Fun With Size And Scale - 1/56, 1/50, 1/43, 25mm and 28mm

Tanks on parade - from left, Force of Arms T-55, James Bond T-55M, Kitech T-72

A poster on TMP the other day asked if anyone had a comparison shot between some vehicles from Red Star Miniatures and some vehicles from Sloppy Jalopy.  I have some from both, acquired in my various rummagings in modern gaming, so here are a few pictures to help with the comparison for anyone who is wondering.

Like all such posts on TMP, this one elicited a discussion arc that seems to flow the same way - scale is not a size, the differences are slight, no they are not, etc.  Just look what happened to this guy when he floated a discussion on 1/56 vs. 1/50 - in short, don't bring it up on TMP unless you want to accumulate stifles and derision.

I'll save my editorial perspective (worthless as that is) for the end.  In the meantime, here are some different pics of the different kits that have seen action with us and our 25-28mm modern and ultra-modern gaming.  Apologies for the unpainted vehicles...

To help a little with the perspective of a gamer, I added some painted infantry to the shots - a 28mm "Chemical Commie" fro Eureka, a 28mm VDV trooper from Mongrel, and a 40mm Russian Federation infantryman from HLBS (from a line that I believe is no longer available....)

BMP-2s up first....the painted one is 1/56 scale from Sloppy Jalopy, and the unpainted one is 1/48 scale from HLBS*...

Sloppy Jalopy BMP-2 on left, HLBS BMP-2 on the right

Another comparison pic without infantry - no question the HLBS stuff is bulkier/heftier...

From left, a Mongrel Miniatures 28mm, a Eureka 28mm and an HLBS 40mm figure in front of the Sloppy Jalopy BMP-2

Same troops in front of the HLBS BMP-2 - you can see it fits nicely with the 40mm trooper - look OK with the others, but maybe a little big...

Now some BTRs....the unpainted BTR is a BTR-80 in 1/50 scale from Imprint, and the painted one is a "Russian die cast" from E-bay, allegedly 1/43 scale...

BTR-60 on the left - one of the die-cast ones that seem readily available on Ebay; the Imprint BTR-80 is in the black primer....these models are very, very close in size

Troops pose with the Imprint BTR-80....the 40mm lad looks a tad large...

Now some BRDM sized vehicles - a 1/43 scale (allegedly) from "Russian die cast" on Ebay, and a 1/56 scale BRDM with an AT-5 Spandrel launcher from Sloppy Jalopy...

Die cast BDRM on the right, Sloppy Jalopy BRDM on the left

This BRDM seems bulky for the 28mm lads, looks OK with the 40mm chap - the vehicle is allegedly 1/43 scale

The Sloppy Jalopy model is very compact compared to the Russian die-cast, but looks fine with the 28mm models - a bit small for the 40mm trooper

Finally, a little fun with some tanks...the T-55 is 1/56 scale from Force Of Arms, the T-55M (with reactive armour) is actually from a James Bond toy series, and is 1/50 scale, and the T-72 is a Kitech kit, which is (very allegedly) 1/43 scale.  The scale of the Kitech kits needs to be taken with an enormous grain of salt, given that ALL Kitech models have an undercarriage of exactly the same size, with the same road wheels!

Troops in front of a T-55 from Force of Arms models - tank is 1/56 scale

This 1/50 scale T-55M is a James Bond toy - from Ebay

This T-72 is allegedly 1/43 scale, from Kitech - back in the day when we first went nuts on moderns, we were picking these things up in bulk orders for like $5 a model...

I have snipped and whinged numerous times about 1/56 scaled vehicles.  The tall foreheads (particularly on TMP) will smack you down, lecture you on how you are wrong, not the models, that it is scale creep with the castings etc. etc. All of this may be true - but 1/56 scale just looks off - it's too tight - just odd - I call this the "1/56 effect".  But they are still nice models.

1/43 scale on the other hand looks fine for the tanks - but then I am basing this on a Kitech kit - who knows how close to "correct" the overall model is, and what scale it really is.  But I can't have my Russian infantry ride in 1/56 BMP-2s with 1/43 Kitech tanks on the table - the BMPs look way too small, or the tanks way too big, or both.  I will replace my Kitech tanks over time with Imprint T-72, T-80s and T-90s.  But you can't beat the price of those old Kitechs when we got them....and we have had some very, very fun games with them.  The Kitech tanks are still the only model I have ever used a hammer to assemble.

I have found that 1/50 "looks" the best for me when it comes to 28mm gaming.  The HLBS stuff looks awesome, but I suspect it was scaled to match their larger 40mm figures.  I don't have Red Star figures, but if they are a little bulkier - i.e. "heroic 28mm" - then they should look great with the 1/43 stuff and OK with the 1/50 stuff.

For all my subjective blather, however, it depends on what is available.  You will have your own opinion, and may very likely agree with the majority on TMP who would find my perspective uppity, ignorant and full of delusion (and you may be right). Sloppy Jalopy and others have put a nice 1/56 stuff out there.  Meanwhile, Imprint is expanding a range of 1/50 stuff.  The HLBS stuff is excellent. too. Take your pick, fill your boots, and roll some dice! Screw the scale.
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UPDATE - *Correction - July 11, 2012 - the HLBS models are 1/48 scale, not 1/43 scale as was originally stated in this post.  Sorry about that! GB. 

Painted Syrian T-55s - 15mm from Peter Pig

15mm T-55 models from Peter Pig

A few more T-55s have come off the painting line, ready for action on the Golan Heights.  These are 15mm models from Peter Pig, and if you have seen any of my prior posts on these, you have already seen me rave about how these are the nicest 15mm models in terms of quality and ease of assembly.

T-55s on the work table

I used GW paints - a combination of old and new - as well as some acrylic craft paints (mostly a dark umber colour as the base for the treads and dry-brushing for weathering).  I also used a combination of the weathering powders on the treads, road wheels, engines, exhaust and the muzzle of the main gun.  I am still getting the hang of these powders, but they really provide a great effect for the vehicles.

I was very liberal with the weathering powders on the treads and over the engine.

I went out of my way to put a lot of weathering on these models, particularly the treads and engines.  I like tanks that look they are out in the field, not on parade.

For the first time I made use of an artist's pen to help with some of the detailing - I used it to fill in patterns and lines on the fuel cans and stowage on the sides of the tank.  It was very handy, and worked pretty well to get some colour on to spots that the brush struggles to handle with as much consistency.

Another shot showing the weathering.

I painted - or more like tried to paint - arabic numerals on all of the turrets.  I don't know what precise system the Syrians used on their armour, but I have seen many colour photos of disabled Syrian tanks with three-digit numerals on the turrets.  I did my best to manage the arabic numerals...

I have ordered bases for my tanks on this project - I haven't based my 15mm vehicles before, but it increasingly seems like a sensible thing to do - extra protection for the model and a bit more symmetry with the based models infantry being good reasons to try it.  It will be some time before the bases arrive,   so my plan is to just continue painting the vehicles until the bases get here - they can be based later on.

The Syrians had overwhelming numbers of tanks deployed for their assault on the Golan in 1973, most of them T-55s.  So five models won't be very many....will need at least as many again (getting close to a company) for a good battle on the table.  But it's a start.