1:500 scale
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1:500 scale is a scale mainly used by Europeans for pre-finished die-cast airliner models, such as German manufacturer Herpa. This scale is also used by Japanese model kit manufacturer Bandai, Nichimo Co Ltd. and Fujimi Mokei for ship and Sci-Fiction model kits.
Ship models for the military
During WWII, H.A. Framburg and Co. of Chicago was one of the makers of naval recognition ship models in teacher scale. This company was commissioned by US Navy to make ship models to be used for wargaming and as teaching tools for their officers to help them identify ships out on the ocean. These ships are mostly die cast of zinc alloy and painted gray. Therefore, this scale was also called "Teacher Scale". The 1:500 set contained about half the number of models found in the 1:1200 scale sets.[1]
Plastic model kit (Ships)
In 1960s, Renwal released fourteen 1:500 scale ship models from WWII or post war US Navy, and Frog also released six models from Royal Navy. Both makers had failed in late 1970s, but some makers such as Chematic rereleased ex Frog 1:500 scale ship models until 2000s.
In 1970s, Nichimo released a series of 1:500 plastic scale ship models. The series only comprises a small number of ships, with most of them being ships from WWII Japanese Navy. These models are still under production and widely available in the market. In mid-1970s, Monogram also released models of USS Chicago (CG-11) and USS Columbus in 1:500 scale (actually, 16 in. length box scale). In late 1990s, Trumpeter released 1:500 scale models of Nimitz class aircraft carrier.
In November 2009, Fujimi released an all-new tooling model of the Japanese battleship Yamato in 1:500 scale. Fujimi then follows on the series by releasing Japanese battleship Nagato and Design A-150 battleship (a Japanese plan for a class of battleship following the Yamato Class, also known as the Super Yamato class) in the same scale.
There are also resin kits available in this scale, such as the USN CVE-73 Gambier Bay by Aki.
Plastic model kit (Building/Structure)
Doyusha released a limited number of Japanese castle models in 1/500 scale. These are Himeji Castle, Matsue Castle and Kōchi Castle. They are also available in another version that features gold colour plated parts.
Plastic model kit (Sci-Fiction)
1:500 scale is also used in Sci-Fiction plastic model kit by some model manufacturers. AMT released a futuristic spaceship model in 1960s. Bandai released a model of the Space Battleship Yamato in 1980s, and an all-new tooling model of the same ship was released in early 2010. Fine Molds began to release spaceship models designed by well known anime and manga artist Leiji Matsumoto in October 2011.
Collectables (Aircraft)
Herpa launched a Wings series of airplane collection models in the 1/500 scale in 1992. The series also includes model diorama airports and airport accessories.
F-toys also released 1/500 scale pre-painted and mostly pre-assembled plastic "trading kits" on JAL and ANA commercial aircraft.
Other manufacturers like Aeroclassics, Inflight500, etc. also offer 1:500 scale model aircraft.
Unit conversion
Reality - Scale model
0.1m - 0.2mm
0.2m - 0.4mm
0.4m - 0.8mm
0.5m - 1mm
1m - 2mm
2m - 4mm
3m - 6mm
20m - 40mm
100m - 200mm
1km - 2000mm
2km - 4000mm