28mm moderns; 1/48 or 1/56?

[Centaur_Seducer]

Hi folks!
I know this question has arisen before, but instead of pm:ing Carlos and Arlequin, I thought it would benificial to the forum

I'm planning a certain scenario involving two Black Hawks, a compound and two Seal teams...
But, I'm a bit worried about the scale. What's more correct, to do the compound in 1:48, thus having a 2 metre long wall, or in 1:56 scale? Price wise their are a lot of vehicles for a small sum available. And I've sern the Airfix Rovers next to an empress mini and it looks perfect. But how about the Italeri Black Hawk?
I'm a bit lost here, and I'm hoping to gain at least some insight from the 28mm modern pro's

[Arlequín]

No good asking me anyway... once you go past 1980 I'm mostly lost and somewhat uncertain before then.  

There won't be that much difference between 1:48 & 1:56 when it comes to buildings, your 2m wall becomes 1.7m, so not really much difference. Generally speaking most folk crimp on the ground plans, but keep most of the height, otherwise you would struggle to fit anything on the table.

Measure your home and convert it to 1/48 or 1/56 sizes, it's quite surprising how big wargames buildings 'should' be.

Your figures will make a difference as far as vehicles go. 1/48 looks totally wrong with 'small' 28s, but the 'big' 28s, especially if they are on raised slotta style bases, seem to match quite well. 1/56 on the other hand can look 'too small' sometimes, for the opposite reasons.

Helicopters are a difficult one, if you are planning aircraft on the ground, then there really isn't much choice but going 1/48. If they are staying in flight though, you might want to consider 1/72, as it looks less overbearing. If anyone mentions that they seem small, mumble something about 'forced perspective' and something about suffering for your art, they will soon get bored and walk off.

[former user]

I fully agree @Arlequin

@Silversixx, I assume You are going for some streetfight scenario, so I'd go for small houses. You would be surprised how well HO buildings with large doors and windows appear right.  If You want only a few houses, make it 1/48.

[Centaur_Seducer]

I fully agree @Arlequin

@Silversixx, I assume You are going for some streetfight scenario, so I'd go for small houses. You would be surprised how well HO buildings with large doors and windows appear right.  If You want only a few houses, make it 1/48.

Not that much street fighting as per say
http://www.coolhunting.com/design/bin-laden-bunker.php

@Arlequin:
Thank you! I'll go with 48 and just shout to the people pointing it out
Now, how do I fit a 2.4x1.78metre wall onto a board 

[former user]

Yup, for that one You better get 1/48....
how are the Airfix buildings?

[Glitzer]

I went with 1:50 for civilian and 1:48 for military models. They mix up well (unfortunatelly Mattel/Hot Wheels ceased to produce 1:50 civie cars )

You definatelly will end up with better and cheaper Black-Hawks in 1:48. If the Marines Black Scorpion does are sized similar to Black Scorpion's Wild West minis, those would be a good start for your Seals if you want to do 1:48.

[Arlequín]

Now, how do I fit a 2.4x1.78metre wall onto a board 

You don't, you think on what former user suggested and scale it 1/72, so your longest edge will be 1.6m on the table. It's still big, but it should fit on a typical table, although there won't be much room left over.



Theoretically a man 180cm tall in real life, should be around 25mm tall, top to toe, at 1/72, 32mm at 1/56, 37mm at 1/48, so in terms of doors and windows, when compared to walls, there shouldn't be too noticeable a difference... I mean exactly how big is a window?

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I find that big things like trees and buildings need to be scaled down a lot but smaller things often look OK oversized.

I suggest that you scale down the compound and the main building to fit everything on a 180 cm x 120 cm table (6ft x 4ft).  
Keep the original shapes but shrink the dimensions.  

To get the right heights, do a very rough card mock-up with shoe boxes and brown box card and put a based figure next to it – then  adjust until it looks right.

I use 1/48 vehicles (Tamiya Humvee and Airfix Landrovers) and they look OK.  

