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Miniature scale converter
Type a real size and a scale to get the model size, or read it backwards. Enter a figure height and the height of the person it represents to see the ratio that implies. The arithmetic is exact; the one assumption is yours to change.
What your figures actually are depends on the maker - measure one you trust or ask them. This tool does the arithmetic; it does not speak for any manufacturer.
What a scale ratio is
A ratio is a definition, not a fact to check: 1:56 means one fifty-sixth. A wall that is 2,800 mm long in the world is 50 mm long on the tabletop, and the same division works on a doorway, a wagon or a window frame. That is the whole mechanism, and it runs in both directions - the tool above does it either way you type it.
Why a 28mm figure is not one ratio
Figure scales quote a height in millimetres, but makers differ on where that is measured - the whole figure, or eye level - and on how tall the person is meant to be. Two 28mm figures from different ranges can sit noticeably differently beside each other, and both makers are being honest about their own convention. Rather than repeat one folklore number as fact, the tool derives the ratio from the person height you set: the 1,800 mm default is our assumption, and the table marks those derived ratios rather than stating them.
Measured honestly, the question answers itself: stand a figure against a ruler, decide how tall the person would be, and divide. The photographing guide uses the same habit of checking the figure against something known.
What painters use it for
Sizing a display case or a shelf: measure the model, multiply by the ratio, and you have the footprint of the world it stands in. Sizing a backdrop or a photographed scene: the same division the other way. And when a finished piece is going on the wall, the conversion that matters is pixels against print size - which every product page checks for you before you can order.
For the decision after the arithmetic, the display guide compares wall prints, mugs, cards and bottles.
The common scales
| Scale | 1 m of wall becomes | A 1800 mm person becomes |
|---|---|---|
| 1:12 | 83.3 mm | 150 mm |
| 1:16 | 62.5 mm | 112.5 mm |
| 1:20 | 50 mm | 90 mm |
| 1:24 | 41.7 mm | 75 mm |
| 1:32 | 31.3 mm | 56.3 mm |
| 1:35 | 28.6 mm | 51.4 mm |
| 1:43 | 23.3 mm | 41.9 mm |
| 1:48 | 20.8 mm | 37.5 mm |
| 1:50 | 20 mm | 36 mm |
| 1:56 | 17.9 mm | 32.1 mm |
| 1:64 | 15.6 mm | 28.1 mm |
| 1:72 | 13.9 mm | 25 mm |
| 1:76 | 13.2 mm | 23.7 mm |
| 1:87 | 11.5 mm | 20.7 mm |
| 1:100 | 10 mm | 18 mm |
| 1:144 | 6.9 mm | 12.5 mm |
| 1:160 | 6.3 mm | 11.3 mm |
| 6 mm figure* | 3.3 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:300) |
| 10 mm figure* | 5.6 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:180) |
| 15 mm figure* | 8.3 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:120) |
| 20 mm figure* | 11.1 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:90) |
| 25 mm figure* | 13.9 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:72) |
| 28 mm figure* | 15.6 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:64.3) |
| 32 mm figure* | 17.8 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:56.3) |
| 38 mm figure* | 21.1 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:47.4) |
| 54 mm figure* | 30 mm | NaN mm (≈ 1:33.3) |
*The ratio in italics is derived from the assumed person height, not stated by any manufacturer.
A scale ratio is arithmetic: 1:N means one Nth, so real ÷ N gives the model and model × N gives the real. The tool runs it in both directions, and for the figure scales painters quote - 15 mm, 28 mm, 32 mm, 54 mm - it derives the ratio from the height of the person the figure represents, which you can change, because the makers do not standardise it.
Every number on this page is a calculation from the inputs; nothing is quoted from a manufacturer, because no manufacturer speaks for another maker's models.
From the workbench
Questions, answered
What ratio is a 28mm miniature?
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It depends on the maker and on what the 28mm measures. Assuming the figure represents a 1,800 mm person, the tool derives about 1:64; assume a 1,568 mm person and it comes out at 1:56. The honest answer is to measure and divide, which is what the figure calculator above does.
Is 1:56 the same as 28mm?
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Only for a 1,568 mm person: 1,800 mm divided by 56 is 32.1 mm, so a 1:56 world makes a 1,800 mm human a 32 mm figure. Both numbers you have seen quoted are arithmetic from different assumptions - the tool shows its assumption and lets you change it.
How big should a display case be?
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Measure the model, multiply by the ratio, and add a margin. A 50 mm figure at 1:56 implies a 2,800 mm person, so a doorway at the same scale is 2,000 mm divided by 56, about 36 mm. The converter does the multiplication either way.
Does this tell me which scale my figures are?
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No, and nothing honest can without the maker saying so. It converts sizes exactly and derives what a figure height implies under the assumption you choose.