Scale Confusion

[cspirito]

Hello, all -

I am new here, and my previous work has been for the model railroad hobby, so I am used to scales such as 1/2"/ft., 3.5mm/ft., or 1:24, 1:32, 1:48 scales. Here I see 54mm, 90mm, 120mm, etc. Is this the "usual" height of a man? What is usual... 6 feet?
I am currently doing figures at 1:12 scale, 1"/ft., where a 6' man figure would be 152.4mm, or 6" tall. My figures are actually around 48.5mm tall, so they'd be 5'-9" tall.

So, how do I refer to scale here, so people will understand?
What is the accepted convention or protocol?

You can see my altest work in the "Sculpting" section in this Forum.

Thank you, Carlo

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by cspirito+Sep 29 2005, 05:38 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (cspirito @ Sep 29 2005, 05:38 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I am new here, and my previous work has been for the model railroad hobby, so I am used to scales such as 1/2"/ft., 3.5mm/ft., or 1:24, 1:32, 1:48 scales. Here I see 54mm, 90mm, 120mm, etc. Is this the "usual" height of a man? What is usual... 6 feet?[/b]

Hi Carlo, good question: 'nominal' scales such as these are a problem because you need a ratio to be able to scale items of a know size accurately. My post on this page might help:
http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/index.p...opic=3584&st=15

<!--QuoteBegin-cspirito@Sep 29 2005, 05:38 PM
So, how do I refer to scale here, so people will understand?
What is the accepted convention or protocol?[/quote]
Most members will get what is meant if someone says "90mm figure" (you'll even see busts quoted this way, with the understanding usually that the measurement given would be for the full figure) but of course the best way is to stick to ratios - 1/24 or 1:24.

Einion

 

[MSzwarc]

Carlo,
The problem of "scale" in regards to figure modeling can be a difficult one, and perhaps "size" would be a more accurate term. Figure sizes were not developed in the same way as were scales for other modeling subjects, but rather came from toy soldier manufacturers. Early military flats were produced at 30mm, and later round figures at 54mm. When modelers began sculpting their own figures, they tended to produce figures of the same sizes as toy soldiers, and measured they figure by its actual size, rather than a scale. As they became more ambitious and wanted more detail in their figures, they simply made them in larger sizes such as the common 70mm, 90mm, and 120mm. But figures are also available in sizes of 60mm, 75mm, 80mm, 100mm, and 150mm. Remember, these are sizes, not scales, but they do, in some instances, coincide with common model scales.

Different modelers (many of whom later became manufacturers) tended to measure a little differently, with some measuring to the top of the firgure's head, while others measured to the firgure's eyes. You can see this for yourself by comparing an Andrea 54 mm figure to a Metal Models 54mm figure. This is why it can be difficult to accurately assign a scale to a mm size.

Then there is the problem of varying heights of actual humans. If you are, for example, modeling 54mm figures, do you make them all 54mm tall, or do you model a short subject such as Napoleon smaller than a taller subject? Dealing with this problem, as well as the problem of including figures in dioramas with scale models I suspect is what led figure modelers to produce figures in scales of 1/35(armor), 1/32(some aircraft), 1/24(cars), 1/16(some large armor), and so on. So now we have figures available in both mm sizes, and actual scales.

If you're sculpting your own figures, the choice is yours as to what convention you use to size them, and will depend largely upon the purpose of the firgue. If you're building figure kits, keep in mind that "sized" figures of the same mm size tend to vary slightly in actual size from manufacturer to manufacturer, while "scaled" kits of a given scale should be the same size from manufacturer to manufacturer.

I'm afraid I've rambled on quite a bit to answer your question, but either convention is acceptable, and as Einion said, most figure modelers will understand what you're talking about whether you use "size" or "scale".

Mike

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by MSzwarc@Sep 30 2005, 04:16 PM
If you're building figure kits, keep in mind that "sized" figures of the same mm size tend to vary slightly in actual size from manufacturer to manufacturer...

And not just slightly either! Latorre's figures are seen as small but in reality are scaled correctly in most cases, the Northumbrian is almost exactly 54mm in height for example. Pegaso (and presumably Romeo), Soldiers and Andrea tend to the upper limit for this 'scale'; although they do vary quite a bit, usually they're 60-64mm in height.

Just to show how ridiculous not using a scale can be I picked up a Masterclass figure cheap at Euro (Medieval Knight 1350) that's clearly identified as being 54mm and as I was looking at the box the seller warned me that it was a little on the big side. I was blasé about it because I expected the same sort of size we're used to now, but it's enormous - roughly 70mm* to the crown of the head. Not that I'm really complaining, £10 for a 70 mil figure is fine by me

Einion

*That would make him 2.2m / 7'4" at 1.32 scale!

 

[MSzwarc]

Just to show how ridiculous not using a scale can be I picked up a Masterclass figure cheap at Euro (Medieval Knight 1350) that's clearly identified as being 54mm and as I was looking at the box the seller warned me that it was a little on the big side. I was blasé about it because I expected the same sort of size we're used to now, but it's enormous - roughly 70mm* to the crown of the head. Not that I'm really complaining, £10 for a 70 mil figure is fine by me

Einion,

I had a similar "problem" with Pegaso's ashigaru arquebusier. The kit is billed as 90mm, but when placed next to Poste Militaire 90mm kits, he is a goliath. He measures out (a bit tricky 'cause he's crouching) to around 120mm-- 30% larger! (not that I'm complaining,of course!)

I suppose this is really only a problem if you're trying to combine kits from various manufacturers into a vignette or diorama, or you want all your figures to be of uniform size.

Mike