the psychology of scale collecting

[pickelhaube]

but do you collect 1/16 tanks? They're cool too. Why or why not?

I do have a few of them just by default . They don't have them in 1/18 scale/

Like the FOV Tiger IIs and the Trumpeter T-34/85.

If they had them in 1/18 scale I probably would have not gotten them.

[Mitch]

I stick 100% with 1:18th because it is sooo impressive. You get a true sense of scale difference between different subjects. Got a few 1/32 as gifts but got rid of them - it just seemed so average...not the wow factor of 1/18.
I guess I do have a huge collection of 1:50 armor - started when I was a kid and got a Corgi Tiger1 and my collection was completed when ebay came along - I was able to get the rest of them that we couldn't afford back then.

Does this make me a mental case??? lol

[snake]

I collect three main scales.1/18,1/32,and 1/72.

1/18 is good for the wow factor,but is hard to display more than one or two at a time.

1/32 is probably my favourite scale,as it is still a good size,and has great detail.

1/72 is reserved for WWII twin engine,and multi engine bombers.
Also for modern jets,as other than Franklin Mint 1/48,this is the only scale they are available in.

I am not bound by any particular scale.But I refuse to buy any 1/72 armour,or single engine fighters.
Just too small.

So I guess I am not "anal",or a scatterbrain.

[fightin]

It just doesn't. People collect stuffed animals, dolls and brass statues and don't seem to worry that it's not all one scale.

If you cannot get a Pershing in 1/18th, then 1/16th it is!

Do stuffed animals come in "scales"?
I'm taking the opposite view, If you cannot get a Pershing in 1/18th, then build one! Although i have always been a control freak...oops...i mean scale purist.
My thinking is that my collection is like a mini museum so everthing should relate to everything else scale wise (would be weird going to an actual museum and seeing slightly larger/smaller versions of things). As a designer, I also like when things are in order and in sync. So if I ever had a 1/16th whatever next to a row of 1/18th things, the 1/16th would kinda annoy me because the "pattern " would be lost.
If I had an out of scale model (even slightly like a 1/16th tank) I would probably keep it separate from the other scales..........probably even get more 1/16th stuff to "match"

I can only agree with you! Well said.

[hotrodrock]

I am 60 now. I started building models when I was about 6 yrs. old. Up until I was around 12, I built everything and anything. Ships, planes, military vehicles, cars. I think thats where my "scale doesn't matter" mindset got started. Obviously, battleships and carriers are going to be very small scale whereas most cars were 1/24. After that, I stuck primarily to collecting pre-built 1/18 cars until 21st came along. I was in heaven. I would go into TRU and pick up 3 or 4 of both 1/32 and 1/18 and leave with a basket full of items. Never do anything to the planes I have but when I get some armor, its for the purpose of adding to or taking something from it and repainting or weathering it. I still have a lot of unbuilt 1/35 and 1/32 models stashed away. Boils down to this. For me, if I see a piece I like, thats it. What difference does it make what scale it is if I like it.

It would be like having a hot babe with a fine rack crawling all over you and telling her "sorry, your hairs the wrong color". That is the same isn't it?

[aferguson]

hm....a better analogy might be telling her she's too tall or too short.

[ostketten]

Interesting topic. I see this as kind of an open ended question, with a huge number of variables and possibilities. I developed an interest in "scale" models at a pretty tender age, around 10-12 years old as best that I can remember, and it would be very difficult for me to say what specifically kindled that interest, and the only thing I could probably say with any degree of certainty is that it has always been primarily focused on military models. As for scale, I collect a fairly wide variety.

[GI546]

why i collect 1:32 and 1:35:
1)it's small enough for my apartment
2)not as expensive as some 1:18 stuff
3)its easier to army build
4)i just like the scale

but, a downside is that they're not possable.
but i cna look past that.

[coreystinson]

I stay with 1:18 scale because it is a scale I like, coming from a GI JOE 3 3/4" collecting background (figures were roughly 1:18 scale, vehicles were not of course).

I stay with 1:18 scale, with the exception of buying the Sideshow 12" GI JOE figures.

