Ok, I'm building in the middle of everything else that I'm doing, and increasingly mixing my media. So, I'm getting all kinds of scale issues and my brain doesn't seem to be working. I hope someone will charitably offer me the key to logic that I'm missing when I read the scale thread and try to consider basic math.

OK. say that I have a building with doors that are 1.47 inches high (A). Now, I want scale down the model to have doors that are .125 inches high (B). Both doors should be the same height relative to people and such.

So, my math is:

A(x)=B or x=B/A

This gives me .085 for x.

Now, if I do a percentage scale down, I'm doing 8.5%? Is that right? My brain! My brain is not working! (And, yes, I am trying to build something VERY small!)

might help you a bit.

Yes, to convert a door that is 1.47" to a door that is .125" you would print the item with the 1.47" door height at 8.5% to get an item with a door height of .125".

That is small, around 1:600 scale.

Thank you for the fast answers!

For some reason when I read the scaling thread I go cross-eyed. A lot of work went into it but it just doesn't seem to "click".

I'm glad that my math seems ok! It's good to know that I'm at least operating in some small way correctly.

And, AH!, here is a point. So, my math has produced 1:600 scale. How to I go for 1:1000 scale? It's when I go from percentages to inches to that scaling that my head gets twisted around. I'm sure it's painfully obvious, but I-just-can't-focus!

(And, I'm reading the scaling thread--again...)

And, here's another question:

Say that I'm looking at a map of a city. I know the scale. For example, one inch equals 200 feet, or something. Now, Say I want to scale the map so that I get a certain size. Again, say I want to go to 1:1000 or 1:600 or whatever. How do I determine the percentages?

So, basically, this is the same question as above, but reapplied. How do I get percentages from these ratios? It feels like that ratio to ratio no-no that was pounded into my head from my school days...

(daze)

Here's how I understand it:

At 1" scale we're at 25-28mm (1/64 and 1/58 scales, respectively). We'll call this "A". So, If I want, say 1/1200 scale (1.34mm), which we'll call "B", then my math that I used above still applies:

A(x)=B or x=B/A

Correct?

And now to my map making question. If I have a map that's say, 1"=200feet, and I want to scale it to 1/1200, then my math would be... exactly what? How do I determine my "A" value from some arbitrary scale?

Ugh.

You all ROCK! (genuflection) Especial thanks to Imajica and DougT! Thank you! My brain is buzzing with appreciation and knowledge!

As for purposes, I recently got into and while it's set to a naval battle scale (1:1000 to 1:1200 or thereabouts), there is little scenery at that scale. After decades of roleplaying I have tons of city maps and wish to see if I can get something properly scaled: Set down a foundation map and then plug in buildings. I have no desire to produce a true city (too big), but a seaside town doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility. Scale was holding me back. The biggest remaining trick would be to capture the proper shapes of the models (European houses versus Japanese versus US for the alternative WWII time period). I've cobbled together simple models (roof and walls), and one sheet could hold everything I need because of the size. We'll see how it goes.

Now that I'm armed with info it's time to scan and resize and print!

Having now my share of success and frustration playing with my scanner and the various software packages to manipulate images, I feel pretty confident that I can produce what I want. Having played with a lot of different material in construction, I also have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to use. We'll see how ambitious I feel!

Thank you, all, again!