Scale Measurements

QUOTE: Originally posted by ajlafleche Works ok for nice even numbers of feet, but when you star dealing with 5 feet 7 inches, the result is 1.3958 inches. Even rounding it up to 1.4 inches is hard because most rulers do not have 1/10 inch markings.

true, but the problem is more w/ the divisor (scale) than the system.
another issue is how close you can go w/ your cutting and or gluing.
can you work to a millimeter? that is very close to 1/32 of an inch.
at 1/24 that puts you within 3/4" of an inch on the 1:1
at 1/32 you are +/- an inch
at 1/35 about 1.1 inches
at 1/48 1.5 inches
at 1/72 2.25 inches
is that close enough? i suppose the nearest 1/64 of an inch would be
"twice as close" if you can measure, cut & locate to that precision.

anyway, your example of 1.3958 inches is very close to 1 25/64
(no, i don't have those decimals memorized. i made a chart in a spreadsheet
it would also be 'between 12 and 13 thirty-seconds')


my point is that you can 'get by' w/ a decent 'English' ruler.
OR, you could convert to inches, convert that to millimeters
(by multiplying by 25.4)
and then divide THAT by the scale.
so - 5'7" = 67" = 1701.8mm
1/48 scale = 35.4542 mm

but you are still left trying to cut or glue or measure to some precision.

i would not fixate too much on the stuff too far to the right of the decimal point.
in the example above i would think 35.5 mm would be adequate.
the 'error' would be less than 2.2 mm on the full size item.

This is a nice little program: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/scalemaster.htm

[Butchy I was on the USS Tecumseh SSBN 628B that was my last boat. The firdt one was the Uss Pintado SSN 672 a fast boat out of San Diego. I retired in 1995 after 20. Nukemmcssret

Maybe it's just me, but if measuring and cutting is required to be exact, a set of Vernier calipers, or a micrometer would be useful hands down.
As for the Imperial/Metric thing, I prefer Metric, all this 1/64th nonsense just makes things to complex.

Besides, the older you get, the harder it is to see the notches on the ruler.

Hey if you're looking for scale charts , I've found a few on the web. I just typed in scale modeling charts, model scale charts, etc. I printed some out in triplicate to keep in various places and with my modeling reference material. Also found one or two scale charts in modeling books at the local library. hope this helps.