1 inch Dungeon Tile Miniature Scaler by Banna121

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is a remix from Yoolis's invaluable Miniature Scaler.
This version is based on two common floor tile sizes so that you can scale your miniatures to their actual size in line with the environment you play in.
One side of this scaler represents 1 inch = 5 feet.
For those using metric 25mm tiles, the other side represents 25mm = 5 feet, just a smidge less than an inch.
The scaler is used on your virtual build plate when scaling models before printing them. It can also be resin printed and used to measure scale sizes in the game environment.
Why is it useful?
Miniatures scales are typically quoted as 28mm, 32mm, and increasingly 34mm. It's hard to get a clear answer on what this actually means in terms of height as these scales are said to be based on the height of an average human, which is what exactly? To add to the confusion some take the height from the top of the head, others reference the eye-line and some include headgear. Most of these and other factors make the miniature less miniature, soon goblins are ducking their heads just to get through a 6'6'' door. Rant aside, the answer is right under our miniatures noses, the floor tile is an inch square and represents five feet, scatter and terrain generally fall in line with this too. Unless your floor tiles are larger than 1 inch, then the distance on the floor is the same distance vertically, which means that a 6-foot tall humanoid standing barefoot and erect is 30.48mm tall, a 4-foot tall goblin is 20.32mm tall.
If you play any game using 1 inch = 5 feet tiles then you are playing at 1/60th scale which simply means that 1 inch = 60 inches and therefore 28mm, 32mm, and 34mm are not scales but really are just distances or height when applied vertically.
Real-life reference (game height)
The average American male barefoot is 5ft 9.3in (29.33mm)
The average height NBA player in shoes is 6ft 7in (33.44mm)
At 1/60th scale, a 6ft tall human standing erect in boots could roughly be sized at 32mm from top of the head to the floor and would be a tall person, a shorter 5ft. 6in human would be around 28mm and a 34mm miniature human is the height of a professional basketball player. In 1/60th scale none of these heights are wrong and this is why in so-called 28mm and 32mm scale most models tend to sit reasonably well together but 34mm, around 6' 8", although possible for a human, is awesomely tall, incredibly rare, and is more likely to only to apply to champions and bosses.