Warbird Pilot models are out of scale

[Hartsblade]

Yesterday I posted this thread in the Spitfire Bug Forum

It made me curious about the other WW2 pilot models, so after some playing in the editor I was able to get all of the pilots from the current Warbirds together for a screen shot.

As you can see, allowing for the fact of some of the pilots feet are sunken into the tarmac (Spitfire, 109, and both 190 pilots) and the fact that the Mosquito Pilot levitates no matter what you do, you can see that there is a problem with the scale of the pilots in relation to each other.

The Mosquito, P51, and P47 Pilots are clearly larger then the Spitfire, 109, and both 190 pilots.  While this may seem like a trivial issue that most folks will never notice or see, it begs the question is there a corresponding scale issue between the planes as well, or at the very least a scale issue of the cockpits of the aircraft.

@BIGNEWY is there any chance that someone can look into this?  I know it looks like a very low priority issue, but I just want to make the team aware there is an issue.

[Dragon1-1]

The Spitfire pilot also seems to have a really tiny head for some reason. The P-47 guy, OTOH, looks really thin. Definitely something off about this.

[Rifter]

Perhaps the smaller guys are modelled correct according to the time they lived whilst the bigger ones represent todays average male size? But even if that would be the case the difference in size seems quite a bit off…

[zerO_crash]

The size seems a bit off, however it isn’t complete wrong. Due to multiple reasons, one of the major being that people had to work hard physically from an early age (carry heavy items), most had impeded physical growth. Another being genes. It sure seems like a correct aspect to model. Less access to food being yet another one.

 

A perfect place to visit here, is a museum of arms & warfare, or history of clothing & apparel (textile art). The earlier back you go, to smaller clothes you find. I have on many occasions looked at preserved officer uniforms from e.g. baroque-era, and was surprised at how small people used to be. In many cases, the size of the aforementioned chest, would be a bit thicker than a man’s upper hand nowadays. Granted, WWII has more similarities, however still, differences can be seen. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by zerO_crash

[Kang]

Then again, as the original post states, this is a comparison of all the different WW2-era pilots in DCS, where this effect should be decidedly less pronounced.

[zerO_crash]

It would almost be too generic to have them the same size. Actually, it does make up for some realism to have different heights, bodies and proportions, whether intentional or not. I'm not sure how big the margins were for pilot sizes though. However, back in those days, the absence of comfort was the norm. As such, as long as you could fly and reached all controls, I imagine that there were no objections to letting either a "kid" or a well-fed joker fly. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by zerO_crash

[Kang]

That's not wrong for sure. I don't mind it terribly much either, but it just is kinda weird that they are not differently built humans really, but literally scaled.

@Hartsblade, a follow-up question to all the work you put into the comparison: are they actually differently sized when in their respective cockpits as well or do they 'change scale' upon disembarking?

[zerO_crash]

Definitely, it would of course be better if they at least had randomized body-features and metrics. Again, that is assuming this is intentional.

Edited April 11, 2023 by zerO_crash

[FlyBy2507]

Does size matter? If so, my ex-girlfriends lied to me! 

[Hartsblade]

My main concern isn't really about the pilots, but more about if the scale disparity carries over to to the cockpit interior or even the exterior models.

@Kang I have not noticed if the pilot shrinks or grows as he ejects.  I'll try to take a closer look later and post what I see.

[zerO_crash]

I am pretty sure that cockpits are all up to scale, if anything, it’s the pilot models. If the cockpits would be out of proportion, so would the module. If the modules would be of incorrect size, then you’d see it very clearly with regards to other modules (given that the misproportion was big enough). Besides, when it comes to modules, both in- and out-side, developers adhere to metrics obtained from IRL aircraft (3D scans mostly). It’s not impossible, but highly unlikely. As such, I assume it’s the pilots themselves.