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General Discussions / Re: Model Scale and Gaming Scale - 28mm, or 1:56, or 1:48?

« Last post by Tracks on Today at 11:19:55 am »

I forgot to mention that you can only use the arms, the backpacks, and some of the weapons; the Tompson SMG in both kits (Perry and Warlord) are almost the same size.

Again, this only works with very early "American Infantry" plastic boxed set (Product# WGB-AI-01) from Warlord Games. The heads, and of course the bodies, are a bit more "heroic" (beefier) than the Perry figs. Here is something interesting, I discovered sometime ago was that the WW2 American Infantry by Perry Miniatures are just a tiny bit taller than the WW2 American Infantry by Warlord games, but you will not even notice unless you try.

Yes, I know the WW2 American Infantry by Rubicon Models are metal (pewter), but they blend in well with the Perry Miniatures.

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General Discussions / Re: Model Scale and Gaming Scale - 28mm, or 1:56, or 1:48?

« Last post by ripley on May 16, 2025, 08:59:42 pm »

I have some of the Perry 8th Army parts which look way too small compared to even the early BA Brits with separate weapons .  I kind of like the weaponless arms of the Russian Summer box  , much better for kit bashing . While the newer sets have some great arm/weapon sets , a lot are pair specific , really not much variety .  Every time there's a sale on sprues I pick up a couple of Russians just for the arms . Really like how they give you both a left and right carry arm , very use full IMO .
 

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General Discussions / Re: Model Scale and Gaming Scale - 28mm, or 1:56, or 1:48?

« Last post by Tracks on May 16, 2025, 01:39:53 pm »

"...is the difference in figure sizes from various companies. Its all over the place,..."

Yep, gaming scale is in a world all its own. Way back in the olden days, there was sort of a standard, and that was when 15mm and 25mm was the distance from the bottom of the foot to the top of the head (ignore base and headgear) - yep, figures from Ral Partha, Frontier Figs, Haritage, Minifigs, Scruby, Mikes Models, and a few other older companies might have had different sculpting styles, but at least they were all the same height! I heard that maybe Jack Scruby, legendary sculptor and manufacturer of military miniatures, had a small part in this.

However, then "Scale-creep" became a thing (and a bigger problem). Instead of wanting to play with others, new miniature companies started to make their figures less compatible. They tried to justify this by changing the reference points on a figure, and soon, 18mm became the new 15mm, and 28mm became the new 25mm, but it hasn't stopped! I guess soon 30mm or even 32mm will be the new 28mm.

On top of that, figure companies also started using different "body proportions" or what we now call Heroic Scaling. This distorts things even more (pun intended).

Side Note: If you have the "US Infantry 1942-45" plastic boxed set by Perry Miniatures (an excellent boxed set), you can do some kit bashing using Warlord Games' "American Infantry" plastic boxed set, but only the early plastic set (Product# WGB-AI-01), not the later ones. You know, that first set with separate arms and weapons.

Also, the WW2 US infantry by Perry Miniatures work really well with the WW2 US Infantry figures by Rubicon Models, which are metal.

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General Discussions / Re: Model Scale and Gaming Scale - 28mm, or 1:56, or 1:48?

« Last post by ripley on May 13, 2025, 10:49:41 pm »

The most annoying thing about 28mm - 1/56 stuff is the difference in figure sizes from various companies . Its all over the place , some company's  pewter ranges  vary depending on who made the masters . You'll find their Germans fit well along side Rubicons but their Russian troops dwarf them but work with BA plastics  . The tank commanders in the BA panzer III , IV , Panther , Tiger and Tiger II are all different sizes , why?  Buying figures on line is a gamble , I  figure that about 50% of the pewter figures I order end up thrown in a bin as they are too big , small or misshapen  horrors .  Plastics and the new BA resins also vary in size , although plastic is easier to "fix" , I've done a few kit bashes  using one companies torso , anothers arms and anothers head to get a tank commander figure that would fit in a specific hatch . Not much fun trying that with pewter figs .
 1/48 can have its uses IMO , i have a few Tamiya troop boxes of German & Russian figures , and while the personal gear and weapons are of a smaller or slighter construction , most figures will work with BA gear , and if you keep them together in a squad or group . It's very difficult to place a half dozen different brands figures together with some not looking out of place due to size ( heads , weapons , canteens etc ) True Tamiya figures are of a slighter build than most heroic 28mm , but people due come in different thicknesses  , its just that they are too tall , a slice out of the legs will fix that , at least it works for me . I've also done that to seated figures so both their rear ends will sit on the seat and their feet will touch the floor . I'm thinking some vehicles kits aren't true to scale .  Also I like 1/48 for jeeps , kubels & small armoured cars  ( Ba-64 ) , stuff I'm only going to want one of . Most smaller vehicles , bar some Rubicon , are resin with a lot of molded on stowage and figures . I hate that . I want to add my own crews and stowage , so plastic 1/48 is the way to go . I was really disappointed when I wanted to build a D-Day beach scene and realized the only DD Shermans had a pile of molded stowage  ( can't recall pictures of DD tanks in the water covered in gear ) so all 3 in my diorama would be the same .  No thanks .
End of the day its still just a hobby , boys playing with toy soldiers , yes they can be very detailed and well painted but to most people out there , including most of our  family they're just one step above those  soft plastic green army men . 
The Victrix Germans look great ( 2 boxes on order ) , hopefully other companies  produce more  plastic figure sets . I am looking forward to BA's plastic  winter British , and they just announced a Studebaker truck , hopefully it will have seated troops like the Opel & Bedford . Russians please , I need more tank riders . I'm hoping Rubicon gets over their Nam fixation and start releasing some of the WW2 kits they showed us years ago , Churchill , Staghound , Lee/Grant to name a few I want  . I have found some of these kits in resin , 3D printed or plastic from others but really looking forward to Rubicons . Hopefully they will be released before I go back to 35th , 25th and 16th scale model building , I've got too many kits in my closet to let them get sold off for pennies on the dollar by my kids when I die
 
 

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General Discussions / Re: Model Scale and Gaming Scale - 28mm, or 1:56, or 1:48?

