The most annoying thing about 28mm - 1/56 stuff is the difference in figure sizes from various companies . Its all over the place , some company's pewter ranges vary depending on who made the masters . You'll find their Germans fit well along side Rubicons but their Russian troops dwarf them but work with BA plastics . The tank commanders in the BA panzer III , IV , Panther , Tiger and Tiger II are all different sizes , why? Buying figures on line is a gamble , I figure that about 50% of the pewter figures I order end up thrown in a bin as they are too big , small or misshapen horrors . Plastics and the new BA resins also vary in size , although plastic is easier to "fix" , I've done a few kit bashes using one companies torso , anothers arms and anothers head to get a tank commander figure that would fit in a specific hatch . Not much fun trying that with pewter figs .
1/48 can have its uses IMO , i have a few Tamiya troop boxes of German & Russian figures , and while the personal gear and weapons are of a smaller or slighter construction , most figures will work with BA gear , and if you keep them together in a squad or group . It's very difficult to place a half dozen different brands figures together with some not looking out of place due to size ( heads , weapons , canteens etc ) True Tamiya figures are of a slighter build than most heroic 28mm , but people due come in different thicknesses
, its just that they are too tall , a slice out of the legs will fix that , at least it works for me . I've also done that to seated figures so both their rear ends will sit on the seat and their feet will touch the floor . I'm thinking some vehicles kits aren't true to scale . Also I like 1/48 for jeeps , kubels & small armoured cars ( Ba-64 ) , stuff I'm only going to want one of . Most smaller vehicles , bar some Rubicon , are resin with a lot of molded on stowage and figures . I hate that . I want to add my own crews and stowage , so plastic 1/48 is the way to go . I was really disappointed when I wanted to build a D-Day beach scene and realized the only DD Shermans had a pile of molded stowage ( can't recall pictures of DD tanks in the water covered in gear ) so all 3 in my diorama would be the same . No thanks .
End of the day its still just a hobby , boys playing with toy soldiers , yes they can be very detailed and well painted but to most people out there , including most of our family they're just one step above those soft plastic green army men .
The Victrix Germans look great ( 2 boxes on order ) , hopefully other companies produce more plastic figure sets . I am looking forward to BA's plastic winter British , and they just announced a Studebaker truck , hopefully it will have seated troops like the Opel & Bedford . Russians please , I need more tank riders . I'm hoping Rubicon gets over their Nam fixation and start releasing some of the WW2 kits they showed us years ago , Churchill , Staghound , Lee/Grant to name a few I want . I have found some of these kits in resin , 3D printed or plastic from others but really looking forward to Rubicons . Hopefully they will be released before I go back to 35th , 25th and 16th scale model building , I've got too many kits in my closet to let them get sold off for pennies on the dollar by my kids when I die
