Is this your first time in the HobbyShed? Below are five links to pages within the site, randomly selected for you to sample.

Glossary: A-Z of modelling terminology. 300+ entries!

Gallery: Warhammer 40K - scratch built 1/1 Servo Skull

Guides: Choosing paint and painting tools

Visits: Birmingham NEC - toy collector's fair

Guides: Comprehensive list of scale model sizes

Well, basically a scale model is a copy or representation of an object.

Scale models prove useful in engineering or architecture and are also built or collected for pleasure as a hobby: it is this last area which HobbyShed caters to, covering all sorts of subjects including aircraft, automobiles, fantasy, figures, matchstick models, military vehicles, monsters, paper models, railways, rockets, science-fiction and ships.

Models can vary in size, sometimes being the exact same size or larger than the object they're based on, but more often than not they are smaller than the original. Some models - especially aircraft, cars, rockets and ships - may be radio controlled or enhanced with moving parts or lighting.

So where did it all begin?

Scale models that are enjoyed today by hobbyists the world over originate from those used by manufacturers making the full-sized object. Originally, a 'scale' was a physical measuring instrument, a notion which survives today as concerning weight. First among scales are engineer or architect scales which are rulers that are triangular in cross-section. Terminology used was 'scale size to full size', or the reverse.

An architect's scale was used to make the first affordable models which were dolls houses and related furniture and miniatures. Popular scales for these miniatures were 'one inch to the foot' and 'one half inch to the foot. The proportions of the models to the prototypes were originally called 'size', as in 'full-sized' or 'half-sized', as used on a blueprint for making something that would fit on a workbench.

Shipyards were first to use scales to make models of objects larger than houses and they were expressed in a different manner with 'one foot to the inch' through to 'six feet to the inch' being the most common.

During the Second World War, battleship models were made 'eight foot to the inch' which later became 'one eighth inch to the foot'. The model ship would be referred to as 'one ninety-sixth size', or '1/96th'. There were also rotary instruments in which marks on two dials could be lined up in order to translate measurements from units on the prototype to units on the model.

When the production of plastic hobby model kits became an industry, rulers were developed marked in model units called scales and today 'larger' and 'smaller' phrases are used when comparing them. For example, the scale of '1/8" to the foot' is a 'larger' scale than '1/16" to the foot', even though the denominator is smaller. So a larger model is made to a larger scale. You can remember this in that a full-size, or full-scale, model is larger than a half-size model.

Where do plastic model kits originate from?

Well, for recognising aircraft during World War II, the RAF (Royal Air Force - the air force branch of the British Armed Forces) chose to make models to the scale of 'one sixth inch to the foot' (two British lines which, despite being a legal division of length didn't make it to America, even though they were a standard shipyard scale). This is of course the 'one seventy-second size' that is still popular to this day. Although some consumer models were sold pre-war in Britain to this scale, the airmens' models were pressed out of ground-up old rubber tyres, making them the first plastic kits.

After the war, manufacturers started moulding models from polystyrene for sale in the consumer marketplace. In the early years, firms offered models of aircraft and ships in 'fit-the-box' size. A box that would make an impressive gift was specified, and a mould was crafted to make a model that wouldn't ludicrously slide around inside. Modellers could not compare models, nor switch parts from one kit to another.

What about modern measurement of scale?

British company Airfix brought constant scale to the marketplace, sticking to the RAF's 1:72 scale. In the 1960's, the company Monogram offered an aircraft actually labeled as ¼" scale, which may have been a common contraction in factories. They actually meant 'one quarter inch to the foot', or 'one forty-eighth size'. Shortly thereafter, hobbyists lost the ability to distinguish the two, and now the proportion is referred to as scale.

The terms and the means of writing them down have changed, and for model kits they are now standardised for the European Union. In English-speaking countries, such terms as '1/72' were used, but the format with a colon as '1:72' is often preferred. The slash format is usually avoided with decimal fractions: '1/76.2' is usually not used; it's '1:76.2' instead.

