Which Car Scale?

[Uncle Pete]

Question for the car wallahs.  I’ve been building planes and like 72 for the scale.... Good size for the shelves.  I’d like to have a crack at some cars but would like to stay constant scale and noticed the “right size” choices are 35 and 32.  Question is, which scale would offer more choice of subject?  

[rs2man]

The most common car modeling scales are 1/24 & 1/25 .  Generally European & Far Eastern manufacturers are more likely to go for 1/24 , whilst US manufacturers tend towards 1/25 , though you'll find plenty of exceptions & Revell issue kits in both scales .  As regards what gives you the most choice , it depends on what type of vehicle you want to build - if you're into European or Japanese cars , then 1/24 will give most choice , but if you build American cars then 1/25 is favourite . 

Hannants currently have 215 1/24 scale cars & 140 1/25 scale cars in stock , so there's plenty to go at in either scale . By way of comparison , they have only 22 in 1/32 scale , most of which are new Revell snap-together kits or old Airfix kits from the 1960s & 70s . 

 

Hope this helps

 

John Green

Nantwich , Cheshire

 

 

[Black Knight]

I'd support John on about 1/24 & 1/25

I started years ago doing 1/32 cars. Subjects are limited and except for a few recent new kits from Airfix, eg the BINI, Jaguar and Aston Martin all the kits available are very old ones. The old kits aren't very detailed, they are very basic, plus some of them can sell for silly £££££

If I was starting again I'd go for the bigger scale

 

Another scale for model kits of cars is 1/43, but again there isn't a good range, and why build a car kit when you can buy a diecast version of it?

[Uncle Pete]

Thanks, guys. 24/25 seems to be the way to go then. (Not sure where I got 32/35.... Must be getting old).  Only a couple of percent difference won’t show up on the shelves.  Having lived half my life in the US and the other half here I’d be inclined to be putting a Caddy next to a Moggy next to an F1 next to a NASCAR stock. 

[rs2man]

10 minutes ago, Uncle Pete said:

Thanks, guys. 24/25 seems to be the way to go then. (Not sure where I got 32/35.... Must be getting old).  Only a couple of percent difference won’t show up on the shelves.  Having lived half my life in the US and the other half here I’d be inclined to be putting a Caddy next to a Moggy next to an F1 next to a NASCAR stock. 

 

As regards the difference between 1/24 & 1/25 , it's only obvious if you put 1/24 & 1/25 kits of the same vehicle side by side - then there's just enough difference to be obvious .  If you put a 1/24 Mini next to a 1/25 Dodge Charger , nobody will notice .   

 

You mention F1 cars  . Beware that many of them - certainly all the Tamiya & at least some of the Hasegawa - are 1/20 , though there are enough kits to let you build a nice collection in 1/20 as well . 

[Uncle Pete]

8 minutes ago, rs2man said:

collection....1/20

Yet another scale?  Not sure the wife’s sense of humour would stretch that far!

[Rob G]

Word of warning - don't expect Tamigawa quality from most of the US produced kits. Most of them are reissues of 60s and 70s kits that weren't all that great back then, and they haven't improved with age. If only the the Asian manufacturers would cast their eyes at classic US muscle..

[Stu_davros]

1 hour ago, Uncle Pete said:

Yet another scale?  Not sure the wife’s sense of humour would stretch that far!

If you are interested in F1 cars the choice in 20th is far greater than 24th.

Only Revell currently produce 1/24th F1 and the occasional reissue from Hasegawa. In 1/20th scale there are new kits from Tamiya, Fujimi and Ebbro plus a huge back catalogue.

In 1/43rd scale there are a lot of kits available in White metal or resin but very few in plastic.

 

Stuart

[Uncle Pete]

16 minutes ago, Stu_davros said:

F1

All things considered (and now that you guys have offered these tips) I reckon if I tackled any F1s I don’t suppose comparative scale with street cars would matter.  Different shelf, different scale... I can live with that.  Cheers. 

[sennapod]

For F1 kits, don’t forget for the ultimate luxury that Tamiya do some delicious kits (mostly 70/80s) in 1/12 scale - although availability and ££££ can vary wildly. There are periodic reissues....

[Uncle Pete]

On 7/12/2018 at 10:47 PM, sennapod said:

For F1 kits, don’t forget for the ultimate luxury that Tamiya do some delicious kits (mostly 70/80s) in 1/12 scale - although availability and ££££ can vary wildly. There are periodic reissues....

Thanks for that but I'm shying away from the bigger scales, partly from shelf space and partly because the greater detail available stretches my build abilities a bit too far!  I'm good with 1/12 for bikes, though.