« Last post by Tracks on May 13, 2025, 11:59:07 am »

Had the Warlord Games figure been less beefy, it would be a perfect fit.

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Wish Lists / Re: Focusing on the more useful kits – wake up and smell the molded plastic!

« Last post by Tracks on May 13, 2025, 11:37:01 am »

To use or not to use 1:48 model scale models for 28mm gaming scale has caused many discussions and misconceptions. Some good articles and physiology papers can be written about this topic. What some people don't realize is that model scale and gaming scale are two different worlds.

What I have done, was to started a simple topic on this under "General Discussions", since it really doesn't fit here under "Wish List".
For those few that might be interested, please go here:
https://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=1228.0

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General Discussions / Model Scale and Gaming Scale - 28mm, or 1:56, or 1:48?

« Last post by Tracks on May 13, 2025, 11:26:06 am »

28mm is an abstract "Gaming Scale"; 1:48 is the wrong scale, so Rubicon Models, please do not switch to 1:48.

All the miniature figures from Perry Miniatures, Rubicon Models, Victrix, Artizan Designs, Wargames Factory, Empress Miniatures, Eureka Miniatures, Wargames Atlantic, and yes, even Warlord Games are 1:56 scale, or better yet, what we call a 28mm gaming scale. That is, the height and not by beefiness (AKA heroic scale). Model scale and gaming scale are two different worlds.

What is heroic? Simply explained here:
https://zandoriastudios.com/tag/heroic-scale

The scale conundrum
https://figurfanatikern.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-scale-conundrum.html

Side Note 1: The very early plastic infantry boxed sets from Warlord Games were not as heroic as their later plastic boxed sets. Their earlier plastics fit in (pun intended) better with Perry, Rubicon, Wargames Factory, and so on. Why is Warlord Games going with a more heroic sizing look? The now OOP WW2 figures by Wargames Factory were really good, and does anyone know if Warlord Games (who bought the molds) plans to release these WW2 figures as they with some of the other Wargames Factory figures?

Side Note 2: The new Late War German Infantry & Heavy Weapons by Victrix are nice, and blend in well with Perry and Rubicon figures.
https://www.victrixlimited.com/products/28mm-german-infantry-heavy-weapons?variant=51894219669886

Side Note 3: I still have some very old Bandai WW2 infantry from their line of 1:48 scale of WW2 kits (Sadly, long OOP). Even the heads from these Bandai kits are slightly smaller than the heads from the newest plastic infantry boxed sets recently released by Warlord Games. Warlord's figures are 28mm (gaming scale) while the 1:48 scale figures (Bandai or Tamiya) are about 36mm (gaming scale).

Side Note 4: For art majors, heroic scaling might seem weird because it doesn't follow the rules for anatomically correct portions.

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Wish Lists / Re: Focusing on the more useful kits – wake up and smell the molded plastic!

« Last post by ripley on May 12, 2025, 10:20:23 pm »

Thank you . I find most heroic sized  BA figures seem to fit well with 1/48 vehicles . I fact because I hate all the molded  stowage on a lot of the resin BA vehicles , I've used Tamiya 1/48 kits for my Jeeps , Kubels & small armoured cars . Plus they are easy to kit bash

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Wish Lists / Re: Focusing on the more useful kits – wake up and smell the molded plastic!

« Last post by Tracks on May 12, 2025, 10:02:10 am »

I really could use a SU-76 or 2 as I have a couple of real good reference books on the subject for additional detailing . Could you PM the name of the company you got it from ? .

Here is the link to the STL file:
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/su-76m-self-propelled-gun-for-dust-warfare-1947

However, it is scaled for 1:48, but it seems that it is really easy to get it to 1:56.

What he did was simple, since we measured the actual size of a real SU-76, he just used this for resizing the STL - a good reference book confirms our measurements. From track tip to track tip, it was printed at about 82mm (81.8mm to be more precise). For this STL, this gives a fender tip to fender tip of about 87mm, which makes it about same size as a Warlord Games SU-76; one of their "nicer" resin and metal parts model kits.

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Wish Lists / Re: Focusing on the more useful kits – wake up and smell the molded plastic!

« Last post by ripley on May 10, 2025, 10:41:30 am »

  I've bought some 3D printed stuff from a US company and a couple of UK sellers who are licensed to print other's files . Depending on the file, the vehicle can be a very well detailed single piece or a kit of 6 - 8 pieces . I'm pretty happy with the tanks I've bought . One of the T-70s is hollow molded with separate driver and turret hatches , which I like as I tend to add crew and turret detail ( gun breach / radio , etc). I've also got some artillery pieces from the same companies , very well detailed guns but IMO the crews are hit and miss , with figures replaced with Warlord plastics. I will still get the plastic kits when they come out as plastic is so much more kit bashable . I do find the hollow printed kits have much finer detail than the solid ones. A couple of Stugs had some misshappen detail on the track run and both had the same misprinted spare wheels , these were repaired/replaced with detail bits from the parts box .   I really could use a SU-76 or 2 as I have a couple of real good reference books on the subject for additional detailing . Could you PM the name of the company you got it from ? .