The hybrid OO gauge can also be expressed by explicitly using a mixed system of units as '4 mm:1 ft' or '1 mm:3 in', but the dimensionless form makes comparison with other scales easier.

So, what's the rational choice of scales? The typical height of a man is easy to represent in the inch-based system: six feet. Many scales are based around the height of such a man against the model and can be readily imagined as a simple relation to an inch. Although the metric system has specified a limited series of scales for blueprints and maps, when it comes to models, there may be a problem with these scales for a readily imagined person of 180 centimetres. Model railways have additional difficulty in having to present the rail gauge as a simple number, the height of a person being secondary. Trade authorities in metric countries are attempting to specify scales that are simple mulitiples of 2 and 5, but neither tracks nor people seem to fit. It could be that they are using the statement of rationalisation for competitive advantage in an attempt to get people to buy models of their scale and not those of another country.

On the other hand, wargaming scales have traditionally been traced to metric system, where the number of millimetres relate to the relative height of the human figure based on 180 cm standard man. Therefore, 25 mm scale (popular in historical and fantasy wargaming) refers to 1:72 scale, whilst the 15 mm scale (nowadays the most popular scale in ancient, medieval and Renaissance wargaming) refers to 1:120 scale. Likewise, 50 mm scale is the same as 1:35 military model scale, and 5 mm equals 1:350 naval scale.

What are typical model scales?

Aircraft

The premier scale for model aircraft vehicles is 1:72. Airliners and other large aircraft are at 1:144, with a few at 1:288. A scale with more room for detail is 1:48, which is a preferred scale for single-engine World War Two aircraft. Other, arguably more luxurious, models are available at 1:32 and 1:24.

Rockets & Spacecraft

Model rocket kits began as a development of model aircraft kits, yet the 1:72 scale never caught on, and scales 1:48 and 1:96 are used instead. There are 1:128, 1:144 and 1:200 scale rockets available and Russian firms put their larger rockets in 1:288. Heller maintains an unusual standard of offering some models in the scale of 1:125. Fantasy spacecraft, of course, can be any scale, as comparisons can't be made to anything else.

Model Railways

Model railways use the term 'gauge' to refer to the distance between the tracks just as real railways do. Although railways were built to different gauges, 'standard gauge' means 4 ft 8.5inch between the inside surfaces of the rails.

The gauges for model railways were originally measured in inches, but later they were standardised to metric units, even for companies who put models in traditional architect's gauge proportions on such metric tracks. A range of accepted gauges were accepted by model railroaders for each gauge for convenience's sake. The most popular scale to go with a given gauge was often determined by the following roundabout process:

German artisans would take metal strips of standard metric size to make things to blueprints whose dimensions were in inches: hence '4 mm to the foot' yields the 1:76.2 size of the '00 gauge'. This British scale is anomalously used on the standard H0 gauge (16.5 mm gauge from 3.5 mm/foot scale) tracks, however, because early electric motors weren't available commmercially in smaller sizes. The Germans have a more developed terminology which better explains this.

Baugrösse (English: 'building size') is the alphanumeric designation, which has nothing to do with physical measuring. It's used for gauge, as in 'No. 1 gauge', 'HO gauge', or 'Z gauge'.

Maßstab (English: 'measure') is the proportion, with a colon, as in the corresponding terms '1:32', '1:87.1', and '1:220'.

Spurweite (English: 'track width') is the distance between the rails, or correspondingly '1¾-inch', '16.5 mm', and '6.5 mm', and again gauge is used for this in English.

One might add to these the old use of the term scale, of '3/8 inch to the foot' and '3.5 mm to the foot' for the first two, while the last really isn't expressible in this manner.

Early 1900s German mass-produced toys had a measured gauge from rail centre to rail centre of rolled tinplate rail, with much latitude between flange and rail.

