How tall are 1/72 scale figures? 20mm, 15mm and 28mm compared

A 1/72 scale figure of a 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) man is 24.0 mm (0.95 in) tall to the top of the head: 1,730 / 72 = 24.0 mm. The scale is one inch to six feet. Six feet is 1,828.8 mm, and 1,828.8 / 72 = 25.4 mm, exactly 1 in.

How tall are 1/72 scale figures?

A 1/72 scale figure of a 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) man stands 24.0 mm (0.95 in) to the top of the head and 22.4 mm (0.88 in) to the eyes. Eight plastic sets measured by Plastic Soldier Review average 21 to 25 mm, because makers sculpt to different heights and real soldiers’ heights vary by era.

The Miniatures Page uses 1.73 m as an average man’s height and 1.61 m as his eye height. Any other real height divides by 72 the same way. The 1/76 column covers figures sold as 1/76, the scale of British OO model railways.

Real height	ft and in	At 1/72	in	At 1/76	in
1.60 m	5 ft 3 in	22.2 mm	0.87	21.1 mm	0.83
1.65 m	5 ft 5 in	22.9 mm	0.90	21.7 mm	0.85
1.70 m	5 ft 7 in	23.6 mm	0.93	22.4 mm	0.88
1.73 m	5 ft 8 in	24.0 mm	0.95	22.8 mm	0.90
1.75 m	5 ft 9 in	24.3 mm	0.96	23.0 mm	0.91
1.80 m	5 ft 11 in	25.0 mm	0.98	23.7 mm	0.93
1.83 m	6 ft 0 in	25.4 mm	1.00	24.1 mm	0.95
1.85 m	6 ft 1 in	25.7 mm	1.01	24.3 mm	0.96
1.90 m	6 ft 3 in	26.4 mm	1.04	25.0 mm	0.98

The 6 ft row uses 1,828.8 mm exactly. For figures of a particular era, Plastic Soldier Review puts an average Roman at about 22.5 mm at 1/72, a Napoleonic soldier at 23.5 mm and a modern soldier at about 24.3 mm.

Is 1/72 scale 20mm?

In wargaming, broadly yes. Wikipedia puts 20mm at about 1:72 to 1:90 and names 20 mm plastic figurines among 1:72 models. By measurement, 1/72 sits at the large end. A 1/72 man is 22.4 mm to the eyes and 24.0 mm to the top of the head, while a figure exactly 20 mm to the eyes is 1:80.5.

The gap comes from how “20mm” is read. The Miniatures Page measures mm scales to eye level, which some experts treat as traditional because headgear makes the top of the head impractical to measure. That gives 1,610 / 20 = 1:80.5. Read as 20 mm to the top of the head, the default in the miniature scale calculator, it is 1,730 / 20 = 1:86.5. Wikipedia’s article on miniature figures describes 1/72 as a scale that “uses 20 mm, to 25 mm miniatures”.

Plastic kits blur it further. Airfix figures were once boxed as “HO & OO” and are now sold as 1/76 or 1/72, according to Wikipedia. The same 1.73 m man is 22.8 mm at 1/76.

To match a file to 1/72 kits, measure a standing figure in the slicer from the soles to the top of the head. If it already comes out near 24 mm, print it at 100%. If it was made to a strict 20mm, use the row that matches how it was measured:

“20mm” read as	Ratio	1.73 m man	1/72 to 20mm	20mm to 1/72
20 mm to the eyes (The Miniatures Page)	1:80.5	21.5 mm	89.44%	111.81%
20 mm to the top of the head	1:86.5	20.0 mm	83.24%	120.14%
Small end of Wikipedia’s range	1:90	19.2 mm	80%	125%

Is 1/72 scale 15mm?

No. 15mm is a smaller scale, about 1:100 to 1:120 in Wikipedia’s scale table. The 15mm World War II game Flames of War uses 1/100 models. A 1.73 m man is 17.3 mm tall at 1:100 against 24.0 mm at 1/72. To shrink a 1/72 figure to 1:100, print it at 72%.

The percentage is the old ratio divided by the new one: 72 / 100 = 72%. Going the other way, a 1:100 figure enlarged to 1/72 is 100 / 72 = 138.89%. Use 1:100 when the figure has to sit with 1:100 vehicles. Wikipedia’s list of scale model sizes calls 1:100 “15 mm figure scale” for use with small armor models.

