The scale frenzy of brontodocus

[brontodocus]

Uh, when your figure collecting and love for detail gets out of control, you'll end up measuring (and sometimes even weighing) your figures. And soon you'll find out that scales given by manufacturers are often wrong and figures are not in scale with each other. Just put your regular toy line African Bush Elephant next to your Meerkat from the same line and... no, that wouldn't work properly.

So right from the beginning of my collection I started to determine the scale of my figures on my own. I ended up with a huge list and sometimes I played around with it a little. For most figures I have human figures as a scale reference, too, but it's also nice when the animal figures themselves fit together scale wise.

In many cases it's better to combine figures from different lines and so I ended up taking some mini diorama shots (or, in other cases, simply group photos of animal toys of the same scale). Enjoy!

Some African Savannah animals:

Papo Ostrich, Struthio camelus (scale approx. 1:16 - 1:24); Papo Cape Buffalo, Syncerus caffer caffer (scale approx. 1:22 - 1:24); Safari Ltd. Wildlife Wonders African Bush Elephant, Loxodonta africana (scale approx. 1:18 - 1:21, or, if representing the world record specimen, 1:25); Papo Black or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis (scale approx. 1:20 - 1:25); Furuta Choco Egg Funny Animals Series 7 African Wild Dog, Lycaon pictus (scale approx. 1:19 - 1:22.5).

An encounter in tropical South America:

Colorata Endangered Species Reptiles Box Boa constrictor cf. constrictor (scale approx. 1:5 - 1:16, yes, I've measured that thing and straightened out it would be approx. 223 mm long), Wild Safari Wildlife Capybara Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris (scale approx. 1:13 - 1:17), Papo Jaguar, Panthera onca (scale approx. 1:13 - 1:17).

These two actually overlap in their geographical distribution in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea:

Safari Ltd. Wildlife Wonders Western Lowland Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla gorilla (scale approx. 1:8 - 1:9); Furuta Kaiyodo Red Data Animals Goliath Frog, Conraua goliath (scale approx. 1:4 - 1:9).

...and just for the fun of it, this is a scene in 1/7 - 1/8 scale (although not a proper diorama, of course):

Triceratops horridus skull by Masterpiece models; Tyrannosaurus rex skull by La Bottega di Michelangelo; Male Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus by Safari Ltd. Wildlife Wonders; Joan Collins as Edith Keeler from Star Trek by PlayMates; Kaiyodo Dinotales Series 4 Meganeura monyi; Colorata Endangered Species Reptiles Box Veiled Chameleon, Chamaeleo calyptratus; Thylacoleo carnifex by Paleocraft / Sean Cooper; Komodo Dragon, Varanus komodoensis by Safari Ltd. Incredible Creatures; Hyacinth Macaw, Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus by Safari Ltd. Wings of the World.

[Jetoar]

Good post friend  . The scale of the figures is very important if you should do a diorama. I buy figures of some differents brands because they are different roles as adults, calfs youngers, etc (Colorata Boa Constrictor is so cutte).

[tyrantqueen]

That gorilla is amazing. I also like the Kaiyodo chameleon, and the Colorata boa.

[Varanus]

Very nice work!

[Kikimalou]

Grrrrrr ! I was talking about making such a topic elsewhere and you did it 

Fantastic pics and excellent idea.

[brontodocus]

Yay, thanks all!

Grrrrrr ! I was talking about making such a topic elsewhere and you did it 

Fantastic pics and excellent idea.

Oh, I guess there can never be enough attempts of this kind! So I'd be happy to see your topic of that, too. _{And I guess I should really visit STS again, anyways...}

Another one for the African Wildlife lovers (approx. 1/14-15):

Lioness and Lioness with cub, Panthera leo. Papo Les Animaux Sauvages and Safari Ltd. / Wild Safari Wildlife, model. Shoulder heights 58 and 61 mm, respectively, scale approx. 1:15 - 1:16. Honey Badger or Ratel, Mellivora capensis. Habitat Earth / PlayVisions. Snout-vent length + tail length = 55 + 17 mm, scale approx. 1:11 - 1:15. White Rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum. Safari Ltd. / Wildlife Wonders. Shoulder height 120 mm, scale approx. 1:13 - 1:16.

Edit: d'oh, wrong measurement of the Papo Lioness posted...

[Kikimalou]

Great pic again, very beautiful 

I always thought SAFARI Ltd lioness with cub was bigger than PAPO... Could you share a pic of these two models ?

[brontodocus]

  Ooops, you're right... Blame it on the copy&paste disease!


Actually the shoulder height of the Safari Ltd. Lioness with cub is 61 mm, the Papo is 58 mm. The Safari Lioness is also more massive than just these 3 mm difference would suggest.

[Kikimalou]

That's the point I guess. Sometimes I'm not satisfied with my measurements, centimeters can't always explain everything about scales. Some models have nearly the same sizes but the final results are very different. I have the problem with the WW African elephant, centimeters are saying it is a 1:18 to 1:21 model but IMHO it looks like a very young elephant, the head is big compare to the body and it doesn't look like a tall elephant for me.

By the way, thank you for the quick answer and the pic 

[brontodocus]

And measurements can be deceiving when figures have other than neutral stances, e.g. measuring the height of the crouching Papo leopard won't tell the corresponding shoulder height - that can only be estimated. I don't know if the WW African Elephant head may appear quite large for its alert pose with elevated trunk, spread ears, and open mouth. It looks a bit  big, yes. On the other hand the ear is approx. 85 mm so that doesn't seem too large for the scale.

