1:500 scale is a scale mainly used by Europeans for pre-finished die-cast airliner models, such as German manufacturer Herpa. This scale is also used by Japanese model kit manufacturer Bandai, Nichimo Company Ltd. and Fujimi Mokei for ship and science fiction model kits.
During World War II, Comet metal Products of Richmond Hill, NY, South Salem Studios of South Salem, NY and H.A. Framburg and Company of Chicago were the major manufacturers of naval recognition ship models for the US Navy. They were commissioned by United States Navy to make ship models used to instruct sailors and airmen to identify ships from various navies. This "friend or foe" recognition was critical in reducing friendly fire incidents. In addition to 1:1200 scale models, these companies also made models in the 1:500 "Teacher Scale." These ships were wither made of wooden hulls with lead superstructures, or die cast of zinc alloy and painted gray. The 1:500 ships were usually arranged in sets and contained fewer models than the 1:1200 scale sets. [1]
In the 1960s, Renwal released fourteen 1:500 scale ship models from World War II or postwar United States Navy, and Frog also released six models from Royal Navy. Both makers had failed in the late 1970s, but some makers such as Chematic rereleased ex Frog 1:500 scale ship models until the 2000s.
In the 1970s, Nichimo released a series of 1:500 plastic scale ship models. The series only comprises a small number of ships, with most of them being ships from World War II Japanese Navy. These models are still under production and widely available in the market. In mid-1970s, Monogram also released models of USS Chicago (CG-11) and USS Columbus in 1:500 scale (actually, 16 in. length box scale). In the late 1990s, Trumpeter released 1:500 scale models of Nimitz class aircraft carrier.
In November 2009, Fujimi released an all-new tooling model of the Japanese battleship Yamato in 1:500 scale. Fujimi then follows on the series by releasing Japanese battleship Nagato and Design A-150 battleship (a Japanese plan for a class of battleship following the Yamato Class, also known as the Super Yamato class) in the same scale.
There are also resin kits available in this scale, such as the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) by Aki.
Doyusha released a limited number of Japanese castle models in 1/500 scale. These are Himeji Castle, Matsue Castle and Kōchi Castle. They are also available in another version that features gold colour plated parts.
1:500 scale is also used in Sci-Fiction plastic model kit by some model manufacturers. AMT released a futuristic spaceship model in the 1960s. Bandai released a model of the Space Battleship Yamato in the 1980s, and an all-new tooling model of the same ship was released in early 2010. Fine Molds began to release spaceship models designed by well known anime and manga artist Leiji Matsumoto in October 2011.
Herpa launched a Wings series of airplane collection models in the 1:500 scale in 1992. The series also includes model diorama airports and airport accessories.
F-toys also released 1/500 scale pre-painted and mostly pre-assembled plastic "trading kits" on JAL and ANA commercial aircraft.
Other manufacturers like Aeroclassics, Inflight500, etc. also offer 1:500 scale model aircraft.
Reality – Scale model
0.1 m – 0.2 mm
0.2 m – 0.4 mm
0.4 m – 0.8 mm
0.5 m – 1 mm
1 m – 2 mm
2 m – 4 mm
3 m – 6 mm
20 m – 40 mm
100 m – 200 mm
1 km – 2000 mm
2 km – 4000 mm
The Montana-class battleships were planned as successors of the Iowa class for the United States Navy, to be slower but larger, better armored, and with superior firepower. Five were approved for construction during World War II, but changes in wartime building priorities resulted in their cancellation in favor of continuing production of Essex-class aircraft carriers and Iowa-class battleships before any Montana-class keels were laid.
Yamato was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing nearly 72,000 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.
A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object. Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes such as anatomical structures or subatomic particles. Models built to the same scale as the prototype are called mockups.
In the fictional Macross Japanese anime series and its English adaptation Robotech, the first mass-produced transforming aerospace fighter mecha is called the VF-1 Valkyrie. The VF-1 Valkyrie is referred to as a "variable fighter" in Macross, but this is changed to the term "veritech fighter" in the Robotech series.
Herpa Wings is a brand that identifies the die-cast model aircraft line of German company Herpa. The collection includes 250 airlines under 17 different aircraft manufacturers in 1:200 scale. The mainstay of Herpa Wings is in the 1:500 scale, while model airliners are also produced in the 1:400, 1:200, 1:1000, and 1:160 scales. Herpa Wings model airliners may also be used in conjunction with Herpa's SCENIX series, which includes model diorama airports and airport accessories.
