18th vs 24th scale models

[RetroFuturist]

Hey guys, I was wondering which scale appeals to you more; 18th or 24th and why?

Most of my store bought Auto Art models are 18th scale but I've also noticed that when I go to buy Kits (especially resin types) they are largely in 24th scale.

So if you had a Resin Kit of whatever your favorite car is in both 18th and 24th sitting on a shelf at the store which would you buy to make?

Thanks for your input!

[360spider]

1/18 is a diecast scale. This forum consists of folks building kits (mostly), and I'm yet to hear of a full kit in 1/18 scale (there are some diecast transkits), most kits we deal here are 1:24/5 and 1:43rd scale. While I personally have nothing against 1/18 scale and diecast as such, I just think this is a wrong place for this kind of post.

[RetroFuturist]

Well thats some good information anyway...I was not aware that they did not make 1/18th plastic scale Kits. I was under the impression that most models came with choices depending on manufacturer. As you can see by my post count I'm pretty new to building models.

So the answer would be 1/24/5th is the most common. along with 1/43rd.

Thanks for the info.

[Adam Baker]

There have been a few 1/18 plastic kits. I know there is a 1/18 Richard Petty car, but I cant remember right off hand who made it, I want to say Monogram, but Im not 100% positive on it.

[Didymus]

Welcome to the Car Modeling Forum!

As others have said, 1/18 is mainly a die cast scale and cars in that scale are mainly collected in North America.

One-forty-third scale is very popular in Europe, both for die casts and kits. If you want to build European prototypes, 1/43 offers an enormous choice of cars, including many older cars that are not available in 1/24. Usually 1/43 models are a little clunkier than larger scales, but some 1/43 models have incredible detail. Of course, it's hard to see. And build! Photo-etched parts in 1/43 are tiny and very easy to lose.

In the U.S., 1/24 is the most popular size for kits. Maybe that's because we typically live in larger houses and have more room for our models. But 1/24 also allows for more and larger detail, so it can be handled and appreciated without a magnifying glass.

One-twenty-fifth scale is sort of a specialty scale for race cars. There must be a history behind that, but I don't know what it is.

Ddms

[rockinanko]

Hi, i'd like to add more on what didymus has said...

i believe 1/24 was made popular by 'the rest of the world' rather than the US or maybe Europe... in fact i think US makers tried to induce the 1/25 scale as the new main stream for automotive plastic kits but failed.

as such, the main stream kits are now in 1/24 which, by far has the most types & variants on almost any aftermarket add-ons...

on the issue of 1/25...i guess they tried to implement this scale for ease in calculating the dimensions needed to shrink down from the real cars. example, a 4550mm long car will be 182.00mm in 1/25 instead of 189.58mm in 1/24...much easier to calculate, maybe!?

have fun!

[nniemi]

Scales:

1/24 is actually an US / British inch/foot scale, 2 ft. is 24 in.

1/25... model manufacturers used to work with car manufacturers blueprints which were 1/10 scale, masters were made in 1/10 and then the molds were carved with pantograph 1/2,5 scale from the master.

I have no idea why the rest of the world adopted the 1/24 and US manufacturers sticked to 1/25.

-Niko

[mrawl]

Fujimi makes/reissued quite a few 1/18 kits, esp Ferraris. Pretty expensive too - like 80$, but then again some 1/24 Tamiyas are going for 70$ retail now.

[jano11]

Originally Posted by mrawl

Fujimi makes/reissued quite a few 1/18 kits, esp Ferraris. Pretty expensive too - like 80$, but then again some 1/24 Tamiyas are going for 70$ retail now.

From what I know Fujimi only issued and reissued 1/16 scale plastic kits, no 1/18.

There are a few early race car kits issued by Tamiya in 1/18 scale but that's all I know about.

[drunken monkey]

Originally Posted by Jules

Do you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese in France?

it's all to do with the metric vs imperial system and also explains where 1/12 and 1/16 scales come from.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Originally Posted by nniemi

Scales:

1/24 is actually an US / British inch/foot scale, 2 ft. is 24 in.

1/25... model manufacturers used to work with car manufacturers blueprints which were 1/10 scale, masters were made in 1/10 and then the molds were carved with pantograph 1/2,5 scale from the master.

I have no idea why the rest of the world adopted the 1/24 and US manufacturers sticked to 1/25.

-Niko

You are the first and only person in this thread to correctly answer why models were done in 1/25 scale.

I'm not sure why 1/18 became the defacto "standard" collector diecast scale. It seemed like Burago started the trend in the early '80's, followed closely by Ertl, and then the others followed. If they had chosen 1/16 scale I'll bet more plastic kit buyers would have been interested as that scale was common for larger-scale builders. I'm also not sure if anyone really knows why the rest of the world stuck with 1/24 for car kits while the US manufacturers stuck with 1/25; though Monogram models (most of which were nowhere close to stock, doing mainly showrods) adopted 1/24 scale, which continued when they entered the mainstream musclecar kit market in the early 80's.

[RetroFuturist]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

The reason I posed the question in the first place is that I have decided to start scratch-building models some of my favorite old concept cars. There are lots of really cool cars out there that a model kit was never made for that I would like to have on my shelf.

When you start a scratch-build you can pretty much make it any scale you want (within reason no 1:1 or 1:2 scale models LOL) and I wanted to be sure that I would be able to find aftermarket stuff like wheels/tires and decals that would be in scale.

I will begin my first one in 1/24th scale now thanks to all your feedback!

[Khier]

Originally Posted by RetroFuturist

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

The reason I posed the question in the first place is that I have decided to start scratch-building models some of my favorite old concept cars. There are lots of really cool cars out there that a model kit was never made for that I would like to have on my shelf.

Then I would choose 1/16 or 1/12 for ease of manufacturing and detailing. But as with large scales more details can be introduced, which means more work. In that case 1/24 or 1/25 is a good compromise between robustness and ease of handling on the one hand, and level of detailing on the other hand. I would personally stick to 1/25 for Aemrican cars and 1/24 for the rest of the world to be compatible with the available models. 1/24 kits next to 1/25 look awful (and vice versa).

[Didymus]

Originally Posted by RetroFuturist

The reason I posed the question in the first place is that I have decided to start scratch-building models some of my favorite old concept cars.

Great project!

A few concept cars have been "kitted," but it will take some research to find them. Try setting up a Search on eBay. EBay will automatically email you if the car you're looking for comes onto the market.

Might be good to learn the ropes by building some styrene kits. That will enable you to check out the methods that other modelers have developed over many years of trial and error. You might also try a resin-based kit.

The reason I mention "resin-based" is that most scratch builders cast their own bodies from resin. Then they'll use a donor kit for many other parts, like suspension, tires, etc. For example: I want to build a '50 Oldsmobile fastback two-door. So I bought a resin body for a '50 Olds from an expert resin caster. (Resin casting is an art in itself.) For a donor kit, I have an AMC kit for a '50 Chevy Fleetline, a similar car. To build my Olds, I'll combine the cast resin Olds body with the underbody, suspension, wheels etc. from the Chevy kit.

Ddms

[mrawl]

Originally Posted by jano11

From what I know Fujimi only issued and reissued 1/16 scale plastic kits, no 1/18.

There are a few early race car kits issued by Tamiya in 1/18 scale but that's all I know about.

Oh yes, sorry, you are right, 1/16.