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I'm looking to add some extra detail to Ork vehicles and bases and I've found some suitable 1/35 bits. I've seen some people say 1/48 scale is more suitable for 40K while others say 1/35 is OK...so which do you recommend? If 1/35 is a bit oversized for 28mm humans it might not look too out of place with Orks, perhaps? Is anyone able to advise from experience?

It depends on the bits.

GW models are basically 1/35th scale shrunk vertically with short torso, arms and legs, giving them oversized hands, heads and chests compared to their nominal scale of 28mm (1/56).

Orks are bulkier than normal GW humans.

Then, all the models stand on 5mm thick bases.

On top of the above, GW weapons are much larger than 1/35 scale. The GW heavy bolter, supposedly a 30mm cannon, has a wider bore than a 90mm gun in 1/35.

Lastly, GW vehicles are short and wide compared to real vehicles. The chart in this article will show some comparisons...

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Scale_Model_Kits_for_40K

In short, I would recommend 1/35 for Orks but if you want to make weapons for them it will be better to look at 28mm heroic spare weapons such as those available from Hasslefree Miniatures.

Great article, thanks! I'm just looking at things like oil drums, ammo boxes, empty bottles etc rather than weapons so it seems 1/35 should fit.

Stuff like that will work very well.

I have some Tamiya 1/35 scale tank and halftrack kits that I built as looted wagons for my Orks. It fits the scale well, but anything newer than 1950s (like an Abrams) will be too big in 1/35 and you probably want 1/48 for the newer tanks.

 Fezman wrote:
Great article, thanks! I'm just looking at things like oil drums, ammo boxes, empty bottles etc rather than weapons so it seems 1/35 should fit.

For your purposes 1/35 should be fine, also if there is a slight disparity in the size then it helps make it look like the supplies were just looted (Deathskulls) or liberated (Blood Axe).

Thanks to everyone who replied! Just ordered some 1/35 ammo tins and empty beer bottles (the latter will be strewn in the crew area of a battlewagon ). The site I used was Accurate Armour, can be a bit pricy as are mostly about historical/modern scale models but also worth a look for quirky bits such as oil drums, drink cans, etc. I'll post pictures when the conversions/painting are done!