Just a few thoughts on scale

[Greg Myers]

Looking at different scale kits I often have certain preconceived ideas on what to expect.

What i'm getting at is kind of like what flashes in my mind when certain scales are discussed, namely what do certain scales remind me of.

Here are a few examples.

1/64th Hot Wheels

1/35th  Military

1/43rd Monogram Cobra Roadster kits

1/20th Old MPC kits, Corvettes

1/18th diecast

1/16th AMT / MPC / Revell / Minicraft

1/12th the Revell Trio '57 Chevy, Camaro, '67 Vette

1/8th Monogram and Lindberg Tee buckets

1/6th Liberty engine kits

1/4th $$$

1/24, 1/25th all the rest

Those are just my thoughts, I'm sure you have some of your own.

[89AKurt]

You forgot 1/32, seems to be a common scale for older car kits.

My two cents, discovered it makes a difference to fit a 1:24 scale 427 into a 1:25 scale Corvette, good ol' Dremel tool earned it's keep.

[Richard Bartrop]

For me, the associations run like this:

1/144: airliners

1/96: ships

1/64: Hot Wheels, but also Matchbox.

1/43: Lots of mostly European exotics and other collectibles.  The biggest association is probably the big display case of Corgi diecasts I would drool over when my mom took me to Eatons as a kid.

1/35: Military, and the occaissional thought of why they just didn't stick with 1/32

1/32; Pyro, Life-like and Airfix for cars,  and large scale aircraft mostly between the wars.

1/24-1/25: The "standard" scales for cars, and mostly interchangable.

1/20: Formula One, mostly Tamiya

1/16: Japanese Classic and Brass Era kits, and Otaki's European exotics.

1/12:  Mostly outrageously expensive Tamiya kits.

1/8:  Best summed up at "Nice, but you probably can't afford it, and where would you put it anyhow."

 

 

 

 

[SfanGoch]

  On 3/22/2018 at 5:32 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

1/35: Military, and the occaissional thought of why they just didn't stick with 1/32

 

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You can thank Shunsaku Tamiya for that.

[styromaniac]

You don't have 1/48th ?...isnt it also a favorite military scale ?...mostly aviation subjects? I know 1/35th is primarily Armor but some of the mfg are making Rotary wing in the same scale to match...

Edited March 22, 2018 by styromaniac
Spelling

[styromaniac]

Is 1/87th equivalent to HO scale ? I actually have some automotive kits in 1/87th intended for railroad dioramas.

Edited March 22, 2018 by styromaniac

[SfanGoch]

Funny thing about HO scale is that trains are 1/87 but slot cars are 1/64.

[martinfan5]

Being honest, never gave the scales much thought other than I have no room for large scale, heck, I dont have room anymore for 1/24/25th scale anymore

 

Edited March 22, 2018 by martinfan5

[peteski]

I also deal with:

1:160 N scale model trains and vehicles

1:220 Z scale model trains and vehicles

Then 1:43 to me is mainly automotive vehicle models (pre-built or kits, diecast metal or resin). The Monogram Ultimates is one of the very few injection-molded styrene models in this scale.

[Lovefordgalaxie]

  On 3/26/2018 at 4:44 AM, peteski said:

1:220 Z scale model trains and vehicles

 

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That would be cool to save some space, if I could see them... Can barely see i/25 scale good enough to detail paint them. I need new glasses, but I refuse to admit I'm getting old.

[Art Anderson]

  On 3/22/2018 at 7:10 PM, SfanGoch said:

You can thank Shunsaku Tamiya for that.

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Simply because the rest of the World uses the metric system, which makes 1/32 scale a bit problematic.  In addition, when Tamiya started kitting armor,  the military model world was fixated on "54mm" figures, which tended to be 1/35 scale, hence the adoption of that scale by Tamiya from the get-go.

Art

[Lovefordgalaxie]

  On 3/27/2018 at 12:19 AM, Art Anderson said:

Simply because the rest of the World uses the metric system.

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True!! Try having an U.S. designed or built car outside of the U.S. 

