Model Kit Scales Explained: 1/72 vs 1/48 vs 1/35 vs 1/24

The number on a model kit box - 1/72, 1/48, 1/35, 1/24 - is a size ratio against the real thing, and a bigger bottom number means a smaller finished model, not a bigger one. A 1/24 car and a 1/72 aircraft can sit on the same shelf at wildly different sizes despite looking like similar fractions, and picking the right one matters more for your bench space and eyesight than most beginners expect. It matters for gift buyers too - a "1/72 scale Spitfire" and a "1/48 scale Spitfire" sound almost identical on a gift tag but land in very different sizes under the tree. None of this requires any modelling experience to work out - just a bit of arithmetic and an honest look at your shelf.

How model scales work

Scale is real-world size divided by the number after the slash: a 1/48 model of anything finishes at one forty-eighth the length of the actual object. The practical effect trips people up because it runs backwards from what the numbers suggest at a glance - 1/24 is a much bigger model than 1/72, because you're dividing by a smaller number, not a larger one.

A worked example makes it concrete. A Supermarine Spitfire is roughly 9.1 metres nose to tail in real life. Divide that by 72 and a 1/72 model finishes at around 12-13cm - smaller than a standard pencil case. Divide the same 9.1 metres by 48 instead and the model comes out closer to 19cm, noticeably larger despite depicting the exact same aircraft. Same subject, same shape, genuinely different object on your shelf - that's the entire idea behind scale in one example.

Box art doesn't help here, and can actively mislead. Every manufacturer photographs their finished model close-up and dramatically lit, so a 1/72 fighter and a 1/24 tank both look roughly the same size on the shelf at your local hobby shop - right up until you get the box home and unpack a model the size of your palm instead of the size of a shoebox. Read the scale number, not the box photo.

Why different subjects use different scales

Different hobby traditions settled on different standard scales for practical reasons that still hold today. Aircraft cluster around 1/72 and 1/48 because full-size planes are enormous - even at 1/72, a large bomber would dwarf a display shelf at 1/24, so the smaller ratio keeps big subjects manageable indoors. Armour settled on 1/35, big enough to show weld seams, hatch detail and stowage without needing a table to itself, while still fitting comfortably on a normal shelf. Cars gravitate to 1/24, close enough to true miniature scale that a finished kit still reads clearly from across a room.

Ships and sci-fi subjects tend to run smaller again - 1/350 or 1/700 for a warship, for instance - simply because the real thing is a different order of magnitude larger than a plane or a tank. None of this is a rule you're bound to follow, but it explains why the shelves at any hobby shop are organised the way they are, and why asking "what scale is this in?" is really asking "how big is my shelf, and how much detail do I want to see?" at the same time.

What size will it actually be? (table, cm)

These figures come from dividing each subject's real-world length by its scale factor, not from a manufacturer spec sheet - a handy trick you can apply to any kit using the scale and the real vehicle's dimensions, even for subjects not listed here. Rough finished sizes, so you know what's landing on your shelf before you commit to a purchase:

Figures are approximate - real-world length divided by scale, rounded to the nearest centimetre. Actual size still depends on the specific subject and manufacturer, not just the scale number printed on the box.

Which scale is easiest for beginners?

1/48 and 1/35 are the easiest starting points for most beginners, simply because the parts are large enough to handle comfortably without a magnifier or a completely steady pair of hands. 1/72 crams the same level of detail into a smaller footprint, which suits confident builders and small display spaces but punishes shaky first attempts more than a larger scale would - tiny parts are tiny parts, whether or not you're new to the hobby.

Eyesight matters more than most beginners plan for. Fitting a small cockpit part or aligning a thin undercarriage leg is fiddly at 1/72 even with good light and a steady hand; the same part at 1/48 is roughly one and a half times larger in every dimension, which makes a real difference at the bench. 1/24 cars sit in a similar large-and-manageable category to 1/35 armour, though automotive paint finishes are less forgiving of small mistakes than a tank's flatter, more matte colours - worth knowing before assuming "bigger parts" automatically means "easier finish" across every subject.

If you're still unsure, 1/48 is the single safest starting scale across aircraft, armour and even some sci-fi kits - large enough to build comfortably, and common enough that finding a first kit is never the hard part.

Mixing scales in a collection

A shelf mixing 1/72 and 1/48 aircraft looks inconsistent side by side, even though both are legitimate scales in their own right - a 1/48 Spitfire will visually dwarf a 1/72 one despite depicting the same real aircraft. If a tidy, cohesive-looking display matters to you, picking one scale per subject type and sticking with it pays off more over a growing collection than any individual kit choice ever will.

There's also a practical shelf-space argument that has nothing to do with looks: a dozen 1/72 aircraft take up roughly the same footprint as four or five 1/48 aircraft, so scale choice is really a decision about how many finished models you want to display versus how much detail you want on each one. This is exactly why our Model Kits collection is organised with scale-specific pages for 1/72, 1/48, 1/35 and 1/24 rather than lumping every subject together - browsing by scale first, then subject, is the more useful order once consistency matters to you. It also makes gift shopping easier: if someone already has a shelf of 1/48 aircraft, staying in that scale is a safer bet than picking whatever looks best on the box.

A few real examples to anchor all of this: the Tamiya 1/72 de Havilland Mosquito and Tamiya 1/48 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb show the aircraft jump described above; the Tamiya 1/35 Kubelwagen and Tamiya 1/35 US M41 Walker Bulldog show that armour scale alone doesn't fix physical size; and the Tamiya 1/24 Ford Mustang GT4 is a solid reference point for where car scale sits.

FAQs

Is bigger scale easier to build?

Generally yes - larger parts are easier to handle, cement cleanly and paint without a magnifier, which is why 1/48 and 1/35 suit most beginners better than 1/72. It isn't a universal rule, though: a large-scale kit with an equally large part count can still add up to a bigger project overall than a small, simple kit at a smaller scale. As a rough rule of thumb, judge a kit by its part count and instruction sheet before assuming scale alone will make or break the build.

Are all 1/35 kits the same physical size?

No - 1/35 is a fixed ratio, not a fixed size, so a small vehicle like the Kubelwagen and a larger tank such as the M41 Walker Bulldog finish at noticeably different physical sizes despite sharing the same scale number. Scale tells you the ratio to the real thing, not the size of the box it comes in - this is exactly why gift buyers should check a kit's stated dimensions rather than assuming "1/35" alone tells the whole story.

What scale are Airfix Starter Sets?

It varies by subject rather than following one rule across the range - most Airfix Starter Set aircraft are 1/72, while several of the car Starter Sets use different scales again. Check the individual listing rather than assuming one scale applies across the whole Starter Set range, especially if you're buying as a gift and size matters.

Ready to pick a scale? Browse 1/72, 1/48, 1/35 or 1/24 Scale Model Kits, or start with Best Model Kits for Beginners in NZ if you're still choosing a subject rather than a size. Questions? Get in touch or visit us in Auckland.