There this soldier walking with his rifle slung that keeps on getting his photo taken.



How all this started was that someone sent me a message about using some Dinky Military Toys with their 54 mm soldiers in a proposed Diorama layout. Not thinking I thought that the email came from the Toy Collector Forum posts areana, and I flicked the email away by delete. Silly me. Now I cannot find that person, and this would be the only avenue of addressing this issue about using Dinky Toys with Toy Soldiers by composing this forum thread about using what scale model soldiers should we use with Dinky Toys.

So what would 54 mm solders look like up against some of Dinky most famous early military production toys. Well for starters there is no scale link between them. Most of the early Dinky cars and trucks  were modelled on their relationship with the O gauge (1:45 scale) trains in 1933 adding to the various trackside accessories and people of about 35 mm high, which came out in 1931.  These were marketed under the brand name of Meccano Miniatures for a short time before the words Dinky Toys became synonymous around the diecast toy world, as you beaut toys to have.

What scales did Meccano use with their Dinky Toys overall, as some do not match up with the likes of Britains and other famous soldiers and civilian named brands of the day. The answer is that Meccano made their own scale diecast soldiers and civilian in O gauge scale or (1:45 scale).  As the brand name Dinky toys became so popular within the United Kingdom and had made inroads around the toy world at large with their robust diecast toys. Dinky decided to keep on with their 1:45 scale for smaller cars, while their larger cars and trucks called Supertoys used the scale of 1:48. (So they say)

In 1964 Tri-ang (Lines Brothers0 purchased meccano in its entirety which included Hornby trains resulting in a shift in scale to 1:42 for Dinky which lasted until 1977. This change in scale was initiated by Lines Brothers who also made the Spot-On toys in 1:42 scale, although the only Spot-On toys that Dinky arm used was those that were made in Hong Kong.  The French Dinky Subsidiary maintained their independence with the 1:43 scale. The other changes were the establishment of the Dublo range being of 1:76 scale long before Lines Brothers came onto the scene, while the Mini Dinky used the 1:65 scale and were distend for Hong Kong production.

So by using these known scales 1:45, 1:48 and 1:42 that Dinky used as a reference guide for these toys for any military diorama, then by using the Toy Collector scale Calculator, I was able to check some of these Dinky military vehicles out to a degree of success, if a person was going to use O gauge (1:45 scale) and the soldiers height should be around the 35 mm establishing this theory.

I then measured the Dinky Universal Bren Gun Carrier being a larger scale and to see if it would be equal the suggested 1:48 scale for Supertoys, by matching this scale to the original known length of 2650 mm, width 1920mm and height 1520 mm and found to my surprise there was some discrepancy with this Bren Gun Carrier suggested scale and found that the modelling scale was more in the vicinity of the 1:32 scale.

I had better luck with the Dinky Willys Jeep Supertoy. By using using the known length in real terms for the Willy's jeep of 3330 mm overall length. The Jeep came in to be a dead ringer for the 1:32 scale known as the 54 mm soldier, known as the soldier scale. How did the rest of the Supertoys go with the 1:48 scale by Toy Collector scale calculator.  It became difficult to match them and they would probably go better with 1:35 scale for model soldiers with a height of 46 mm or smaller. Take you pick and try it out for yourself. 

I selected 25 mm, 46mm, and 54mm plastic soldiers to be used for measuring the standing straight position which is normally confined to the feet (or base) to the eyes as the recognised method of measurement.  The reason for excluding head gear is they can very too much while helmets are sitting on the soldiers head.  I have no 35 mm high soldiers to compare with as I couldn't lay my hands on them amongst the hundreds I have. 

Confusing yes, while trying towork all this our and searching cyberspace for some extra help. As I found there are two different modelling guides being used these days and those who established the scale for measuring model soldiers based on the average standing height of 6 foot (1828mm) then dividing byy the 1:32 scale thus giving me the resulting model soldier height of 57 mm, shook me to tears. What is going on I thought.

