Miniature figure

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Camel_corps_and_Heliograph_team.jpg
15mm British Camel Corps and Heliograph Team from Peter Pig

A miniature figure -- also known as a miniature or just a mini -- is a small figurine commonly used in role playing games (RPGs) such as Dungeons & Dragons. Minis help visualize where characters are during combat, such as which way each character is facing, who's fighting who, line of sight, etc. They are also used in tabletop wargames such as Heroclix, Mage Knight, and Warhammer. Some minis are superbly sculpted, and are collectable in their own right.

The hobby of painting, collecting, and gaming with miniatures is descended from the toy soldier hobby. Traditionally, "toy soldiers" are sold pre-painted, and miniatures are sold "bare" and require painting. This distinction is blurring with the recent introduction of pre-painted plastic figures, such as those used in Clix games.

Contents
1 Materials
2 Scales
3 Painting
4 Manufacturers

4.1 Notable sculptors

5 See also
6 External links

6.1 Manufacturers

Materials

These minis were most commonly cast in white metal (an alloy of lead and tin, with a small amount of antimony, which improves the alloy's ability to take fine detail). Because of the high lead content, minis were sometimes called lead figures.

Due to possible health concerns regarding exposure to lead, including but not limited to lead poisoning, many manufacturers now cast minis exclusively in a more-expensive lead-free pewter (an alloy of tin, copper, and antimony). Some hobbyists dispute there is any danger and continue to use lead figures.

Some manufacturers offer plastic (polyethylene or hard styrene) minis; others offer resin minis.

Scales

Mini scales are commonly expressed as the height of a six-foot figure. So 28 mm minis of human men are around 28 mm high. Women, children, dwarves, hobbits, etc. will be typically shorter than this; ogres, trolls, etc. taller.

Minis are available in various scales. 25 mm, 28 mm, 30 mm, and 35 mm are the most common for RPGs and other popular table-top games. Smaller minis – 10 mm, 15 mm, and sometimes 20 mm – are also made for table-top wargaming, rather than RPGs. Mithril Miniatures uses an idiosyncratic 32 mm scale for its main range. And larger minis – 54 mm and more – are made specifically for painters and collectors.

‘25 mm’ figures can range up to 33 mm or more (a 33% deviation). When some manufacturers began using a ‘28 mm’ designation, many of their own figures were already well over 30 mm tall.

Some manufacturers take the proper measurement of figure height to be to the level of its eyes rather than the top of its head. Using this interpretation, a 6 ft (1.83 m) figure in 28 mm-scale would be 30 mm tall (if the eyes are about half-way up the head, and if the head is about two fifteenths of the height, then the height to the eyes is fourteen fifteenths of the full height).

Scale Scale foot Ratio Comments
2 mm Useful for gaming in tight spaces
6 mm Growing in popularity
10 mm 1.667 mm 1:182.88 Growing in popularity
15 mm 2.5 mm 1:121.92 The most popular scale in use by historical wargamers. Seldom used for RPGs.
20 mm 3.333 mm 1:91.44 Highly popular for WWII wargaming, as the figures are of the same scale (more or less) of 1:76 or 1:72 models. Seldom used for RPGs.
25 mm 4.167 mm 1:73.152 Effectively a match for 1:76 (4 mm scale/OO gauge) and 1:72 models, but there is a wide upwards variation in figure height, even when not described as 'Heroic 25 mm' or 28 mm.
30 mm 5 mm 1:60.96 Common for pre-1970s wargaming figures; modern minis may really be up to 35 mm.
32 mm 5.333 mm 1:57.15 Idiosyncratic to Mithril: genuine 32 mm
35 mm 5.833 mm 1:52.251 Where the manufacturer is being honest about how big its '30 mm' minis really are!
54 mm 9 mm 1:33.867 Collectable figures, a good match for 1:35 models, but oversize 54 mm figures would fit better with 1:32 models.

Painting

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Legolas_Takes_Aim_at_Helm's_Deep.jpg
Minis of Legolas and Isengard Orc, manufactured by Mithril Miniatures

Main article: Figure painting (hobby)

Many role-playing gamers and wargamers will paint their miniature figures to be able to differentiate characters or units on a gaming surface (terrain, battle mat, or unadorned table top).

Although many gamers are indifferent to the quality of the paint job, for some the skilful painting of minis is a hobby in itself, on a par with the "more serious" modelling of historical and military figures. Skillful mini painting is a difficult, exacting, time-consuming process, but the results can be quite amazing.

Fantasy and role-playing conventions will sometimes feature miniature painting competitions.


Manufacturers

Manufacturers with their own Wikipedia entries:

See External links for other manufacturers.

Notable sculptors

Many sculptors, marked (*) below, now have their own "boutique" mini companies.

See also

External links

Manufacturers

See Wikipedia articles on other manufacturers, listed above, for external links to their sites.

See also: Miniature figure, 4 mm scale, Antimony, Australia, Canada, Clix, Copper, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Figure painting (hobby)