Scale Difference

[TransAmMike]

Don't know if there has been a discussion about this but here goes.

My main question here is the difference between 1/24 and 1/25 scale.  I know 1/24 is bigger than 1/25 but by how much for actual parts.  I find 1/24 engines are too big in a 1/25 kit. Also, engine parts don't seem accurately compatible. One case in point is wanted to use tunnel ram intake from 1/24 '57 Chevy kit on 1/25 '57 Chevy engine.  Manifold is too long.  And how about tire size differences, particularly aftermarket.

Anyway, interested in comments.

 

[iBorg]

I often think it's less a matter of scale and more of accuracy of the scaling. For example, the Monogram 1/24 Challenger is huge when compared to either the AMT or MPC Challenger. The differences between the Monogram and the AMT Thunderbird wasn't that great. Some parts could be swapped. 

 

[TransAmMike]

Mike, I have to  agree with you on the fact that some kits and parts aren't actually to true scale.

[Bainford]

1/24 scale is 4% larger than 1/25. 

[BubbaBrown]

With model cars, scale is very loose. I have a shelf with all 1/25 cars that is about 8 foot long with models  parked next to each other and you wouldn't believe the difference. From Corvettes to 1965 and 66 Chevy's you can see the scales are all over the place. Not true to life at all.

[peteski]

On 10/11/2020 at 4:24 PM, TransAmMike said:

Don't know if there has been a discussion about this but here goes.

My main question here is the difference between 1/24 and 1/25 scale.  I know 1/24 is bigger than 1/25 but by how much for actual parts.  I find 1/24 engines are too big in a 1/25 kit. Also, engine parts don't seem accurately compatible. One case in point is wanted to use tunnel ram intake from 1/24 '57 Chevy kit on 1/25 '57 Chevy engine.  Manifold is too long.  And how about tire size differences, particularly aftermarket.

Anyway, interested in comments.

 

Well, the parts are not compatible because as Trevor mentioned 1:24 scale models (and everything in them) are 4% larger than 1:25 scale models. That is assuming that the models are scaled accurately (which is often not the case).  Some parts (like wheels and tires for example) could be used on both scale models and still look good, but others will look out of place.  There is no hard rule about any of this.

[stitchdup]

The thing that stands out most for me about scale are the engines. I have a good variety of kits in  24 and 25 scales and I'm sure some of the engines could be swapped around and most people would never notice, but at the same time you would notice if i swapped the sets about. as they are a part all of us would see are out of scale but you can get away with 25 scale in a 24 car but not the other way about. In my 24 scale vw kits the are afew discrepancies between manufacturers, the gunze split seems a little squashed length ways compared to the tamiya and the italeri seems a little bulbous on the width but decent on the length. With the hasegawa and revell vans the scale seems comparably better than the bugs and likewise the tamiya and gunze ghias scale pretty well together. The scale differences seem more obvious between the us cars and the mpc 1/25 firebird boddy is a lot smaller that the revell 1/24 but the engines are very close in size though I haven't tried swapping them around to check but i suspect it would be difficult to notice once they are in the bay

[TransAmMike]

You guys' make some good points here.  I'm wondering too about aftermarket parts size discrepencies.  

[tbill]

I think a lot of times , as previously mentioned, scale is relative. I’ve found lots of 1/24 parts ‘look’ right on 1/25 models. I build a lot of big rigs, and a lot of the rigs I do are 1/24, yet the 1/25 trailers look at home behind them.

[Can-Con]

This is the engine, firewall and rad wall from the Monogram 1/24 '69 GTO swapped into a 1/25 MPC '69 GTO body. 

 

And this is the dash from the Monogram 1/24 '69 GTO in an AMT 1/25 '69 Chevelle interior bucket being used to make a '69 Beaumont. 

The 1/24 dash is actually a touch loose in the 1/25 bucket. 

So, take from this what you will. ?

[TransAmMike]

Really can't see any issues there, looks fine.

[TransAmMike]

To continue on with this topic, what is the formula for reducing a full size 1:1 of a part down to the different scales.  Lets say for example a 14" wheel to 1/25 scale.

[Ace-Garageguy]

13 minutes ago, TransAmMike said:

To continue on with this topic, what is the formula for reducing a full size 1:1 of a part down to the different scales.  Lets say for example a 14" wheel to 1/25 scale.

It works exactly the same way for any scale,

Your example:  a 14" wheel to 1/25 scale.

