Hello,
September is now upon us. Say hello to long dark nights, cold weather and no chance of doing any gardening or other outdoors activities. Time to get ready to stay indoors till Easter.
You know what it means? It means modelling season is just around the corner!
Now is also the right time to go back to basics.
As you probably know the most common scale in the UK is OO (1:76) while in the rest of the world it is HO (1:87). This difference was caused by the fact the British engines are smaller in real life, so at the time it was very difficult to find a small enough motor to fit in a 1:87 scale British engine. It was then decided to make the models slightly larger to 1:76 while still running on the same track.
We are not going to start talking about the accuracy of the models following such a decision but this is simply a fact: UK models are slightly larger than they Continental counterparts.
How does it translate?
Take a typical man who is 1.80m (6ft) tall. In HO scale, he will be modelled as 20.5mm tall. In OO scale, he will be 23.6mm so there is a 3mm difference.
By the same token, a 20.5mm figure in OO scale represents a real life man who is 1.55m (5ft2).
So your HO figure while smaller can still be used on an OO gauge layout. Rather than being a tall man he will be a slightly less tall one!
That means you can use both scales and provided you do not put them next to each other, you should be able to get a pleasing result.
Now, what if you want to be 100% accurate? There are solutions coming from British manufacturers like Langley. They are white metal figures and come unpainted (which adds to the fun). Here is a selection. As usual, click on any picture for full details:
What if you do not want to paint them yourself?
Preiser has listened to you and has decided to release several sets of OO scale figures. They are the exact 1/76 scale rather than the slightly smaller 1/87 (HO) scale. As usual with Preiser, they are hand painted and finished to a great standard:
Now, what about smaller scales? We are afraid to say the same issue arose in N gauge: the British standard is 1:148 while the Continental scale is 1:160. To add to the confusion they share the same name!
Now, let's go back to our tall person who is 1.80m (6ft) tall. This will be a 11.3mm tall figure in Continental N scale while it would be a 12.2mm tall figure in British N scale. This is a difference of less than a 1mm, so most people cannot perceive it.
It means we usually do not distinguish and in terms of figures, you can use the extensive range from Noch or Graham Farish. Here are a few examples:
Send us an email or give us a call to check availability or to reserve anything, whatever scale you model in. As usual, if we do not have in stock what you are looking for, we will order it for you and you will get it fast (usually within a week if the manufacturer has it in stock). We place weekly orders with most suppliers.
Remember, you can park for free for one hour on the High Street. So no excuse not to come and visit us!
Upstairs Downstairs is open Tuesday to Saturday 10am till 4.30pm, Sunday from 1pm till 4pm. We are closed only on Monday.
Carole & Max
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Upstairs Downstairs
3 Pier Street
Sandown, PO36 8JR
Isle of Wight
Tel: 01983 406 616
http://www.trainshop.co.uk or find us on Facebook
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