Welcome to the Strelets Forum. Please feel free to discuss any aspect of 1/72 scale plastic figures, not simply Strelets. If you have any questions about our products then we will answer them here.
Hi Strelets! I personally don't care much about plastic colour, because I always paint my figures before use. Anyway I prefer medium colours (not too dark or not too bright) for plastic, because they show better the details. terracotta is a great colour, and gray too but not when it's too dark.
Apart from that, I see that many people don't paint their figures so I support the idea for different plastic colours. I remember plastic soldier review site made a list of all the suggested colours for each army and age, so why don't have a look at it?
Re: 'appropriate' colours - "The Michaelangelo Marble Enjoyment"
Hehe Zed, exactly! The famous maker MARX made sure that what you bought didn't need to be painted. They made everything and in all colors.
And still today, 50 or 60 years later, they are still being re-released in all the colors of the rainbow.
The original Airfix sets in that aweful Cream Color had to be covered with paint. Thank heavans Humbrol re-released all of those great sets in auethentic colors. And thank you for painting over that original Cream color thereby reaffirming the color was aweful in the first place! :-(
That's exactly what I love about Strelets*R, is that they make their sets in authentic colors that are beautiful just as is - you know - kinda like Michaelangelo carving his famous sculpturs. Centuries later they still don't need painting. Now the Cistine Chapel, well, it was painted because it was so ugly as is. Poor planning in the first place.
Strelets*R plans, and asks for input from their fans - us, and just maybe, I make a one-time investment in my 1/72 figures, which don't require painting to enjoy.
I appreciate the fact you, as a painter, are confident that whatever color plastic the soldiers are produced in, you'll be able to paint them. There are alot of other painters who can't seem to get beyond the basic primer-gray plastic to look good. Cheers to you and your skills.
BTW Zed, I've visited your Blog. Your painting skills are tops. No denying you could make anything produced in clear plastic or Purple look realistic. Well done. Just as for me, I enjoy the Michaelangelo approach - a good piece of Marble, or should I say Plastic :-)
Re: 'appropriate' colours - "The Michaelangelo Marble Enjoyment"
Garrison,I still have my first MARX ACW set in blue and gray from 50 years ago.The thing I enjoy now as back then was having them in the right colors-taking them out of the box and having a battle right then and there.I used to paint so I understand those who like to but for those of us who are older painting is more difficult.I enjoy STRELETS figures and have bought thousands of them but I do admit it was mostly the ones in the [correct]colors.I was disappointed in the RKKA ,RCW and WW1 russians all being done in gray.Just thought I would share.BEST REGARDS!
Re: 'appropriate' colours - "The Michaelangelo Marble Enjoyment"
Hi Cappy,
Thank you for sharing your enjoyment. It's fun to share those early experiences and the "Wow! Factor" of opening those early sets and discovering those soldiers and actually holding them in your hands. I remember setting up those first Airfix Fort Sahara and Fort Apache sets and having some cool seiges! The FFL pretty much always lost as in the Beau Geste tradition, but a couple of Troopers would escape to fight another battle with reinforcements.
And since you brought this up, I'm going to go out into my garage and get out an Airfix Roman Fort today and set it up and see how the S*R Romans look in it defending the walls. I imagine they'll look pretty durn good. You know, I still get that Wow! feeling, even 50 years later too!
Strelets, your toy soldiers should come in different colors because those of us who are your largest market, the toy soldier wargamers, would prefer them in different colors.
I like WWII Germans in green or gray. I use some of your older Russians as WWII Germans so having them in gray would be helpful to me.
To be honest - I really don't care.
I'm a figure painter and no matter what the sprue colour is, they all get a prepaint layer and then it's indifferent what the plastic colour once was.
In case that we re-release some of the older sets who would buy these sets solely because of the new colour that they would be in?
Thanks beforehand for your comments.
Best regards,
Strelets
No I wouldnt buy because of the sprue color alone, but I cant see it doing any harm either... Grey can be so boring...
I paint my figures as well - however i do note that figures with a bright spru colour - such as red - need more than 1 coat of primer. So not in bright colours please.
