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Zinnfiguren / flat figures
#1
Is anyone here an enthusiast of flat figures, the 2D German-made figs? Am going to a zinnfiguren show in Kulmbach this weekend; never tried flats before but there's a tremendous amount of diversity as far as molds go, much greater than 3D figs. Any interest?<br>
<br>
Jenny <p></p><i></i>
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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#2
I'm sure I'd be pretty bloody interested if I knew what that was. How can you have a 2-D figure?<br>
<br>
Do you have a photographic example? <p><br><i>SI HOC LEGERE POTES, OPERIS BONI IN REBVS LATINIS FRVCTVOSIS POTIRI POTES.</i></p><i></i>
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#3
Marius, 2D figs, or flats are about 2mm thin figures with relief on front and back. Are to be seen from specific angles.<br>
<br>
Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper <p></p><i></i>
Greets!

Jasper Oorthuys
Webmaster & Editor, Ancient Warfare magazine
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#4
They're great for dioramas... if I had a link to some I'd send it... maybe Jasper can help with a link for photos of flats in action... <p></p><i></i>
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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#5
Your wish, is my command ma'am<br>
<br>
zenk.com/zinnfiguren/<br>
<br>
Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper <p></p><i></i>
Greets!

Jasper Oorthuys
Webmaster & Editor, Ancient Warfare magazine
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#6
Wow, J-squared. For want of a better word, that's "nifty". <p><br><i>SI HOC LEGERE POTES, OPERIS BONI IN REBVS LATINIS FRVCTVOSIS POTIRI POTES.</i></p><i></i>
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#7
www.giesler-zinnfiguren.de <br>
This guy does ONLY ancient Rome, also if you go to www.google.com and do a search using the terms "zinnfiguren" or "flache zinnfiguren" you will find a lot of listings for zinnfiguren.<br>
Zinnfiguren were the original tin soldiers, they're made by engraving the mold cavities into pieces of slate, then a lead/tin/antimony alloy is poured in.<br>
"flache" means flat. The term "zinnfiguren" can mean both the flat figures, as well as the full round figures, aka,"vollplastiche zinnfiguren".<br>
Soldat <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/usoldatdeplomb.showPublicProfile?language=EN>soldatdeplomb</A> at: 5/16/02 2:50:19 am<br></i>
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#8
I'll resurrect this ancient post in the hopes of finding some skilled painters of zinnfiguren now among us...

If you can successfully paint these rather challenging 2D figures, would you care to share photos of your work?
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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#9
i paint miniatures (3D) but unfortunatly i don't have photo's and perhaps you want someone who live near you.
gr,
Jeroen Pelgrom
Rules for Posting

I would rather have fire storms of atmospheres than this cruel descent from a thousand years of dreams.
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#10
Flat Figures, boy does that take me back...

Not to date myself too closely, but there was a time when you could order up two complete armies of flat Romans (or soldiers of the American Revolution) for $2.00 with a cupon found in the back of many comic books. These were plastic figures, molded in two basic colors (blue and yellow) with little attempt at historical accuracy. If these figures were faithful to any history is was Hollywood Rome not Ancient Rome.

However...

They were perfect for basic war games.

Using these figures along with the rules from "How To Pay Wargames In Miniature" by Joseph Morschauser and a large expanse of wooden floor in our quarters at Schofield Barracks, we spent an entire summer in battle for control of the living room.

And now, many years later, I am using those same rules and figures (albeit a different wooden floor) to introduce my grandson to the art of wargames, hoping to bring some order to the current chaos of his Jedi Knights and Clone Troopers pummeling each other across the far reaches of galactic space (or at least the space in our living room).

I had not thought to upgrade from these cheap plastic flats to some of much better quality, but this thread now gives me pause to reconsider...

Smile wink:

Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
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#11
I also remember those comic book cover ads for the plastic Romans, Narukami! Wow. That does take you back a bit in time... Wink Me too!

I bought several sets of flats a few years ago in Germany, and just wondered if we had any zinnfiguren painters here on RAT. It's really quite a bit more difficult to achieve a realistic 3D look, for obvious reasons, and if anyone had painting tips or just wanted to show off their collection, I'd sure enjoy it.

I think you could probably use flats for gaming but they are more delicate than 3D figures, and are probably best for dioramas and trompe d'oeil type work.

Thoughts?
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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#12
Quote:I think you could probably use flats for gaming but they are more delicate than 3D figures, and are probably best for dioramas and trompe d'oeil type work.

Thoughts?


On further examination you are quite right in terms of the metal figures being too delicate for game play. The big advantage to the plastic flats is, of course, that they are plastic and will withstand a lot of use by small hands.

What I would really like to find are 40mm or 54mm Romans in plastic. There are some, but the selection is fair at best and the quality is not very consistent across the range of manufacturers.

Conte does excellent work in this size, but only pre-painted metal, good for collectors but too expensive for gamers.

In the end we will probably end up with either 28mm or 40mm metal, a size more practical for war games.

For now though, the flat plastic Romans will do just fine until our young gamer is a little older.

Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
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#13
A Call to arms used to have plastic Romans in one piece in 1/32nd scale.
Greets!

Jasper Oorthuys
Webmaster & Editor, Ancient Warfare magazine
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#14
Thanks for the tip, Jas. Smile

David,
Would you think that the plastic 3D figs by Airfix and the like would be too small for your child?

I had Airfix armies of Celts and Romans when I was a kid and managed to play pretty well with those, albeit no system but imagination.

Incidentally, when were you at Schofield?
Cheers,
Jenny
Founder, Roman Army Talk and RomanArmy.com

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
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#15
Thanks for the link Jasper.

Jenny, I too had a set of those Airfix Romans & Celts and fought many a battle with them, governed, like yous, by imagination rather than rules.

In fact I am considering that scale as well. Not as easy to paint nor as impressive in detail as the larger ones, but plastic is both affordable and somewhat safer for little hands. And the variety of figures available in that scale is very impressive.

My first thought is that they might be a bit small, but that might be due more to my prejudices (and older eyes) rather than a true consideration of what is best for him.

However...

I can afford to be patient, my grandson is not yet 6 so there is time for him to grow into both a scale and type of figure that will suit him best.

Thanks again for the links and suggestions.

Smile wink:

Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
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