefty investment of your time, and you should invest that time wisely with people or groups who are easy going and interesting. Most players and gaming groups are great, and they will usually have established miniatures and rules for game play, which will give a good clue as to which figures you want to buy and paint. This leads us to the subject of the miniatures themselves. Miniatures Most gaming miniatures fall into a few categories based on two basic factors: materials and scale. The question of materials is simple, since most gaming miniatures are made of metal or plastic. Metal miniatures are usually more attractive and durable. Plastic miniatures are cheaper, but the paint-job degrades over time as the flexible plastic allows chipping of the paint. The question of scale is more complex and requires some explanation. Most gaming scales are expressed using one of two standard methods: fractional and metric. Each standard of scale has it's own normal area of usage which we will outline below: Fractional: Most lines of miniatures designed on a fractional scale standard will be centered on man- made devices, such as tanks, ships, planes, trains, etc. The fractional scale system works just like it sounds. The scale refers to the difference in size between the model and the real thing. So a 1/2400 scale battleship model will be 1/2400th the size of the real life ship. This means that the 863 foot long battleship Yamato would be about 4.3 inches long in 1/2400 scale (863 ÷ 2400 = .36 feet). Some of the more common fractional scales and their common applications are: Scale Land Aviation Naval 1/72 x - - 1/76 x - - 1/287 x x - 1/300 x x - 1/700 - x x 1/1200 - x x 1/1250 - x x 1/2400 - - x 1/3000 - - x 1/6000 - - x The most common fractional land war scales in use today are 1/76th (which corresponds to the metric 20mm scale) and the 1/287 and 1/300 "micro-armor" scales (which correspond to the 6mm metric scale). The most common air war scales are 1/72 for WWI combat, and 1/300 scale for other periods. The most common naval gaming scale is 1/2400, with the new 1/6000 rapidly closing in as a very popular scale for WWI combat and later. Metric: Most metric gaming scales emphasize recreating the human form, hence the wide use of the metric scale models for use for land based combat. In this system, the scale refers to the height of a single human. So a 20mm scale model series will be based on the calculation of a scale human figure being roughly twenty millimeters tall. However, different model designers use different measurement standards to design their figures. Human figures are always created mounted to a small base, and some designers include those bases in the overall height. Others do not. The result is a wide variation in size, even among theoretically identical scales. For example, the very common 15mm figure range features some manufacturers who offer figures whose scale "humans" are only 13½mm tall, whereas some other makers of 15mm figures offer miniatures whose scale humans are nearly 18mm tall! The variation when placing two such differently designed figures side by side is very noticeable. This is why we offer a WTJ "Man Height" standard, which measures from the top of the base (bottom of the scale figure's feet) to the approximate top of the scale figure's head. This offers a rough standard which allows comparison of figures from different designers. The chart below offers a rough outline of the most common metric scales and a few related periods of land warfare. Scale Ancient & Medieval (before the year 1453) Pre-modern (1454 -1865) Modern (1866 and later) 6mm x x x 10mm - x - 12mm - - x 15mm x x x 20mm - x x 25mm x x x 30mm - x - As can be seen, the most common scales used are 15mm and 25mm. The second most common are 20mm and the 6mm "micro" scale, which corresponds to the 1/287th and 1/300th scales. 10mm and 12mm are new scales which are increasing in popularity due to their combination of economy and detail. Since the main designers of 10mm figures design their figures slightly oversize, and the current designer of 12mm figures design figures which are very slightly undersized, both scale are currently very compatible with each other. Maybe they should get together and rename the scale 11mm! Painting Painting figures can be divided into four steps: deburring, temporary mounting (holding), priming and painting. We will cover each step separately, discussing supplies and equipment, basic steps and recommended techniques. We cannot recommend how many figures you should attempt to paint all at once, since figures vary in size and type (infantry, naval, aircraft, etc.). But most people paint anywhere from 10 to 30 infantry figures at a time, depending on the sizes of units being used in the rules they play. Painting one figure at a time is not advised, since your brushes are probably not cheap, and the repeated cleanings which come as a result of such small groups will shorten the life of your precious commodities! Deburring - When you first buy your figures, they will often have bits of metal left on them from the molding process. These will have to be removed before you prime the figures. Equipment: X-acto knives (large and small), nail clippers and sandpaper. How to: Use the shearing strength of the nail clippers to remove the largest chunks and easy to access pieces. Then use the X-acto knife to clean up the detailed areas, and for infantry bases, to slice the bottom of the base smooth. In the case of metal tank models which need to be assembled, forming the tread segments or at least examining them for consistent form is advised. Make sure to use a small X-acto knife to clean up the basic outline of infantry figures, in case there is flashing along the parting lines (where the mold halves met).