CARS, SCALES AND WARGAMES

I have been asked many times about the cars I use in my games, the brands, scales and so on, so I have decided to make an entry to answer a few questions.

Without any kind of doubt, vehicles used as scenery make an amazing game table in WWII, pulp, modern, zombies ... A table with a modern or 1920s setting should have a minimal selection of different vehicles to decorate.

Manufacturers of minis usually use the 1/56 scale for vehicles, although they are obviously small next to the miniatures of standing people.

Why is this scale used then? It is merely for possibilities of use on a game table, if we use a tank in the appropriate scale it would have a considerable size, and we could hardly use more vehicles (armored or not), but think about it... a tank has a huge size in real life.

Let's see an example with some 1/56 scale vehicles, an allied jeep and a German kubelwagen from the Second World War of the warlord brand for the Bolt Action game together with miniatures of soldiers of the same brand.

For those who do not get the point, this is a jeep in real life...

Now go back to see the photos of the miniatures ... It sounds like a joke to put those standing soldiers in those small cars.

I know that the standing minis havent real proportions... huge hands, such a big head... This is called "Heroic proportions", and we see that the scale of those minis is usually called 28mm heroic. But, if the minis are bigger than a proper scaled human, why are the vehicles smaller than a proper scaled vehicle?

In fact, the minis that go with the vehicle are noticeably smaller than the minis that are standing. But as we have said, the use of 1/56 scale vehicles has been standardized for wargames despite the fact that their size does not correspond entirely, since they bet on playability.

For 28mm miniatures, the perfect scale of the vehicles should be 1/48 or 1/50, and for 32mm miniatures the perfect scale would be the range from 1/43 to 1/48, but we ran into a serious problem in this field.

Diecast cars scales are inconsistent, which is the polite way of saying that each manufacturer does what it wan... Uh... that each manufacturer has its own criteria.

Each manufacturer has its own consideration about the size that a vehicle should have when scaling it, and even within vehicles of the same manufacturer we can have the same problem.

So we get to see a mini Cooper the same size as an off-road range rover, both being marked as being in the same scale ...

(The truck and the car below were marked as 1/43 ... Obviously the truck is not at 1/43)

In fact, there are manufacturers that directly set the scale as "fit in the box", which is basically that those models are sold in a cardboard box and the vehicles (regardless of the model) are sized to fit in the box ( it does not matter if it is a hummer or a mini ... The box is the same and the vehicles MUST be the size of the box).

Therefore, I personally advise buying diecast vehicles online as long as we can have the measurements and check their size. If we do not have the measurements, never trust if it is stated to be "1/50 scale" since what that manufacturer understands by 1/50 can be anything.

If it is in a physical store and we have the vehicle in hand, it is easy to check that the size fits our requirements, and we also help local businesses. In fact, many people, when they go to shops to look for possible vehicles, take a miniature to check the size.

But as this is a blog that bases its spirit on low cost, I will tell you that the best place to find vehicles is ebay or pages / applications for the sale of second-hand items.

On eBay or on these pages you will find lots at very cheap prices, and although the vehicles are used or worn out it does not affect our purposes because we can always repaint them or use them as scenery.

20s / WW2

For 1920s / ww2 vehicles I found a lot of vehicles on eBay that were cheap and fit in size, and shortly after I bought a few more in a store that, although slightly smaller, seemed like a good investment for its low price.

So I found a selection of vehicles that I now put together with 28mm minis from copplestone and warlord so you can see the size.

Here are a few of the Lledo brand, supposedly 1/64 scale, although they are quite large for that scale.

These ones below are from the British brand Corgi. The scale is usually quite inconsistent, so it is better to know their size in centimeters.

These are from the Spanish brand Guisval on a 1/64 scale, although they are a bit small, they  look quite good for the quality and degree of detail.

These ones below are 1/43 scale vehicles from a collection of WWII military vehicles from the Atlas company that was published in France, being heavy vehicles, although they are a bit large, it goes unnoticed too much once on the game table.

MODERN VEHICLES

Here we have the same problem as with the previous ones, only that of modern vehicles we have an impressive variety of makes, models ... and scales ...

I would recommend that you go directly to the 1/43 scale, of which there is a real immensity of possibilities (and cheaper than any option), and as there is also variation in size within that scale, I would look for vehicles that were smaller than 1/43 even if they were marked as that scale.

In this type of modern vehicles, you can find lots on ebay and online, and if you decide to buy them in stores, you will find them even at gas stations, having ALL the imaginable models.

Here you see a few photos with minis of Black Scorpion, copplestone, the walking dead and Gripping Beast, all are heroic 28mm or 32mm (Black Scorpion and The Walking Dead).

MOTORCYCLES

So far we have seen cars, trucks, armored cars ... But let's talk at least slightly about motorcycles for modern, futuristic or post-apoc scenery and terrain.

The best option is matchbox hot wheels motorcycles, which although it says they are at 1/64 scale, we find the same "fit in the box" policy, and since the boxes are made for 1/64 cars, The motorcycles, when resized to fill the box, are at a scale close to 1/48.

Let's see an example with a 1/64 scale BMW gs1200 (1/64... yes... of course... why not?) From matchbox together with 28mm and 32mm minis (from copplestone and the walking dead respectively)

MODIFYNG VEHICLES

Sometimes, in the lots of vehicles that we find, some vehicles sre directly discarded, either because of the conditions they are, the model itself, the color ...

In fact, when I buy second-hand cars, I usually ask the seller if he has damaged, worn out or vehicles in bad conditions, which he usually would not sell. Since we can use them as scenery, and in many cases they even include them in the lot for free.

Now I will show you how I solved some vehicles that for obvious reasons did not adapt to the game table.

The first was this mini Cooper that did not fit me on a table in a town in the Middle East, so I decided to turn it into a wrecked vehicle that would be perfect as a scenery and as a cover in case of combat.

I removed the wheels and the front glass. I mounted it on four pieces of foam cardboard simulating cement or brick blocks and painted it to make it look like it had suffered a fire ...

And this is the result, which hits the tables in the Middle East (and in Western settings as well), giving the table more detail.

The second example is this Mercedes... The model of the vehicle suited my purposes very well, but it needs a good painting to remove that horrendous orange colour and to be able to use that vehicle on the game table.

So once we remove the stickers we give it a good thick layer of white, we paint some details and we give it a "bit" of rust.

And so it is perfect for a Middle Eastern table.

Another case was this Shelby Gt500, the problem was that it was from a promotion that was worth 2 euros, so I bought two of them, and of course, two cars like this the same did not fit my requirements.

So I decided to give one of them a radical change and turn it into a post apocalyptic vehicle to the purest essence of Mad Max. Matte black, some remnants of other cars and spare parts, mud and shots on the glass ... and this was the result.

It must be said that vehicles are a perfect base to test painting and weathering techniques, since if we screw it up, the loss wont be regreted given the price of these cars.

I hope it helps you and clarifies any doubts when selecting vehicles for your games.

Anyway, below you have the comments section in case you have any questions, any correction or whatever you want.