It would depend on the kit, but for the most part, I would buy sets in a defferent color. I try and colect all the Orion sets in their different colors
I have collected Airfix figures by colour,although I no longer buy every set released, I would probably buy colonial sets and some of your older napoleonic sets again if the plastic colour were to change
Not bothered but Pedro makes a good point. Whites and vibrant primaries are not very good for those who prime n'paint. For example those Emhar Crimean men & horses (7207 The Charge of the Light Brigade) in that vicious red (Ibiza tan ) which defies logic as the uniforms are mainly grey or blue and few horses come in those colours except in nightmares.
David
Sprue color determines which sets I will buy! I would like the Winter War Russians ,RKKA ,and the WW1 Russians in tan or light green since all Germans are already done in gray! THANK YOU!
I paint over a black undercoat, so sprue colour is really neither here nor there to me. i can appreciate that the colours mean something to some people, and it would be shame if an insufficient response prevented you from releasing some of the discontinued sets.
I can certainly say i would buy your re-releases whatever the colour, as i missed out on many of them the first time round.
Thank you for asking, and Yes, color does affect what and how many I buy. And I hope it's not just older sets, but also current sets in the future.
You do not mention which sets you're considering re-releasing, so I'll limit my comments to exactly what I would buy in new colors.
1. I would buy all of your Romans over again if they were made in Teracotta Red. (Note: I hope you'll make Roman Marines in Blue). Check out your box art for the Velites set to get an idea of how nice both sets would look in Teracotta and Blue.
2. I would buy again Crimean War British Cavalry 17th Lancers and Light Dragoons in Blue.
3. I would buy again Colonial Highlanders in Teracotta Red also.
NO. Strelets Please Return to your commands in the field...
Esteemed friends. writing as a figure painting collector (i profess not very good one ). i do not mind which color is utilized for reissues as i will buy multiple boxes just for a specific group of figures content eg strecher party or musician/ band figure for conversion to Ottoman or Russian imperial armys etc to add to main body of collection.
yes terracotta color figures do show the definition very well, and PREFERED choice.
re releases mmh i think they should be cheaper as the molds usually appear to deteriorate.box can be a 2nd grade repro of 1st edition issue.
i rather see new gung-ho ACTION WAR MILITARY figures instead of re-release. I do not like roman period "petit bourgeois civillian cheese and wine officers mess guest party sets ".
So Strelets please leave Rome ,,,and return to your traditional commands in the field,and bring with you NEW reinforcements AND SUPPORT TROOPS.
At least Strelets is one of the manufacturers from which you get figures in poses that are quite unusual. So what's the problem with civilians and similar equipment?
Nobody says that you have to buy them. But they fill a very big hole in our hobby, especially for people that like to build dioramas which not only show the battlefield.
There are much too less soldier figures in quiet poses anyway. I would rather like to see more resting, standing, guarding, eating and sleeping soldiers instead of the boring old trio 'march/aim/reload'...
Yes, plastic colour is very important. I not take your Finnish WW2 in brown and Russians Civil War and Winter in grey are unacseptable. First should be grey and second ones green at least.BR
So far the comments seem pretty much divided.I know some companies make the same set of figures in multiple colors.Perhaps this could be done or use a neutral color for the painters and [standard color]for the non- painters.Ex.Red for Brits-Blue for French etc..Just a thought!THANKS!
i like the various colours. please consider offering your sets in hues relevant to those listed in the psr guidelines. younger eyes are more likely to differentiate opposing forces by colour and be drawn into the hobby. later on they will pick out the details that are particular to the various units. grow the hobby of painting and collecting by making the figures easy to distinguish in the first instance. no garish tones need be used... thanks for the good question.
I would for sure! Do you want a list? Off hand, I would say all the GNW sets that were not blue or green! Same goes for Napoleonics! Bottom line, here is a color guide I would love to see;
French, Swedish, US: blue
Russia: green
Prussia/Germany/Austria: flat black or gray
Britain: red
Rome: gray
Medieval: France/Scotland: metallic blue, Russia: met grn, England: met red