I have two sets of tools, one metric, and one in inches, so I can service my british designed Ford Focus AND my U.S. designed Galaxies, plus to work on U.S. import Fords I do service on. 

[highway]

  On 3/27/2018 at 12:19 AM, Art Anderson said:

Simply because the rest of the World uses the metric system, which makes 1/32 scale a bit problematic. 

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Oh really?? If it is so problematic, then why does it also seem to be a popular scale in the parts of the world that use the metric system?? These three are just from my personal collection, all from metric using parts of the world and at least in the case of the two Airfix models (the Rolls Royce is an MPC rebox of an Airfix kit, note the "Licensed by Airfix" in the lower right hand corner of the side panel) are issues way before any computer aids as the fire truck is copyrighted 1979 and the Rolls is from around the same era. The dump truck is from Japanese manufacturer Aoshima of a Japanese truck and many truck kits I have seen like this dump truck have also been 1/32 scale. There also seems to be quite a few aircraft done by foreign manufacturers in this "problematic" 1/32nd scale.  

Also, just for the naysayers, here is the 1905 Rolls Royce in Airfix packaging. 

 

You might be surprised just how much in the metric world there is in 1/32 scale just by a few quick Google Image searches as I have done like "1/32nd scale Airfix" and even "1/32 scale Tamiya". 

[peteski]

Here is a good scales reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scale_model_sizes

I have a series of Gunze Sangyo 1:32 scale model cars.  And as the above link shows, there are lots of scales used for models (some more popular than others).

[highway]

  On 3/27/2018 at 2:06 AM, peteski said:

Here is a good scales reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scale_model_sizes

I have a series of Gunze Sangyo 1:32 scale model cars.  And as the above link shows, there are lots of scales used for models (some more popular than others).

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Yes, quite interesting, especially this one copied from that list:

1:32

9.525 mm

Military vehicles; 54 mm figure scale toy soldiers are supposed to use this scale as well. Same as Gauge 1, cars, common for slot cars. Some aircraft (e.g. Matchbox/Revell). Commonly referred to as Stablemate size in model horses.

 

  On 3/27/2018 at 12:19 AM, Art Anderson said:

Simply because the rest of the World uses the metric system, which makes 1/32 scale a bit problematic.  In addition, when Tamiya started kitting armor,  the military model world was fixated on "54mm" figures, which tended to be 1/35 scale, hence the adoption of that scale by Tamiya from the get-go.

Art

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[#1 model citizen]

  On 3/27/2018 at 2:06 AM, peteski said:

Here is a good scales reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scale_model_sizes

I have a series of Gunze Sangyo 1:32 scale model cars.  And as the above link shows, there are lots of scales used for models (some more popular than others).

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Thanks for sharing. This & the conversion tool it leads to is something I had been wanting for awhile. 

[peteski]

  On 3/27/2018 at 2:20 AM, highway said:

Yes, quite interesting, especially this one copied from that list:

1:32

9.525 mm

Military vehicles; 54 mm figure scale toy soldiers are supposed to use this scale as well. Same as Gauge 1, cars, common for slot cars. Some aircraft (e.g. Matchbox/Revell). Commonly referred to as Stablemate size in model horses.

 

 

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To be fair, both scales mention 54mm figures.

1:35

8.709 mm

The most popular scale for military vehicles and figures. Used heavily by Verlinden Productions. It was originally conceived by Tamiya for convenience of fitting motorised parts and batteries. Corresponds well with 54mm figures.

[highway]

  On 3/27/2018 at 2:43 AM, peteski said:

To be fair, both scales mention 54mm figures.

1:35

8.709 mm

The most popular scale for military vehicles and figures. Used heavily by Verlinden Productions. It was originally conceived by Tamiya for convenience of fitting motorised parts and batteries. Corresponds well with 54mm figures.

