I bought Tamiya's set of infantry and panzer figures a couple of weeks ago and was seriously disappointed in them - they were so underscale. They are really too small to use beside any 1/48 vehicles. Yesterday I decided to try the set of American infantry, after all, the 1/35 counterparts were newer releases and better sculpted, and maybe they got their pantograph calibrated. Wrong...wrong...wrong! You get a box of figures of US soldiers with an average height of 5 1/2 feet, or less! (Maybe this is why they are called infant - try) :-) . What is Tamiya thinking? Why can't they scale down their figures properly? Are their vehicles actually scaled properly?? I hope DML gets into the 1/48 scale movement and down-scales their range of figures properly. Except for a few expensive, and sometimes not very accurate, resin, and white metal offerings, there is a serious shortage of figures in this scale.

I'm going out on a limb here so take this into the proper context, but what does one expect from a nation who's average height is roughly 5'-5 1/2' tall...ok, now for something useful.
Though having to pay for something that's out of spec is bad enough, the only thing I can offer is cut some arms, legs, and torsos and make them taller...some time and putty can fix the problem, but I realize your complaint is the fact they're verticaly challenged...the figures that is.
Could even make a german "Shultz" with enough filler around the waist....well, ya could.

I think you are judging these figures by current 21st century stature. Average hights were smaller 60+ years ago. Remember, these figures are supposed to represent people who would have "grown up" during the depression years of the 1920's/ early 30's. While there'd be some exceptions, not every soldier would be the 6 foot + super men the resin sculpters usually depict.

My father is a military collecter and many of his uniforms from WW2 I couldn't wear as they were too small and I am not a very big guy. We have grown quite a bit as a species in 60 years.

Hasty

Hell, I can't wear the same clothes from 10 yrs ago! Average heights in the 40's for men was 5' 9", and tall was 6' and up; about the same as it still is. Man as a species has not grown considerably in only 60 yrs. And we definately were not a race of pygmies 60 yrs ago. If we grew at the rate that you suggest, we would all be 5' taller than we were were 100 yrs ago. I think you're all missing the point. Spend the $15, or so, and you will see what I mean.
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5 1/2 feet is close enough as an average. Im not sure how it was actually like in WWII but similar to pilots, you couldnt be over a certain height before being admitted into the armor division as you may not fit into the vehicles or suffer each time you try to squeeze in. Granted if the figures were 6 feet, they would look better though.

I haven't exactly been Tamiya's number one cheerleader for the last couple of years or so, but, is this not a little OTT? I don't see they can be that bad...Or are they? Just sometimes I do see the Tamiya bashing a little exagerrated (o.k. it CAN be fun sometimes but not always )...Got any pics you can share with us?..Jim

Average height for a US male in the 1940's was 5'6" between the ages of 16-25. Most of this was contributed to the lack of proper nutrition/partial starvation of the 1920-30's. Average height of not only the US but across the world is going up as a response to better nutrition. Basically, we are setting up the environment for a growing human to obtain their full physical potential. Ah, biology and nutrition, good stuff!

As for the Tamiya figgies, if they scale out correct at 5'6" and they still look incorrect, maybe their is something else wrong.

If I had a digicam I would be flooding the site with pics! :-)
And, no, this not exaggeration or Tamiya bashing - I love Tamiya kits (except for the metal hulls), but some of these figs are a full 1/4" shorter than other figs I know are 1/48. For instance, the standing US rifleman from the GI set is MUCH shorter than the roof of the Hetzer. Average height of these figs is about 1 1/4". That's a little short!

There is something definately wrong with all these statistics. Take a look at some reference photos of Panther tanks, for instance. Pics of both Germans and Americans standing in front of, or next to, a Panther tank come to, and almost to, the level of the hull roof which was 6' from the ground, give or take an inch. I agree not every male is 6' tall, and some North Americans and Europeans can be a diminutive 5', but the taller end of the range is closer to the norm. Pictures are worth a thousand words - check reference photos and you'll see what I mean.

Not withstanding the 5' 6" argument, one can not deny the miniaturized camo-helmets in the set; so small they could be used for 1/72 infantry more appropiately.

Now to the other extreme.... examine the beautiful scuulpting of the Wittmann figure (by a Jap. artist again) , and note he scales out to about 6'4" !

Where did you get your info on the Height of a 1940's male? The official U.S. Army height standards for the 1940's had the average male at 5'6 and not 5'9 but again what the HELL, do I know.Mrosko

[quote]I'm going out on a limb here so take this into the proper context, but what does one expect from a nation who's average height is roughly 5'-5 1/2' tall...ok, now for something useful. quote]

Do we really need a comment like that, mate? Dragon's made in Hongkong and both them and Tamiya seem to get most of their scales right.

As for your 'useful' comment, if the scale's wrong, there's no point using filler to make them taller as the hands and feet, as well as the weapons and equipment would be still off.

