12mm is commonly and incorrectly thought of as 1:144 scale. The two are very different in size.

12mm wargaming scale is 1:160 model scale.  Europe and the US use 1:160 as their N-gauge railway modelling scale.

1:144 should more correctly be referred to as 13mm wargames scale, but is still slightly oversize for the 1:148 British N-gauge railway modelling scale.

As you can see from the above statements, the commonly held belief amongst wargamers that 12mm is 1:144 is not only incorrect, but is only one misconception amongst many within a very narrow sizes-band that has many common scale nomenclatures.

If you’ve ever bought Axis & Allies plastic wargaming models, you will have noticed that the figures are true-scale 15mm (1:120), but noticed that their vehicles are a much smaller scale even though they’re advertised as 15mm.  Sometimes you will see these vehicles with scale claims of 1:144 / 12mm and placed into the same scale groups as the true-scale 1:144 vehicles and aircraft from the Japanese plastic model manufacturers, yet the Axis and Allies models show themselves to be a different scale to the Japanese-made offerings.

The Axis and Allies models are made in Chinese factories designing to American and mainland European N-scale ratios (1:160), whilst the ever-efficient Japanese are designing to stated order scale for the larger 1:144 and ignoring railway gauge scale-ratios.

Whilst the 12mm / 1:160 scale has it’s origins in railway modelling, the 13mm / 1:144 scale has it’s origins in the “half-scale” 1:72nd and “give-aways” production market.  This has been revitalised over the last decade by Japanese confectionery-makers seeking new markets, and creating souvenir issues of boxed candies with 1:144 scale vehicle and aircraft kits in them.  The most famous of these being the extensive Takara range of “World Tank Museum” and “War Birds” semi-collectible issues.

LRL 12-15mm uniScale flat roofed house and yard part of the FRB series – first released 2004

Long Range Logistics 12-13mm Ranges

Long Range Logistics has not as yet designed a range of specifically 12-13mm scale buildings and scenics, although many of our models with uniScale rating do in fact work excellently with the 12mm group of scales.

As with many of the smaller wargaming scales, we have compiled a list of in-demand building designs, began the drawings and the style-research, and hope to release the first batches sometime during 2009-10.

Page incomplete – more to be added

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