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Post by Zaphod on Nov 6, 2020 10:35:05 GMT
Just wondered how people feel about the colours of plastic used to make figures these days.
Having been brought up on Airfix figures cast in soapy yellow I find some of the bright blue and bright red colours currently in use a little distracting. I suppose it makes no odds once the figure is painted, but would slightly more muted, pastel shades be possible, or ones closer to the actual uniforms worn by the troops in question? For example, a darker blue for Napoleonic French and Prussians; a grey-greenish Feldgrau for WW2 Germans? Is any colour possible or just a limited pallet?
Also, is the long-term integrity of the plastic affected by dyestuffs added it?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2020 11:07:06 GMT
I paint so plain old grey is fine by me. However I do understand that not everyone paints and likes their figures in coloured plastic based on nationality, red for British, Blue for french etc etc
That being said though, I would prefer less bright shades of plastic, pastel shades like Zaphod mentions perhaps. By all means do them in red or blue etc, but in a more subdued tone, which doesnt burn my retinas each time I get the sprues out the box!!
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Post by stevo0113 on Nov 6, 2020 12:17:23 GMT
I am not too fussy about colours but i would prefer lighter shades the worse colour I have ever seen was on hats last issue of British tank riders that were bright snot green that takes some covering I bought four boxes as well disaster.
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Post by Zaphod on Nov 7, 2020 20:27:23 GMT
Thanks for that waynew. Was a little suspicious of some of the brighter colours in terms of plastic stability. The only pack I’ve ever had disintegrate (so far, touch wood) was some Airfix cuirassiers in traditional soapy yellow. A few figures I converted into dragoons in about 1990 have started to crumble, whereas others from the same pack that I used as British heavy dragoons have so far survived well. I might have used meths or paint thinner to clean the plastic, or perhaps a metal primer spray, so that may be the difference, but I’m not certain. I find the bright blue and bright red plastics the most disturbing, but I only painted them very recently and no ill effects as yet. Still have some red-brown packs from the 1980s — Ancient Britons and Wagon Train and they seem as fine as can be expected under their Humbrol Enamels. I recently bought second-hand an Italeri pack (French Nap Support Wagon) in silver plastic. The surface was quite a shock to see, really bright and shiny. When I cleaned off the mould lines it revealed a greyish underbody. So, the plastic is almost two-tone. It’s almost a shame to paint them!
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Post by GC on Nov 9, 2020 6:29:02 GMT
The plastic color means everything to me. I enjoy purchasing figures, washing off, de-sprewing and enjoying as is. HaT's latest Colonial Artillery in a semi-transparent blue and the Tank Riders in the same kind of green are deal killers for me. Because I e-mailed and asked the color of Colonials before purchasing as I already had enough Tan figures, I purchased many boxes sight unseen. Wow, what a disappointment. HaT had always been mindful of customers color requests from the beginning. But production quality seems to be changing as of lately. I do like the new Unmarried Zulus in a Brown color and soft plastic. And also the Boer War Wagons in Brown. Well done, HaT. A solid, flat color that isn't semi-transparent and is a nice flat and non-shiny color will show all of the nice details, especially of the face, hat and hair, uniforms and overall. Those are my tastes as a non-painter. So color will always remain a key criteria for purchase decisions. Hope this helps.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2020 7:54:13 GMT
Agreed that colour is important to many, I just would like to see the "tone" of the colour scaled back a bit so that the figures dont look radioactive!!!!
As mentioned before, a kind of pastel shade would be better, flat Matt rather than shiny gloss.
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Post by paintdog on Nov 9, 2020 7:57:34 GMT
The plastic color means everything to me. As the plastic colour means little to we painters, it seems a no-brainer to keep your customers happy with appropriate choices of coloured plastic.
I wonder if, in the planning stages of specific sets, proposed colours could be posted on the forum for discussion? HaT could post colour swatches. You might not get exactly what you want but if your voice is heard, it makes for satisfied customers.
donald
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Post by cpn on Nov 9, 2020 18:55:03 GMT
Hi, Despite me painting figures, I really dislike the latest bright red, blue and white. They are terrible for the eyes because before painting you still have to try to remove the seam lines and it not easy. I understand that some play with they figures so they like different colours. I like the beige, grey or the blue used for the Prussian back in the days. Cheers CPN
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Post by Malcolm on Nov 10, 2020 10:17:36 GMT
I am surprised nobody has mentioned that vivid yellow that Atlantic produced some of their Romans in. It was almost flourescent see in the dark.
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Post by rbhjr on Nov 10, 2020 23:45:20 GMT
Hi, Despite me painting figures, I really dislike the latest bright red, blue and white. They are terrible for the eyes because before painting you still have to try to remove the seam lines and it not easy. I understand that some play with they figures so they like different colours. I like the beige, grey or the blue used for the Prussian back in the days. Cheers CPN No need for particularly bright or garish colors. But as one who also enjoys my figures unpainted (as well as sometimes painted), I need them cast in Colors approximating their historic base scheme (i.e. French in blue, Austrians in white). I would also prefer less garish, more flat versions of these colors. I suspect that some of the garish colors others mentioned represent manufacturer’s discounting/clearing-out some plastic inventory. And there in lies the rub, the perfect colors are available at some cost and/or time cost; but what is the market willing to pay our preference? For me, as long as figures are in the historic color family, and hopefully consistent with other Hat production/restocks I can live with it. Cheers
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Post by Lunch on Nov 11, 2020 2:54:59 GMT
Hi, Despite me painting figures, I really dislike the latest bright red, blue and white. They are terrible for the eyes because before painting you still have to try to remove the seam lines and it not easy. I understand that some play with they figures so they like different colours. I like the beige, grey or the blue used for the Prussian back in the days. Cheers CPN No need for particularly bright or garish colors. But as one who also enjoys my figures unpainted (as well as sometimes painted), I need them cast in Colors approximating their historic base scheme (i.e. French in blue, Austrians in white). I would also prefer less garish, more flat versions of these colors. I suspect that some of the garish colors others mentioned represent manufacturer’s discounting/clearing-out some plastic inventory. And there in lies the rub, the perfect colors are available at some cost and/or time cost; but what is the market willing to pay our preference? For me, as long as figures are in the historic color family, and hopefully consistent with other Hat production/restocks I can live with it. Cheers I have never seen Atlantic in yellow, only Airfix in that bright yellow. Still don’t understand why they did it. My Atlantic Romans were in orange, another unloved colour.
