I'm a modeller from Prague, Czech Republic, buried in small scale. I read your article about mixing 1/72 and 1/76 scales several times, as well as the article from Gerard van Geleuken, and now I'd like to express my own opinion on the mentioned theme.

I completely agree that it is nonsense to use 1/72 FUJIMI Kingtiger along with the 1/72 ESCI/Italeri one, if you create a diorama, where for instance they are following each other.

But I think it's perfectly valid to mix the two scales when figures are concerned. If anybody has some experience with the service in the army, they could answer the following: "How many colleagues had been exactly as tall as yourself?" If the 1/72 scale figure's average height of a person about 6 feet = 180 cm, so in 1/76 scale, a soldier is 5 feet and 8 inches = 170 cm tall. Further, some people are athletic, sinewy and square-shouldered, some not. Compare Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny de Vito, or Tom Cruise and Dolph Lundgren. An army unit consisting of the men with the same height is, I think, rather an exception than the rule [Prussian grenadiers of Friedrich the Great, the beginning of the SS Leibstandarte and, especially, the parade units]. In war time, most states declare a mobilization, either the general one, or by the class, but never by the figure.

So I want only to say that you can smuggle some 1/76 soldiers into your 1/72 battle scene [and vice-versa] with quiet heart. But be careful; some very little 1/76 figures [Matchbox] among the big 1/72 ones [ESCI] look unrealistic and overdone. But on the other hand, look at the Volkssturm troops or the Wehrmacht reservists at the end of war. You could find both 60 year grandfathers and 14 year boys among them. And the topic called e.g."The Last Stand in Berlin Street" might be one of those where you can use bigger 1/72 [experienced elite veterans] in addition to 1/76 [young greenhorns] soldiers. We can also find some differences in the body structure among the Commonwealth soldiers. The Australians or Scottish highlanders will be probably more bulky and taller than the much feared Gurkhas.

Dear modellers, don't hesitate to use your smaller figures; Napoleon was also not tall.

Yours sincerely,

Vaclav "Bear" Sima