So, I finally got my Nemrod and Verlinden US Airborne figs and I was working on them. I noticed they seem to be a little bit larger than the Dragon figures I have. These are both reading as 1/35 on the box...any ideas as to why this happens and how I should place them in the dio so it doesn't look off?

Hi Brandi,

Tim Streeter has an excellent article on the size differences between the different manufacturer's figures over at his website usarmymodels.com. (A great resource for all WWII Army modeling!) For the most part, the size differences simply have to do with different sculptors using slightly different methods and slightly different standards. Verlinden figs for instance almost always scale out closer to 1/32, and this is particularly noticeable in their height and the size of their gear which is huge compared to say, Tamiya gear.

Another thing to watch out for is differences in size due to sculpting style. A while back I picked up a set of Nemrod U.S. tank crew and actually found them to be smaller than the Dragon tank crew I planned to pair them with. But this wasn't a scale issue so much as just a difference in style. The Nemrod figs were noticeably narrower through the shoulders and hips than the Dragon figs and looked rather odd when placed right next to them. To solve this, I've just planned to group them together by brand...the Dragon figs will be in the driver's and co-driver's hatches and the Nemrod crew in the turret. Having them separated like this makes the size differences much less noticeable.

You can do the same in your dio...just keep the larger figs grouped together away from the smaller figs. Remember though that gear and equipment would all be the same size regardless of the size of the troops, so pick one brand of guns, helmets and equipment and use them where you can to help standardize the look. A good set to pick up for this is the Tamiya U.S. Infantry Equipment Set. I also found the M1 helmets in this set to be a more accurate shape and size than Dragon's helmets. You have to add the chin straps though as they are molded without any of those details.

Lastly, I can't say enough good things about Hornet resin headsets. Not only are they fantastically sculpted, they seem to be sized to fit most manufacturers figures. This may help you if you swap out most of the heads with Hornet heads which would give the heads and helmets a very uniform look. This might not work with the Verlinden figs since they are so big (they might look "pin-headed"), but again, if you use the stock heads on these and group them slightly away from the others, it won't be very noticeable.

Good luck!

Brandi- ProfessorP gives a very thorough explanation of size and what you can do about it. I've only one or two things to add- if you can't group the figures by brand use scenery to disguise size difference- if a Verlinden figure is taller, for example, place it lower in the scene (if you can). I also often find that occurances of 'pin head' syndrome in figures occurs noticeably around the neck- sometimes I've used a bit of putty to add in a scarf or something of that nature, to disguise this area. You could also use putty to flesh out the neck a bit if a scarf wouldn't be suitable.

Hope this helps.

Hi guys,
Thank you so much! I was a bit worried, but now I feel like I can handle this no problem.
I really appreciate the feedback!

Something else to think about is not all soldiers are the same size. I served with guys who were 5ft 3in to 6ft 6in. If the weapons and equipment are the same size people are very different. If staged carefully and not outlandish in size difference it should work.

Tom

I have found that I end up just taking all the arms and put them in a group and the legs in another, the torsos and head and so on. I also use Hornet heads which look really good and offer many different faces.

Then I pick and choose which fit were and what position the figures are going to be in.

It makes it harder to finish and makes a lot more work but in the end they turn out looking more realistic. As for the weapons, Verlinden does look closer to 1/32 scale on certain things and that's why I use Tahk(Tank Model) stuff and dragon stuff, they seem closer. Although some of the barrels look too thin. Like the M-79 for instance is 40mm in real life and that huge so maybe the Verlinden M-79 is closer. I am really going to have to make some measurements to make sure. Maybe graft the verlinden tube on the dragon stock if I can.