Wouldn't quarterscale be 1/4 and not 1/48. What am I overlooking?

They are the same, kind of. 1/48 is 1" = 48", 1/4 can be 1" = 4'. Same - Same. Hence, Quarterscale.

As far as I understand it, it is called quarter scale because 1 foot in real world is 1/4 inch in 1/48 scale.
1' => 1/4"
Or the other way round, 1 inch in 1/48 is 4 feet in real world.


I don't understand what Gino means by 1" = 4' in 1/4... Actually 1" = 4" or 1" = 1/3' in 1/4 scale.

Pawel

that is why 1/24 is 1/2 scale same reason 1/2 inch = 1 foot great if you are still using imperial but not so great with metric then there is 7mm scale where 7mm = 1 foot now that is crazy (= 1/43 scale that the dicast cars are built into and also why we have HO which is half o scale
Father was a professional modeller and alsoa very early scatch modeller in th 40s and 50,s so he has a lot of the history of why 1 scale is and why there are so many slightly different scales

Pawel, we are all saying basically the same thing. In my analogy, 1/48 scale: 1" = 48", there are 48" in 4', therefore, 1" = 4', 1/4 scale. It is not a correct scale referance, but it is the way some people understand it and what it used to be called in the day of balsa wood and box-scale models.

I think the misunderstanding / misinterpretation comes from what Ian hints at. Imperial vs. Metric measures. I don't really get the metric referances well either, have to think about them a bit.

Got it guys. Thanks.

It's a shortening of "quartet inch scale" which is derived from the reasons above. True "quarter scale" is common in RC aircraft.