It’s many years since this message was originally posted. I’ve stumbled upon it looking for terrain suitable for use with Dead Man’s Hand and Artizan old west Miniatures. I’d like it to mix with existing buildings I already own from GameCraft and Sarissa Precission.
I emailed them but received no reply, hence the following question:
Which gauge to purchase for the correct scale?!
Would the miniatures best suit S or O gauge??
I don’t know enough about railway - can any one vouch first hand to having used these beautiful kits?
Thanks in advance
Unfortunately, it's a bit of a lawyer's answer: "It depends".
Commonly, in the UK, 0 gauge is usually 1/43, whereas in the US it is commonly 1/48 (i.e. smaller overall loco on the same track). 1/43 is a bit big except for the largest of figures labeled as "28mm", whereas 1/48 0 Gauge should work out right with figures like Black Scorpion's large cowboy figures.
If you use Wargames Foundry, Dixon or similar, 1/48 is likely to look a bit large, and 1/43 is probably out of the question. In my experience, Artizan (and the later Foundry figures, e.g. Mountain Men range) fall somewhere between the two, so 1/48 US O Gauge could work. I probably wouldn't mind, but I am more in the "looks right" camp rather than adhering to scales.
I have never seen S gauge models in the flesh, so cannot comment on it, but if you do anything beyond small skirmishes and if the train is supposed to be "set dressing", I'd probably go for the slightly smaller option, too.