There are three different standards for the '0' Gauge, each of which uses tracks of 32 mm for the standard gauge. The American version continues a dollhouse scale of 1:48. It is sometimes called 'quarter-gauge', as in 'one-quarter-inch to the foot'. The British version continued the pattern of sub-contracting to Germans; so, at 7 mm to the foot, it works out to a scale of 1:43.5. Later, MOROP, the European authority of model railroad firms, declared that the '0' gauge (still 32 mm) must use the scale of 1:45. That is, in Europe the below-chassis dimensions have to be slightly towards 4 ft. 6 inches, to allow wheel/tyre/splasher clearance for smaller than realistic curved sections.

'Live steam' railways, that can actually be ridden on, are built in many scales, such as 1-1/2", 1", and 3/4" to the foot. Common gauges are 7-1/2" (Western US) and 7-1/4" (Eastern US and the rest of the world), 5", 4-3/4". Smaller Live Steam gauges do exist, and although they may be capable of exerting sufficient pulling force to move a small child, the materials used in their construction would not allow them to support that small child.

Automobiles

Although the British scale for 'O' gauge was first used for model cars comprised of rectilinear and circular parts, it was the origin of the European scale for cast or injection moulded model cars. MOROP's specification will not alter the series of cars in 1:43 scale, as it has the widest distribution in the world.

In America, a series of model cars were developed first from cast metal and later styrene in sale promotions for new-car dealerships.. The manufacturer Monogram, and later Tamiya, first produced them in a scale derived from the Architect's scale: 1:24, while the manufacturers AMT, Jo-Han, and Revell chose the scale of 1:25. Monogram later switched to this scale after the firm was purchased by Revell.

Some cars are also made in 1:32 scale, and rolling toys are often made on the scale 1:64.

Robots & Mecha

Japanese firms have marketed toys and models which are often referred to as mecha or gundam.

The models are nimble humanoid fighting robots produced in 1:100 and 1:144 scale, like model aircraft, which seems strange to some westerners as they believe that they are best displayed in scenes of destruction, and thus should use model railway gauges instead. Still, as there are 1:144 model railways in Japan this doesn't matter much and numerous after market accessories for mecha models give little regard to this 'strange' scaling matter.

Currently, Bandai is the main producer of mecha models, (commonly called Gunpla, as most models are based on the numerous manga animated Gundam TV series). In general, they are available in 1:60, 1:100 and 1:144 scale.

Super Deformed (often abbreviated to SD) are stunted charicature versions of more traditional mecha and manga subjects. They do not usually require glue or paint as most are one-piece models or snap fast kits.

Model Tanks & Wargames

Just before the twentieth century, the British historian (and science fiction author and mainstream novelist) H. G. Wells published a book, 'Little Wars', detailing how to play battles in miniature. His books use 54 mm lead figures, particularly those manufactured by Britons. His fighting system employed spring-loaded model guns which shot matchsticks.

This use of physical mechanisms was echoed in the later games of Fred Jane, whose rules required throwing darts at ship silhouettes; his collection of data on the world's fleets was later published and became renowned. Dice have largely replaced this toy mayhem for consumers.

For over a century in English-speaking countries, toy soldiers were often made in architect's scale-based ratios. They were cast in white metal (a lead-basd alloy) and called tin soldiers. After the Second World War, such toys were still on the market but instead made of a safe plastic softer than styrene. American children called these 'army men'. Many sets were made in the new scale of 1:40. A few styrene model kits of land equipment were offered in this and in 1:48 and 1:32 scales. However, these were swept away by the number of kits in the scale of 1:35.

Those who continued to develop miniature wargaming preferred smaller scale models, the soldiers still made of soft plastic. Airfix wanted people to buy 1:76 scale soldiers and tanks to go with '00' gauge train equipment and Roco offered 1:87 scale styrene military vehicles to tie in with 'H0' gauge model houses. However, although there isn't any 1:72 scale model railroad, more toy soldiers are now offered in this scale because it is the same as the popular aircraft scale. The number of fighting vehicles in this scale is also increasing, although the number of auxiliary vehicles available is far fewer than in 1:87 scale.

