inchscale

Inchscale is a term used in modeling and miniature crafts to describe a scale where model dimensions are expressed in inches, most commonly aligning with a 1:12 ratio. In this widely referenced form, one inch on the model corresponds to one real foot, making 12 inches on the model equal to 12 feet in reality. The convention is popular in dollhouse making, architectural maquettes, miniature furniture, and film or theater set design because it uses familiar imperial units and yields measurements that are easy to handle with standard rulers.

Although 1:12 is the most common instantiation, inchscale is not a formal standard and may be used more loosely to describe any miniature scale that favors inches as the primary unit of measurement. Practitioners may emphasize inch-based measurements during planning, carpentry, and detailing, then translate designs into the corresponding real-world dimensions.

Advantages of inchscale include intuitive measurement in inches, straightforward conversion to feet for real-world sizing, and broad availability of ready-made kits and components in this scale. Limitations include reliance on imperial units, which can complicate collaboration with metric-focused disciplines, and potential ambiguity when different subfields use related but non-identical inch-based scales.

See also: 1:12 scale, dollhouse, architectural model, miniatures.