Hi guys.

just wondering what everyone’s favourite type of material is for miniatures to be made from? I recently acquired some resin models but they are very brittle and snap easily! I’m kinda leaning back towards the plastic polymer models just for there durability however I don’t mind the detail is quite as good on them. Then there’s the ever realisable pewter casts with high detail but chip easily. 

Whatever type of metal that was typical of companies like Reaper from the 1990s.  That said, the various plastics now available are great for heavier minis that require gluing and for people making custom minis.

Downside is my eyesight isn't what it was 30-years ago ... I find wearing reading glasses to paint helps now.

Downside is my eyesight isn't what it was 30-years ago ... I find wearing reading glasses to paint helps now.

Just reading glasses?  I have a lamp with a magnifying lens built into it.   

But speaking of long ago... Do you remember lead minis?  These were great!  Soft enough that you could move and reposition limbs; easy to carve (I once removed all the torso armor and hair from an ogre to make a custom of a major NPC for the friend who was running at the time)

Of the newer minis (and to show I did not forget the original question in my vast old age) I think I prefer the Reaper Bones Black which is a heavier plastic than the previous one they were using.  For pewter figures, I have had good luck using a brush-on polyurethane clear coat to protect them from chipping. 

On thing I would definitely suggest with resin or 3-D printed minis is to test them with your preferred paints and clear coat first. Not everything is cross-compatible as my husband discovered the hard way.  We now have a beholder that will never dry.

Quote from Eriniel >>

Downside is my eyesight isn't what it was 30-years ago ... I find wearing reading glasses to paint helps now.

Just reading glasses?  I have a lamp with a magnifying lens built into it.   

But speaking of long ago... Do you remember lead minis?  These were great!  Soft enough that you could move and reposition limbs; easy to carve (I once removed all the torso armor and hair from an ogre to make a custom of a major NPC for the friend who was running at the time)

Of the newer minis (and to show I did not forget the original question in my vast old age) I think I prefer the Reaper Bones Black which is a heavier plastic than the previous one they were using.  For pewter figures, I have had good luck using a brush on polyurethane clear coat to protect them from chipping. 

On thing I would definitely suggest with resin or 3-D printed minis is to test them with your preferred paints and clear coat first. Not everything is cross-compatible as my husband discovered the hard way.  We now have a beholder that will never dry.

 This is the start of an adventure.

Of those three options, unfortunately, plastic. Resin breaks too easily and it’s toxic to breath in so you should wear a mask during the modeling stage when you’re doing all that filing etc. Pewter can break too if they get dropped depending on how they land because of the weight, and then there’s the chipping you mentioned. Honestly, the details they can achieve on the plastic minis these days are really pretty good. 

My problem with plastic is how incredibly bed plastic is for the environment. I actually feel guilty buying plastic at all anymore. Between the floating island of plastic debris in the Pacific so large it can be seen from space, to the unbelievable quantity of microplastics we have spread through the environment that it is now quite literally in just about every bite of food we eat.

My group does TotM, we generally don’t use minis at all, but for the rare occasions we have we used snacks. (That way you get to eat what you kill. 😉) 

I’ve really come around to the hero forge minis. I still like the ones I need to paint myself, but it’s really tempting to just get the pre-painted ( I guess it’s not paint) ones.

Quote from Xalthu >>

I’ve really come around to the hero forge minis. I still like the ones I need to paint myself, but it’s really tempting to just get the pre-painted ( I guess it’s not paint) ones.

 They are also less wasteful than injection than injection molded plastic because there’s no material wasted on sprue.

I use shots of Hero Forge or other graphic designs printed out 2D and binder clip bases for miniatures (I bought a membership since I don't see myself ever actually purchasing their products otherwise).  I mean they're cool images, but functionally they're not really there for "art".  It's about spatial relations.  Also I'm with 'Sposta on the environmental impact, not that using lead or other metals is a completely environmentally sound practice, but paper and clips I think is less impactful.  I try to minimize my "junk" footprint.

Quote from MidnightPlat >>

I use shots of Hero Forge or other graphic designs printed out 2D and binder clip bases for miniatures (I bought a membership since I don't see myself ever actually purchasing their products otherwise).  I mean they're cool images, but functionally they're not really there for "art".  It's about spatial relations.  Also I'm with 'Sposta on the environmental impact, not that using lead or other metals is a completely environmentally sound practice, but paper and clips I think is less impactful.  I try to minimize my "junk" footprint.

 Pewter no longer contains lead because, well, lead. Out of the three options listed in the OP, pewter is probably the least harmful to the environment. Metal is also easier to recycle, plastics etc. just get “downcycled” at best or simply burned or sent to a landfill anyway. (If you want to lower your footprint further, try printing on recycled, unbleached paper and print in B&W instead of color.)

To be honest, the whole supply chain of everything is so effed up and convoluted that just purchasing a bag of frozen shrimp at the supermarket supports unrecycleable plastics for the bags, CFCs for the refrigeration, fossil fuels to ship the product here from Asia, unsustainable over fishing to support the shrimp farms, and slave labor to catch those fish. That’s just the stuff I know about, and the iceberg principle suggests that’s only 10% of the problem. 😔 The world is so effed up.

Wow some great replies here.

I think for me I’ll be sticking with the pewter (no lead in here) models. I think they have great detail. Yes if they are dropped they are going to be damaged but probably not shatter into a million pieces. I’ll also use some plastic moulds, I also really like the heavier bones black, the paint doesn’t seem to like it quite as much and I need to work it a little more sometimes. 

I have lead, pewter, plastic (mid 80s mini), rubber, and what ever the current prepainted minis are made off. I like the lead because it hard to damage them and if you do dunking them in a hot cup of coffee um water allows you to bend them back into shape. The new prepainted minis don't hold up to summer trunk heat here in Alabama. Do a cost per mini research to see what you can afford. And mini poker/bingo chips can always work for bad guys. 

One other note, because of the nature of 3D printing, they are not solid but actually honeycombed inside and since they use heat to. Melt the plastic for the extruder nozzles, don’t leave them in the car in the summer as the heat will warp them.

Don’t drop them either. My glaive- wielding fighter lost the blade and became a quarterstaff wielding fighter.

Then he died two sessions later. I doubt they’re connected, but you never know.

I like pewter for the heft and the resilience in case of mishaps, but plastic and resin are usually a lot easier to mod and repose. And as much as I lament the ecological dowsides of plastics, the fast rise of 3D printing at home has enabled a lot of creative people to bring fantastic models to the market. 

Regarding the environmental impacts, there are a lot of environmentally friendly resins entering the market with a lower impact factor at production and safer during clean up.

Best Idea ever! I should make goblins m&ms and dragons those large Kit Kats