1/72 vs 1/35 Scale: Which Should You Choose?

1:72 vs 1:35 Scale Model Kits: Which Size Is Right for You?

If you've been browsing resin kits and keep seeing "1:72" and "1:35" without a clear sense of what those numbers mean in practice, you're in good company. Scale notation trips up almost every newcomer, and the difference between these two sizes touches nearly every part of the hobby — how you paint, where you store things, what you can build, and how much you spend. This guide breaks it all down honestly, so you can pick the scale that fits your life rather than the one that sounds impressive.

What the Numbers Actually Mean

A scale ratio tells you how many real-world units equal one unit on the model. A 1:35 kit is one thirty-fifth the size of the actual object; a 1:72 kit is one seventy-second. That's it. The confusion usually comes from visualising what those fractions look like in your hand.

Here's a concrete anchor: an average adult soldier stands roughly 183 cm (6 ft) tall in real life.

• In 1:72 scale, that figure measures approximately 25 mm — about the length of your thumbnail.
• In 1:35 scale, the same soldier stands approximately 52 mm — just over two inches, roughly the height of a standard AA battery.

For vehicles the gap becomes even more dramatic. A WWII-era Sherman tank runs about 5.8 metres long in reality.

• In 1:72, that hull is roughly 80 mm long — fits easily in a palm.
• In 1:35, the same hull stretches to about 166 mm — a serious shelf presence.

You can see the full range of available sizes on our scale reference page, which covers everything from tiny 1:144 aircraft to room-filling 1:16 armour.

Detail Level: What You Can Actually See

Resin captures detail exceptionally well at both scales, but there's a practical ceiling set by human eyes and brush tips. At 1:72, fine surface texture — weld seams, bolt heads, fabric folds on figures — is present but often requires magnification to fully appreciate and a fine-point brush (or even a pin) to paint cleanly. At 1:35, those same details are large enough to see clearly under normal hobby lighting and respond well to standard dry-brushing and wash techniques.

This doesn't mean 1:72 is inferior. Many modellers prefer the way a 1:72 diorama reads as a whole scene rather than drawing you into micro-inspection of a single vehicle. It's a different visual contract, not a worse one.

Price

Scale and price track together fairly directly because larger kits use more resin and take longer to design and cast. As a rough guide:

• 1:72 kits tend to cost less per piece, making it practical to build entire platoons or populate a large diorama without a painful budget commitment.
• 1:35 kits cost more per model, but you're typically buying a single showcase piece meant to carry a display on its own.

If you're early in the hobby and unsure how much time you'll invest, starting with a couple of 1:72 kits is a low-stakes way to find out whether you enjoy building and painting before committing to a larger outlay.

Storage and Display Space

This is where real life intrudes on hobby enthusiasm, and it's worth being honest with yourself upfront.

A completed 1:35 tank with a couple of figures and a small base can easily occupy 25 × 15 cm of shelf space. Multiply that by ten builds and you need a dedicated display cabinet. 1:72 models, by contrast, can be grouped densely — a section of infantry, a supporting vehicle, and a ruined building can sit comfortably within a 20 × 20 cm footprint. For anyone in a flat or sharing a hobby space, 1:72 is simply the more liveable scale.

Unpainted grey resin also photographs beautifully in neutral light, which means even unfinished pieces can sit on display without looking out of place — useful if your painting queue ever backs up.

Painting Difficulty

Honest answer: 1:35 is more forgiving for beginners. Larger surface area means:

• Washes pool naturally in recesses without overflowing onto adjacent detail.
• Dry-brushing on panel edges catches raised texture predictably.
• Masking, chipping, and rust effects have room to breathe.
• Brush control matters less — a slightly shaky hand still lays paint where it belongs.

At 1:72, every technique works the same way, but the tolerances are tighter. A blob of paint that would look fine on a 1:35 figure can obscure an entire face on a 1:72 one. That said, most 1:72 builders solve this with thinned paint, a size 20/0 brush for faces, and the perspective trick — these models are viewed from arm's length, not under a magnifier, so slight imprecision disappears at normal viewing distance.

If you're painting your first resin kit, 1:35 kits will give you faster, more visible wins while you build brush control.

Diorama and Wargaming Use

Dioramas

Both scales support diorama building, but they lend themselves to different stories. 1:72 is ideal when you want to show something happening — a squad moving through a tree line, a battery of artillery, a harbour scene with multiple vessels. The small scale lets you fit narrative into a modest footprint. 1:35 is better for intimate, close-read scenes: a single tank crew performing field repairs, a sniper in a hide, a moment between two figures that rewards close inspection.

Wargaming

1:72 is the dominant scale for tabletop historical wargaming. Flames of War, Bolt Action (which officially uses 28 mm but tolerates 1:56 neighbours), and countless other systems are built around 15–20 mm figures that sit right in the 1:72 range. If you want models that pull double duty — painted for a game one weekend, centrepiece of a diorama the next — 1:72 is the practical choice.

1:35 is rarely used in wargaming because the physical footprint per unit makes it impractical on a standard table. It's primarily a display and competition scale.

At a Glance: Comparison Table

Feature	1:72 Scale	1:35 Scale
Typical figure height	~25 mm	~52 mm
Sherman tank hull length	~80 mm	~166 mm
Price per kit	Lower	Higher
Shelf space per model	Small	Larger
Painting difficulty	Moderate–high	Beginner-friendly
Detail visibility	Requires magnification	Clear at arm's length
Best diorama type	Large narrative scenes	Intimate vignettes
Wargaming	Yes — widely used	Rarely practical
Competition/display	Yes	Yes — very common

So Which Should You Choose?

There's no wrong answer, and plenty of builders work happily in both. But if you're looking for a starting point:

• Choose 1:72 if you want to build armies, populate dioramas affordably, save shelf space, or use your models in wargames.
• Choose 1:35 if you want a showpiece, you're new to painting and want a forgiving canvas, or you plan to enter your work in competitions.

The beauty of unpainted grey resin is that nothing is locked in. A kit sits patiently on your desk until you're ready, holds primer perfectly, and doesn't punish you for choosing the "wrong" scale — because that scale doesn't exist. Whatever gets you to the bench and keeps you building is the right one.

Browse the full 1:72 range, explore 1:35 kits, or visit the scales guide if you're curious about other sizes in the catalogue.