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Yes, but if you also notice it also states the main reason 1/35 scale was originally conceived by Tamiya was for the "convenience of fitting motorized (though incorrectly spelled there) parts and batteries". Though it might mention the figures, it still contradicts this previous comment:

  On 3/27/2018 at 12:19 AM, Art Anderson said:

Simply because the rest of the World uses the metric system, which makes 1/32 scale a bit problematic.  In addition, when Tamiya started kitting armor,  the military model world was fixated on "54mm" figures, which tended to be 1/35 scale, hence the adoption of that scale by Tamiya from the get-go.

Art

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[Jim Whalen]

It might interest you to know that the UK is mainly Imperial - we use miles per hour on our roads and buy our beer and milk in pints.  We are in a bit of confusion though as some measurements in the Highway Code are in metric and many things in supermarkets are as well (I think this may have come about from being part of the EU).  This would explain why Airfix uses 1/32 if it is an easier scale to work with in Imperial.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

It also goes back to a point I'm fond of making now and again: from imperial measurements of feet and inches, it's really 1/24 that makes more sense than 1/25.  And yet the Imperial-based US system and the metric-calibrated EU and Asian markets have it exactly backwards.

Guess Old Blighty is the only party truly consistent with its own measures in scaling...

[Art Anderson]

  On 3/27/2018 at 4:59 AM, highway said:

Yes, but if you also notice it also states the main reason 1/35 scale was originally conceived by Tamiya was for the "convenience of fitting motorized (though incorrectly spelled there) parts and batteries". Though it might mention the figures, it still contradicts this previous comment:

 

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I based my comment re: 54mm & 1/35 scale, as that was the comment that was going around, all over the place in the late 1960's, as Tamiya was just starting their line of 1/35 scale armor and soft-skin military vehicles.  It just happened that one of the founders of IPMS-USA lived here in Lafayette IN, when IPMS-USA was started up--known for years as the "First Lady of IPMS", Doris Reeves kept me updated constantly about new scale kits coming out, which I then laid in as the plastic model kit buyer/manager for our then-very-large and comprehensive hobby shop here.

Art

[Art Anderson]

  On 3/27/2018 at 7:45 PM, Chuck Kourouklis said:

It also goes back to a point I'm fond of making now and again: from imperial measurements of feet and inches, it's really 1/24 that makes more sense than 1/25.  And yet the Imperial-based US system and the metric-calibrated EU and Asian markets have it exactly backwards.

Guess Old Blighty is the only party truly consistent with its own measures in scaling...

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Chuck, truthfully, 1/25 scale is just as easy to work with when scaling--if you think of it, a 1/25 scale inch is just .040" one my digital calipers, and 1mm is just a gnat's whisker smaller--in fact, I have used 40-thousandths Inch and 1 millimeter interchangeably all the time when working with plastic (the only time the slight difference is important is when I have to machine something out of metal on my lathe or mill, for precise fitting.

Art

[Richard Bartrop]

  On 3/30/2018 at 12:40 PM, Art Anderson said:

Chuck, truthfully, 1/25 scale is just as easy to work with when scaling--if you think of it, a 1/25 scale inch is just .040" one my digital calipers, and 1mm is just a gnat's whisker smaller--in fact, I have used 40-thousandths Inch and 1 millimeter interchangeably all the time when working with plastic (the only time the slight difference is important is when I have to machine something out of metal on my lathe or mill, for precise fitting.

Art

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I like 1/24 partly from habit, an partly because because I have an architect's scale, but it really is six of one, and half a dozen of the other.  Just, shift the decimal point over two places and multiply by 4, and you've got your 1/25.   If you can see this post, you have a calculator at your fingertips, and any graphics software has some sort of resizing feature, which means resizing plans and reference photos to any scale that strikes your fancy is an almost stupidly trivial exercise.

[Rob Hall]

Random thing I stumbled across while perusing the Scalemates database tonight--1/25th armor kits are a thing.  I know very little about armor/military models, but Academy, Tamiya and others have made tanks in 1/25th.   Not 1/24th, but 1/25th...surprised, didn't know that such subjects were kitted in that scale. 

[Greg Myers]

Yes , I have a few, not as big as the 1/16th that is popular now.