Size matters!?

Started by Gregor d · 24 · 9 years ago · scales
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    Gregor d said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    Or does it? I am interested in how or why people model in a certain scale, and how important that scale is to the modeler in general. What makes someone stick exclusively to 1/72 or 1/48? Personally I am more influenced by the subject matter than in what scale it is. I've tried most of the widely available scales, and the only one i'm not keen on is 1/144, which is just too small for me. I'm also wondering who has the space for a 1/32 scale collection in multi engine types. I'm talking about the recent Revell releases of their, JU88's, He 111 and the He 219. I would love to build any of those but just can't due to lack of space to display them. Built examples i've seen look fantastic but surely there can't be that many sales in these categories to make them commercially viable?! Your average model builder would have to have an extra outbuilding to maintain such a large scale collection. 1/24 is great (as 1/32) for most single seat ww2 aircraft but any modern aircraft with more than 1 engine is gonna fill a display shelf/area pretty quick. Occassionally i see comments on this site that say nice model, but its not my scale, or the smaller scales such as 1/72 is referred to a brail scale. Are there any of you who would dismiss a certain type because its not produced in your chosen format? As i've said i generally go with the subject but its interesting to hear others view on what influences them most when considering a new kit. Obviously i'm refering mostly to aircraft modelleres here as the ship, car, and armour guys aren't as spoilled for choise when scales are concerned. What do you think?

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    AL HOFFMAN said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    When building aircraft I am predominately working in 1/72nd. That is my preference but I build in all scales if I want to build a certain brand or aircraft. The only 1/32nd I have built so far are Williams Brothers air racers. Size is the factor here. As a rule I don't like my models to become dust bunnies so they need to be able to go in my display case. Cost is another factor.

    I start each model saying "I'm doing this one OOB" & then start fiddling. I find that by working in 1/72nd limits my "fiddle" opportunities.

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    George Williams said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    From my experience, as you get older, so your eyesight goes, so the temptation is to go for bigger scales, 1/72 to 1/48 to 1/32 to 1/24 and so on. The upside is that the detail also grows, so it's not necessarily a good idea! Also, as you get older, the probability is that your wallet gets bigger, allowing you to buy the bigger scale models, is that also a good idea? I don't know. Come on, guys, what do you think?

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    Editor said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    I recently decided to move "up" to 1/48 from 1/72 which had always been my preference. May also try to build something in 1/32 soon.

    My two personal reasons for it are: (1) the eyesight as George mentioned (2) bigger models provide a larger "canvas" for airbrushing and weathering, and I have come to the conclusion that this is the fun part of modeling...

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    Bryan W. Bernart said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    For aircraft I love the variety of 1/72, despise the cost of 1/32, and have found that 1/48 fits well in the middle-particularly in regard to eyesight and the evil "options" that are so tempting.
    For cars, 1/20 or larger gets my attention. I have done some armor in 1/48, but it's a 1/35 world.
    All in all, if my eyesight was 20/15 again, I'd go with 1/72 because you'd never run out of subjects.

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    Gregor d said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    Thanks for your responses guys. Smaller scales and deteriorating eyesight don't mix eh?! I rely on magnification a lot in 1/72, especially on canopies. Still i'm happy to see that certain scales aren't dismissed purely because they are fiddly or diminutive. Small is beautiful right? 🙂

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    Gary Jordan said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    Gregor I agree with you . I go with subject , but I stay away from 1/32 , 1/24 . There's just no room for them unless I do a lot of packing ! As for armour I build mainly in 1/35 , but you'll find 1/72 tucked in with the others . As for Braille scale at 60 , I find myself using my optivisor more and more . As you see I don't have a favorite scale . For me living on a fixed income it comes down to subject matter and cost . Hope this helps .

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    Gregor d said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    Cheers Gary, I see the practical approach to your hobby, which makes perfect sense to me. Sadly economics has to prevail when it comes to buying kits and I understand this having a young family and tight budget. I'm still curious as to who can afford the cash & space for the large scale collections tho' 🙂

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    Josh Patterson said 10 years, 2 months ago:

    I generally model in 1/48. I like to have all my subjects relative to one another, and the amount of detail in cockpits and such is usually good enough for me to build OOB. (I did get cockpit sets for my Blackburn Buccaneer and SAAB Viggen because I love painting cockpits and despise decal instrument panels in 1/48!) That being said, I do have a few airplanes that I really like, and they have earned a space in a 1/32 section. I have Hasegawa's F-104C in both scales in the same markings. I have built a few F-100s in 1/48 and got Trumpeter's 1/32 D just because I got a smoking deal on it. It and a 1/48 D will have the markings of "Triple Zilch" I Love the EE Lightning, so I have one in 1/32 along with an F-105. Other than that I'll finish William's Brother's series of racers in 1/32, because they have a nice set and at least they'll be relative to one another! I am however really tempted by the 1/32 B-17. It would be a fun build and the one thing it really has going for it storage wise is that it comes with a mount so you can hang it from your wall like a picture!

    Now, I've also built a few 1/72 planes just because a 1/48 option wasn't offered...yet. The B-35, B-49 and B-36 are about it. Was going to do an XB-70, but Ken West came out with a really nice paper model in 1/48. (It's big, and includes a full cockpit!) I've just about got one done as practice, as I've never built a paper model, but it goes together fairly straightforward.

    As far as why I model in 1/48, I don't know! I started young and that seemed to be the one that stuck! Now I'm just waiting on my 1/48 B-52 from Sanger!

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    Christopher Amano-Langtree said 9 years, 11 months ago:

    Space is my main concern. Living in the centre of Tokyo means not so much room available. 1/72 fulfills my needs for some detail and they aren't so big. Furthermore I find that the scale suits me and enables me to display aircraft conveniently together. I like to stick to one scale though - it really does give me a sense of relationships. Looking at a Gamecock compared to a Vildebeest for example. As for small parts I use an eyeloup and I can proudly claim to have assembled several Steelworks Vickers Potts oil coolers for my biplanes using this.

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    neil foster said 9 years, 11 months ago:

    I only really build 1/48 as it just feels and looks right to my eyes,1/72 is just to small but I will build them if a subject is only available in that scale and I really REALLY want to build the subject.
    N.

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    Gregor d said 9 years, 11 months ago:

    Yep it looks like it does come down to size in the end. A lot of the newer 1/72 kits have as much detail as 1/48's but it all depends on whether you have the space for the bigger scale kits. I still pretty much go with the subject matter as to what i will build, but the space to display and or store it is a factor.

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    Joe Osborne said 9 years, 10 months ago:

    Recently I've become pretty much an overall 1/32 scale and large aircraft (multi engine and jets) 1/48th scale builder mainly because of eye sight and fine motor skills (damn you age!) 🙂 What I'm finding is -especially with 32nd scale aircraft - I'll build fewer models in a year as the scale requires you to detail it out more. Detailing slows the build down a bit, and for me it has also had an unseen benefit. It's teaching me patience in my building and it's starting to show in my work.

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    Jaime Carreon said 9 years, 10 months ago:

    I try to stay with 1/48 for the same reason many of you do. 1/72 is just too small for me to see anymore, though I may build some of the larger airplanes in that scale just for space considerations. I would have absolutely no room for the B-29 Neil just built, and my RC models take up a ton of space as it is!

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    Rob Anderson said 9 years, 10 months ago:

    I would love to build 1/72 as I think a well made 1/72 kit is just amazing, but except for bombers it is just too small for me. 1/48 has always been just right, big enough for detail, but small enough to display. I do love a large scale fighter kit though, but mostly 1/48 is my bag. Blame it on all those great Monogram kits of the 60's and 70s!