Read as a figure height, 15mm comes out smaller than 1:100. The Miniatures Page gives 15mm as 1/107 measured to the eyes, and notes that a 15mm figure is probably about 16.5 mm tall overall. Wikipedia’s list notes that a 6 ft man at 1:120 is 15.24 mm.

“15mm” read as	Ratio	1.73 m man	1/72 to 15mm	15mm to 1/72
1:100 vehicles (Flames of War)	1:100	17.3 mm	72%	138.89%
15 mm to the eyes (The Miniatures Page)	1:107	16.2 mm	67.29%	148.61%
15 mm to the top of the head	1:115.3	15.0 mm	62.43%	160.19%
Small end of Wikipedia’s range	1:120	14.4 mm	60%	166.67%

1/72 compared with 15mm, 20mm, 25mm and 28mm

For the mm scales, the heights are the 1.73 m man at each end of the ratio range Wikipedia gives, measured to the top of the head.

Scale	Ratio	1.73 m man	in
15mm	≈1:100 to 1:120	17.3 to 14.4 mm	0.68 to 0.57
20mm	≈1:72 to 1:90	24.0 to 19.2 mm	0.95 to 0.76
1/76	1:76	22.8 mm	0.90
1/72	1:72	24.0 mm	0.95
25mm	≈1:69 to 1:72	25.1 to 24.0 mm	0.99 to 0.95
28mm	≈1:62 to 1:64	27.9 to 27.0 mm	1.10 to 1.06

1/72 lines up with the top of 20mm and the bottom of 25mm. Wikipedia notes that the original 25mm figures matched 1:72 models and that figure heights have since spread upward. A 28mm figure stands about 4 mm taller than a 1/72 one. The miniature scale calculator converts between 28mm and 1/72 and covers the other tabletop scales.

How big are 1/72 figures from different makers?

Plastic sets reviewed as 1/72 differ by up to 4 mm in height. Plastic Soldier Review measures the standing figures in each set from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head and reports the average:

Set	Released	Average height	At true 1:72
Airfix 1703 Infantry Combat Group	1960	21 mm	1.51 m
Airfix 01703 British Infantry	1973	22 mm	1.58 m
Plastic Soldier WW2020002 Late War British Infantry 1944-45	2011	22.5 mm	1.62 m
Plastic Soldier WW2020003 Late War German Infantry 1943-45	2010	23.5 mm	1.7 m
Airfix 01763 WWII British Infantry	2011	24 mm	1.73 m
Plastic Soldier WW2020006 Late War US Infantry	2013	24 mm	1.73 m
Caesar HB01 Panzergrenadiers (Kharkov 1943)	2010	24.5 mm	1.77 m
Revell 02523 British Infantry	2002	25 mm	1.8 m

Three things account for most of the spread:

• Railway sizing. Plastic Soldier Review notes that early Airfix sets were made in “OO/HO scale”, somewhere between 1/76 and 1/87. They look small beside 1/72 figures. Wikipedia’s 1:72 article adds that many UK makers once produced items at 1:76 and labeled the packaging 1:72.
• The subject. Average human height has changed through history, so an accurate Roman set should stand shorter than a modern one.
• Larger figures over time. Wikipedia and The Miniatures Page both note that makers’ figures have grown over the years. Plastic Soldier Review calls the 25 mm Revell set “a little too tall”.

Before mixing a printed figure into an existing army, measure one figure from that army and scale the file to its height.

How do you print a figure at 1/72 scale?

Measure the standing figure in the slicer from the soles to the top of the head, without the base. Then divide 24.0 mm by that height and multiply by 100. A file that measures 60 mm needs 24.0 / 60 × 100 = 40%. If your army runs taller or shorter, use its measured height instead of 24.0 mm.

Other starting points:

The file is	Slicer scale for 1/72
Real size (1:1)	100 / 72 = 1.39%
1/76	76 / 72 = 105.56%
1/35	35 / 72 = 48.61%
1:100 (15mm)	100 / 72 = 138.89%

To go from 1/72 down to 1/76, use 72 / 76 = 94.74%. Keep uniform scaling on so the figure keeps its proportions. For vehicles, buildings and other kits with a stated ratio, the scale calculator gives the percentage between any two 1:X scales.