Discussion: Width of Vehicles?

[Joebot]

I thing the whole scale/width etc. issue is flawed anway since an adult minifig is 1/5 head, 2/5ths leg and 2 5ths body repectively (hieght wise). Don't even mention width...

I agree -- the bizarre proportions of a mini-fig make any application of a persistent, meaningful scale almost impossible.

In the absence of a useful building scale, I guess I look for what Ralph S and Space6901 were talking about: internal consistency. Vehicles should be bigger than people, and buildings should be bigger than vehicles. Your vehicles should fit on a road plate or runway. When you're talking about a MOC town, then sure, it's up to the builder's discretion to achieve that. It's certainly something I strive for in my town, which is about 95% MOCs.

However, amongst TLC's own offerings, I would argue that they've messed up their internal consistency. Sets just don't mesh together well. There's an awesome review up on EB right now of the Launch 'n' Load Seaport. This is a GREAT set with an excellent, internally consistent scale. And there were a handful of other harbor sets (Intercoastal Seaport, Harbor Police, a Coast Guard set that I can't remember the name of, the Sail 'n' Fly Marina) all around the same time, and they all had the same scale -- the ships, buildings, and cars all fit together wonderfully. That's sadly not the case these days.

Don't get me wrong, I'm generally pretty happy with TLC's City sets these days. I just wish there was more coherence across the entire theme.

I'm sorry, I know this has strayed a bit from the original topic of the thread. Umm ... 4-wide!! Woo!!

[slacker int]

I too struggle with the width of my vehicles. I like to add as much detail as I can but still want them to look like they have an accurate scale.

I thought perhaps showing off a MOC in 3 different sizes might be beneficial to this thread... so I created an LDD version of a typical police car in multiple scales.

I'm unsure my self of what size I like best, but the 6 wide definitely allows for more detail. I tend to build trucks and suv's in 6 wide, and often will extend the chassis to 7 wide. (if we consider the addition of the "mud guard" piece these models again change in size) Cars are more of a pain because by general rule they "should" be smaller than a truck... but this is very limiting.

Hopefully these pictures are helpful in this ongoing debate!

cheers,

adam

4 WIDE

5 WIDE

6 WIDE

And some comparison shots

[Fugazi]

I thought perhaps showing off a MOC in 3 different sizes might be beneficial to this thread... so I created an LDD version of a typical police car in multiple scales.

Nicely done! All of them look good to me, although the 6-wide is probably closest to the proportions of a real car. All 3 would fit the standard city road plates, but the 6-wide would probably look better next to a modular building rather than the pizzeria in City Corner!

[Luke McAwesome]

I prerer my MOC cars to be 6 wide. Larger vehicles like big trucks and RVs to be 8 wide. I don't really like LEGO's 4 wide cars. 7639 Camper was spot on for me.

[slacker int]

All 3 would fit the standard city road plates, but the 6-wide would probably look better next to a modular building rather than the pizzeria in City Corner!

Good point space6901!

I guess the width of a vehicle is usually dependent on the context...

If a builder is pure "classic town" they are most likely going to be sticking with 4 wide vehicles with little differentiation between cars and trucks etc.

If you are building vehicles to be incorporated into the "larger" newer city style then 4, 5, 6 wide, or even larger would fit nicely, and different widths could be seamlessly incorporated together.