People & Animals

Scale models of people and animals are found in a wide variety of venues, and may be either single-piece objects or kits which must be assembled, usually depending on the purpose of the model itself.  For instance, models of people as well as both domestic and wild animals are often produced for display in model cities or railroads to provide a measure of detail or realism, and scaled relative to the trains, buildings, and other accessories of a certain line of models.  If a line of trains or buildings does not feature models of living creatures, those who build the models will often buy these items separately from another line in the interest of featuring people or animals.  In other cases, scale model lines will feature living creatures exclusively, often focusing on educational interests.  Sometimes animal figurines will not adhere to a particular scale, but some companies endeavor to produce models that are as accurately scaled as possible.

Type Of Model Figures

A model figure is a scale model that represents a person, either a generic figure of a type (such as "World War II Luftwaffe pilot"), a historical personage (such as "King Henry VIII"), or a fictional character (such as "Conan").

Kits And Pre-Builts

Model figures are sold both as kits for the enthusiast to construct and paint and as pre-built, pre-painted collectable figurines.  Model kits may be made in plastic (usually polystyrene), resin, or metal (including white metal); collectables are usually made of plastic, porcelain, or (rarely) bronze.  Enthusiasts may pursue figure modeling in its own right or as an adjunct to military modeling.  There is also overlap with miniature figures (minis) used in wargames and role-playing games.  Minis are usually less than 54 mm scale, and do not necessarily represent any given personage.  Model figures usually 54 mm/1:35 or greater.

Aurora Versus Garage Kits

In the 1960s, the now-defunct firm Aurora produced for the popular market cheap plastic models of movie monsters, comic book heroes, and movie and television characters in 1:8 size (about 9 inches or 23 cm in height).  Such a market disappeared and no firm currently produces anything to match Aurora's quantity of many thousands from each mould.  Firms that produce "garage kits" can only produce about 200 resin models from a mould, hence are much more expensive.  Instead, the smaller (3¾-inch or 10 cm) action figures of have taken over the popular market, and even some of the larger size (12-inch or 30 cm) have been produced for recent movie characters (Princess Leia from Star Wars, for example).  Large plastic military figures are made by some model soldier firms as a sideline.

Anime Characters

The Japanese independently developed series of pre-assembled, pre-painted figures for their anime characters in medium sizes.  These eventually reached the world market.

Model Aircraft And Vehicle Kits

Model aircraft and vehicle kits in even smaller scales will also often include "model figures," or can be purchased as accessories.  There are also kits of the drivers and servicers of cars, and the series of figurines that stand in the streets and platforms of model railroads.