"A visual example of 1:48 next to 28mm infantry" Topic

A recent post asking about the confusion over matching up scales when buying vehicles to go along with infantry brought up again the problem with 28mm miniature scale vs. the classic military scales in modeling.

The consensus seems to be that 1:48 vehicles are the best match up to 28mm infantry in many if not most cases.

Apparently, 28mm scale vehicles are actually more compatible with like 20mm scale miniatures, maybe even 18mm in some cases.

But the overall point is that there is a vast off-kilter between the miniature ranges of like 28mm and trying to match them up to the military ranges of 1:35, 1:48, etc.

Here is my example. These are very chunky Artizan 28mm German infantry. Along with it is a 3D printed Tiger Tank that is 1:48. You can see that they match up pretty well. And don't forget that the infantry is a bit artificially taller because they are on raised bases.

Thinking on it now, it's probably better to base your WWII infantry on flat MDF rounds so that you don't add that extra artificial height to them when next to vehicles.

But in either case, the scales match up pretty closely.

I find 1/48 vehicles make humans look too big. I prefer 1/56 for my own miniatures, but each person should make the decision or themselves.

For my Army Men games, I use the way too small (40mm sized?) vehicles with the 54mm men. I have a couple of 1/32 scale vehicles, but they're sooo freakin' huge on the tabletop, as to be too big, even on a 12-foot by 30-foot table! Incongruous? Yes, Virginia, they are totally out of whack with the men, but scale/size compromises make the games more playable.

My other issue with using properly in-scale vehicles with my Army Men figures, is the prohibitive cost: each Tank/Truck, in 1/32 scale, runs $14 USD+, per vehicle. To field 20 Tanks and 20 Trucks/Jeeps would break my hobby budget for a number of years. The whole point of gaming with Army Men is to enjoy a low-cost miniatures game, on a large figure scale and table size. Putting together a gaming table of 12 feet by 30 feet, is costly by itself: 4x8 sheets of thick plywood; covering them with paint or other grassland materials; table leg assemblies to make them into tables; and more. I choose my gaming toys and tools, carefully, to properly husband my budget.

My budgetary concerns also apply to any scale of miniatures: vehicles tend to be more expensive than troop figures. Most of us are on limited budgets for our gaming hobbies. Choose your options, carefully. ;-) Cheers!

I prefer using 1/48 vehicles with 28mm infantry as I think 28's look huge standing next to 1/56 vehicles. The fact that I base all of my troops on slotta bases exacerbates this problem with the smaller scale. When looking at photos of soldiers standing next to tanks and how they line up height wise however, the figs on my raised bases approximate that same height pretty closely standing next to 1/48 scale vehicles. There's nothing to be done about how chunky those same figs are though….

To me tanks are a lot like horses in this scale. Many are undersized to fit the bases or game table played on.

prefer using 1/48 vehicles with 28mm infantry as I think 28's look huge standing next to 1/56 vehicles.

Same here. Some really look tiny, but jeeps I don't mind the 1/56 too much. One big factor for me is cost. I can get diecast (I do more modern) and cars are cheap from the hardware store and I picked up 1/43 Russian made btr's and brdm's for about 20/each, easily 1/2 what a "wargame" vehicle runs and they're diecast so they can take more abuse. Both have to be painted (assuming I don't want the standard green they come in). Tamiya tanks in 1/48 and helos in 1/55. The size difference between 28mm figs and scaled vehicles isn't so bad since lots of buildings are variable in their scale anyway. I guess unless I was using 1/72 plastic figs where vehicles and buildings would also be in 1/72 scale it's not that critical.

I got into building scale models when I was 11 years old. In the beginning it was all Tamiya 1/35 military (I still have one of the gunners from my 37mm anti-tank gun). Then I started building 40k armies. Then Bolt Action. When I saw how good 1/48 Tamiya vehicles look next to 28mm soldiers I was sold. The bonus is that it satisfies my joy of building a model kit while at the same time building wargaming forces. It's like a Reese's peanut butter cup: 2 great tastes that taste great together (or something like that).

You got your 1/48 tank in my 28mm infantry!

Similar issue with the "10mm" WW2 stuff. I prefer to use 1/144 vehicles (‘12mm") with 1/150 infantry to get a better matchup.

I use 28mm Perry and Offensive Miniatures for most of my WWII. For those types of figures, 1/56 vehicles from Blitzkrieg and Die Waffenkammer work really well. I understand Empress is similar.

For things like Artizan, I think the 1/48 Blitzkrieg vehicles are probably better.

I have some tanks that are supposed to be 1:56 that appear to be bigger than 1:56. Then again, I have some 1:56 that look like 20mm to me and look like toys next to 28mm figures. I recently receive some H-35s off of Etsy and are supposed to be 1:56 but they look very small next to my 28mm infantry. I am so invested in 1:56 that to change now would be very difficult.

I blame Warlord for all this. They made up an odd scale which I am sure they knew was not compatible with their figures just so gamers would buy them thinking they should perfectly match because, after all, they are from the same manufacturer. That way they corner the market for their vehicles.

If they made 1:48 instead then the consumer could buy them elsewhere as well. Good business model. Like the wise man said, "the answer to all your questions is money."