"Do you mix 1:72 and 20mm together?" Topic

Would you use 1:72 scale and 20mm figures together?

* no
* yes, but not in the same unit
* yes, even in the same unit

Yes. Mix as required for the game. The little variation in size won't make your dice rolling any better nor worse than if they all were the same size.

Remember the goal is to have fun. Your game should not be an IPMS competition. As long as they are "close", you may not even notice while in the heat of battle.

Yes, sometimes in the same unit depending on how they look.

Yes. Vehicles rarely but actual soldier miniatures yes.

Figures yes, vehicle no.

Yes, mainly use 20mm figs, but some vehicles and arty/ support weapon crews are 1:72

Tally Ho!

Yes – +1 Dye4minis

Yes, of course, although sometimes 1/76 and 1/72 scale vehicles of the same type are so ludicrously different in size that they look daft together.

Yes, occasionally I cheat by adding a little cardboard between the base and the figure.

My vehicles are 1/72 and my figures 20mm. A few figures are 1/72, especially vehicle crews.

Having said that, I thought 20mm was 1/72 based upon fitting figures in with HO/OO trains? Please enlighten me.

Older 20mm are 1:76, newer are closer to 1:72

Having said that, I thought 20mm was 1/72 based upon fitting figures in with HO/OO trains? Please enlighten me.

There's math, and then there's differences in sculpting approaches, and what you can do in plastic versus metal. TMP link

Thanks Ed. That looks as clear as it can be.

Yes.

Yes – sometimes in the same unit and sometimes not depending on how well the "heft" of the figures match up.

Actually do the same with plastic 1/72nd – some different manufacturers just don't look good to me mixed in the same unit. But others look fine.

So, it depends.

Why yes I do. I have noticed the 20mm infantry is thicker then the 1/72 plastic infantry. Still close enough for me.

Yes

+2 Dye4minis

Not in the same unit.

Yes in same unit. With height and weight variances it looks normal instead a unit of identical height and weight

Based on a man of 1.8m tall, 20mm would be 1/90th. Just saying.

I mix Airfix and "20mm" metals. Which are often 22mm or so tall. But some 1/72nd are 25mm and are a bit too big.

Yes

@Dagwood.
Most of the "20mm" figures ( AB, Foundry, Fantassin) I have are around 23mm overall. In 1/76 that equates to around 5 feet 9 inches, which seems reasonable for a WW2 soldier, in 1/72 it would be just over 5 feet five and a half, so a bit short.I do have some Empress "20mm" that are about 25mm tall, that is around 6feet 3 inches @1/76. Or 6 feet at 1/72. That might be OK for some well nourished Americans)

When considering mixing 1/72, 1/76, and 20mm, I apply the scientific principle of "does it look OK?" and proceed from there.

The same color scheme helps things look more OK.

The same vehicles in slightly different scales, or even in the same nominal scale from different manufacturers, rarely look OK.

Mostly no. The majority of my figures are 20mm metal and most vehicles are 1/76 with a few minitank soft skins

I do have a few 1/72 250 and 251 halftracks and needed to cut down the bed on the 251 just for appearance sake.

Yes — 20mm Dark Future and other metal minis + plastic Zombies!!! + other 1/72 plastics.

Yes – +3 Dye4minis

Yes, even in the same unit. +4 Tom Dye.

YEs. All the time if they look close, that's good enough.

Yes

Yes

Yes, if the size is similar.

Steaming Dave – ."I do have some Empress "20mm" that are about 25mm tall, that is around 6feet 3 inches @1/76. Or 6 feet at 1/72" – the Kings Company Grenadier Guards!

Tally Ho!

yes, even in the same unit

If you do the math, 72 inches is equal to six feet. Therefore it stands to reason that 1/72 scale is representative of a 6-foot Human, represented by a 1-inch figure, foot sole to top of head. This keeps the math as simple as possible, as well as keeping the scale concept as simple as possible.

Since 1-inch = 25.4 mm, you basically have 1/72 scale being one-inch miniatures. But… Only if you want to keep things simple and easy to understand. No one really does that, though. LOL!

Today, 1/72 is typically used for 20 mm to 24 mm figures. I fudge it all, mixing 22 mm to 28 mm figures together, as I play fantasy games, and mixing figures of differing sizes works well to represent the various fantasy races: they range from 2-1/2 feet tall, to 7-feet tall! Scale and size are useful for me, but I play loose with them, as well.

If I were to be a scale/size Nazi, I would be 3D printing 24/7/365, to get a variety of miniatures in their "proper" sizes. Fudging with the miniatures' size and scale, makes life easier, and I began collecting miniatures in 1993, decades before 3D printing was an affordable hobby. Cheers!

Yes

Sgt Slag, you are correct that 1/72nd should correspond to 25mm. However, as we all know, "25mm figures" are not 25mm tall, but 27 or 28mm; nor are "20mm figures" 20mm tall.

