Heavy Gear Southern Plastic vs Metal

2024-12-26 Heavy Gear / Hobby / 10mm-SF / HGB South /

It's one of the first things new players are advised of, the initial plastics for the North and South are pretty rough compared to their metal counterparts as well as the later plastic sprues. There's a few comparison shots of the metals vs the plastics floating around the net, but I wanted a side-by-side painted by the same hand in a modern image resolution.

Jagers

Immediately you notice the width, the stance, the quantity and depth of little details.

These are to a simple tabletop standard for me, painted 2.5 years apart. You can see the awful elbow joint from this angle on the plastic, but also the sloppy knife sheath on the metal.

I think the rear is the starkest difference though. The butt plate, the rollers, backs of knees, the blown out shallow details in the vent, the cavity in the rocket pod, the lack of waist elements.

Iguanas

I didn't build these as exactly the same as I did the Jagers, so slightly less 1-to-1. Pose, head features, awful shallow details all over the front of the plastic look awful.

The rear is again pretty bad, melty looking legs, an ill-defined butt, and stiff stance.

Cobras & Mambas

Still working on them. I've nearly finished the metal Cobras, the last parts for my Artillery variant came in just before the holidays. I've been tweaking and kitbashing them all, and it's just slow going. I'm particularly happy with some changes to the field gun and artillery packs.