The Best 10mm Miniature Manufacturer?

Today I’d like to compare three different manufacturers of 10mm scale metal miniatures that I’ve tried. The products we will be looking at today are from Old Glory, Irregular Miniatures, and Pendraken Miniatures. I own and have painted miniatures from each of these manufacturers. I have American Revolutionary War figures from Pendraken and Irregular, and English Civil War Figures from Old Glory. We’ll look at the detail, cost, and ease of painting of each company’s figures, and talk about what I think of 10mm as a whole. I paid for all of these miniatures and am not linked to any of these companies in any way. Let’s jump right in.

Detail

Seen first here is a few Hessian Grenadiers from Irregular miniatures. In my opinion, they are a little skinny and tall for the scale. The detail are good, my only complaint is that details such as straps and pouches are small and can be hard to paint. Overall, they are good and easily distinguishable from a tabletop distance.

Pictured next is Pendraken, which I can not say enough good things about. They are near perfect in terms of proportion, accentuating the details without looking too cartoonish. The details are very crisp, and I’ve had people remark that they look like 15mm level of quality. Pendraken miniatures are truly excellent, and set the bar for all 10mm miniatures.

Lastly, we have some musketeers from Old Glory, which importantly, do come in strips of 5 figures together. As I’m sure you can tell from the picture, the Old Glory miniatures are definitely the worst as far as detail goes. They are blobby and at times it’s hard to tell what you’re looking at. I hate to say it, but Old Glory miniatures are a tier below.

Cost

Please note that all of these cost are in US dollars, and that shipping cost are also calculated for U.S. rates.

Pendraken figures are priced at about 21 cents per infantryman, but shipping can be 30-50% if you buy directly from the webstore.

Irregular figures come in at about 25 cents for an infantryman, but shipping varies, but is typically minimal.

Old Glory is about 20 cents per infantryman, and if you are an Old Glory member, you take off an additional 40%. Shipping in to the U.S. is very cheap, and they are at many HMGS conventions on the East Coast.

The Final Product

Finally, let’s examine the painting process and how well they turned out.

Pictured top left is some Old Glory ECW musketeers. They were quick to paint, mostly because they lacked much detail. It was hard to pick out the different areas of the miniatures, but overall came together pretty well quickly. I would not hesitate to put them on the table.

On the top right is a unit of Hessians for the AWI from Irregular. They look good and were a good time to paint, as actually they were the first 10mm figures I ever painted. My only complaint as mentioned earlier, is that the straps and pouches were small and hard to paint. They took a chunk of time and still don’t look great. I am happy with my Irregulars, and would be happy to buy some more.

Below are some beautiful British line infantry from Pendraken. These were a pleasure to paint, and I love looking at them now every time I pull them out. I have no complaints, these are some of the nicest miniatures I’ve ever owned.

If you’d like to follow my progress on these guys look here

Conclusion

For the Final review, I would recommend Old Glory if you are based in the U.S. and are planning a large project. I would recommend Irregular for a good baseline option, and I think Pendraken is an excellent option and would be my top pick to point anyone new to 10mm towards.

I painted my first 10mm miniature three months ago and now have almost 500 under my belt. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying painting them, something about them is great. I use the same methods that I use to paint 15mm figures and it goes just slightly faster because of the smaller surface area. I would recommend 10mm to people who want to get into smaller scale, but are nervous about 6mm or 3mm. They are similar enough to the larger miniatures you know, while still having the mass effect and cost benefit of the smaller scales.

If you’d like to see a full showcase of my 10mm War of Independence armies click here

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Until next time- Joshua, The Napoleon of the West