More relevant, are the rifles and other arms about the same length ? Or noticeably different ?

Scale is a mess, I know.

My 1/72 figures are noticeably smaller in body, weapons, etc., from my 28mm figures.

Like I said, if I were collecting today, I'd plunge into 3D printing, and make all of my figures properly proportioned to one another, in their proper sizes.

Fortunately, my hobby ship sailed before the 3D printer market became accessible. I didn't dodge a bullet, I dodged a 16" Naval Shell! The 3D printing hobby has a steep learning curve, and using the rubber-like resin is expensive; mixes of the pricey rubber-like resin with the less expensive, more brittle resins allegedly works, but I likely would just go for broke, to avoid my miniatures breaking altogether. LOL!

I have had too many resin 3D printed models, which I purchased from Etsy sellers, snap off at the ankles, already…

The 3D printing route is the only way to get properly sized miniatures, unless you can actually find what you want/need from metal/plastic molding companies. I've mixed and matched many different maker's miniatures, but with fantasy, I have considerably more leeway. Cheers!

the mm scales were set up when everyone was making Napoleonic figures and they all wore bizarre headdress. Since the tops of their heads were covered the size was based on a standing man to the eye.
Modelling scale was based on equipment and not people, so the ratio was easily measured and calculated.
20mm is 1/72.

Murville, except that the eyes of a 1/72nd figure should be around 23.5 mm.

You would have thought that a sculptor would have been able to work out the correct height for the eyes, and adjust accordingly. And most sculptors start from a blank "dolly" which has no hat.

Agreed, Dagwood. There are all kinds of stories shared to explain away how 1/72 is not a six-foot man, foot-sole to top of head. The reality is that the math clearly demonstrates the ease of using a 6-foot, or 72-inch tall man, reduced to 1-inch, or 25mm tall figure (the 0.4 mm is ignored, for simplicity's sake).

I get it, I understand the concept of Napoleonic figures having the top of their heads covered by very tall hats.

What I've seen, over the past 30+ years, is that sculptors are not interested in making figures to a specific height or scale. That requires tedious precision -- it ain't easy.

I also understand that it is much easier to sculpt larger figures, compared to smaller figures, so Scale Creep is a matter of convenience for the sculptor, and it helps push customers into buying a single maker's line of figures, assuming they all size up closely to each other, from line to line… Ignoring precise figure heights has multiple reasons for existing.

I believe that 3D printing can allow its adherents to achieve better sizing of miniatures, if they put the effort into adjusting their STL files, before they print them. Again, it is a lot of tedious work. LOL!

I truly believe that we will have fudged scales for miniatures for the foreseeable future, as no one can agree on much of anything. LOL! Cheers!

Different "scaled" people is fine since people are of different scales. Photographers learn, teach, and write about how to compose a photo that hides distracting non-uniformity of different people.

This is a great example, because you normally don't get this height variation in five people from the same unit. Composition doesn't change the people, but you have to work at it to realize that the officer on the right could easily put his chin on top of the one on the left.

The point is not to hide reality, just to keep that specific one fact from becoming the only thing you can focus on in the picture.

With larger groups, perspective can help you "normalize" everyone.

For honors and ceremonies, you do the same thing – arrange the people so body morphology differences don't distract from the point of the event.

Weapons, however, have less tolerance. Like photo composition for different body types, there are ways to lessen the impact of differently scaled weapons (even ones from the same line of minis). A variety of poses helps a bit, a well as separating "identical" figures.

Mixing 1:72 and 20mm is not much of a problem for me.

Somewhere, perhaps in my parents' garage*, I've got a bunch of plastic figures that claim to be 1:72 scale, but stand about 20mm to the top of their heads. They'd look very small next to most things sold as 20mm.

* Think less a small building for putting a car in than the warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

My vehicles are 1/72 and my figures are 20mm. It all tends to work out. Now 1/76 is a different matter. Those vehicles stick out like a sore thumb.

If you think 1/72nd and 1/76th vehicles don't work together, try 1/90th !!

(Respectively 25.4mm, 24mm and 20mm for six foot.)

My ESCI 1/72 troops of my youth look stupid next to my 20mm AB
and Elhiem "real" wargaming figures. They can't mix, not just because the plastics have slim realistic proportions but also their weapons look slimmer, differen't bodies are a thing, but different sized weapons of the same type definitely are not.

I am doing alternate Vietnam in 1/72 plastics. But no metals will be attending..

Some Elhiem 20mm with 1/72 repainted die cast toys/kits

Elhiem 20mm less convincingly assault a 1/76 reissue of Fujimis "Secret Strong Point" playset (check the tiny doors):

etotheipi,

It's not just weapons it's all the gear they carry, backpacks, slouch bags, cartridge boxes, etc.

Yes, I too mix 1:72 and 20mm.