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Which scale

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Gary-P, Dec 3, 2019.

  1. Gary-P New Member

    Hi all, I am a returning painter (I used to paint war gaming) and I am very keen to start painting historical figures, mainly ancient and medieval.

    My question is this:

    I really only want to choose one scale to keep everything in balance with each other

    can you explain any pro or cons to the 54mm and 75mm scales

    thanks in advance for any replies

    cheers
    gaz
  2. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    54 mm pros: (1) Cheaper (2) Plenty of choice
    54 mm cons: Not as easy to see & paint small details if (like many on here) your eyes aren't what they used to be

    75 mm pros: (1) Also plenty of choice, and now seems to be the go-to scale for many of the new, up & coming companies - especially those in Russia who are churning out some amazing stuff
    (2) Not too big, but big enough to pack in a lot of detail
    75 mm cons: None really that I can think of

    - Steve
    Banjer likes this.
  3. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    I should prefer 75 mm. As STeve said.
    beside that. You get alot more figure for your money.
    But if you could paint war game figures, 54 will also do.
    So my advice: 54 and 75.

    Marc
  4. Banjer A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Steve has summed it up perfectly.

    Personally I paint 90mm only, I moved from Airfix 54's to Poste Militare in the 70's and liked the scale so I stayed with it.They are not so readily available as 54 and 75 but that helps keep my spending under control. Like you, I want uniformity in the display cabinet. I am not so fussy with busts but still don't like to mix scales on the same shelf.

    OCD. or what?:)

    Bill
    DaddyO likes this.
  5. DaddyO A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Gaz
    A couple of things to add to those Steve mentioned -

    The majority of '54s' are bigger than that in reality being sometimes as large as 70 mm high so you'll still get some height variation. Whilst individually not much difference between the sizes if you like the idea of vignettes and diorama's you'll notice that the bigger size take up a lot more room in the display case

    One slight disadvantage of the larger figure is that because they are bigger you'll have a lot more detail which will need painting whereas on the smaller ones you can sometimes 'fudge' it a bit by using paint to imply detail.

    For what it's worth when I re-started a few years back I decided that the traditional 54 would be a good choice for the reasons already mentioned - easily available, good choice of subjects and cost (The last one very important to me since I was kind've just trying a few to see if I still enjoyed it) Being an ancient and medieval fan there are several ranges that supplied figures of interest so that's what I chose :) As I type this I've also realised that the smaller ones are generally quicker to paint so you'll probably do more of them in the spare time you have which is likely to mean your painting skills will improve quicker (y)

    Bottom line I wouldn't get too hung up on the size - choose a figure you like that you can afford and paint it. Eventually you'll find that you are doing more of one size anyway so just enjoy it ;)
    Cheers
    Paul
  6. Gary-P New Member

    great answers, this is exactly what i was after

    cheers
    gaz
  7. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Gaz,
    I agree with Paul, the scale is unimportant. If it is a come and buy me figure from a period you like then just go for it. I have in my cabinet and stash all scales, 28, 54, 75, 90, 120 and 200mm figures along with busts of varying scales. Just enjoy.
    cheers
    Richie
    Lissorles and Babelfish like this.
  8. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Gaz

    BIG WELCOME to PF ..look forward to your posts

    As for scales ......I only paint busts but have various scales from 1/6 to 1/16th

    ...as I say to my SWMBO size isn't everything ...just enjoy ......LOL ( couldn't resist )

    Agree with Daddy0 .....don't worry about it too much ...JUST ENJOY

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
  9. akaryu Moderator

    Country:
    Belgium
    Welcome to the Planet Gaz!

    75mm anytime, occasionally 90mm or 120mm and busts of course; for all the reasons mentioned here: great choice, plenty scope for details and not too big so you can still have a great collection without building a museum. Being 65plus it allows me to paint with an optivisor without having to use one to view my collection!

    Happy painting,

    Pierre
    Banjer likes this.

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