What scale is The Best scale?

Jim Fortnam said:
yes, I understand what goes on as you move from 1:1 to 1:1250 in terms of visual appearance, building complexity, cost and so on, But I've been looking at Jotika, and more specifically their Nelson's Navy range

http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Nelson_Front.htm

They have a few shown at 1:64, which yields a good model, typically around 800mm to 1100mm (32 to 44" in US money)
I like that size - big enough for old eyes to see what I'm working on, and add some convincing weathering and detail, but small enough to find houseroom permissions from SWMBO. (Rider Haggard reference to 'She, Who Must Be Obeyed')

The problem comes because an attraction of several models to the same scale is being able to compare them, moored alongside each other, and at that scale 3 or 4 start reaching toward critical mass. Nevertheless, having weathered a number of critical storms, I could probably live through another 'discussion,' pointing out how much more interesting it is to be able to compare the hulls, rig, deck accoutrements and so forth.

What experiences have others had? Better to go to 1:96? Is there a scale which is Just Right as the compromise on size, yet allows a rich choice of subjects?

J
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And, Rumpole of the Bailey.
 
I have noticed that my larger models attract the most interest from visitors. I believe they are easier to appreciate. I have had a bias toward 1:96 in three-masted vessels even though they are much more difficult to "detail" at my age, than the 1:72 or 1:48. I leaned toward the 1:96, in large part, because of the availability of models that attracted my interest.
 
This conversation has become - I like/dislike.It is pointless to talk about scale without knowing the size of a real ship, without knowing the goals of the modeler, his tasks, what work skills he has, what tools he has, what documentation he relies on.You can make an excellent model at any scale. And don't do it either.As in love, everyone decides for himself.

1/75 @ 1/50

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Dart said:
This conversation has become - I like/dislike.It is pointless to talk about scale without knowing the size of a real ship, without knowing the goals of the modeler, his tasks, what work skills he has, what tools he has, what documentation he relies on.You can make an excellent model at any scale. And don't do it either.As in love, everyone decides for himself.

1/75 @ 1/50

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Wow, that’s superb.
 
In general, I find 1:48 gives me a model that incorporates a lot of detail, but is still reasonable in terms of size, but your personal circumstances in terms of all the above discussions will determine your preferred scale.
However, don't be afraid to go out of the box - my steam launch 'Natterer' (see below) ended up at 1:4.5 because I built a steam engine first, and only decided to build a launch around it later!

Ted
 
Dart, Well said! As I explained in my post #5 above, I fit the scale to the model that I am building. Scales have varied from 1:32 to my current project at 1:96. The variety of subjects is way too broad to have a “favorite” scale.

Roger
 
Now that I have read all of the replies, I have a new idea for a club talk on scales because every thought is a very valid point lots of paths to explore on this topic.
Thank you one and all.
 
For my uses I like 1/100. It's not too small but not too big. And since 1 meter becomes 1 centimeter, that makes converting scales very easy as I can just take a measurement and swap out the M for a CM (like 15 m to 15 cm or what have you)

So if you don't have too much space and use the metric system, I'd say 1:100 works fine.
 
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