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Post by Malcolm on Nov 11, 2020 9:43:20 GMT
The first Atlantic Egyptians, Greeks and Romans were in orange but in about 1990 when a big restock hit the shops the Roman infantry were in a particularly bright yellow.
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Post by Lunch on Nov 11, 2020 17:07:56 GMT
I thought Atlantic went out of business in the 1970’s, who ran their restocks in the 1990’s?
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Boom boom out go the lights
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Post by Boom boom out go the lights on Nov 11, 2020 18:12:05 GMT
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Post by Ironsides on Nov 11, 2020 22:50:46 GMT
I thought Atlantic went out of business in the 1970’s, who ran their restocks in the 1990’s? A company called Nexus I do believe....
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Post by rbhjr on Nov 12, 2020 0:54:03 GMT
Thanks for the link Boom. However, I strongly disagree with PSR’s suggested color scheme. Their suggestion of mid-blue for Napoleonic French, and grey for Napoleonic Austrians, to put it bluntly, sucks. Napoleonic French should be in the deep blue, like Hat used for its 1/32 Chassuer & Voltigeur restocks. Austrians should be in a “dirty” white, that is; a white dark enough to show details, but still demonstrably white (not grey). For example, see color of Replicant’s 1/32 Austrian Napoleonics. Cheers Attachments:
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Post by Lunch on Nov 12, 2020 1:41:47 GMT
How about cream for Austrians? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good white plastic apart from that matte white of Airfix Bedhouins from 50 years ago
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2020 6:22:22 GMT
I have to agree that PSRs choice of Blue for their Napoleonic French doesnt seem right to me. Even though doesnt affect me as I paint, i do think the non painters would want a deeper blue than what they have suggested.
Cream or perhaps buff for the Austrians?
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Post by Lunch on Nov 13, 2020 0:05:51 GMT
I thought Atlantic went out of business in the 1970’s, who ran their restocks in the 1990’s? A company called Nexus I do believe.... I was not aware the Romans were reissued. The last story I heard on those moulds was that they were in Iraq 😂
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Post by Ironsides on Nov 13, 2020 8:02:46 GMT
A company called Nexus I do believe.... I was not aware the Romans were reissued. The last story I heard on those moulds was that they were in Iraq 😂 Well if they weren't run by Nexus who presumably owned the tooling then, then who did? ....a lot of Atlantic sets never saw the light of day again after they folded and haven't been seen since, but the company apparantly existed untill 1989 so... as I understand it the 1/32 figure tooling is said to have gone to Irag but not the Ho sets, but I'm of the opinion this is a myth..
Heres a site the only one I know of that still works (there were several) and gives some info on Atlantic, personally I've never seen these window box sets but their said to be late production some appear to be in yellow or yellowish.. so maybe these are whats being refered to:
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Post by Lunch on Nov 13, 2020 8:19:10 GMT
Thanks for the link. Atlantic is the king of boxing in different formats 😂
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Post by GC on Nov 14, 2020 0:44:05 GMT
Dear Ironsides,
Thank you for posting the "Atlantic Mania" link. I've saved it to my Favorites links already. The History text goes a long way to shedding light on the fate of a once great company. You gotta love the enthusiasm of the Italians! The soldier figures are a little small for me, but the Greek Warship, Apache and Sioux tepees, Mao rickshaws, and ancient war machines amongst others are must-haves to me. Real classics and a cornerstone of the hobby not likely to be duplicated with such animation again.
Thanks again!
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Post by Lunch on Nov 14, 2020 3:48:42 GMT
Dear Ironsides, Thank you for posting the "Atlantic Mania" link. I've saved it to my Favorites links already. The History text goes a long way to shedding light on the fate of a once great company. You gotta love the enthusiasm of the Italians! The soldier figures are a little small for me, but the Greek Warship, Apache and Sioux tepees, Mao rickshaws, and ancient war machines amongst others are must-haves to me. Real classics and a cornerstone of the hobby not likely to be duplicated with such animation again. Thanks again! I was late to the game and I picked up every figure accessory set I could find. I saw the Coliseum set on the shelf but at the time I was living in a very small place so I didn’t get it. Another regret is that due to space limitations, I threw away all the Atlantic packaging boxes
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Post by Flashy on Nov 15, 2020 20:32:38 GMT
I'd love to have more Airfix figures in white - the Bangladesh cricket team is underpowered.
My holy grail would be the never produced SAS in black.
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Jordan
Quaestor
New Member ? More like - Newly commissioned from the rank and file...
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Post by Jordan on Nov 23, 2020 4:52:49 GMT
If we go down the use "plastic in their traditional colours" route I fear for more "friendly-fire" incidents at the painting stage and during wargames. We need to be super careful with for example, the white plastic, half cuirass'ed Saxon Kuirassiers do not get mixed up with the Austrian Kuirassiers... Otherwise, who can tell them apart? Hell, both horsemen are speaking some butchery of German that proper-born Prussians might think is English....
Jordan.
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