---
title: "Scale to Scale Converter: 1:35 to 1:72 % | Diorama Fern"
description: "Resize plans and parts from one model scale to another, 1:35 to 1:72 or HO to N, with the print or photocopy percentage, and match a figure to a scale."
url: https://dioramafern.me/scale-to-scale-converter/
---

Plans · parts · figures

# Scale-to-scale converter

The percentage to print or photocopy a plan at, the new size of a part, and which scale a figure really fits.

## How resizing works

To move a plan or a part from 1:a to 1:b, multiply every dimension by a ÷ b. That factor, as a percentage, is the setting for a printer or photocopier: 1:35 to 1:72 is 35 ÷ 72 = 48.61%. MOROP's NEM 010 gives the same rule for using a drawing at one scale for a model at another: a 1:45 drawing for a 1:87 model is scaled by 45 ÷ 87 = 0.517.

If your copier stops at 50% or 200%, do it in two equal passes; the calculator gives the percentage for each. After printing, measure one known dimension, as printers often shrink a page to fit the paper.

### Matching figures

Figure scales are approximate: makers measure to the eyes or to the top of the head, sculpt different builds, and ranges sold under the same millimetre size can differ visibly. The calculator turns a height into a ratio for the person you choose and lists the nearest railway, kit and dollhouse scales with how much bigger or smaller the figure would look there.

**Found a rare kit at a surprising price?** Kits and locomotives advertised on social media by unfamiliar web shops deserve a quick check first. See how old the shop's domain is with WebTraceCheck's [DNS and domain lookup](https://webtracecheck.com/dns-lookup), and open the link in its [disposable cloud browser](https://webtracecheck.com/) rather than your own.

## Questions

**What percentage turns HO into N?**

87.1 ÷ 160 = 54.44%. From European H0 (1:87) it is 54.38%. Going the other way, N to HO is 183.70%.

**Can 1:72 and 1:76 figures be mixed?**

The scales differ by about 5.5%, so a 1:76 figure is roughly a millimetre shorter than a 1:72 one of the same person. Side by side that can show, so stand them together before you commit, as figures from different makers vary too.

**Why does the figure tool list several scales?**

A figure height only gives an approximate ratio, so the closest few scales are shown with the size difference. One ratio can belong to several hobbies: 1:48 is O gauge, an aircraft kit scale and quarter-inch dollhouse scale.

## Sources

- Conversion factor between drawing and model scales (section 3.5), and the European railway scales: [MOROP NEM 010, Scales, Nominal Sizes, Gauges](https://www.morop.org/images/NEM_register/NEM_E/nem010_en_2011.pdf) (2011).
- North American railway scales: [NMRA S-3.2, Track, Standard Scale](https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/standards/sandrp/Mech/S/s-3.2_track_standard_scale.pdf) (2026). Kit and dollhouse scales are conventions; their sources are listed on the [scale converter](https://dioramafern.me/#sources).
- Average man's stature 68.7 in and standing eye height 64.7 in: NASA Reference Publication 1024, Anthropometric Source Book (1978), as tabulated in the US Department of Defense's [Anthropometric Guidelines](https://www.denix.osd.mil/ergo-wg/denix-files/sites/58/2016/04/AnthropometricGuidelines.doc).
- Figure heights measured to the eyes by some makers and to the top of the head by others: Wikipedia, [Miniature figure (gaming)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_figure_(gaming)), used because no standards body defines figure scales.