He has a point, it isnt as common to see a person of Asian/Pacific Islander that has a big stature compared to a person of European decent, so depictions could vary.


As for the figures, never had a problem with tamiya figures, I've only noticed that the sculpting isnt as detailed,but size wise, maybe you just got a bad batch :-)

-Shain

I certainly cannot disagree with the scale issue, because I didn't measure mine with a scale ruler. But when I put them in context, next to two resin figs, one from Nimix, the other Taiaho, and the Tamiya Stug they look fine - to me anyway.

Spooky, I'm not trying to bash the asian nations, just stating a fact my friend. I stand 6'41/2" and I'm 40 years...young. The factory I work at buys roughly 75% of our wire from taiwan/china so we get acouple of vendor visits due to problems with the wire getting messed up in the containers during shipment over seas...they are a short lot, especially compared to me. They barely come up to my shoulders. Really.
I'm not saying they're bad people or that they make bad products or that I don't like them...

Hmm,2 cent's worth<
Measure another part,say across a hand.Calculate that dimension,and compare it with a live person.If it is within about a scale inch,the figures are of small framed people.
Measure a head,take a variety of measurements,I wonder if the torsos are the correct height?
(++) (++)

After reading this topic again I took the figures out and meassured them.

The ones that have the same poses from the old panzer grenadier set is about 34mm in height which makes a overall length 163.2 cm.

The other ones are about 37mm in height which makes them about 177.6 cm.

The average german length of that time is about 174 cm if Im not mistaken.

My conclusion is that figures scaled down from newer 1/35 releases are more to scale.

Here' another perspective I guess To me, when I last built diaramas some 30 years ago{and perhaps I need to do one again to gain a fresh perspective}, the focal point was the given hardware that was on the display and the scenery and figures were just icing on the cake, but that doesn't hold true for all obviously. There are frequent issues with correct scale of armour kits not only in size but in detail as well...I see this as simply one of those issues...I'll add this tidbit though to afirm the "american" size perspective. My uncle, who served on the USS Missouri{aircraft mechanic}, stood 6'6", my stepfather who was an MP{army} in vietnam stands 6'2" and my uncle{army} who served in WWII stands 6'1" and his brother{seabee} was 6'...yes, we're giraffes...this is how I can relate to the taller soldier aspect and also realize that there were short folks enlisted too{and everything in between}.

I know they're short, Bob! What I mean is, your logic's flawed. Just because they're short doesn't mean they're blind. Revell's made in Germany, so according to your logic, Revell's Japanese figs should measure up at about 6'4"? Come on, man. I'm sure the Japanese are quite aware of just how tall a Caucasian is.

Mein Gott! Ein Aryan zooperman! :-)

Here's an idea: Just build the things for what they are!

I think it's a good idea to have different sizes of figures, not everyone was the same height and size, I think it gives a good perspective, and would add variety to the dio. Hell alot of the Resin figures are roughly the same height as the old Tamiya figures, I think in this case, size doesn't really matter.

i am with kelly on this on,i mean what is next .not enough man are wearing glasses,they are not to many bold ones,there footsize should be a size bigger????pointless.buy it build it dont want to build it dont buy it.this is just putting a brand down and no more to it.dont bash me for my opinion,you got yours and i got mine...........happy modelling

I have both sets on the workbench right now, and I am very pleased with the appearance and preportions of the finished figures. You are right though, they are all about 5 and 1/2 feet tall.

On the other hand, I am not really unhappy about that. The comments on poor nutirition in the 1930's are accurate, particularly for children growing up in Germany. I have seen references to the relatively small stature of "Storm Troopers" in a number of historical references, and have personally observed it in the size of surviving (souvenir) uniforms and helments.

But more importantly, even today 6 feet is not an average height almost anywhere, making it a poor choice for average height in sculpting figures. For example, data from the US National Center for Health Statistic Percentile, 1979, gives the average height for an 18 year old in North America of 177 cm (5 foot 9.5 inches), and 90% of males are between 167cm (5 foot 6 inches) and 185 cm (6 foot3 inches). Based on that kind of data, I am happy wiht the stature of the figures as falling within stastical norms even to day, if on the short end :-)

Candidly, I find the smaller stature of the Tamiya figures actually makes them look more realistic to me, as I often find model figures generally too tall and too stout. At the end of the day, I think you should give the new figures a try. They build up nicely, and look the part.

Konrad

My original point was that, since most of the figures measure 1 1/4", that makes them about 5' tall, and when posed with a vehicle, their underscale-ness just makes the vehicle seem too massive. And there is no 'bashing' implied on my part - I calls 'em as I sees 'em. This is called 'criticism'. 'Bashing' is just unjustified rantings. I've bought many Tamiya models in both 1/35 and 1/48, and am very pleased with them. Likewise, I've bought many DML models and, although most are excellent, some of their early ones are real stinkers.