Quantity is the argument here. A single box of 1:72 or 1:76 model figures routinely holds between twenty-four and forty-eight bodies, which means a whole line of battle rather than a vignette. The catalogue is organised by conflict and nationality, covering Napoleonic Russian and Hungarian infantry, the American War of Independence, the American Civil War, Italian and Prussian troops of the First World War era and tank riders of the Second.
A second, quieter line serves aviation: small printed sets of pilots, medical personnel and casualties that bring an airfield apron to life. At around twenty-four millimetres a figure takes almost no shelf space, so entire armies fit where one large display piece would stand. The guide below covers both.
1:72 German Air Force Ground Crew
5.96 €
1:72 WW2 US Tank Crew With Equipment For M8 Scott And Other US Motorised Howitzers
9.16 €
1:72 US machine gun Browning
5.56 €
1:72 Soviet motorcycle M-72 with sidecar and crew
5.16 €
1:72 WW2 Italian Tank Crew (Italian Army Tank Troops Soldiers)
9.16 €
1:72 US Marines WWII
4.76 €
Figures around twenty-four millimetres tall are the traditional route to mass scenes. In the bigger scales you build individuals; here you command companies, with sets of marching infantry, cavalry, artillery and command groups spanning the wars of independence to the Second World War. The aviation sets are the opposite in spirit: two or three finely printed figures that put a doctor, a nurse or a pair of pilots beside a light aircraft. The two halves of the listing rarely mix in one scene, so decide which you are buying for before you compare boxes.
Because the range is indexed by conflict and nationality, assembling both sides of an engagement is straightforward. Marching sets suit columns and parades, action poses the melee. With Napoleonic subjects in particular, check that uniforms from different decades do not end up in the same scene; the regulations changed more often than most of us remember.
The two sizes are close enough to share a base, since the difference amounts to about a millimetre of figure height. 1:72 predominates among continental manufacturers and 1:76 carries a British tradition. Add 1:72 military vehicle kits to the ground and let 1:72 aircraft model kits circle overhead.
Mass sets tend to be moulded in a more flexible polymer that survives handling, while the small aviation subjects are printed with sharp detail. Wash flexible plastic and prime it before painting; the colour then stays put instead of flaking off the raised edges during a game or a move.
Other figure sizes are set out in the overview of model figures.
