Whether you model trains, planes, ships, figures, buildings or any other objects, you often find
yourself faced with the problems in the picture below. When calculating values in easy scales like 4mm/1foot,
small conversions can be done in your head, and more complex ones with pencil and paper. But when the ratio
is less friendly it gets harder - and for a whole series of calculations, you need a sharp mind to get every
answer right without having to go back and check. Trainflow Scaler spares you the mental energy, and has some
clever tricks to help you.
These are the features that make Scaler special:
 Scaler will convert data from any scale to any other - great when using a drawing in one scale to build a model in another.
If you've sketched something on a field trip, enter your data and it will produce a list - printed if you
wish - of the full size dimensions and your chosen scale's equivalent - and you can add captions for each.
Perhaps you've found a drawing squeezed to a non-standard scale to fit the page. With one known dimension of
the original matched to the same item measured off the page, Scaler can create a scale to translate every other
measured dimension to whatever scale you normally model in.
If you have flat photographs of an item with a known measurement, Scaler will help you with that, too.
If measuring buildings by bricks or other regular shape, Scaler has a special feature to help you.
Scaler comes with military and railway tables and allows up to 36 scales per table. You can add new scales
to the existing tables or even create entirely new tables if you need to.
And Scaler will print you a quick-reference table of equivalents between any two scales - of any length and any size of steps within its range.
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Above: A simple example - entering a building's measurements after a field trip. The
source and target scales are set in the two upper windows of the red calculator, values inserted, and the results
shown below. But Scaler also has a results grid that you can extend (as shown), which repeats the values and has a
space to add a brief caption. So you can do large numbers of calculations and remember what they refer to - and you
can save them or print them out. You also can drag individual rows of results up and down to keep related
measurements together. And if you notice any rough measurements that don't add up the way they should, you can edit
the data and results when you find your error.
Values can be metric or imperial, and you can use decimal or fractional inches (to 1/128").
The results line gives decimal and fractional inches - just use the one you prefer.
You can set Scaler for shorter (or longer) decimals, and you can suppress decimals or fractions if you find them confusing.
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Let's take a look at some of the things you might do:
 What if you are working between scales - perhaps using a 7mm drawing to create a 3mm model? It's not so bad where a measurement
is printed as a full-size value, but we've all had to take a ruler to anonymous dimensions on a drawing to get those critical
details that can characterise or ruin a model. Well, Scaler can work directly between scales and give you the right answers
right away. Set 7mm/ft as your source and 3mm/ft as your target (Scaler keeps these settings until you change them), enter 7mm
values and get 3mm equivalents instantly. |
A common problem with source-drawings is that they were the wrong size for the pages of a book or magazine, so the
editor had them reduced to fit. The result is a drawing to no known scale - and an absolute pain to someone trying
to make practical use of it.
Scaler can help you here as well. It will create the scale for you from one known
measurement. After that, you measure off the page and Scaler gives you the answer in the scale of your choice.
[Photocopying the drawing to make it larger will give greater accuracy in measuring, but watch out for photocopier
height/width distortion.]
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Having no drawing at all is harder, but if you have flat-on photographs from different sides, plus a few known
measurements, then as in the case above, Scaler can speed up the dimensioning of working drawings by creating a
conversion scale for you. [Remember that parallax distortion needs to be allowed for when scaling from photos.]
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In addition to its scale converter, Scaler has a normal calculator which can also store its results on a pad for saving or printing.
The calculator has four memory buttons which accept labels and remembered values for whatever you choose to put in them.
One use is for objects that repeat. So if you have a high or angled photo of a building (making it hard to measure),
you may be able to do horizontal and vertical brick counts and then quickly assemble dimensions by setting the buttons
for the brick length, width and height and multiplying those counts (just remember to include the mortar!).
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Below: The calculator, with three memory buttons set for brick sizes. You set the source scale on
Scaler's main panel, then call settings (right) to insert labels and values into the buttons.
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Have you sometimes wished for the ability to turn out a table of equivalent values between (say) prototype
dimensions at regular intervals, and their direct equivalents in your scale? Maybe a 20-line table? or 100? or even 1000?
Scaler can do a table from any start value to any finish value, at any
measurable step.
Set the scales and start value on the main panel (below), then call up the settings box (right)
to specify the prototype step (2 inches here) and the final value for your list (10 feet here).
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| Above and below are short sections from two tables. The first is a single scale table - i.e. your source scale is translated
into imperial or metric values; the second is a 2-scale table that gives you values in both. And if you are struggling
between scales - especially with the "no known scale" problem described above - it will really speed up your measuring.
As the settings panel above points out, long tables (hundreds of lines) can take time to produce, but short ones are
immediate (and even more so as computers get faster). But have the grid extended so that you can see when it's done! |
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| The resulting table can, of course be saved and printed, so you could mount it on card and cover it with clear film to
give you long and useful service! |
Scales Included
Below left, the tables included in the Railway scales. Below right, the Military set. Both sets include Full Size Imperial
and Metric. Remember you can add to these if you need to, up to a total of 36 scales in a set - and you can have as many new sets
as you wish. |
| Name | Value | | Name | Value |
| Full Size | Imperial | | OO/P4 - 4mm | 1:76.2 |
| Full Size | Metric | | HO - 3.5mm | 1:87 |
| Gauge 2 | 1:22.5 | | TT3 - 3mm | 1:101.6 |
| 10mm | 1:30.5 | | NZ120 | 1/10in 1:120 |
| Gauge 1 | 1:32 | | TT - 2.5mm | 1:122 |
| 9mm | 1:33.8 | | 1:144 | 1:144 |
| 1:35 | 1:35 | | OOO - 2mm | 1:152 |
| O - 7mm | 1:43.5 | | N UK | 1:148 |
| 1/4in | 1:48 | | N International | 1:160 |
| S - 3/16in | 1:64 | | Z | 1:220 |
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| 1:6 | 2 inch | | 1:72 | |
| 1:8 | | | 1:76 | |
| 1:9 | | | 1:100 | 15mm |
| 1:10 | | | 1:144 | |
| 1:12 | 1 inch | | 1:150 | |
| 1:15 | 120mm | | 1:164 | |
| 1:16 | | | 1:200 | |
| 1:24 | 1/2 inch | | 1:250 | |
| 1:32 | 54mm | | 1:300 | |
| 1:35 | | | 1:400 | |
| 1:48 | | | 1:500 | |
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How much for this pocket giant?
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Just £6.00 by email! (£7.95 for a disc by post).
Scaler is Windows-based computer software, and possibly the best scale calculator you'll find. It comes with a help-file
manual that gives a full explanation of its features.
Buying Scaler
You can buy Scaler by credit card, Paypal or UK cheque or postal order. The Buy button links to Paypal, but if you
say you have no account, you will move on to credit card payment. The overseas price is the same as the UK one, billed
in your local currency at the current rate of exchange. Post is usually first class (airmail overseas), email delivery
is almost always within 24 hours, and usually far less than that.
Even if you order by post, please provide an email address if you have one. This enables us to deal quickly
with any queries, and to send free upgrades if any fault emerges in any of our software. Trainflow does not pass
addresses to anyone else.
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Click this button to order Scaler as a download, sent by email (£6.00) | |
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Click this button to order Scaler on CD, sent by post (£7.95) |
| Main Order Form | |
Click this link to see our full list of products and do a combined online order for those you want. Note that there are cheaper bundle prices below the individual items list |
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| Order by Post | |
You are welcome to order by post if you prefer to pay by UK cheque or postal order, but we can only accept credit/debit cards through our online system above. |
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