Well, don’t do what I just did… I bought Tamiya’s 1/48th US Infantry set just a bit ago thinkin’ that I could modify them for use with my Monogram figures on a couple dios and was unpleasantly surprised… The Monogram figures are 1 1/2 inches tall, scaling out at a normal 6’0", more or less…
Tamiya’s figures, at 1 1/4 inches tall, scale out to about 5 feet in height… No good for dios involving any Monogram figures…
Bummer… Can’t even swap heads & arms…
So far I`ve found that Monogram fit into the Preiser/white metal/some resin idea of 1:48th scale, while Tamiya fit into the Bandai/Verlinden/some other resin idea of 1:48th scale.
In general I`ve found that if the manufacturer makes military subjects then their figures are on the smaller side of 1:48th and if aviation then the reverse applies.
But on the subject of figures when will a manufacturer make a range somthing like the Airfix multipose series of say figures pushing/pulling, lifting, actually doing somthing constructive to an aircraft rather than the typical spanner in the air like Trotski hailing a cab. Also generic overalls with pockets that can be filed way to make the correct style, figures in shorts and rolled up sleeves, the odd bicycle, toolbox, toolsets (NOT hammers wrenches saws and wheel spiders), thermos flasks, lunch set and eating utensils, etc etc etc.
Now, I know a lot of the above can be scratched and converted, but life would sure be easier if I didn`t spend a month building the kit and three months converting the figures.