"What scale tanks for 28mm Infantry skirmish" Topic

SO I have just started getting into WWII skirmish – after suggestions here I am going with Nuts!
I wanted to Normandy US Airborne (specifically 1/507) – but I had to comparmise a bit, as Warlord's Bolt Action paras are in the later uniform and the 1/507th was no longer with the 82nd by then. So as much as it rankled me, I painted them as the 82nd with the 45 uniform and try to forget. But I digress.
Anyway what scale tranks do you use? I was assuming 1/56 as that is the scale Warlord uses, then I found this link that suggeste maybe 1/48 would be better:
sg-lynx.net/?p=1324
So just curious – what folks use.
I presume 1/48 is easier to get.

I use what's cheaper. I had stuck with 1/56 but after a few vehicles I found 1/48 vehicles that were cheaper and I find the scale difference not as important.

In the tradition of TMP: consider a smaller scale for your infantry. 15mm or 10mm for preference.
I'll get my coat.

Advocate
LOL
And to further the tradition….

I alreday have 4 armies in 15mm WWII (FoW: US Airborne, Winter War Finns, Soviet cannon fodder, German Panzer (early, late)

I have gone with 1/56 and am pleased with it.

I find 1/56 work well with the less chunky figs like Offensive, Perry and Empress. I don't have any Warlord.

If you don't mind the expense, you might order a 1/48 and a 1/56 of the same vehicle from Blitzkrieg miniatures and see which you like. Great products.

I'd stick with 1/56 fir 28mm. We use 1/48 vehicles with our 54mm figures.

I have 1/48 and look OK for me.

I always thought 1/48 looked right. I thought I was a minority, but maybe not!

I can see the argument of using 1/56 to not take up as much board space though.

Kind of the same way buildings are sometimes smaller scale. (Though in BA they're not.)

1/48 is technically the correct scale for 28mm figures, but I've used 1/56 when the latter wasn't available… sometimes you have to go to battle with what you got!

I bought only one, 56mm, since I'm doing a skirmish force. I won't need more than one. For now at least!

I believe that 1:56 (or thereabouts) is actually the "correct" scale for 28mm figures. 1:48 means that 1 inch is four feet, so a six-foot man would be 37mm tall.

Now it is true that most 28mm figures have heads, hands, and weapons more in scale with 1:48 than 1:56, but that's a feature of the cartoony exaggerated style that GW and scale creep have trained us to see as unproblematic. But in terms of actual figure height, a 28mm figure won't correctly measure up to a 1:48 vehicle's mud guards, doors, etc.

I have warlord vehicles and miniatures for WWII. My Marder III's crew is noticably smaller than my German infantry. The vehicles look small too. I don't have 1/48 scale tanks but I assume they'd look better

I prefer thelook of 1/48 scale, I think that it goes better with a chunky 28+mm figure on a base. Find what you think looks good, and stickwith it, as 1/56 and 1/48 don't mix well.

Agreed. I went with 1/56 as I believe it is more accurate a scale and never looked back. Pick one that looks right to you and stick with it. The only correct answer is what you prefer on your table.

I've ended up with a mix of tank scales based on what "looks good" to me. I have found that as long as I have all the same type of tanks in the same scale, it works fine. What you don't want to do is have a 1/56th scale Sherman next to a 1/50th scale Sherman, looks silly! In my collection I have ended up with:

1. Most light tanks are 1/56th scale resin and 3D prints

2. Most of my Medium tanks are 1/50 diecast and plastics (Corgi, Solido, etc.)

3. Most of my Heavy tanks are 1/48th plastic kits

Here's an example of a 1/50 diecast Solido T-34 painted as a Stalingrad factory tank with 28mm militia figures from Bolt Action:

A 1/50 diecast Corgi Sherman (as a DD tank) with 28mm Bolt Action figures:

One last thought -- I think sometimes 1/56th scale vehicles can look too small because of how we base the infantry figures. Infantry are usually mounted on a 3mm high base, adding an extra 10% to their height when compared to vehicles.

A lot of people base their tanks as well though in which case basing is irrelevant. Even then a 6' tall figure is 38mm at 1/48 so even with a 3mm base your average 28mm figure is going to look small next to a tank at 1/48.