Whatever happened to hard plastic

Those of you who've seen a copy of Space Hulk will no doubt be aware that the figures therein are made of a different type of plastic than virtually every other board game. It's comparatively brittle, but is rock solid: it won't bend at all, unlike the slightly rubbery substance that other gaming figures are made out of. This wasn't always the case: back in the 80's and 90's gaming figures were always hard plastic.

Now maybe I'm being silly here but I would never dare spend time painting a rubberised plastic gaming piece. If the plastic is flexible then it will surely likely bend and crack the paint finish during play, thereby ruining the hours to spent on your figure. Perhaps my wariness is misplaced as a lot of gamers do seem to paint their figures: I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has had personal experience?

But regardless, why is it that so many modern titles use the rubber-style figures instead? Is it a cost thing, are they cheaper to produce? Or is the feeling that given board gamers don't tend to take a lot of care storing their components that they're more durable? Or is it a stupid fashion thing?

I painted my entire Last Night on Earth set, and I can confirm that the paint definitely acts differently than it does on Descent figures, for example. In my case, it took significantly longer for the primer to dry, and even then it tended to want to rub off.

That said, as long as the figures are handled without too much force, as they should be anyway, things should be fine and they certainly look much better than if they were never painted at all.

I suspect softer plastic is used because it pops out of molds easier and with less parts lost to breakage. I'm not a manufacturer, so that's just a guess.

From Thaadd in a post on BGG about the soft plastic used in War of the Ring (early copies were hard plastic):

"The new plastic is compliant with new European Union plastics laws. While the new figures are just as unlikely to be heated to a high temperature while people breath deeply nearby, now at least people are safe while doing so!

The production for the game is handled by Nexus Games (it's their baby, after all) and they chose this softer plastic. "

So, it seems as though soft plastic in games may be due to worker safety or environmental compliance laws.

flim_flam wrote:

So, it seems as though soft plastic in games may be due to worker safety or environmental compliance laws.

Interesting but I don't really buy this as an explanation: otherwise surely Space Hulk would be governed by the same laws?

I haven't painted any soft plastic minis myself, but I've played with other people's. Just don't bend them, and you won't have to worry about the paint cracking too much.

I've gotten to the point where I prefer the soft plastic. Cracking may be an issue, but with the hard plastic, all it takes is one drop, and not only is your paint job messed up, but the damn thing is broken to boot.

Plastic is priced, in many cases, based upon the density of the material. Softer plastics are inherently cheaper, in many cases.

LNoE - It's not the plastic, it's the mold release. If you wash the little grey softies in dish soap, rinse with warm water (TWICE!!!) and let dry, primer and acryl sticks just fine. All soft plastic figs like Descent and Runebound suffer the same problem.

I paint a LOT and I found this out the hard way - if you forget to wash, the paint retains an ever-tack stickyness that can only be removed with lighter fluid applied liberally (but briefly) then rinsed with hot water and soap. Problem is that the paint washes off too, so you end up with a really shite paint job.

FYI only on the last part.

Maybe if you bend the most flexible parts (when you're priming the rubbery plastic minis) then smooth them out with the brush then they won't crack as much? Eh, I suppose that wound't work.

The way the soft plastic figs can come all warped and bent out of the box used to really annoy me. I hate bendy swords and shit on my toys. But I just tried the boil method on my Tide of Iron armor and by god that works great. My turrets were drooping like elephant trunks but the boil/icewater is like tank viagra. It's really a trip, they stand straight up and stay that way. You don't even have to bend them back they just spring back. I'm going to do the rest of my games eventually.

Hex Sinister wrote:

is like tank viagra.

Oh my...

I prefer the GW plastic too myself, though I think privateer press did a nice job with their replaceable-arms Grind minis. (even if I had to buy a special PVC paint to paint them). Especially because as much as the soft plastic is more difficult to break, it's impossible to glue back once you do, whereas solvent glue works great for hard plastics.

I suspect it has to do with mold making prices. A softer plastic will bear being removed from molds with recessed areas that would break the hard GW plastic, so for the same sculpt, you'd need 2-part molds if it's soft plastic and 3-parts if it's hard plastic, and that is expensive.

Plus, soft plastic blurs the details, allowing for slightly rougher sculpts.

I've painted loads of soft plastic miniatures and they retain the paint just fine. I much prefer the hard plastic for painting though - better detail on the models and it's much easier to pick out.

I'm trying something new. Anything that happens that isn't so great, blame TWILIGHT. So, without further ado...

TWILIGHT happened to hard plastic.

panzerattack wrote:

I've painted loads of soft plastic miniatures and they retain the paint just fine. I much prefer the hard plastic for painting though - better detail on the models and it's much easier to pick out.

I washed my WotR minis before spending hundreds of hours painting them, and the whole primer+paint flakes away at the slightest handling (elves and rohan spears for example). My painted Grind minis are in a jumble in my box, and the paint is indestructible, so unless it is great, I won't buy a game with soft plastic (PVC) minis. If I have to anyway because it's space hulk 4th coming, I won't paint them, and if I can't help it and want to paint them, it will be PVC paint.

YMMV, and EHE

Did you use a sealant?

Yes, I did. It didn't help, because everything adheres to the primer, and the primer has a hard time adhering to PVC. So once the primer decides it has had enough of that shit, everything flakes away with it.

carthaginian wrote:

Yes, I did. It didn't help, because everything adheres to the primer, and the primer has a hard time adhering to PVC. So once the primer decides it has had enough of that shit, everything flakes away with it.

Dip it. If you use Minwax Polyshades you can create a hard exterior (think magic shell) that is almost impervious. Way, way better solution than using acryl sprays. It also has the added advantage of acting as a wash to enhance the paintjob!

Good luck!