A plastic model is a plastic scale model manufactured as a kit, primarily assembled by hobbyists, and intended for static display. A plastic model kit depicts various subjects, with a majority depicting military and civilian vehicles. A kit varies in difficulty, ranging from a "snap-together" model that assembles straight from the box, to a kit that requires special tools, paints, and cements.
The Yamato-class battleships were two battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), Yamato and Musashi, laid down leading up to World War II and completed as designed. A third hull laid down in 1940 was converted to an aircraft carrier, Shinano, during construction.
1:144 scale is a scale used for some scale models such as micro/mini armor. 1:144 means that the dimensions of the model are 1/144 (0.00694) the dimensions of the original life-sized object; this equates to a scale of 1/2 inch per 6 feet of original dimension. For instance, an airplane 30 feet (9.14 m) in length would be a mere 2.5 inches (63.5 mm) long as a 1:144 scale model.
Monogram is an American brand and former manufacturing company of scale plastic models of cars, aircraft, spacecraft, ships, and military vehicles since the early 1950s. The company was formed by two former employees of Comet Kits, Jack Besser and Bob Reder.
Herpa Miniaturmodelle GMBH, is a German manufacturing company that produces die-cast scale model aircraft and plastic model cars and trucks under the "Herpa Cars & Trucks" trademark. The mainstay of the Herpa Wings range is in the 1/500 scale, although models are also produced in the 1/400, 1/200, and 1/1000 scales as well.
The Hasegawa Corporation is a Japanese company that manufactures plastic model kits of a variety of vehicles, including aircraft, cars, ships, military vehicles, model armor, model space craft, and science fiction kits.
Aoshima Bunka Kyozai Co., Ltd., commonly truncated to Aoshima, is a Japanese model manufacturer based in Shizuoka Prefecture. It produces plastic model kits of a variety of vehicles, including model car, model aircraft, model ship and model Sci-fi mecha under Aoshima brand, along with finished toys under Skynet brand, diecast models under Miracle House brand, diecast cars under DISM brand and female statue figures under FunnyKnights brand.
Trumpeter is a Chinese company that manufactures plastic injection moulded scale model kits. Their product line consists of model ships, aircraft, cars and military ground vehicles. The company is located in Zhongshan, China, just north of Macau. All of the design and development is done at this site and production facilities on site extend to full mold making engineering using spark erosion techniques. The factory has the capacity to take production from computer design right through to packaging with some outsourcing done on things like photo etched parts. Not only are they making models for the Trumpeter label but, under license, also for a number of other brands like Hobby Boss, Mini Hobby and even Fujimi Mokei and Pit-Road.
1:700 scale is a widely popular scale mainly used by Japanese ship model kit manufacturers, such as Aoshima, Tamiya, Hasegawa, Fujimi and Pit-Road.
1:350 scale is a popular scale used by model ship kit manufacturers such as Tamiya, Hasegawa, Aoshima, Fujimi, Trumpeter and Revell.
Gundam models, or Gunpla, are model kits depicting the vehicles and characters of the fictional Gundam multiverse by Bandai.
Star Blazers 2199, known in Japan as Space Battleship Yamato 2199, is a 2012–2013 Japanese military science fiction anime television series that is a remake of the first Space Battleship Yamato television series created by Yoshinobu Nishizaki and Leiji Matsumoto in 1974, known in the United States as Star Blazers. The series is a space opera, and was originally screened back-to-back in theaters across Japan, a few episodes at a time prior to release on home video, and aired on television from April 7, 2013 to September 29, 2013. Voyager Entertainment currently licensed the series outside Japan, with Funimation streaming their English dub of the series starting on November 8, 2017.
Marusan (マルサン) is a Japanese model and toy company. It is known as the first Japanese plastic model manufacturer and also famous for selling PVC kaiju (monster) character toys during the 1960s. Its headquarters were located in Taitō, Tokyo.
Fujimi Mokei Co., Ltd. is a Japanese model manufacturer based in Shizuoka Prefecture. It produces plastic model kits of a variety of vehicles, including model aircraft, model cars, model ships and model armored vehicles along with historical structures and science fiction kits. Since "mokei" means "model" in Japanese, "Fujimi Mokei" is often called "Fujimi Model(s)" in English.
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