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Forums - Modelling / Figures |
The figures forum is for the discussion of construction and painting of figures and the tools and materials used. |
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| Subject: | Re: Comparing 1/32 and 1/35 figures |  |
| Date: | Sep 11, 2006 |
| From: | Gerald Owens | |
Modelers have been mixing scales in dioramas for ages--ever since the military kit companies decided to standardize on 1/35th, while most aircraft and civilian vehicle kits remained in 1/32nd. Whether discrepencies will be noticeable to viewers depends on how familiar they are with the real subjects, I suppose. A 1/32nd scale subject will be nearly ten percent larger than it should be in a 1/35th scale diorama. Still, many types of civilian trucks and cars are only available in the larger scale, as either plastic or die-cast models, and the builder has to choose whether the artistic value of including them is more important than the literal accuracy of scale. Braille scale modelers face the same dilemma with 1/76th scale vs 1/72nd.
1/32nd scale figures will likewise be taller than 1/35th scale figures (assuming they depict people of the same height). There is plenty of variation in height among real people, of course. The problem is more with the size of the heads, which vary much less than overall stature. In other words, it's much easier to blend in a 1/32nd scale figure alongside 1/35th scale figures if you swap a 1/35th scale head onto the taller figure (Hornet offers a great selection of replacement heads). And standardized items should be used, so everybody has the same size canteens and rifles and so forth.
Beware of so-called 54mm figures (an old "box scale" left over from the days of Britain's lead soldiers), as they can vary drastically in their actual scale, even from the same manufacturer. Some companies attempt to match to 1/32nd scale, but others (notably Historex) go as high as 1/30th.
A scale ruler will come in handy when assessing the "real" height of a figure. Older 1/35th scale Tamiya figures from the 1970's often represent men just 5'5" tall--not unusual for a Japanese, but rather short for a European. A 5'10" man will stand exactly two inches tall in 1/35th scale. |
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