Looking for plastic figures for your OO, Hornby, model railway? There are many figures available but what size is right for your layout?
Let’s not waste mine or your time here.
The correct size of a figure for an OO gauge model railway is approx. 21mm or 0.82 inches.
This being based on the average height of a person in the UK being 175.3cm or 5.7 feet (Wikipedia)
This is based on OO gauge having a scale of 1:76:2, 4 mm to 1 ft. So a 5.7 * 4 gives 21.36mm; equally, a six-foot-tall person would be 24mm or 0.945 inches.
Plastic figures from military kits in 1:76 scale will match this; I have found that many model railway scale figures that are sold as being for OO gauge are often the wrong size, usually too small or thin and look a bit odd. I suspect this is because the figures are actually manufactured for mainland Europe where the smaller HO scale is more popular but they are rebadged and sold over here as being for OO.
> A final, personal, note: I spend a huge amount of time testing, photographing, writing and researching techniques for these articles and pay for all the running costs of MRE out of my own pocket. If you found this article useful you can support me by making a donation on my fund-raising page. Thanks and happy modelling, Andy.
Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.