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Scale Up, Scale Down

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  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Makati City
Scale Up, Scale Down
Posted by andrewo on Sunday, March 5, 2006 10:00 PM

Help!!!Banged Head [banghead]

I need the formula for scaling up from 1:200 to 1:100, 1:72 to 1:48, 1:72 to 1:32 etc... I recall Paul Boyer giving readers the scale up/down formula but I lost the issue.Boohoo [BH]   Anybody?Question [?]

Thanks. I appreciate the help.Big Smile [:D]

Andrew

 

Got the guts to make the cuts?
  • Member since
    May 2005
  • From: Left forever
Posted by Bgrigg on Sunday, March 5, 2006 10:26 PM
Here's a scale conversion chart on the web!

So long folks!

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Monday, March 6, 2006 9:11 AM

That chart works, of course, but those three particular examples are straightforward.  200 = 100 x 2, so to convert a measurement on 1/200 scale to 1/100 scale, multiply the measurement by 2.  72 = 48 x 1.5, so to convert a measurement on 1/72 scale to 1/48 scale, multiply the measurement by 1.5.  72 = 32 x 2.25, so to convert a measurement on 1/72 scale to 1/32 scale, multiply the measurement by 2.25.

One of the most useful tools for a modern model builder's workbench is an electronic calculator that works in feet, inches, and fractions.  Such gadgets used to be rare and expensive, but nowadays you can pick on up at Lowe's or Sears for less than $20.00 - and it probably will have keys to convert between the English and metric systems, too.  With a calculator like that, you don't need any theoretical math at all.  If you're converting something from 1/72 to 1/48, key the measurement in 1/72 scale into the calculator and multiply by 72.  That gives you the size of the real object.  Then divide it by 48 to get the dimension in 1/48 scale.

Some people seem to get intimidated by the concept of scale, but it's actually pretty simple.  It involves no math beyond basic arithmetic.  (I never took a math course beyond high school, and I graduated from high school in 1969.  If I can do scale conversions without a table, anybody can.)  Just remember that, in working with fractions, the size of the fraction goes down as the denominator (the number on the bottom) goes up.  (That is, 1/8 is smaller than 1/4.)  As long as the numerator (the number on top) is 1, you can convert from one scale to another by working out the ratio between the two denominators.  Figure out in advance whether the result should be smaller or larger than the figure you started with, multiply or divide one denominator by the other (as appropriate), and everything should work out fine.

Part of the problem people have with scale is undoubtedly due to the casual, sloppy way in which some people discuss it.  I cringe every time I hear model aircraft builders talk about "quarter scale."  A model of even a small aircraft on quarter scale (i.e., 1/4 actual size) wouldn't fit in most people's houses.  The perpetrators almost certainly meant "1/4 inch scale," or 1/4" = 1', or 1/48 scale.  (There are 48 quarters of an inch in a foot - right?)  I wish that phrase "quarter scale" would disappear from the modeling vocabulary.  I've never heard anybody refer to a model on 1/72 scale as "sixth scale" - which would make just as much sense.

I apologize if this as insulted anybody's intelligence.  An understanding of scale is pretty fundamental to scale modeling, and I get uncomfortable when I see anybody get intimidated by it.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Makati City
Posted by andrewo on Monday, March 6, 2006 11:45 PM

Thanks - this is really gonna help!Thumbs Up [tup]

Yeah!! [yeah]Andrew

 

Got the guts to make the cuts?
  • Member since
    January 2003
Posted by Jeff Herne on Tuesday, March 7, 2006 9:13 AM
I can only scale up or down if I have my shoes off, and then it's only in increments of 5... Wink [;)]

One of the best conversion charts I've found is here:

http://www.wwi-models.org/misc/scalecon.html

Jeff
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