Probably been asked a hundred times, but...

[The Rat]

Why 1/32nd? I can see 1/72nd, as 1 inch = 6 feet. 1/48th, 1 inch = 4 feet. But 1/32nd doesn't work. 1/36th, 1 inch = 3 feet, but someone decided that wasn't the way to go.

As I said, it's probably been asked before, and I've probably seen the answer, but cut me some slack, I'm getting old.    

[PR19_Kit]

Maybe it's a part of a steadily decreasing scale term?

1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32?

[kerick]

1/48th is a conversion of architectural scale 1/4 inch equals one foot but that's as far as I get.

[Old Wombat]

Maybe it's a part of a steadily decreasing scale term?

1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32?

Which is why 1/64 was a moderately popular scale way back when, as was 1/128 in some circles.

[jcf]

3/8" = 1' (1/32nd) is an old standard architectural scale.
Ditto 3" = 1' (1/4th); 1 1/2"= 1' (1/8th); 3/4" = 1' (1/16th); 3/16" = 1' (1/64th) etc. 1/64th is still a common diecast scale: Hot Wheels; Johnny Lightning and such like.
In my architectural drafting class in high school we were taught to the 3/X scales for specific things like structural details - truss layout, footing cross-sections, rafter to joist joins and the like.

1" = 4' (1/48th) is also a standard architectural scale also written as 1/4" = 1', which is why old Monogram boxes stated a kit was 1/4" scale.
Some older modellers also referred to it as "quarter scale" which tended to make the flying model folks get all pedantic.

1" = 4' (1/48th; 1/4" = 1') is part of a regular progression of sizes.
1" = 3" (1/3rd); 1" = 6" (1/6th); 1" = 1' (1/12th); 1" = 2' (1/24th; 1/2" = 1'); 1" = 4' (1/48th; 1/4" = 1'); 1" = 8' (1/96th; 1/8" = 1') etc. etc.
1/8" = 1' (1/96th) has been a common shipmodelling scale for a long time.

[jcf]

1/72nd (1" = 6') is an outlier as it's not based on a drafting standard and can't be broken down easily on a standard sixteenths ruler, unlike 1/48th etc. as once you get used to using those scales you don't actually need a specific drafting scale.

Interestingly enough if you look over at typesetting rules you'll find that 1" = six pica.

Things that make you go hmmm.

BTW 1/36th was a not unusual solid modelling scale
in the 1930s.

[The Rat]

Ooooookay...

[TomZ]

In other words: The whole modelling world is ruled by your weird British measurement system 

"Normal" folk would have gone for 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, etc.......

Quite an achievement!

TomZ

[PR19_Kit]

Quite an achievement!

Yeah, quite normal for us.     

[Old Wombat]

Comes from having a globe-spanning empire, which controlled huge resources & fueled the UK's extremely powerful industrial base for quite some time, that used the UK's imperial measurement system.

Which was followed by US economic power, which also used the imperial measurement system.

[zenrat]

All of which begs the question, why 1/35?

[Old Wombat]

Metricisation.

"Metric" scales had 1/25 (opp. 1/24) but jumped to 1/50 (opp. 1/48), something was needed between them because of the imperial 1/32 & 1/36 scales, 1/35 fitted quite nicely into that gap.

Marketing worked because there were not that many kits other than aircraft being made in 1/32, Japanese manufacturers like Tamiya took the new scales on board but only the 1/35 really worked, & even then only in the AFV market, because they had put out so many more different kits of AFVs in that scale that they generally swamped out the small 1/32 AFV market.

As a car kit builder you know that 1/25 is still a decent percentage of the car kit market vs. 1/24, it didn't take over but it found a competative balance.

1/100 found a small niche while 1/200 & 1/350 took over most of the plastic kit ship market. along with 1/700.


You'll notice that a lot of even new wooden build-you-own kits are in imperial scales.

[zenrat]

1/25 being 1mm to the inch...


...more or less.
 

[NARSES2]

In other words: The whole modelling world is ruled by your weird British measurement system 

"Normal" folk would have gone for 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, etc.......

Quite an achievement!

TomZ

Thank you   

[zenrat]

The irony being the Untied States is now the only country still using "imperial" measurements.