Understanding Scale

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1/35: the model is 1/35 the size of the real thing.
If an object is 35 feet long, the model would be 1 foot long. It would take 35 models lined up end-to-end to equal the length of one of the real objects.

That's the basic idea of scale.

As far as "largest" and "smallest" scales go...I suppose theoretically there are no limits. I'm not really sure I understand what you're asking with that question.

For the same object, the size of the model would decrease as the number increases, and vice versa.
That is, a 1/16 scale Tiger is a larger model than a 1/35 scale Tiger, which is larger than a 1/48 scale Tiger, which is larger than a 1/72 scale Tiger, etc, etc.

How big a model is depends on how large the real object is coupled with the scale of the model.

So, a 1/35 Tiger II model would be larger than a 1/35 Sherman model , because a real Tiger II is a larger tank than a real Sherman.

Hope this helps!

Thanks ,I now have a better understanding of scale.

QUOTE: Originally posted by sniper1 Thanks ,I now have a better understanding of scale.

Glad to be of service!

The same plane in the same scale will be different by different manufacturers. One good example of this is the Spitfire Mk XI. I have had 2 different kits of a Fw 190 variant and one was way smaller than the other, but they were the same scale.

The largest manufactured scale is 1:4 and mostly includes replica aircraft and car engines. There are many 1:1 scale things out there which are exact copies of the things they were copied from. I haven't seen anything past 1:750 which I believe is the smallest scale.

I'll go a bit farther than your question and tell you about 2:1, 3:1, etc. When the first number is the largest, then the model is that many times larger than the original object. Models that come in these scales are usually body part and flower models you'll see in science classrooms.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ryanpm The same plane in the same scale will be different by different manufacturers. One good example of this is the Spitfire Mk XI. I have had 2 different kits of a Fw 190 variant and one was way smaller than the other, but they were the same scale.

But that's because of research errors of the manufacturer. Theoretically, those Fw-190 should have exactly the same dimensions.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ryanpm I'll go a bit farther than your question and tell you about 2:1, 3:1, etc. When the first number is the largest, then the model is that many times larger than the original object. Models that come in these scales are usually body part and flower models you'll see in science classrooms.

Heller has a line of plastic model insects wich are also enlarged.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ryanpm [The largest manufactured scale is 1:4 and mostly includes replica aircraft and car engines. There are many 1:1 scale things out there which are exact copies of the things they were copied from. I haven't seen anything past 1:750 which I believe is the smallest scale.

There are plenty of ships in scales over 1/1000, and plenty of sci-fi stuff even "smaller" than that, like 1/2400 Star Trek starships. I forget what the AMT/Ertl Death Star is supposed to be...1/1,000,000 scale or something?

On the other end, Heller makes ants that are 10/1 scale, as RemcoGrob alluded to.

So you see, there are indeed scales "larger" and "smaller" than 1/4 or 1/750.

I'm sure that there are plenty of other examples of scales on either end of the spectrum that I am not aware of, which is why I didn't include any in my original post.
I generally try to avoid making emphatic statements about things I am not sure about!

QUOTE: Originally posted by sniper1 How about all you experts out there give us (Ninrods) a rundown about just what is scale -What is the largest scale and what is the smallest scale.Like for example- Why is one 1:35 model larger than another 1:35 model?This scale business seems to be a bit confusing.

Sniper-that's because the originals are different sizes-like a1/35 Tiger versus a 1/35 Willys Jeep.

Edit: Dang-JHulk said this already! Ooops!

also remember that the smaller the scale ( the larger the number)
the more models you can fit in a given space
but also more often than not the less detail

Good point, DURR-some of these new small-scale kits are very well-detailed (even the 1/144 scale armour).