I recently put/showed the swisspikemen from Frank Ziegler ( http://paulsbods.blogspot.com/2012/02/sw...nd-command.html ) on my blog and a few forums, with the question to wargamers "what material for wargamers ?" The answers came back ;
50% said metal
50% said Resin
The actual costs were uninmportant to about 90% of those that answered, what they were interested in was having the poses to create wargaming units.
The reasons given for metal....the weight
The reasons given for Resin ...The detail but for wargamers this came second to the poses as detail plays less of a role for them.
I explained that resin usually cost more due to the extra packaging to prevent breakages but that didn´t interest them..it was having the figures to buy that was important., whatever they cost.

For those who said resin or whatever material, they also said If the detail of the finished product is as good in metal as resin then metal would be ok.

Interesting was the amount of Americans who are now getting into 1/72nd for wargaming, and they were also the majority who said "resin or metal"

By doing promotion with figurine figurines ValdemarMiniautres, they would buy resin figures rather than lead. Because of the quality of engraving and details.
But I will not want to cause any controversy between the resin and lead.

Zitat von Valdemar

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Well myself I was originally a resin man as the first look of the grey resin is very detailed, but with good metal casters and some primer you have the same and the figure is much more resistant to breakage and the feel of holding it is just better.

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If the quality of the casts are the same as resin, then ok. I have yet to be shown any that are, hopefully I will get sent some examples of hecker & Goros figs in both materials so I can compare.
The one thing I would think.....very thin pieces in metal..say a lance, it would have to have a lot of tin in the metal to be able to produce it or?

If ever, I know that quelqu'n porrait resin molding on France.
It's the manager of Historex. Thank you contact me by mail if you need information.

It's a tough one ... but the type of resin is an issue for me. It must be smooth and texture free to take full advantage of the materials detail-capturing properties. I also find mounting Valdemar horses tricky when they don't come with a base. The horses foot/ankle is a very thin limb to try to drill and pin through. It's do-able but time consuming and I'm sure much easier with lightweight resin.

Weapons and smaller parts certainly benefit from metal. I've had a lot of resin figures 'fail' at the ankles in the post too, but that is more due to packing than the material.

In the end I'd go for either. As Paul has mentioned, the material wouldn't stop me buying a beautiful figure.

So...I´m a plastics fan, comes from my younger days of collecting Airfix etc..it´s what I know and I´ve always found resing close to plastic.
Though...this lot
16th cent German peasant battle line
are both metal and resin. I prepped and painted them, either metal or resin chosen from random from two sets of each, and the results are the same. I was pleasantly suprised as I was very very sceptical about metal being able to hold the detail that resin or injection plastic does.

My notes about them (and in general)

Resin.
it is lighter and can break, especially ankles, hands etc but..these can be repaiired with pattex or similar. It can be drilled, easily cut and glued. This is important IMHO for such things as weapons. Although metal weapons have the advantage of just bending not snapping, they are difficult to attach to either a reasin or a metal. The weapon needs holding (9 times out of 10) in place while the glue dries and therefore I prefer lighter resin weapons / accesories.

Metal
It has a nice weight, doesn´t snap but is a problem to glue..especially when the fig has no base, the very weight of it means it has to be supported whilst glueing and in some cases, a barded horse made of metal will actually sag at the ankels under it´s own weight.
The weapons..especially pole arms ...once bent it seems they are always bent..and the longer they are the worse the problem. A lance for a swiss pikeman is about 5cms long and to get a realistic thickness in scale means the thing alwasy is liable to droop or the slightest touch will bend it. I always were possible relpace them with steel rod.
Drilling holes etc is only really possible with a drill, which not everyone has.

The actual detail for both is (with new casting methods and more tin less lead) the same.

These are just personal observations..I will happily get along with a sculpt in no matter what material it´s made..but then again I have a lot of experience with being "creative" to overcome any difficulties from either plastic, resin or metal.

For me..the question is answered. As long as the metal figs continue to be as detailed as the resin ones..(like the german peasants) no problem.
I know there is though a cost issue..the breakage rate for resin ones being main the factor but...if the detail in metal figs is lacking ie, the end product in the customers hands lacks the detail expected from the shown masters..then the cost in lost customers will be greater. As I have said..I can repair a snapped resin fig, but never replace lost details.