1/72 Napoleonic Miniatures Review

Hello everyone!

Now that school is underway, I have now had time to examine and review the 1/72 miniatures that I bought over the summer. Here are my thoughts...

Initial Impressions:

First off, not all 1/72 scale figures are equal. From the mix that I have, Italeri are the largest, followed by Revell and finally Hat, which is the shortest of the bunch and about a head higher than the metal AB figures. Does this make them unusable? No, but they will definately stick out on the table top without some devious base modification.

 Italeri French Imperial General Staff

Scaleability:

• Revell: These are the best proportioned of the three manufacturers. The torsos and limbs are allthe right thickness. Revell is also the shortest of the three manufacturers, and would be the easiest to hide amongst the regular 15mm figures.
• Italeri:  These figures are well proportioned as well, but they are the largest of the three. They are nearly a head higher than the Revell miniatures and are twice as beefy as a regular 15mm figure. Though very nice figures, they dwarf all of the others.
• Hat: These guys, height wise, are in between Revell and Italeri. However, they are very skinny, about as skinny as an AB figure, which gives them an anorexic air. These guys should fit in ok if put in units made up of other Hat figures.

Revell British Rifles

Quality:

• Revell: Lot's of mould lines, but not unmanageable. The plastic is very soft and bendy, which will probably mean that the paint will chip off of them. Hopefully spray varnish will keep the paintjobs intact.
• Italeri: Casting quality much better on these. They are cast in a stiffer plastic that is less prone to bending. These are by far the best minis right out of the box, but as mentioned earlier they are massive compared to most 15mm minis, and even other 1/72 manufacturers.
• Hat: Hat really is the middle ground. Cast quality is ok, with a few mould lines. The plastic is somewhere between Italeri's and Revell's, slightly bendy yet firm. I will say that these chaps are the poorest sculpted of the three manufacturers, but it may just be this set. These Russian gunners are all legs!

Italeri French Line/Guard Artillery

Price:

Here's the raw data:

For the 82 Italeri and Revell figures, not including guns, limbers and horses, that I purchased off of eBay, I paid less than $0.18 a figure.

For the 24 Hat Russian figures, 4 horses and 4 guns I bought from the miniature store in Gettysburg, PA, I paid $7.50 total, or approximately $0.23 per piece.

Hat Napoleonic Russian Artillery

Overall Impression:

All in all, not too bad for the price. Plastic figures are pretty economical, but the size differences between them and regular 15mm figures are pretty big. This means that more work is nescessary to make them compatible with 15mm figures within an existing army. While I will enjoy painting these guys up and using them on the tabletop, I don't believe I will be purchasing more 1/72 miniatures for my armies. All in all, this was a fun, but ultimately unsuccessful, experiment.

That's all I have for tonight. Look forward to a couple more reviews of some of my newest figures in the near future (when I get more time!).

All the best,

--Chuck