Quote:
Originally Posted by FRD
I can tell you that the ship was EXACTLY 120 feet long, the model is EXACTLY 13 inches long, what is the scale?
1/110.769231? (that's a weird scale)
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In principle you're correct, but there are possible complications which could result in a neater figure:
- did you take the length along the waterline or hull extremes? Both are commonly quoted for ships
- some ships were rebuilt or retrofitted (for instance, the German Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were stretched with clipper prows); perhaps your model refers to a different time of when the reference was taken
- for sail ships, bowsprits and mizzen booms aren't usually counted, only the hull; is it your case?
But yes, an odd figure is possible, especially with older or simpler kits where the builder was assumed not to care too much about details. Old plastic kits have been scaled to be as big as possible while fitting an existing standard box, and similarly a paper model could be designed to simply fit the sheets.