Staying with one scale is a good way for me to mentally compartmentalize and control the collecting habit which I know could get out of control if I don't check it.

[Dauntless]

I like 1:18 a lot because of the "wow" factor. It's closest in scale to what I bought the most of during the heyday of my collecting, namely Star Wars figures and ships.
So it was an easy decision to buy a lot of 1:18.

Now I think of all the space I lack to display it and most of it is in boxes. Whereas I can hang quite a few 1:32 fighter planes in each corner and around the room without them looking all crowded together in what actually looks like a realistic dogfight.

I refuse to hang up a bunch of 1:18 planes because they look crowded and wouldn't be flying so close together in reality. That's just me though, to each their own.

I don't even want to think about my huge 1:6 collection of vehicles and figures. Out of sight out of mind.

[Tinman]

Can't beat tmanthegreat's comments. Dead-on in my book!

Primarlilly 1:18 for me, but I do have a number of 1:32 planes (would love some 1:32 helicopters and more 1:32 jets). Any other scale is just too dinky or too unmanagably big for my tastes. I had a 1:16 R/C Abrams a few years ago (2003?), but sold it 'cause it just was so far out of scale with my 1:18 modern stuff.

[aferguson]

interesting discussion and viewpoints so far.

So do i get one of these?

http://static.rcgroups.com/forums/attac ... 1263860006

1/25 scale.

[Jay]

So do i get one of these?

Nah, get a Ford Truck instead!

[ostketten]

So do i get one of these?

Nah. You seem to like many RC aircraft models, even if only for static purposes, so why not one of these babies...?? Offered in two flavors, "Jolly Roger" & "Black Knight", dimensionally (Length/Wingspan) it appears to be almost identical to the JSI F-14, so presumably it's pretty close to 1:18. I would love to see the guy flying this thing, but apparently it is new enough that he hasn't had time to put together a video.

Blitz Works RC Jolly Roger: http://www.bananahobby.com/1884.html

Blitz Works RC Black Knight: http://www.bananahobby.com/1966.html

[aferguson]

yes i know about those.....i almost got one instead of the JSI...i still might, to have one to hang....much cheaper than the JSI as well. I know where i can get them for under $120

[Crazy Kraut]

I collect them because I´m crazy for them. And I think you can work with these big modells the best. All the smaller will break away soon under my hands. Maybe it´s on my hands
But I do it like my girl friend say: the bigger the better.
Don´t tell my wife!!!!!

[fightin]

But I do it like my girl friend say: the bigger the better.
Don´t tell my wife!!!!!

well said, buddy.

[MCalamari]

I have a preference for 1:18 going back to my days of Fisher-Price Adventure people and Star Wars figures (yes, Fisher-Price beat Kenner to the punch -- they had firetrucks and fisherman ... good stuff as a kid).

[tmanthegreat]

I have a preference for 1:18 going back to my days of Fisher-Price Adventure people and Star Wars figures (yes, Fisher-Price beat Kenner to the punch -- they had firetrucks and fisherman ... good stuff as a kid).

Those Adventure People were great figures! I still have the Navy hard helmet diver around somewhere, as well as some of the astronaut figures.

[MCalamari]

Those Adventure People were great figures! I still have the Navy hard helmet diver around somewhere, as well as some of the astronaut figures.

He was among the best!

Their vehicles were great for GI Joes ... especially all their boats.

[ram04]

I started out building models as a kid and in just the last few years discovered the 1/18, 1/16 and 1/32 pre-built models. ( actually the 1/16 were RC tanks that I found too cool to pass up ).

What amazes me is the fact that there are so many people that collect these, I don't mention to very many people that I collect models, but when friends come by and walk in and see them, they go nuts ( it just goes to show we are all still kids at heart ).

As far as scale, I just buy what I like, I really would hate to limit myself to just one scale, mostly I look for detail rather than size.

[MCalamari]

What amazes me is the fact that there are so many people that collect these, I don't mention to very many people that I collect models, but when friends come by and walk in and see them, they go nuts ( it just goes to show we are all still kids at heart ).

I think we are socially conditioned to not admit to having toys (I almost said play, but that too is a bad word) as adults.