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Conversion Charts - 03-03-03

Scale to Scale
The following conversion chart is a quick reference for changing scales. To convert from one scale to another, look up the scale you are at across the top and read down until the row is the scale you want. This is your multiplier. For example, to convert measurements taken from an S scale drawing to N scale, look across the top row for S and down to the N row to get 0.400. Multiply the S dimension by 0.4 to get the N scale measure. Read the chart as: FROM [top row] TO [left column] . F G #1 O S HO TT N Z F (1:20.3) G (1:22.5) 1.000 0.902 0.634 0.423 0.317 0.233 0.169 0.127 0.092 1.108 1.000 0.703 0.469 0.352 0.258 0.188 0.141 0.102 #1 (1:32) 1.576 1.422 1.000 0.667 0.500 0.367 0.267 0.200 0.145 O (1:48) 2.365 2.133 1.500 1.000 0.750 0.551 0.400 0.300 0.218 S (1:64) 3.153 2.844 2.000 1.333 1.000 0.735 0.533 0.400 0.291 HO (1:87.1) 4.291 3.871 2.722 1.815 1.361 1.000 0.726 0.544 0.396 TT (1:120) N (1:160) 5.911 5.333 3.750 2.500 1.875 1.378 1.000 0.750 0.545 7.882 7.111 5.000 3.333 2.500 1.837 1.333 1.000 0.727 Z

Inches to Scale Dimensions


The following conversion charts are set up to measure from real world increments to scale increments. Rather than convert 5 scale inches to some number, I chose to use whole numbers that could be measured with a ruler or calipers and let the scale inches fall where they might. If you look up 5 scale inches and find only 4.996 and 5.015, you know that the dimension you set is either a bit over or a bit under and the actual dimension is in between those two settings. I just find it faster to set up to known marks on the ruler or caliper. If you need a chart that goes the other way, so you can look up 5 scale inches and get .057405281 (HO scale), it is probably easier to just use a calculator for that kind of conversion (5 div by 87.1 = .0574...). The tables are set up as Excel spreadsheets (.xls format) or as tab delimited text. The text should set up in columns in your word processor. I set them up to fit on standard 8.5 x 11 in. paper, used a narrow font,

and set the first tab as a right justified tab followed by a regular left justified tab real close to the first tab. The rest of the tabs should then align the columns correctly. You may have to fiddle with the tabs to get it to look right, switch to a smaller font size, or use a percentage while printing to reduce it a bit. Printing in landscape (horizontal) mode may work well too if you want to use a larger font. If you have a spreadsheet that can read in text files, the setup will be a lot easier to do. Any word processor should work ok. Some of the files are in multiple formats. These are the ones that I created for myself as the need arose. Format 1 is to convert proto inches to scale inches, in a two column format. This is the easiest format to store and read the info from. Format 2 is the same information in a single column, if you want to format it yourself another way or print on a dot matrix printer. Format B is for smaller increments of conversion, to 2.65 scale inches (in N scale.) Format C is in 0.001 increments, with the scale equivalents in inches and feet.

Z SCALE (1:220)
Z Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. Z Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. Z Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 871 scale inches. Z Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 871 scale inches.

N SCALE (1:160)
N Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. N Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. N Scale Conversions 2 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, one column format. N Scale Conversions 2 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, one column format. N Scale Conversions B - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, small increments. N Scale Conversions B - (text file) - Scale equivalents, small increments. N Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 1600 scale inches. N Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 1600 scale inches.

HO SCALE (1:87.1)
HO Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. HO Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. HO Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 871 scale inches. HO Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 871 scale inches.

S SCALE (1:64)
S Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. S Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. S Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 63 scale inches. S Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 63 scale inches.

O SCALE (1:48)
O Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. O Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. O Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 63 scale inches. O Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 63 scale inches.

G SCALE (1:22.5)
G Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. G Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. G Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 64 scale inches. G Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 64 scale inches.

F SCALE (1:20.3)
F Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. F Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. F Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 64 scale inches. F Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 64 scale inches.

#1 SCALE (1:32)
#1 Scale Conversions 1 - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. #1 Scale Conversions 1 - (text file) - Scale equivalents, two column format. #1 Scale Conversions C - (Excel file) - Scale equivalents, to 63 scale inches. #1 Scale Conversions C - (text file) - Scale equivalents, to 63 scale inches.

If you have comments, suggestions on what you would like to see or data you might like, you can email me at: Rick Blanchard - rick@urbaneagle.com

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