Is “25mm” WWII mostly played in 1/48 now?

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks for all the responses — it’s very informative but to someone not as active in this scale, also a bit confusing.

For figurines as opposed to vehicles, what mm is the equivalent of

1/48
1/50
1/56

Also if I post a poll asking what scale figurines (men) most people use, would that cause any hard feelings? I know people get quite passionate about scales.

Yes, people get rather passionate about figure heights. Get your flame proof underwear out ^__^.

Reported (305mm to the foot scale) heights are also a bit variable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_average_human_height_worldwide

Based on a 1750mm tall adult male human (floor to top of head):
O Gauge is 40.6mm
Quarter scale (or O Scale) is 36.4mm
1/50 is 35mm
1/56 is 31mm
S Gauge is 27.3mm

But of course a number of us use all three of the scales you mention with nominal "28mm" figures.

But in terms of figure height, frankly, I would go for a compatible figure height to the most popular figures. As has been noted elsewhere, the Perry figures are as tall but thinner than the more heroic proportions of Warlord.

[Westbury]

1/56 is meant to be the 'right' scale but sometimes it just doesn't look right - had a particularly disappointing experience with some Butlers 3D printed technicals which looked more like 20mm but from a scale measurement point of view were correct. The Rubicon kits are wonderful but once you've gone down that road you are kind of stuck with it. We started out with the Corgi die cast which are 1/50 I think (?) and love them but you have to be careful which 1/56 you put alongside them but I guess in a skirmish game the models should be few and far between and also spread around the playing area so the difference in scale shouldn't be too obvious.
I guess at the end of the day it's the look that counts, it's a visual hobby after all. 

[Khurasan Miniatures]

That’s interesting ultravanillasmurf — so if the Perry wwii are 1/56 and that’s 31mm tall, and the Perry medievals are much much taller than the wwii, how tall are the medievals?

[Griefbringer]

I would like to add that the height of 1750 mm given by Ultravanillasmurf is pretty reasonable assumption for average height of WWII infantrymen, and thus a handy starting point for scale calculations.

Sometimes on online scale discussions, some posters especially from US like to start by assuming an average height of 1828.8 mm (or 6 foot), but that is a very tall average even by modern standards.

[Rich H]

In my experience the problem comes when you have a direct man-machine interface, so hatches, door and so on, the worst for this is motorbikes.  A 28mm heroic  fig towers over a 1/56 motorbike so I make them in 1/48 as otherwise the look stupid (remember perrys FJ bike with the tiny wheels?)

also perception is that tanks should be large.  This is mostly wrong but it persists.

The small stuff therefore looks better in 1/48.

However.... the 1/48 stuff is clearly far too large for the larger stuff.  My Tiger IIs tower over the 28mm minis.  Now it's a big tank but it's not *That* big.

Basically 28mm is an aesthetic not a scale.  You cannot claim 28mm is equivalent to a scale as the figures are far too distorted (even perrys are out of proportion compared with a human) with huge swollen heads, hands and feet.  Look at tamiya figures, tall, thing and fragile... wargamers expect heroic therefore it's what we get.

28mm is whatever you want it to be within reason: generally 1/35 is too big, 1/48 - 1/56 is about right and 1/72 is too small plus try not to mix scales of similar classes of vehicle.

I was once told I'd not be allowed to use 1/48 stuff at an event as it was the wrong scale.  I suggested that I measure up their vehicles and anything that wasn't exactly 1/56 scale was likewise wrong.  He shut up then...   

[Truscott Trotter]

I was once told I'd not be allowed to use 1/48 stuff at an event as it was the wrong scale.  I suggested that I measure up their vehicles and anything that wasn't exactly 1/56 scale was likewise wrong.  He shut up then...  
Excellent! 

[Griefbringer]

also perception is that tanks should be large.  This is mostly wrong but it persists.

True, especially many of the pre-war designs were relatively small, though there were some exceptions like the Soviet T-35 landship.

Perhaps the issue is affected by people having seen modern tanks, and then assuming that WWII tanks should look the same size - despite the modern designs being much larger.

My home town has a StuG III on a parking lot, and I have stood next to it - it looks surprisingly small when you are standing next to it. Unfortunately I have not been able to see inside, but I assume the crew compartment would not be a good place for claustrophobics. Still, it is too large to fit into a single parking square, so larger than a modern car.

[Rich H]

Tiny inside!

[Rich H]

I think the reaosn it was usggested I couldn't use my 1/48 was that it was early Bolt Action V1 and I had built an ISU152 - No one had ever seen one before and a direct fire heavy howitzer scares people! 

To be fair it wasn't the tornament organiser - they didn't care!

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Basically 28mm is an aesthetic not a scale

I think that is a perfect description.

[Griefbringer]

That is an interesting sideview of StuG that I had not seen before - looks quite practical for training purposes.

Here is a few photos of the local StuG (not taken by me):

[Ultravanillasmurf]

If you are going to venture into this field commercially, you need to decide if you can generate a range that will fill the needs of players completely (such as the Perry North Africa range) and make the figures the size and proportions you are happy with or you want to augment an existing supplier's range (making them compatible with either Perrys, Warlord or someone else's aesthetic).

In answer to your question above, I do not have a Perry Mediaeval figure to hand to measure. I will see if I can find one (or someone who has can supply the information).

[Rich H]

Indeed, it's a minefield of expectation vs reality.

People often forget/overlook that vehicles generally aren't based and a mini might be on a 2-5mm thick base adding 10% to their height. 
Plus the perspective is weird: you don't look down on people next to tanks, you look horizontally and tanks therefore look big.

Conversely people get he opposite effect with aircraft: aircraft are presumed to be relatively small but even a small aircraft will dwarf a tank.

Add in a bit of heroic sculpting and scale becomes irrelevant - 'that looks about right' is more important.

[Griefbringer]

Add in a bit of heroic sculpting and scale becomes irrelevant - 'that looks about right' is more important.

Considering the popularity of "heroically proportioned" figures, I am left wondering why most manufacturers are still bothering to attempt to make their vehicles in some nominal scale, instead of going for heroically proportioned vehicles.

The only exception I can think are those cute Toon Tanks, with their short hulls and big turrets.



As for the height of the Perry medieval figures, I have a good number of those in my collection - just need to remember to measure them once I get back home.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Considering the popularity of "heroically proportioned" figures, I am left wondering why most manufacturers are still bothering to attempt to make their vehicles in some nominal scale, instead of going for heroically proportioned vehicles..

Do you mean 1/56 scale specifically or any scale?