VW Scale Modeling

Model Car Scales

by Herschel D. -

This month I want to explain model car scales. If you don't know the scale of a model, you can determine it by measuring its length or other dimension and then calculate, by division, what proportion it is. "Proportion" can be understood as how much miniatures it would take to equal the length or other dimension of the real vehicle. For example, a 18th scale model (a relatively recent and ever popular growin model car scale) would take 18 of them to equal the real one. So, if, for example, you had a model Beetle that is about 6.66 inches long and divided that into the length of the real one (about 160 inches for pre-68's) you would find out that it was I /24th of the length of the real one. Thus it is a 1/24th-scale model. A way to remember the size comparison of one scale to another is that the smaller the numeric numbers the larger the scale and vise versa. So, 1/18th scale is bigger than 1/24th

To determine the scale foot 12 inches is divided by scale proportion. For example, for 1/48th scale ("0" gauge trains and military models) 12 divided

By 48 = .25. To convert the scale fraction to decimal figures, divide the fraction by 100. For example, 100 divided by 4 = .25. To convert a scale foot decimal to a fraction, place the decimal over 100 and then reduce. For example, 25/100=1/4th For "0" scale that means 1/4th inch = I real foot. Some scales are in metric measurements, here are American versus metric conversion figures: 25.4 mm =1 inch and I mm = .3937 inch. In scale talk, the real thing is referred to as "the prototype."

Most model car scales actually began as model train scales (not including 1/18th). For example, 1/25th scale was known as Lionel train's "Standard" ("standard" according to them!) gauge (the scales were named after the track width) before WWII After the war, the GI bill allowed a lot of returning soldiers to build tract houses in the new suburbs. These houses mostly had smaller rooms than homes built earlier. So smaller scales such as "0" (smaller than No. 1 gauge), S" (small), and "HO" (half "0" gauge) became popular and the older large sizes were not revived for trains. Even so, model car companies took up some of the same larger scales for the new plastic model car kits and promo models. This also applies to such scales as 1/24th ("No. 3" Gauge) and 1/32nd (No. 1. gauge) scales, as well as others.

Later on, in the 1960s, the Lionel 1/48th train scale toy and model trackside vehicles gave away to the new popular importation of diecast cars made in

Europe which were made to Europe's metric version of "0" gauge known today as 1/43rd scale. The Europeans made available so many more really nice models that the American (or elsewhere) making of models in 1/48th scale was quickly killed, although the scale still continues for military models, including WWII VW models. However, VW's early promos, which were made by Viking, were actually made in 1/40th scale, but I don't know why!

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