Armies use smaller scales still. The US Army specifies models of the scale 1:285 for its 'sand-table' wargaming. There are metal ground vehicles and helicopters in this scale, which is a near-rationalisation of a notion of 'one quarter inch to six feet'. The continental powers of NATO have developed the similar scale of 1:300, even though metric standardisers really don't like any divisors other than factors of 10, 5, and 2, so maps are not commonly offered in Europe in scales with a "3" in the denominator.

Consumer wargaming has since expanded into fantasy realms, employing scales large enough to be painted in imaginative detail - so called 'heroic' 28 mm figures, (roughly 1:64, or S scale). Manufacturers who produce these often do so in small white metal production runs although some companies such as British firm Games Workshop produce large quantities, including plastic figures.

Model Ships & Naval Wargaming

In the first half of the twentieth century, navies used hand-made models of warships for identification and instruction in a variety of scales. 1:500 was called 'teacher scale'. Besides models made in 1:1200 and 1:2400 scales, there were also 1:2000 and 1:5000. Some, made in Britain, were labelled '1 inch to 110 feet' (1:1320 scale), although these weren't necessarily accurate.

Just before the Second World War, American naval historian (and science fiction author) Fletcher Pratt published a book on naval wargaming using model ships cut off at the waterline to be moved on large, flat surfaces. A non-standard scale was used (reported as 1:666), and may have been influenced by toy ships available at the time, but as the hobby progressed, and other rule sets came into use, it was progressively supplemented by the series 1:600, 1:1200, and 1:2400. In Britain, 1:3000 became popular and these models also have come into use in the USA. These had the advantage of approximating the nautical mile as 120 inches, 60 inches and 30 inches respectively. As the knot is based on this mile and a 60-minute hour, this proved quite handy.

After the war, companies emerged producing models from the same white metal used to make toy soldiers. One British firm offered a tremendously wide line of merchant ships and dockyard equipment in the scale 1:1200. In the USA, at least one manufacturer of wartime 1:1200 recognition models, Comet, made them available for the civilian market postwar, which also drove the change to this scale. Continental European manufacturers and European ship book publishers adopted the 1:1250 drawing scale because of its similar convenience in size for both models and comparison drawings in books.

A prestige scale for boats, comparable to that of 1:32 for fighter planes, is 1:72, producing huge models, but there are very few kits marketed in this scale. For the smaller ships, plank-on-frame or other wood construction kits are offered in the traditional shipyard scales of 1:96, 1:108, or 1:192 (half of 1:96). In injection moulded plastic kits, Airfix makes full-hull models in the scale which the Royal Navy has used to compare the relative sizes of ships: 1:600. Revell makes some kits to half the scale of the US Army standard: 1:570. Some American and foreign firms have made models in a proportion from the Engineer's scale: 'one sixtieth of an inch to the foot', or 1:720.

Continental Europe has an on-going project of eliminating conversions and measurements which it considers non-standard. Japanese modelmaking firms Tamiya, Hasegawa, Aoshima, and Fujimi formed a cartel to apportion out the project of releasing waterline kits of the entire Japanese warship fleet from the Second World War in a scale that no company from any other country did - 1:700. Europe is attempting to have 1:400 scale standardised for full-hull model ships, even though some Japanese firms have produced larger ships in the luxury scale of 1:350.

On the other hand, the rise of the resin kit industry in the 1990s led to the introduction of companies around the world producing kits in the 1:350 and 1:700 scales to match pre-existing injection molded kits, creating in limited production a large variety of subjects which traditional injection moulding makers have not invested resources to produce, due to the expense of creating a large injection mould.

In scales common to wargaming, continental Europe has long marketed waterline kits in the scales 1:1250 and more recently 1:2500 to supplement the British and American lines. The Chinese are joining them. Such trends toward standardisation have not affected the Japanese firm Nichimaco, which still produces 'fit-the-box' sizes from old moulds, and 1:450 size models.

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