Hi there to all.

This poll is for research purposes, it is very serious in nature and I would appreciate it if you give your imput on figures that you would actually want to buy.

Since I have lost my regular day job due to a corporate downsizing I am now doing the business full time and I am looking to expand the figure range by creating and offering different civilians in resin.

I am looking at doing civilians in 1/35, 54mm, and 1/48 scales. Most of these releases will be simple individual figures or small sets. Most of the figures will be one piece castings all the way to 3 piece castings (arms separate). I want to be able to sell these resin figures at around $10.00USD per figure if not lower. I want to make them very affordable and cost effective to produce and market. I am not looking to get rich at this just want to be able to pay the bills.

I will compile a list of the most popular themes and give my sculptor the go ahead to start the mastering process.

Any research help, photos, etc that you can also provide would be most welcomed. You can send any photos, or research help such as drawings, paintings, etc to [email protected]

I sincerely thank you all for your honest and informative participation with this poll. In the end it will benefit us all. You will get some nice resin civilians at a cheap and affordable price and I get to produce more of them as well.

Cheers,

Jose.T.Rodriguez
Tiger Productions

Hey there Jose.

I'm interested in refugees. For me personally, I'm interested in the kind you would see fleeing from the Soviets, winter 1944-'45. That also would mean they would be mostly women and children. Also, wanted to add they should be "on the move" not just standing still.

Thanks for asking and good luck with everything.

I would like to see some modern civilian’s!! There are none in 1/35 th scale!! French WWII troop's are also kinda hard to find!

Regards,

Jose, one of the civilian subjects that I am interested is children playing on tanks and other war relics. WWII Europe and Cold War East Block Europe would be ideal.

I am also interested in any type of WWII European civilians be they townsfolk, businessmen, farmers, families, or refugees. Scavenging, hiding, running, exploring, playing, etc.

Any way you choose to go I prefer that the figures are doing something rather than just standing there, unless the situation warrants it such as a mother watching her children playing.

Cheers
Jeremy H

Lots of people want civilian figures. Thanks for seeking out input.

Some folks state they want modern figures....good....but I think that a bit more clarification is needed.....

What era and what region?

Most modern dioramas and vignettes concentrate on Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia....so....modern civilian figures of cold war era civilians.....from the 1950s to the present day....generic clothing really hasn't changed.

European civilian figures that are walking, waving at passing tanks, yelling at passing tanks for damaging streets and fields, holding shopping bags, talking on a cell phone, or simply standing or sitting and looking at a NATO road move......men, women, and children.

The clothing should be generic....pants, shirts, shoes, dresses.....just bare heads....no fedoras or berets or strange hats.

Middle East civilians in both traditional clothing and modern clothing......going about their day to day business or even kneeling in prayer and some civilian figures that may be interacting with troops....hands up in the air at a checkpoint, throwing rocks, or waving, or carrying items, or sitting on chairs, etc....

South East Asian figures.....generic clothing and farmer type clothing with sandals, t shirts, shorts or capri pants, standing, sitting, fishing, carrying packs of food on their back or balancing it on poles on their shoulders.

There are some good civilian figures already out on the market from producers such as Verlinden, Mk.35 Editions, MIG Productions, Doug's Original, Wee Friends and Firestorm......but more is always better and it keeps ideas fresh and makes dioramas and vignettes more realistic.

Given that you want to keep the figure in the $10.00 range then stick to simple generic figures....nothing fancy.....no insurgents or rebels or civlians in clothing that only appeared during one specific conflict in one specific era during one season of a year while a comet was passing overhead.

This is a good poll,Jose`! Preiser makes some cheering townsfolk(WW2 europe). I could use some more These could be used as Allied or Axis 'Liberation Day' scenes, possibly Israeli dioramas?
Weren't you also working on some animal skeletons for desert scenes?
Asian and or African birds,crocs,gators would also be interesting characters.
Cheers for polls!

Hmm, MIniArt has civilian figures.
Yes, also Preiser has good sets, as I read.

greetings...
Soeren

Hi there,

I second Jasons opinion, my favorite will be Cold War Western Europe civilians, brings back memories of my youth.... standing on the streets and admiring M60`s and M113`s I can dig through my archive and see if I can find some old pics out of that time. Good would be some angry farmers when the tanks had destroyed the fields and meadows. Also some 1970`s /1980`s US Tanker would be good, they are on the wishlist of many REFORGER builders here in Europe.

Greetz
Hans-Hermann

I would LOVE to see modern civilians in "generic" clothing, as you put it. These could be used in any area. The streets in middle eastern countries are not full of people wearing gowns "galabeyas" and slippers - contrary to what a lot of people think. Mostly you see people in shirts, T-shirts, jeans and regular shoes and sneakers. We also have a lot of different looking facial features, hair styles, with or without mustaches and/or beards. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to make specific figures to be used as middle eastern people. Also, not all women here wear veils.. well, maybe in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Gulf countries the majority do.. but they don't all have to be veiled.

