'Official Scale' for 28-30 mm Models?

[vikotnik]

If I were to use a plastic model kit in a game or diorama, it would have to be in scale with my miniatures, would it not?

Which scale do they have?

1:60?

Does anyone know?

[Poliorketes]

Depends on producer and often on range.
1/60 will do fine, 'modern' 28mm (i.e. 30mm) is more akin to 1/56, older 25mm will do with 1/64.

[Admiral Benbow]

There is no official scale for 25, 28, 30mm or whatelse figures. If an average man of 180 cm height from foot to eyes (or top of head to confuse things even more ... :: ) is represented by a 25 mm figure, than this is 1/72 scale (180:2,5=72). If the figure is 28 mm, than it is 1/66 scale, 30 mm would be 1/61,6 scale. If you count the mini only foot to eye (roughly 170 cm in real life), than you will get: 25 mm = 1/68 scale; 28 mm = 1/60 scale; 30 mm = 1/56 scale.

You see, everything depends on the variables, nothing is fixed. One of the best articles concerning scale can be found here:

http://theminiaturespage.com/ref/scales.html

I really recommend it.

[vikotnik]

Thank You very much guys, You helped me very much by answering!

@ admiral benbow: Yes, the TMP article is highly recommendable!! Cheers!

[WitchfinderGeneral]

There is no official scale for 25, 28, 30mm or whatelse figures.

That's the point!
I wonder who started making figures in this "25mm scale" and why...

[Westfalia Chris]

I believe it was "an imperial thing"... what is more British than the inch (I mean, could you imagine using figures the size of a pint?!?), and thus better suited to be used in the most British of pastimes?

[Red Orc]

25mm as far as I can tell developed from 1" figures, which, if they represent a 6' (72") man, are 1:72.

28mm seems to have developed quite recently. I certainly wasn't aware of it 20-30 years ago when I was collecting military and model railway stuff.

I blame Games Workshop. First they introduce a game in which the main army has soldiers 7'6" tall, then they start making big figures for them, then they have to make their other figures bigger because they look stupid next to the new massive figures, then the 'tall' figures have to be made bigger... meanwhile, as GW are the market leaders for both sci-fi and fantasy figures, other manufacturers follow suit. '28mm' is born.

The thing about GW's figures is that they're "actually" about 1:72 or 1:75. We forget that most 'people' (Space Marines, Orks, Necrons etc) are supposed to be more than 7' tall. A new terminator at 1.5" is supposed to represent a figure about 9' (108") tall. That's 1:72. A space marine, at about 30mm, represents someone more than 7' tall; at 4mm=1' (300mm, give or take) that's 1:75.

And yet, it would look rubbish if you used 1:72, !:76 or similar scale stuff with GW figs. As has quite rightly been said, use what looks good. Depending on the manufacturer, anything from 1:60 to 1:48 could work (even 1:35 if you want massive war machines).

[Dolmot]

Lead miniatures are not scale models.

Height scale is only half of the story. Limbs, tools, weapons and details can be vastly exaggerated. It may be due to sculpting, casting or painting reasons, better visibility on tabletop, or just because it looks good/epic/"right". Take your pick.

Getting any single measurement right does not guarantee, that others in the same mini would be.

[leadfool]

I like the look of 1:48 scale with "28mm" fibures, but that is just me.  I think the 1:56 or smaller look too small. 

[Zafarelli]

I design most of my newer stuff in roughly 1:50 scale for various reasons. It is much easier to do quick calculations than in, say, 1:60, 1:56 or whatever. Then it is close enough to 1:48/O scale, so it can be easily mixed with those scales.

I don't really care what "scale" the miniatures themselves are in, for all those reasons already stated. A mini might be 1:64 in height, but is probably 1:40 regarding thickness of limbs, and probably 1:20 regarding weapon size (on a sidenote: I recently watched the Warzone movie, where they adopted the weapon size of the miniature line, and this looked *really* strange on real people. Shotgun shells thick as an arm? Oh please.)

All in all, if it looks good with my other stuff, I don't care what scale is printed on the packaging.

[Mainly28s]

Most of the UK manufacturers, as well as Tony Ashcroft, who does work for many of the North American manufacturers choose 1:56th as the official scale for 28mm.
The explanation at http://mainly28s.com/how_to/measuring_scale.html shows how they arrived at this scale.

Olaf

[former user]

Lead miniatures are not scale models.
Height scale is only half of the story. Limbs, tools, weapons and details can be vastly exaggerated. It may be due to sculpting, casting or painting reasons, better visibility on tabletop, or just because it looks good/epic/"right". Take your pick.
Getting any single measurement right does not guarantee, that others in the same mini would be.

that's the point
the main issue is the body proportions
that is the reason why people always show different manufacturers side to side
my approach is: if the body proportions fit roughly, you can mix
and as I also like to say : people are of very different heights
different heights but similar body proportions can even give a more natural feeling to units

but it is all about own taste and a relaxed tolerant attitude towards others' taste

[OSHIROmodels]

I use 1:50 if I'm scaling at all and as Zafarelli says, it's a lot easier than 1:56 etc.

I you get an oppotunity, get your hands on a model kit figure of an appropiate size (from the likes of Tamiya/Revel etc) and compare it with a wargaming figure and you'll see the difference straight away.

A lot of it is what people have mentioned, if the scale looks right then use it 

cheers

James

[former user]

tamiya 1:48 have correct natural proportions and are slightly taller

but we are not used to the sight of the tiny heads, weapons, hands etc
I for example use 1:35 weapons sometimes, but these are still tiny and fragile in comparison