Road steam scales

[Bodger BrianParticipant @bodgerbrian]

Why 2in, 3in etc?

[Bodger BrianParticipant @bodgerbrian]

I was recently thinking about scales used in model engineering & one thing was puzzling me.

Why are road steam models (traction engines etc) defined as being in a scale of 2in, 3in, or 4in, for instance? A scale is a ratio, so why not 1:6, 1:4 or 1:3? I know now that it refers to 2in:1ft etc but when I first started being interested in model engineering it took me a very long time to work that one out.

As far as I'm aware, the only other branch of modelling that does this is the world of figurines (albeit in metric form).

Can anyone explain why?

Brian

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Take a look at any imperial scale rule and you won't find 1/6th, 1/4 or 1/3rd scale you will find 2"=1ft, 3"=1ft and 4"=1ft so they are simply refered to that way. It is the usual way for engineering and architectural drawings in imperial.

Figur sare not quite the same as say a 54mm figure is not 54mm :1ft but 54mm tall. Though there is a bit of variety as some measure this to the eye ball others to teh top of the head.

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