Accurate scale?

[DreamGarage]

Hi, Sorry if I am asking something that has already been covered elsewhere but...... today I received two Heller kits - the Blower Bentley and the Delahaye. I obviously haven’t built them yet but in the box the Delahaye seems bigger than the Bentley whereas I know in real life the Bentley is a big car. I am in the middle of building another Heller kit - the Talbot Record - and again it does seem large against my other 1/24 models. Maybe a silly question but are Heller kits ( and other kits for that matter) accurate to scale?

 

Also, I am tempted by some 1/25 scale kits and want to know whether they look ok amongst 1/24 kits. The difference in scale should equate to 1/4 inch for a 12ft car length and 1/40th inch for a 15inch wheel Which both seem trivial particularly when not directly comparing the same car side by side. 
 

I don’t want to be a scale snob but I am building a “car collection” and would prefer if they look similar. 
 

thoughts? 

[johnlambert]

Without checking it's hard to be sure, but don't underestimate how big the real Delahaye could be, I think they were large cars.  I've got a couple of Heller 1/24 kits (BMW 328 and Citroen Mehari, which look about right to me.

 

Here's a 1/25 Plymouth GTX next to a 1/24 Alpine A110 (AMT and Tamiya respectively) and they look appropriately sized to me.

 

If I get a chance I'll do a comparison between the Plymouth and an unbuilt 1/24 scale Plymouth Road Runner by Monogram, which is essentially the same car in real life.  I think that's the only kit I own in two similar but not identical scales.

[Six97s]

1 hour ago, DreamGarage said:

Hi, Sorry if I am asking something that has already been covered elsewhere but...... today I received two Heller kits - the Blower Bentley and the Delahaye. I obviously haven’t built them yet but in the box the Delahaye seems bigger than the Bentley whereas I know in real life the Bentley is a big car. I am in the middle of building another Heller kit - the Talbot Record - and again it does seem large against my other 1/24 models. Maybe a silly question but are Heller kits ( and other kits for that matter) accurate to scale?

 

Also, I am tempted by some 1/25 scale kits and want to know whether they look ok amongst 1/24 kits. The difference in scale should equate to 1/4 inch for a 12ft car length and 1/40th inch for a 15inch wheel Which both seem trivial particularly when not directly comparing the same car side by side. 
 

I don’t want to be a scale snob but I am building a “car collection” and would prefer if they look similar. 
 

thoughts? 

 

I'm not familiar with those particular Heller kits, but the simplest check would be to find the dimensions of the full size vehicles and divide by 24.  Some of the older Heller racing car kits had accurately proportioned bodies, but the engines and undersides were subject to a lot of artistic licence.

 

Regarding the difference between 1/24 and 1/25, assuming the subjects are properly scaled, the it's definitely noticeable when you mix them.  Since you mention 1/25. I assume you're referring to American kits?   Those can be a mixed bag, but most will be dimensioned correctly, even if there are other errors.   There are a few AMT and Revell kits with odd mistakes in body proportions or lines, so maybe best to ask for opinions here if you have a specific kit in mind. 

 

Wheels can be a bit of a minefield, at least with US kits.   Most 1/25 AMT kits from the '60s to the '80s (and reissues thereof) had a common wheel size, whether it was meant to represent a 14" or a 15" wheel.  Revell 1/25 wheels were always larger than AMT's, comparable with Monogram's smaller 1/24 wheels (presumably intended to be 14").  After the Revell-Monogram merger, the 1/24 Monogram tyres started showing up in 1/25 Revell kits.  🙄

 

I've no idea about Japanese kits, so perhaps someone else will comment on those.

 

 

 

[DreamGarage]

1 hour ago, johnlambert said:

Without checking it's hard to be sure, but don't underestimate how big the real Delahaye could be, I think they were large cars.  I've got a couple of Heller 1/24 kits (BMW 328 and Citroen Mehari, which look about right to me.

 

Here's a 1/25 Plymouth GTX next to a 1/24 Alpine A110 (AMT and Tamiya respectively) and they look appropriately sized to me.

 

If I get a chance I'll do a comparison between the Plymouth and an unbuilt 1/24 scale Plymouth Road Runner by Monogram, which is essentially the same car in real life.  I think that's the only kit I own in two similar but not identical scales.

Thanks. I guess I will get a better idea when they are built

[DreamGarage]

39 minutes ago, Six97s said:

 

I'm not familiar with those particular Heller kits, but the simplest check would be to find the dimensions of the full size vehicles and divide by 24.  Some of the older Heller racing car kits had accurately proportioned bodies, but the engines and undersides were subject to a lot of artistic licence.

 

Regarding the difference between 1/24 and 1/25, assuming the subjects are properly scaled, the it's definitely noticeable when you mix them.  Since you mention 1/25. I assume you're referring to American kits?   Those can be a mixed bag, but most will be dimensioned correctly, even if there are other errors.   There are a few AMT and Revell kits with odd mistakes in body proportions or lines, so maybe best to ask for opinions here if you have a specific kit in mind. 

 

Wheels can be a bit of a minefield, at least with US kits.   Most 1/25 AMT kits from the '60s to the '80s (and reissues thereof) had a common wheel size, whether it was meant to represent a 14" or a 15" wheel.  Revell 1/25 wheels were always larger than AMT's, comparable with Monogram's smaller 1/24 wheels (presumably intended to be 14").  After the Revell-Monogram merger, the 1/24 Monogram tyres started showing up in 1/25 Revell kits.  🙄

 

I've no idea about Japanese kits, so perhaps someone else will comment on those.

 

 

 

Great answer, thanks. I never realised this hobby could be so complicated! Thanks for the advice

[Orso]

As a kid I built many AMT and Revell 1/25 scale cars. I had a friend that built some Monogram 1/14 scale cars and I thought that they looked much bigger than the 1/25 scale so I kept away from those.

[johnlambert]

Same car (give or take a bit of trim) different scales.

 

1/24 Monogram 1970 Plymouth Road Runner on top.  1:25 AMT 1969 Plymouth GTX below.

 

Real car length is quoted as 202.7 inches.  Minus bumpers the GTX is about 205mm and the Road Runner is 210mm.  I wasn't expecting the difference to be so noticeable.

[Spiny]

That pic above does tie in with what I've seen. If you put 1/24 side by side with a 1/25, the difference will be noticeable, although I wouldn't go so far as to say it's obvious.

 

What I've got is them in the same cabinet, but the 1/25s on a different shelf to the 1/24s and it's only noticeable if you stop, think and know that they are different sizes. So if you're going for a collection, for me I woudl suggest that the answer will depend on how you're planning to display them.

[DreamGarage]

2 hours ago, johnlambert said:

Same car (give or take a bit of trim) different scales.

 

1/24 Monogram 1970 Plymouth Road Runner on top.  1:25 AMT 1969 Plymouth GTX below.

 

Real car length is quoted as 202.7 inches.  Minus bumpers the GTX is about 205mm and the Road Runner is 210mm.  I wasn't expecting the difference to be so noticeable.

Mmm. That is quite a difference. I guess the answer is to build one and see what it looks like on the shelf