Another Webb site suggestion was to use the average height for realism of 1610mm from the base of the feet to the eyes which is about 5 foot 4 inches.  Just like me when I tested this out by looking with my eyes against the tape measure in front of me. I could visualise the 5 foot 4 inch mark staring straight back at me.  Just to make sure I am on the right track, I consulted with my old trusty conversion guide book of 40 years and it tells me that 5 foot 4 inches should really equal 1625.6mm. So when in doubt I used the recommended measuring number of 1610mm and dividing by the known scale of 1:35 and 1:32 resulting in a height for the model soldiers 46mm and 50mm Rerrospectively.

Looks like I am in a bit of luck here as most of those plastic soldiers made in Hong Kong and those others that are made in China are of this category. That I will be using in this visual walk around in pictures of those model soldiers against some of Dinky most famous and those of Corgi BRitian and Crescent militay vehicle for comparisons sake which some of the latter are not really correct to scale for the selected modelling of these soldiers.

Below is a good match up and it is a remote control tank Made in China by Funrise Inc 1997 and has an overall length of 350mm.  Again the marching soldier with the rifle slung is there like FOO was here again.





A work in progress. 

There is one sure way, if a person doesn't have access to the real military verhicle to gauge from, is to look in books for images that show just how soldiers do look like and compare them against the backdrop of toys like Dinky and you will be able to adjust to the comparison.



 



One is a copy from a book of an artist impression and a real life situation with real people in the background.




The Crescent 25 pounder looks a little better match than the Saladin by the same toy Company.




Compare the Dinky Universial Bren Gun Carrier and 6 pounder anti tank gun with some 1:32 and 1:35 scale solders verying from around 46mm to 50mm.



Above is the Crescent Saladin and Dinky Bren Gun Carrier with a soldier's head and shoulders sitting on the cupola of the Saladin. In comparing the two armourd the Saladin looks like a peddle car.

Lets see what they look like clambering around a Crecsent scorpion Tank eventhough they are just a grunt of a tank.



Now that walking soldier with its rifle slung has got into the picture again.



In the background is Dinky's biggest tank they came out with. The Chieftain Tank and doesn't match the Bren Gun at all in scale.

Another comparision by comparing images of real life situations against proposed diorama scaling.

 







Nothing like a bit of a rest from it all.




 

These are some of the unlucky volunteers selected for this job at hand. True grunts at heart.







The use of callipers is a good way to measure those soldiers but remember it is the eye height from their feet that counts.










 

Some more images to compare on the walk around theme.













Heaps to go.

There is that foot soldier again.

 

Britains Jeep.



Now that is something to compare with.


 

Notice the Lone Star Carrier which looks a bit small for those mechanical cowboys.



Matching the Crescent against Dinky Scorpion and the Corgi against the Crescent Saladin 

 

The Crescent is a bit longer than the Dinky and NO they are not to scale either, as they do not match any of the real life measurements in scale as they are all over the place. Try it on the TC Scale Calculator to see if I am right or not. So don't just take my word for it. 
Something real to compare with helps.



And we didn't take this bit of scrub from your rose garden.



 

Now one would think this Dinky Supertoy would be to scale as the Bren Gun although the Chiefton looks great on the Mighty Antar thus sticking to the 1:48 scale. So if anyone wants to use this then they have to drop down in size for the soldiers.



The soldiers look a bit large compared to those changing tracks on the real Chieftian.



And have a cuppa alongside one.




Now this plastic Duram Industies Inc made in Hong Kong looks natural with the 1:32 scale soldiers.



But not a match for the Dinky Chieftian.



Here is a match for the I:32 scale by New Ray Military Force from the 1990's



Still got the box it came in.

See here it is.





Here is some Airfix 1:72 scale model soldiers kit form.









Now there is a near match up with a little Bren Gun crew.

Airfix against the white metal Bren Gun Carrier.



Some 40mm high soldiers.



 

Taking a break from it all.



Nope this wont do there are no peddels. 

Still too small.



 



Might be alright for a Mini Minor.

These are about 1:72 scale and have heaps of them.







Good match up with the 5.5 inch gun.











But a bit small for the 25 pounder me think.


Or are they.
 

Nice write up James and good comparisons to other scales. Looks like you did your homework on this little project.