Minairons 20mm / 1:72 Spanish Civil War: A Review

What's in the box?  Read on and find out!

Minairons Infantry come in boxes of 13 HQ [with support weapons counting as "figures"], 15 Regulars, 18 Militia. Generally, they are 1 Euro a figure, around 1.10$ US a figure.

18 Figures - one is the MMG model

Top is all standing, running, walking figs; bottom is all kneeling / crouching figs

Command Group top

Kneeling and firing - like it!

Maneuver element, top

More kneeling men - reloading, observing

Running, standing and firing

Belt-fed MMG of some sort - gunner and loader is on right feeding a belt.

The figures have a substantial amount of flash and mold lines almost entirely around the figure - this may bother some folks.  Personally, I don't mind if I like the figs.

Cleaned of mold lines, flash and mold-release powder residue - I replaced the flag pole with piano wire

These have been mounted for painting by hat style [for want of a better system!]. These are Isabellino caps, what American Army would call a garrison cap.

These fellows have a sort of peaked hat with a knit cap and a brimmed cap to the left.

Peaked officer caps, helmets [Spanish, I assume].

Comparison Shot - forgot the ruler, unfortunately.

Foundry 25mm, 

       Unk 20mm Modern [shorter, bulkier]

            Terminator 28mm plastic Resistance with Minairons officer between

                                                                 15mm Old Glory WWII 

                            28-30mm Rezolution Marshall w' Minairons Ammo Carrier beside

                                                                                             Minairons running LMG

Overall, I would say the Minairons are nicely sized between 15mm and 28mm, with natural proportions [compare with the bulky, short Foundry fig to left]. The weapons are also not exaggerated, or at least appear to not be oversized. They don't feel fragile, either. This may be caused by the pewter / tin content of the Minairons metal mix.

Obviously, this is the flag set that comes in the Anarchist Militia box:

These are all very well done - I like that Minairons is working with excellent producers of wargaming material, whether 15mm Peter Pig miniatures, or Flags of War flags.

Both the Nationalist Flags [come with the Nationalist Infantry HQ box] and the Morroccan Regulares are very nice flags, with excellent shading and coloration.

As previously shown, the 20mm have more height and a lot more bulk, which catches the eye [and provides more space for paint] and gives them more presence on the table without taking up a lot of table space compared to 15mm figures.

The shadowing on this shot shows the "rough cut" style of the Minairons figs, which reminds me a lot of Old Glory [which I like]. This will make for easier dry-brushing [which is a favorite technique for me]. I think the cuts and folds are mostly pretty deep, and they will also take washes well.

Important to note is that 14 Soldiers is 14 "models" as the HMG counts as a "Soldier", not a bonus sculpt [or attached to the gunner] as with some manufacturers. 

Contents of the Nationalist HQ box, similar to the Republican HQ box:

Top row - Running command group, 2 LMGs, Ammo carrier

Bottom Row - Officer, Knee mortar and ammo carriers, Fiat Revelli HMG and crew

Charging command team!

Trotting LMG and ammo carrier

Kneeling LMG and ammo carrier - would prefer prone, personally.

2" knee mortar and ammo carrier

Fiat-Revelli HMG - this is nicely done, and the ammo feeder is holding a tray of ammo as this was not a belt-fed HMG. Unfortunately, this system also increased chance of jamming.

THE VERDICT

I love these figures!

There is a lot of variety in posing, and plenty of kneeling figures, which are a nice compromise between prone and standing.  Personally, I rather like prone figures - they actually have more visual impact on the table than standing figures and of course the pose is realistic [most Soldiers will spend the majority of their time in combat either running or prone].

The figures are nicely proportioned, tending towards realism with hands and faces, and in that sense are more in the style of plastic sculpts. Weapons are also realistic, and figs don't look like they're dragging around a Boys ATR which is actually a regular old rifle.

There's a mix of dynamic running / trotting figures [the maneuver element] and kneeling / crouching figures [the fire element], which seems to be about 50-50.  Obviously, one could make entire squads of maneuvering / firing figs by combining boxes. The mix of figs is good and should satisfy almost everyone.

Sculpt variety for these often "irregular" looking armies is just great - even boxes of Nationalist / Republican infantry have a nice variety of clothing and head gear. You could certainly buy a bunch of boxes and create those few units that you may want who were freshly supplied with specific uniforms and headgear.  Or you can cheerfully mix and match however you like to represent troops in the field a few weeks who have also stolen gear from the enemy.

Numbers... not essential, but for those who love'em, here they are:

• Sculpting - 8: rough but dynamic style, will paint well. Not as polished as say, Empress, but which looks better on the table?  Hard to say, will depend on the painting style. Nicely - and realistically - proportioned, which I prefer. The bases and feet are sometimes a bit small.
• Cleaning and prep - 4: As stated, there are continuous mold lines around the figures, in general, and some flash or excess on the bases. They cleaned up easily, but won't look good if you don't do it.
• Completeness of Range - 8: There is enough for plenty of variety of Spanish soldiers, more than enough for historical armies.  However, there are still some notable gaps, including Assault Guards, Civil Guards, and packs of females.  Not to mention personality figures [and there were a LOT of interesting personalities in the SCW!]. Still, some are likely available elsewhere or can be modified [desperately need a head bag of the unusual Civil Guard hat, the one that is turned up in the back!] 
• Historicity - 10: Uniforms and equipment matches what the books and re-enactors have.  Only the very picky should complain...
• Value - 10: compared to other metal figure options. They're about €1 / figure.  Obviously, plastic is always going to be cheaper than metal, but to my knowledge there is no 20 hard plastic SCW figures around [altho you can use other nations that mostly match and then put Minairons heads on them for the unusual headgear]. Soft plastic has a bunch of options but can be hard to work with.  The 20mm size will fit well on most tabletops, but be large enough that you can see what they are. So from both the individual figure and total project cost, these are very competitively priced, giving more visual appeal than 15mm but costing a lot less than 28mm figures.
• Customer service - 10:  It was great - just like it should be! I got an email that some of my products were out of stock. After a week they were back in stock, I got another email, and then the shipping notice.  Questions were answered in around 24 hours.  I tracked the package from Spain to USA with no problems. No complaints here, Minairons definitely wants customers satisfied.
• Shipping - 10: Shipping is minimum of €6.68 for a sheet of decals, and scales up from there; at €107 it is 9.67, adding under 10% to the cost - this is reasonable for domestic USA shipping, and amazing for international shipping!  I got free shipping for a "larger" purchase of €250 or more, which was definitely worth it [I believe I saved $50]. As I was looking for a substantial force in one go, this worked for me.  
• Overall rating 8.6

I am very happy with my choice of scale, and especially happy to be working with Minairons, who clearly have a passion for wargaming. It is about time that a Spanish company presented Spain's conflicts to the wargame world and Minairons is doing just that.  

All they need to do as far as I am concerned is keep doing what they are doing well and expand the range a bit more.