1/48 helicopters look far too big but 1/60 looks OK.
http://forwardrecon.blogspot.ch/2011/05/new-ray-vs-forces-of-valor-blackhawk.html

For helicopters, you can use the New Ray diecasts that are 1/60 scale.  They have Blackhawk, Apache and Chinook.
Here is  a review.  I have the Blackhawk and it looks "right".
http://forwardrecon.blogspot.ch/2011/05/air-support-has-arrived.html

Mick

[Centaur_Seducer]

You don't, you think on what former user suggested and scale it 1/72, so your longest edge will be 1.6m on the table. It's still big, but it should fit on a typical table, although there won't be much room left over.



Theoretically a man 180cm tall in real life, should be around 25mm tall, top to toe, at 1/72, 32mm at 1/56, 37mm at 1/48, so in terms of doors and windows, when compared to walls, there shouldn't be too noticeable a difference... I mean exactly how big is a window?

I'm hearing you, wise modern man! Damn, it's back to the drawing board.
Or, planning how to play on an aea that's 3x2 metres

I find that big things like trees and buildings need to be scaled down a lot but smaller things often look OK oversized.

I suggest that you scale down the compound and the main building to fit everything on a 180 cm x 120 cm table (6ft x 4ft). 
Keep the original shapes but shrink the dimensions. 

To get the right heights, do a very rough card mock-up with shoe boxes and brown box card and put a based figure next to it – then  adjust until it looks right.

I use 1/48 vehicles (Tamiya Humvee and Airfix Landrovers) and they look OK. 

1/48 helicopters look far too big but 1/60 looks OK.
http://forwardrecon.blogspot.ch/2011/05/new-ray-vs-forces-of-valor-blackhawk.html

For helicopters, you can use the New Ray diecasts that are 1/60 scale.  They have Blackhawk, Apache and Chinook.
Here is  a review.  I have the Blackhawk and it looks "right".
http://forwardrecon.blogspot.ch/2011/05/air-support-has-arrived.html

Mick

Lovely, thank you Mick!
I'm a bit worried about the mould line in the last pic of the Apache. I know that the pedantic me will try to take it away, and that means a repaint. And repaint means taking the model apart and paint the interior
Does anyone have any details of the special super duper black hawk used during the neptune thingy? Can I get away with black non-reflecting windows?

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Remember one your helicopters will not need to land.  A 1/72 model on a long flight stand will work.

The one on the ground will be seen next to the figures.

The stealth helicopter is described here but I do not know if it is real or speculation.
http://theaviationist.com/tag/stealth-helicopter/


There is even a kit with two of them but at 1/144 it is very small.
http://www.dragonmodelsusa.com/dmlusa/prodd.asp?pid=DRA4628

[Centaur_Seducer]

Thank you, Mick! You're a star
It looks a bit "pointy" in some places. But I reckon it will be alright with just an ordinary UH 60 painted black

[Col.Stone]

 the Apache ...a repaint.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=26456.0 
I love these...

[Centaur_Seducer]

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=26456.0  
I love these...

Ooh, I totally missed that! So it is repaintable after all!

I found an US seller (so I probably get beaten up by customs as usual) and for a mere 50 bucks I'll get two Black Hawks and postage.
Damn, I love the recession and the ever deflating US Dollar
Now, I just have to find a way to not to pay 90 Australian dollars in postage from Eureka I first thought that it was meant to read upside down, but then someone pointed out that it won't change a thing

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

How about this? - a 28mm scale laser cut kit of the house in MDF.  Model measures approximately 11" x 9" x 7.5" tall (280mm x 230mm x 190mm)
http://store.gcmshop.com/p/1907/osama-bin-ladens-home-28mm-28mmdf150

There are also dimensions for the compound in 1/72.  You could use this as your ground scale and 1/50th for the wall heights.
http://www.gcmshop.com/images/BinLaden28mm.jpg

[Centaur_Seducer]

Great stuff Mick!
But after some talk with a friend, we decided to go for the larger option. You can't really fit a dungeon full of werewolves in the compound from Gamecraft

I thank you all for the contribution of this thread, and I hope to start this in september. Some German guy who builds massive stuff, and another German guy who builds weird stuff, have put some pressure on me to finish another board