Tin soliers are miniature figures of soldiers, extremely popular in the world of collecting. They can be bought finished or in a raw state to be hand-painted. They are generally made of pewter, tin, lead, other metals or plastic. Often very elaborate scale models of battle scenes, known as dioramas, are created for their display. Tin soldiers were originally almost two-dimensional figures, often called "flats". They were the first toy soldiers to be mass produced. Though largely superseded in popularity from the late 19th century by fully rounded 3 dimensional lead figures, these flat tin soldiers continue to be produced.