I usually paint 20 mm (1/72) miniatuyres but not only Zvezda or Hät plastic little men, there is a company that produces a huge series of ancient metal miniatures in 20mm.

NEWLINE DESIGNS
http://www.newlinedesigns.co.uk/

The homepage is a shame, they have almost no pictures but if you want to know how they are look at my macedonians in my battle report. They are quite compatible with Zvezda and Hät (or at least I use all of them mixed in my armies)

By the way if you are interested in painting plastic miniatures maybe this homepage could be useful for you.

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Index.aspx

The bases I use are 10 cm (5cm+5cm) but this is the sure path to play only with your miniatures since nobodyelse uses that ones. I think 12 cm would have been a better idea but after painting 2.000 figs it is a bit late to change the bases.

20´s are the best age so why not the best miniatures!!

I could not agree more that Plastic Soldier Review is an excellent resource that I use before I buy any 1/72 figures. I have avoided making some regrettable purchases based on their reviews and, most importantly, the pictures of every figure in the kit.

Many plastic manufacturers are not designing their figures for wargaming purposes, i.e. they have strange poses or feature unusual subjects that are not overly useful on tabletops. Some manufacturers just have no idea about clean sculpting and correct human proportions, either. But the same can be said of some 15mm metal figures that seem to have enormous torsos and stumpy legs.

So while I am talking, I would like to encourage people to consider the kits from both HaT Industrie (USA) and Zvezda (Russia) as they have fairly consistently produced figures that I consider VERY adaptable to wargaming. Especially Zvezda, who actually has many sets aimed at their own wargame called Age of Battles, although I have never seen the rules I can tell it uses single bases in formation like Warhammer.

Zvezda figures tend to be on the BIG side of 1/72 and look very macho next to some figures, like Revell (Germany), but their poses and variations within each set make for nice units because not every soldier is standing in the same pose, like you often see in 15mm metal armies.

Some warnings from the kits I have purchased, though:

Zvezda 8019 Macedonian Phalanx: Beautiful phalangites but difficult to use on tabletop since most are holding their sarissas level and, if you use a "correct" length pike, would never make base contact in a game. I am still planning on using them for my "advancing" units then, when everyone is much closer, switching to units holding their pikes at a 45-degree angle to permit contact.

HaT 8043 Macedonian Phalangites: Almost the same problem above, but the pike positions are more evenly varied. My complaint is that some of the phalangites are holding their pikes in (what seem to me to be) unusual positions unsuited to a phalanx formation. Perhaps the are more diorama-oriented.

Zvezda 8007 Macedonian Cavalry and 8008 Persian Chariot and Cavalry: Absolutely wonderful kits for Gaugamela or the Granicus battles. You can get a mix of companion cavalry and a great chariot for Darius III that are totally suited for the Persian campaign. WARNING: Italeri 6035 is a rebox of the Zvezda kit.

Zvezda 8016 Livonian Knights: Great kit with a lot of variety that I will use for the Battle on Lake Piepus, mixing in some Zvezda regular Teutonic knights, as well. Their associate Russian knight and infantry kits are good, too.

And I have several Republican Rome kits that are excellent:

Zvezda 8035 Republican Rome Infantry
Zvezda 8038 Republican Rome Cavalry
HaT 8051 Roman Command (Punic Wars)

And some Imperial Rome:

Zvezda 8052 Roman Auxiliary Infantry: lots of great poses and a good mix of weapons: pila, galadius, and archers, includes command
HaT 8067 Imperial Roman Praetorian Cavalry
HaT 9064 Imperial Roman Extra Heavy Legionaires: These feature a mix of chainmail and the loricum, and the soldiers are wearing greaves and right arm protection of the Dacian style.

Zvezda 8053 French Infantry of HYW and 8060 English Infantry of HYW: Both feature good variation and poses, especially the English longbowmen who are NOT wearing quivers and have their arrows sticking in the ground at their feet. Also, a small section of archers stakes are provided, too, perhaps to help those considering Agincourt. Perhaps my only complaint is the French archers and crossbowmen are all carrying shield or pavisses on their backs and no accommodation is made otherwise, so I am cutting the tabs off half of the missile troops and planting the shield in front of them on the bases.

And my last one for now:

A Call to Arms 61 Royalist Infantry, 63 Parliament infantry and 59 Royalist Artillery 1642: These will form the basis of my extra-deep Basic Baroque units in which I intend to keep the 120mm frontages for 1/72 figures and really pack them in for visual impact. I have a large selection of 28mm Old Glory and Foundry metal figures that will be more conservatively based, but my 1/72 forces raised byb the Marquess of Newcastle will be striving for some more visual impact.