What is a scale model?

A scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object being represented.

A scale model is a three-dimensional representation of a physical object. The model scale is most often expressed as a simple fraction: 1/24 scale means the model is 1/24 the size of the full-size subject. In other words, in 1/24 scale you would need 24 Chevy models parked bumper to bumper to equal the length of one Chevrolet. Like any fraction with 1 for a numerator, the greater the denominator the smaller the object.

Skipping past the carved artifacts of ancient history, scale model kits as we know them first appeared in England in the 1930s under the “FROG” brand (for “flies right off the ground.”) As it happened, these rubber band-powered aircraft models were manufactured in 1/72 scale (more on that in a moment).

A few years later, scale modeling took a serious turn as FROG and many others built aircraft recognition models for the war effort. Again, the scale was often 1/72 — a size that allows display and comparison of heavy bombers and diminutive fighter planes in a reasonable amount of space.

ately modeled, such as material properties, so the model's interaction with the outside world is reliably related to the original object's interaction with the real world.