The Case Against 1/48th (Edited)

There are lots of opinions around what scale 25/28mm miniatures our especially since manufacturers produce minis that while obstinately are 25/28mm vary greatly in size, proportion and appearance. There is a trend for WWII vehicle kits to be produced in 1/56th scale both in plastic and in resin and I'm throwing my hat into that ring. When I scratchbuild buildings I like to build in a scale and 1/56th is the one I have settled on for my town of Calamity. But even there I don't restrict my self to "scale" parts first because almost nothing is actually produced in that scale and second because why should I restrict myself to a scale when parts from any of the railroad scales will work? In the end if the proportions look good then use it!

I'm actually not trying to fan the flames of the scale wars but I was challenged to provide proof of why I feel that 1/48 is not only to big but way to big to be the "scale" of our 25/28mm miniatures as well as the Heroic versions standing closer to 30mm. I'm firmly in the camp of 1/56th as the best compromise scale. Unfortunately that precludes the use of the the railroad scales at least in the US; 1/64th or S scale and 1/48th or O Scale. 

Since sizes of minis tend to very quite a bit between miniatures I picked out a variety of miniatures to use as examples. They come from Black Scorpion, Reaper Miniatures, Dixon, Wargames Foundry and Knuckleduster. For scale examples I'm using flex track in the following scales and sizes: HO standard gauge, On30 (O scale but narrow gauge using the same spacing as HO), S standard gauge and O standard gauge.

I have also included pictures of the setup I used. My goal was to have the top of the bases that I use (and they are all on the same brand of bases) level with the inside edge of the bottom rail. Then I took a few group shots standing against the track as well as some singles against the O standard gauge track to really show just how short our minis are against it.

Here is the track. Top to bottom: HO Scale Standard (1/87), On30 Scale Narrow (1/48), S Scale Standard (1/64), O Scale Standard (1/48)

The setup using the HO Standard flextrack

Definitely to small for the minis but usable. From left to right; Black Scorpion, Reaper Miniatures, Wargames Foundry, Dixon, Knuckleduster

On30, exactly the same spacing between the rails as the HO standard, only the scale has changed so in this case the distance represents 30" rather than 4' 8 1/2" as it does in the HO shot.

S Scale, getting much closer again the distance between the rails is 4' 8 1/2". I like the feel of this and this is what I would like to use but equipment in S Scale is hard to find and somewhat expensive.

O Scale Standard gauge, they are definitely looking quite short here considering, again, the distance between the
rails is 4' 8 1/2". Only a couple of these miniatures are going to be close or over 5' tall  based on the photo.

All the following are closeups of the miniatures compared against the O Scale Standard Gauge track. Yea, this guy is barely over 5' tall.

Aspen Modeling Company Horses vs Calamity Miniatures

It has been a long time here without a single post. Traveling for work has really killed my hobby time. While I have managed to get a miniature painted here and there I haven't really been able to focus on getting anything completed. From a request on the Lead Adventurers forum I managed to find my Aspen Modeling Company S and O scale horses. Aspen's products are geared towards model railroading but a lot of their components are quite useful for gaming purposes as well, especially if you are doing a little extra detailing on your western buildings. I was hoping that their horses would be a good scenic item as well. They are nicely sculpted and the price is pretty good. I started off by ordering a couple of S Scale horses which arrived promptly. These horse were cast in beauty and look like they will paint up nicely, not that I have had time to paint.

I think that overall they are going to be to small for my purposes. Compared to most of the miniatures they are closer to ponies than horses. However, miniatures vary a great deal from manufacturer to manufacturer so I have some side by side comparison shots for you to make your own opinions from. As a side note when looking at the pictures, I have removed all the original bases from my western miniatures and re-based them on lower profile bases so side by side they can all be measure from the same ground zero (there are a few differences in height for those mounted on "interior" bases because of the green stuff used to carve the wood floors).

Here are the S Scale (S Scale is 1/64 or one real inch is equal to 64 scale inches):

To be honest I don't remember who makes this mini. If you know drop me a line.

To be honest I don't remember who makes this mini. If you know drop me a line.

Knuckleduster

Dixon

Reaper

Black Scorpion

Wargames Foundry

To be honest I don't remember who makes this mini. If you know drop me a line.

With the horse mounted on its own base it would base for a smaller horse for some of these miniatures a mid sized horse for others and a small horse or pony for the largest (Reaper and Black Scorpion). I decided that S Scale was probably not the right choice, so I ordered a couple of O Scale horses from Aspen to see how those might work. The O Scale horses are cast in resin and are a little rough but should clean up okay.

Here is how the O Scale horses stack up (O scale is 1/48):

To be honest I don't remember who makes this mini. If you know drop me a line.

To be honest I don't remember who makes this mini. If you know drop me a line.

Knuckleduster

Wargames Foundry

Dixon

Reaper

Black Scorpion

To be honest I don't remember who makes this mini. If you know drop me a line.

As you can see the O scale horse is going to be large even for the tallest minis and gigantic compared to the smaller ones. While I can see getting some use out of the S Scale versions I think the O Scale ones aren't going to work at all. Someone on the Lead Adventurers forum mentioned that Perry Miniatures had both a pack containing a horse holder and four horses in their ACW line. I think that might be the best way to go to get some horses to tie up outside the various businesses of Calamity.

Citizens of Calamity - More New Folks

Not only did I manage to frame and rock in a new closet this holiday weekend but I managed to paint quite a bit as well. The damage for the week was 18 Halflings and 12 new citizens of Calamity. Here is the latest bunch, although a few of these worked their way into an earlier post as well.

Black Scorpion, from Tombstone 5. I love the mini, I hate her face

Wargames Foundry, Rusty Dimmock, OW11/6

Reaper Miniatures, Female Huckster (Savage Worlds)

Reaper Miniatures, Female Huckster (Savage Worlds)

Reaper Miniatures, Miss Scarlet (Chronoscope)

Dixon, Bystander (WG96)

Brigade Games, Western Characters 1, Gambler

Brigade Games, Western Characters 1, Bartender

Citizens of Calamity - Shootists Finished

I finished up the basing on my gunslingers from Reaper and Black Scorpion. Pretty pleased with these, I forgot how pleasant painting simple miniatures can really be. Getting these to a table ready quality really didn't take to long at all. I have two sets of bases for my Citizens of Calamity; exterior and interior styles. This bunch is on my exterior bases.

Reaper Miniatures, Texas Ranger

Reaper Miniatures, Gunslinger

Black Scorpion, Tombstone 3 set

Black Scorpion, Tombstone 2 Set