One of the most confusing things about miniatures gaming are the scales used in the hobby. There are no standards, but many manufacturers do tend to have their scale common with other companies. Figuring which are compatable is one of the adventures of the hobby and will eventually be adresses in thses pages under the "Figures Reviewed and Compared" page. In order to biuld accessaries to go with my figures, I needed to arrive at true scales to work in. The following came out of an article that I wrote for the HMGS-Great Lakes newsletter, The Herald, a couple of years back, and presents a logical method of determining true scales for our miniatures.
Among the half dozen sources that I referred to, the Human Factors Design Handbook (a truly exciting book), gave me the average (50th Percentile) height and eye height for males and for male bus and truck drivers (there was not a category for military personnel). Since the overall average of all males includes the population not fit for military services, I also used the bus and truck driver grouping, figuring that that grouping better represents the portion of the population fit for military service. It is curious to note that the while the average height for bus and truck drivers (69.8") is higher than that of the entire population (68.3"). The eye height for bus and truck drivers (63.4") is actually lower than that of the entire population (64.7").
I have read in various gaming magazines and been told by several manufacturers that figure height in millimeters refers to the height from the bottom of feet to the eyes of a standing figure. Using that measurement convention, the tables below show the modeling scales that correspond to our more familiar gaming scales based on the data from the Human Design Factors Handbook. The sampling best represents the populations of modern North America and Western Europe and does not indicate variation based on race or ethnicity.
While I present a scale range to correspond to the gaming scales,
I think the information from the Human Factors Design Handbook
gives a reasonable standard for human heights and presents more
accurate scales than what I've been told by several of the manufactures.
Clearly, based on my source, 25mm is not 1/48, 20mm is not 1/72
( or even 1/76), and 15mm is not 1/100. All of these are inaccuracies
being related to me by miniatures manufacturers over the years.
Hopefully this will be of some use to somebody building game accessories,
and if nothing else will be of at least a passing interest to
some.
| Game Scale |
Scale of 50th Percentile Bus or Truck Driver |
Scale of 50th Percentile Male |
Notes: |
| 2mm | 1/805 | 1/821 | |
| 5mm | 1/322 | 1/328 | Often called 1/300 by gamers |
| 6mm | 1/268 | 1/273 | Often called 1/285 by gamers |
| 10mm | 1/161 | 1/164 | N guage model railroad is 1/160 scale, I've also seen this scale refered to as 1/168,1/170. and 1/180 by gamers. 12mm has also been called 1/160 by some. |
| 15mm | 1/107 | 1/109 | Generally accepted as 1/100 these days |
| 20mm | 1/80 | 1/82 | Often called 1/72 or 1/76 by gamers |
| 25mm | 1/64 | 1/65 | 1/64 or 3/16"=1" is American Flyer model RR . 25mm has been refered to as 1/72, 1/68, 1/64, and 1/60 by various gaming sources |
| 28mm | 1/57 | 1/58 | Refered to as 1/64, 1/60, 1/56, and 1/48 in my experience. |
| 54mm | 1/29 | 1/30 | 1/35 is often called 54mm |
| Model Scale |
Millimeter Scale Equivalent Truck Driver - Average Male |
Notes: |
| 1/300 | 5.3mm - 5.4mm | Micro gaming scale |
| 1/285 | 5.6mm - 5.7mm | Micro Gaming scale |
| 1/220 | 7.3mm - 7.4mm | Model Railroad scale |
| 1/160 | 10mm - 10.2mm | Model Railroad scale |
| 1/144 | 11.1mm - 11.4mm | Model aircraft scale |
| 1/100 | 16.1mm - 16.4mm | Model aircraft scale |
| 1/87 | 18.5mm - 18.8mm | HO guage Railroad and Roco minitanks scale |
| 1/76 | 21.1mm - 21.6mm | Model armor scale |
| 1/72 | 22.3mm - 22.8mm | Model aircraft and armor scale |
| 1/48 | 33.5mm - 34.2mm | Model aircraft, armor and RC ship scale |
| 1/35 | 46.0mm - 46.9mm | model armor scale |
| 1/32 | 50.3mm - 51.3mm | Model aircraft and armor scale |
| 1/24 | 67.0mm - 68.4mm | Model car, aircraft, and armor |
Human Factors Design Handbook, by Wesley E. Woodson, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981.