"1/50 Cars for 25-28mm?" Topic

TMP's "All About Scales" page TMP link shows that 28mm is equivalent to 1/58, although Wargames Foundry, Bolt Action and others list it as 1/56.

The same page shows 1/64 as being 25mm's equivalent, but the fact that 20mm figures work best with Matchbox's scale of choice would seem to make that a bit of a disconnect.

What range of scales do you find acceptable for use with your 25-28mm figures?

1/43
1/50
1/56
1/58
1/60
1/64

Wyatt

Most of my pulp vehicles fit in the 1/56 to 1/50 range, but then I use a thin base for my figures.

second that simply "scale" vehicles to figures bases can be a slight problem

second that simply "scale" vehicles to figures bases can be a slight problem

That's allegedly why Battlefront scales their vehicles a bit larger in height, I was told.

1/48 seemed to be way too large, but 1/50 seemed to be within reason for figures on bases.

Wyatt

Hypothetical: If I asked you how long your family car was and you had to guess by looking at it from 50 feet away. Most would take a look and say about " 20 feet long, but if the car measured to 21 feet or 19 feet in reality we wouldn't worry too much cause about 20 feet was a pretty close estimate. So if for most folks "about" is close enough, so really whats the difference between 1/48, 1/50, 1/52, 1/55, 1/56 ? The difference is "about" 1 foot.

For me, I think 1:50 and 1:48 look best. 1:43 is ok for larger 'heroic scale' minis.

Most of my cars are between 1/43 and 1/48 (trucks seem to be most common in 1/48). I would probably go as far as 1/40 on the big end or 1/50, but beyond that they just don't look right to me for civilian vehicles.

Remember also that if you use toys, many times the scale is not correct because they've been sized for the size of the box, rather than truely to scale.

I'm slowly weeding out the 1/32 scale vehicles that I've used in the past except for those that I want to be excessvely large.

Take a look at the vehicles in this blog posting of one of our recent battles. They are all about 1/43. link

Also, right now Menards has some 20's and 50's pickups in 1/43 scale for 6 bucks each. Get em quick!

It's definitely a matter of 'carry a figure in your pocket and see what looks about right'.

Many vehicles are, as stated, made to fit into the packaging rather than to actual scale.

I also note, for Pulp players, that 70+ years ago there was a greater variety of size between cars than there is today; the biggest were larger, the smallest quite tiny. Nobody drew lines between parking spaces, either.

Even today, I observe that (within limits) a large car often looks just like its midsize cousin, but is a bit longer and has wider doors and seats. Likewise, a compact is merely the same thing, but a shade smaller. So, if you don't really care that the zombies are pulling people out of an oversized Honda Civic pretending to be an Accord, you'll be fine.

Antenociti had a long blogpost on this, and what really kills the perception of scale is the 3mm to 5mm thick base that most of us use.

3mm at 1/60th scale is 180mm/7". The roofline of the car isn't in the right place anymore, it's too low.

I agree with Mexican Jack and think that there is something to be said for aiming at a visually right look. Some vehicles which are accurately scaled strike me as too large beside the figs.

I think this compares to game table buildings. The building models have to be quite a bit smaller than they would accurately be but if you used accurate scale buildings, or ships for that matter, they dominate the table far too much.

Of course it come down to a matter of personal taste (and what you can lay your hands on) in the end.

Bob Murch
pulpfigures.com

"Antenociti had a long blogpost on this, and what really kills the perception of scale is the 3mm to 5mm thick base that most of us use."

Only if you live in a country without kerbs.

Although that would explain why so many new cars come with barely half an inch of ground clearance.