Hello all,

I was planning to put a diorama together until I started putting the figures together. The size difference between the Dragon figures and the Mini Art I incredible, the Mini Art figures look like teenagers in comparison to the DML figures.
I was wondering if they could be put on the same diorama, if they are not right next to each other but still close together.

Thank you for any advice you can give me,
Regards,

What kits are you using? I've found that older kits and newer kits can have noticeable size differences, even in the same companies products. I've been in the same situation as you more than a few times

DML figures tend to be a bit more.... let's say 'well fed'
Miniart figures are much better proportioned, (and detailed ?) but can be on the smallish side.
Mix and match them, like in real life, not everybody is the same size.

Yes, there are some notable size differences between some of the manufacturers. Despite this, there's really just a couple of things to remember:

1. Generally speaking, people come in all shapes and sizes so there can be variation amongst your group of figures on your diorama, as long as the equipment and weapons are all the same size/scale. For instance, Verlinden weapons and equipment are known to be closer to 1/32 scale than 1/35, so a reasonable solution would be to equip Verlinden figs with weapons and equipment from another manufacturer who's figs you might also be using. That way, regardless of the size of the models, they would all appear to be equipped identically, reinforcing a size difference, not a scale difference.

2. When mixing larger & smaller figures, you should still try to take into account scale height when placing them together in a scene. Some 54mm or 1/32 scale figures will scale out to about 6' 5" which would be rare in the WWII era when the average height was about 5' 7". So, grouping like-sized figures together and/or away from taller/shorter figures might be advisable. I'm sure occasionally it would be fine to have one larger figure mixed in with a group of smaller ones, but it might look strange to have three or four "giants" hovering over the rest of the figs if they were all lumped together.

As long as you keep these things in mind, you should be OK mixing different manufacturers figures together.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Agree with Don above

The sizes of each manufacturer can be huge ,I'm a big convert to Mini Art figures and they are great.
Mix the same figure manufacturer together in groups on the dio or setting with a single inclusion of an alternate manufacturer.have done this on a few occasions and it's best to dry run the appearance of the figures before painting in the setting you are using.
Sit back and look at the scale in the setting before you decide your choice.

There are some images in the photo gallery .

We look forward to seeing the outcome

Thanks
Michael

Hello all,

@ Conor: I was thinking of using the Minim Art Soviet jeep crew set with the Soviet officers at field briefing set along with the DML Soviet anti-tank team set and the DML Soviet motor rifle troop set. I might have also added a figure or two from the Tamiya set 35207. I realized that the size difference between Tamiya and Dragon isn’t that bad actually most of the equipment is the same size (except for the helmet and the canteen, being smaller in the Tamiya set). What sets did you have problems with?

@ Henk: I agree the DML figures are in comparison ‘well fed’ maybe they are also taking steroids. I also agree that the Mini Art figs do have sharper details.

@ Dan: Thanks’ a lot for the advice, but the problem with this diorama is that the Mini Art figures are more or less officers at rest (most are not carrying equipment) and the DML figures are carrying equipment. I am however going to keep them apart … if I decide to go through with it.

@ Michael: Thank you for the tip, I will have to check if the scale difference is that great when they are all in their places on the Dio. Once they are assembled I will post a picture.


Thanks you gentlemen for your help and advice. Below are some pictures to show you the different sizes.

The grey is Tamiya, the red is Dragon, and the maroon is Mini Art. As you can see Mini Art has the largest (best detailed) canteen and in comparison it has the smallest figures. The figure and arm on the left is the Dragon figure the one on the right is the Mini Art fig. Although the MA fig is sitting you can still see the difference in size. Sorry for the blurriness.







Thanks’ again for the advice and the tips,
Regards,

A possible reason for MiniArt's 'puny-ness' is to have them actually fit in their vehicle. I haven't had any problem with their standing figures.