As for poses, I guess "generic" is the key word again. Although, due to all these revolutions going on in the Arab world.. and the revolution we had here in Egypt.. I guess a couple of figures carrying banners with slogans on them could be very useful.. and I could help with the Arabic writing if you ever decide you want to make decals

To sum up.. "generic" clothing works fine for the men.. maybe not so much for the women.. but they wouldn't be totally wrong either.. unless you want to do "stereotypes"

Looking forward to see what you come up with

Hisham

Cold war Russian/Soviet civilians seem popular and I agree. There are plenty of military figures from this era, but hardly any civis. I would also like to see some modern Chinese civilians, as they are overlooked.

Hisham, you offered help with Arabic writings and slogans.

I would appreciate help with Arabic cafe, building, business signs and slogans. I am working on some Middle Eastern buildings and diorama bases with structures on them and they could use those signs and slogans.

You can send me the information to [email protected]

Thanks

Jose

One thing we don't see (but everyone could use) are tourists. I've got several builds in the pipe based on museum exhibits, and could really use a few middle-aged blokes (both portly and thin - we come in all shapes & sizes!) standing in front of my tanks discussing the finer points of history. Even better, arm some of them with cameras! Don't forget you could even do family groups, especially if you add the ubiquitous modern fold-up baby pushchair.

That's my "druthers" list...

Tom

Hey, Jose... I'll send you some Arabic writings with their meaning in JPG format. this evening... and if you think of something else you need, let me know.

As far as slogans go.. if you can specify some slogans in English and I'll send you the Arabic translation.. I just don't want to write something that might offend someone.

Hisham

Good to hear about the future possibilities of Middle East buildings and dio bases...intact buildings and buildings fascades would be very welcome....not every building in an urban diorama needs to look like it was completely destroyed!

Hey Jose, Hope your trip back home from the show was alright and you had a good time. Sorry to hear the bad news work wise, sign of the times. As far as figures go, pretty much as suggested but I'll add some. How about some South pacific native and Chinese civilians from the 40"s. Nothing out there as far as that's concerned. Like native porters and coast whatchers, or Chinese refugees or worker type. Lots of photo's around for them. I know that European civilians are out there, but rather on the expensive side. Civilian workers like street sweepers, drivers for wagons and vehicals, civil defence type also. Just a few suggestions as I have no idea if they would sell and be worth the effort. Say hello to the wife for me. bob d.

Small kids / children - Small kids have different body part proportions. Some of the recent releases in plastic are kind of over-done with either great whoppin' melon heads or looking like shrunken adults.

There are only a very few that are well sculpted and that really look good. The Stalingrad figures come to mind, but they're very linited in where they can be used - so obviously malnurished waifs.

As for poses - playing, running, jumping, climbing - just doing kid stuff. Dress them for either cold weather or hot weather. We need both.

If the selections were better, I wouldn't mind re-posing as needed. But as it is right now, there are so few available and they're mostly pretty poorly sculpted. And, unlike what you can do with most plastic figures, with the figures of children, there are no replacement Hornet and Alpine heads and hands, so you're pretty much stuck with what you get.

I agree with you, Mike, about children.. they are very rare to find, and the ones available don't really have the best body proportions.

Also, I know we're talking about civilians, but I wish someone would make a couple of Iraqi army soldiers or police.. they would really spice up Iraq dioramas.

Hisham

Hisham pretty much anticipated what I would have said. But may I also suggest some Cold War/modern Afghan and African civilians, and even some early 1990s Yugoslavians?
I'm glad to see someone is interested in producing more figures. There are so many nice modern vehicles available these days, and now I just wish there were some interesting figures, decals and stowage sets being produced for them. No one wants to build a boring vehicle or diorama, everyone wants his own project to be unique, and accessories really make this happen.

This I have to echo. I would love some modern adult figures in generic jeans/t-shirts/dresses but kids with good proportions and heads would be most welcome. And bare headed would be great as well.

Matt

I wouldn't limit it to just resin. Mainstream figures as well, Anything at all in civilians would be welcome, however what I would like to see is some Southeast Asian types . City folks and farmers picking rice and carrying loads. I would also like to see some folks in modern casual clothing , as these can pass for just about anyone. And finally but not least of importance, It would be nice to see some figures of black people, dressed in typical everyday African garb. Not

to mention Black soldiers too. ..............just my two pennies worth.

he manufactures resin figures -that's why he's asking

Hey, Jose... I thought you might want to take a look at this old thread I started.. it has some pics I took myself and others I found on the net.. they might give you some ideas on clothes and poses.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/171568&ord=&page=1

I also have a some short videos I shot during those demonstrations.. let me know if you think they could be of help to you

Hisham

Got it pal, thanks.

How are things working out on the street for you guys?

Cheers,

Jose

Hi Jose,
Things are going so-so for me.On the good side my website is about to open as soon as the remaining inventory shows up.
On the bad side,I have yet to receive orders for personal stash,which I placed back on the 12th of may with Soga for some of the new Mantis Motorcycle Crews.
Any plans to expand your line of Russians and Germans?I for one would be interested in more.Looking for more Russians in winter gear!!!
I am currently working on one of the figs you sent me.It will be used on a vigenette for Natuionals coming up in Aug.I sent out 2 of your figures to be reveiwed.

Jose,
I am probally like everbody else modern day and cold war era civilians, men, woman and kinds in differt ent types of clothing. There is not a good selection from either era.
Tom