Auto: scale fidelity question

Almost as iffy as the 72 vs. 48 debate/preference. Some subjects are in 1/24 only (thanks Monogram/Tamiya/etc.) but my choice is 1/25. With AMT(Ertyl/RC2) and MPC(some now released by AMT) offering so many annuals, various customs and specialty items through 40 some years, there is no other choice. And when you think of all the spare/extra parts from those kits,

1/24 doesn't stand a chance :-)

-- Chuck Ryan snipped-for-privacy@REMOVEearthlink.net Springfield OH

I build primarily 1/12, 1/16, 1/20, 1/24, and 1/25. Stuff like the Tomy Speedster and matchbox Auto Unio will even get me into 1/32, and the Entex McLaren will got me into 1/8. We should all be so lucky to be afflicted with an illness that confines us to just one scale. ;-)

My primary interest in modeling revolves around subject matter. If there wasn't stuff of interest, I'd be collecting stamps or match book covers. I would never pass on something because its 1/25th and most of my stuff is 1/24th. As with 1:1 subjects, I usually examine only one specimin closely at a time, and once you put one in front of another, natural optical forshortening of space takes over anyway. Unless you measure a definitive distance between your eye every subject matter you examine in 1:1, its a silly restriction to impose on oneself.... My experience is modeling isn't perfect and some stuff comes out over or under scale size and others reflect the anticipated size differences. I use reality instead of the scale printed on the box. I'm putting 1/25 door panels from a Revell kit in a 1/24 scale Tamiya New Beetle. They fit OK and they look much better than the ones that came with it. Even if I fudge a bit I'm still ahead of the over simplified stock panels.

Tom

Scale doesn't bother me at all on auto models. Heck, lots of times the scaling isn't all that precise anyway (for instance, I suspect that the JoHan 1/25 DeSotos and Chryslers and the Revell Lil John Buttera-derived T kits are all a tad undersize, and I think several of the Monogram late-model Plymouths, their '56 Chevy, their '56 Ford pickup, and their godawful misshapen Camaro are a bit oversize). And I have heard that engines in general tend to be undersized, just to fit them under the hood.

Sometimes, to get a slightly exaggerated effect, I use 1/24 wheels and engine in a 1/25 chassis/body; for hot rods especially, it makes the model more effective. (Gosh, talking about "effects" makes me feel all artsy-fartsy.)

Steve H

Charles Ryan wrote:

I want my kits to be the same scale. At least I did when I started collecting. Now I just want to see the entire stash get built. ;-). If I had my druthers, the industry would have followed Monogram's lead and all the cars would be 1/24th scale and Monogram quality at a minimum. That didn't happen so I followed Monogram's lead and focused my collection on

1/25th scale. 1/24th Monogram NASCARs being an exception that comes to mind.

I'm not going to say I would gladly embark on a costly purge of my existing collection of unbuilt kits, but if the choice came down to a Tamiya quality

1/24th line of car kits of my favorite 60s-70s muscle cars (with engines!), I'd certainly have to consider it. 1/25th be damned.

WmB

To reply, get the HECK out of there snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net

Well, it may be to those few 'scale bigots' I know. To most automotive modelers, it's more a matter of subject availability in

*either* scale. In a few cases, we have the luxury of a choice, but most of the time we don't. If you want to build a '63 Plymouth, it only came in 1/25. If you want a Porsche or BMW, it's 1/24. In addition, *unlike* the other 'Scale Wars', most people can't really tell the difference, at a glance, between these two scales unless the models are side by side.

It does if you build 'foreign subjects'. AFAIK, there is exactly

*one* BMW model car labeled as "1/25" scale (and it annoyingly scales out to about 1/28!) while the vast majority are 1/24. The same thing goes for Porsches, Toyotas, Nissans, Jaguars, Benzes, etc., etc. Only 'Merican Irn' is predominantly manufactured in 1/25 scale. As a result, my building preferences ('60s Fords & Mopars, mostly 1/25, and Japanese & European sports sedans, mostly 1/24) require that I be 'Bi'. Of course, I build 1/20, 1/16, and 1/12, too.

-- C.R. Krieger (Multiscalar)

Since I've been building cars for several decades my choice is delineated by what was the defacto scale of choice in the '60s -

1/25th. Monogram used to drive me nuts by releasing neat kits in the 'wrong' scale. I eventually bought some of their stuff but kept it to the antique cars that wouldn't be obviously oversize to most viewers. It's only since they returned to the fold, as it were, that I've added the 1/24th '50s Thunderbirds and an Otaki '72 to the group. Until RC/Ertl added the '56 recently it was the only way to get a model of those years. The Monogram '58 does look odd sitting next to the AMT '60 that I have. I really should get that '59 restored so a viewer will know which one is odd. ;) 1/25th may not make sense as a scale but 99% of my collection is nominally thus.

Bill Banaszak, MFE