Divide 14" by 25. The answer is .56", or a little over a half inch.

A 14" wheel in 1/8 scale?   Divide 14" by 8.

Edited October 14, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[TransAmMike]

Well thats simple enough, Thanks Bill.

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, TransAmMike said:

Well thats simple enough, Thanks Bill.

You're welcome.

Though this arithmetic is about as simple as it gets, for some unknown reason many kit designers over the years have been baffled by it. Either 1) they couldn't measure the full-size parts accurately, or 2) they were unable to do the arithmetic correctly, or 3) they just didn't understand the concept of scale.

The result has been some oddly "scaled" kit parts. Examples include a ridiculously undersized (about 1/32 scale) engine in the "new tool" 1/25 scale AMT Ala Kart kit. There are also several 1/24 engines that are exactly the same size as some other 1/25 engines, like the 1/24 scale Buick "nailhead" engine in the old Monogram Orange Hauler kit being the same size as Revell's 1/25 scale nailheads.

And sometimes even two kits from the same manufacturer will represent identical engines in the same scale, but in the kits they're different sizes. A glaring example of this is the Revell Magnum and late-model Challenger kits, both in 1/25 scale. Both cars have what are in reality identical "new Hemi" engines. Both kits are in 1/25 scale. The engines therefore should be identical in all dimensions in the kits, but the engine in one is much larger than the other.

SO...if you're reasonably careful in your mix-and-matching, you can get away with using parts from both 1/24 and 1/25 scales on the same model.

[TransAmMike]

Great insight there Bill.  I'm pretty sure most of us on here are a bit OCD about things (at least I am).?

[iBorg]

I think the difference in 1/24 or 1/25 is relative. It has been well pointed out the differences in measuring. Did they measure the actual car or eyeball it. For example, an actual car can now be scanned. I'm sure other cars have been measured from photographs that hopefully are correct although a lot of distortion can be created with different camera lenses. Most of the more recent kits are more accurate than kits molded in the 60's and the 70's although there are glaring examples of both accuracy and inaccuracy in each generation. 

For truly inaccurate kits go back to BOX SCALE. The kit's size was adapted to whatever fit into the standard box. Unique relics.....

[afx]

1 hour ago, TransAmMike said:

To continue on with this topic, what is the formula for reducing a full size 1:1 of a part down to the different scales.  Lets say for example a 14" wheel to 1/25 scale.

Keep in mind a 1:1 14" wheel will measure out about 15.5" to the outer bead.  Measure the visible wheel diameter on you car/truck in the garage and compare it to the size marked on the tire side wall.

[TransAmMike]

Ya know, I didn't realize that in all my years as a car enthusiast.?

[Repstock]

What's maddening is when you try to buy parts or decals that are scaled for 1/24-1/25 cars...As if it's one scale.

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, Repstock said:

What's maddening is when you try to buy parts or decals that are scaled for 1/24-1/25 cars...As if it's one scale.

Agreed. But there are a few parts suppliers who keep them separate...like Fireball Modelworks.    http://fireballmodels.info/

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 hours ago, afx said:

Keep in mind a 1:1 14" wheel will measure out about 15.5" to the outer bead.  Measure the visible wheel diameter on you car/truck in the garage and compare it to the size marked on the tire side wall.

 

5 hours ago, TransAmMike said:

Ya know, I didn't realize that in all my years as a car enthusiast.?

Also keep in mind that you can sometimes use a different scale wheel/tire to accurately represent a size that's not available in the scale of the model you're working on.

[peteski]

8 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

It works exactly the same way for any scale,

Your example:  a 14" wheel to 1/25 scale.

Divide 14" by 25. The answer is .56", or a little over a half inch.

A 14" wheel in 1/8 scale?   Divide 14" by 8.

Yes, this  is basic arithmetic, but since a wheel diameter is mentioned, there are other things to consider.  A 14" car wheel's visible outside diameter is actually 15.5".  So that is what you need to use for calculation.

[Straightliner59]

Multiply the 1:1 scale measurement by .04, for 1/25.

[peteski]

1 minute ago, Straightliner59 said:

Multiply the 1:1 scale measurement by .04, for 1/25.

Yes, multiplying by 0.04 or dividing by 25 will yield the same result. In math there are usually multiple ways to arrive at the same results.  To me it seems more intuitive to use the division method (since you are directly plugging in the scale ratio number into the equation, rather than its reciprocal).   Not many average people know off the top of their heads that reciprocal of 25 is 0.04.