When I measure dinosaur figures, especially those of theropods, I find that scale is often better calculated from the head's measurements (since only little soft tissue is assumed and head length is almost equal to skull length) rather than from total length (which would have to be measured as if following the vertebral centra and that's not easy and impossible to achieve with 100% certainty) and the tails of many dinosaur figures are considerably abbreviated. But considering mammals with their skull covered in much soft tissue and mostly even fur would render it very difficult to calculate the corresponding skull size. So I normally favour shoulder height and/or snout-vent length for calculating the scale of a terrestrial mammal figure.

Did I mention that - besides all the fun it gives to do that - it's also quite some work to measure all your figures that way? I'm at approx. 1700 figures currently and I have measured every figure I ever bought... Oh dear...

[Kikimalou]

I have more than 2000 figures and a lot of them are still without any measurement and scale  I guess I will paste your scale on the models we have in common to save time.
I prefer to use the eight at shoulder too but I often mixed it with the length, preferably without the tail.

[Ana]

Wonderful photos! It's so nice to see these figures in proper scale to each other, they look hundred times better
I especially love the "museum" photo with dino skulls and  WW orangutan and many other cuties, such an awesome mysterious atmosphere, it could be beginning of story for comic book or movie  
Dioramas are of course also extremely nice

[brontodocus]

Thank you so much, Kikimalou & Ana! Although it's quite some work measuring the figures (in most cases I take more measurements than just shoulder height but I don't post all data I have all the time, I guess it's already quite nerdy), I think it's really worth doing so, it gives a much better impression of proper size relations between different animals, and e.g. the "Big Five" should really dwarf other animal figures considerably.


And if I was a Cheetah I'd probably not get so close to a male African Buffalo! _{Scale of this scene approx. 1:24.}

[Mark1]

I know that this would be a ( Woolly ) mammoth undertaking... but would it be possible to list all the animals you scaled???

[brontodocus]

I know that this would be a ( Woolly ) mammoth undertaking... but would it be possible to list all the animals you scaled???

Oh... I guess it would be a Steppe Mammoth then... I have around 1,700 figures so far (at least those that I have actually put in my database) and I can only guess but there are very likely more than 1,000 figures I've measured and made a scale estimate for... I'm afraid it's probably impossible to list all of them in a thread.

[Balaur]

Thank you so much, Kikimalou & Ana! Although it's quite some work measuring the figures (in most cases I take more measurements than just shoulder height but I don't post all data I have all the time, I guess it's already quite nerdy), I think it's really worth doing so, it gives a much better impression of proper size relations between different animals, and e.g. the "Big Five" should really dwarf other animal figures considerably.


And if I was a Cheetah I'd probably not get so close to a male African Buffalo! _{Scale of this scene approx. 1:24.}

That is a realistic diorama! Love it! 

[brontodocus]

Thanks, balaurbondoc2843!

[CM]

Sounds like you've got a lot of the same obsessions I do, only I'm so far too lazy to do anything about it.   I had started a database because I wanted to be able to organize lists of different companies' offerings by things like scale, or classification, or release year, etc., but there aren't really very complete listings out there that I can find.  Also, being newish to the hobby, I find I'm simply not that interested in a lot of older, and therefore ... cruder-looking, figures.  I really wish companies would release more "official" scale descriptions though.

[brontodocus]

Sounds like you've got a lot of the same obsessions I do, only I'm so far too lazy to do anything about it.   I had started a database because I wanted to be able to organize lists of different companies' offerings by things like scale, or classification, or release year, etc., but there aren't really very complete listings out there that I can find.  Also, being newish to the hobby, I find I'm simply not that interested in a lot of older, and therefore ... cruder-looking, figures.  I really wish companies would release more "official" scale descriptions though.

Oh, the database I have is of course far from being complete, I guess well over a hundred of my figures never appeared in it... and it's also quite a mess to look into. While I appreciate manufacturers' attempts to give official scales for their figures, most of the time those estimates aren't too reliable. It starts with the question: How do I measure something? Do I have to measure all animals the same way and in direct line or along the curve (there are different approaches in measuring the snout-vent length of large mammals and e.g. lizards)? What parts of the body should be measured, anyway (e.g. in turtles and crabs the dimensions of the carapace are the most important)? Where do I get reliable data for the animal's size (and not the often seen 11 m for Great White Sharks)? All this and the wish to distribute figures within a line that don't show too enormous size differences makes it very hard to really keep figures in scale. Sculptors and one-person companies with the appropriate background (e.g. Dinonikes) or companies specialising on scientific models (e.g. the German company SOMSO) are capable to do that but I believe it would be too much work for toy companies. Personally I don't mind about it but I prefer if the scale isn't given at all instead of a misleading one.

[modelnut]

Wonderful thread!

I'm glad I am not the only one who is scale crazy. 

I have just started a new collection in 1/24 scale to put on the shelf with Pegasus Hobbies new dinosaur kits. I am nearing completion of the Triceratops. So I started looking around. 1/24 is a popular scale for model trains and cars. So I found (almost) the family car and a set of people in the same scale. Here are the Trike and a set of people to give you an idea. They are not painted yet but they will be soon.



- Leelan