Gunpla Scale Explained: How Big Are HG, MG and PG Kits?

Gunpla scale is a ratio, not a grade, and the misread costs money: HG does not always mean 1/144. Before you buy, decide how tall you want the kit on your shelf, then check the scale printed in the kit's name.

Gunpla scale? (quick answer)

The scale is the ratio between the kit and the size the robot would be if it were built: Wikipedia defines it that way. At 1/144, every 1 cm of kit stands for 1.44 m of mobile suit. Divide the suit's official height by the scale number and you have the kit's height.

Key Takeaways

• 1/144: about 12.5 cm (5 in) for an 18 m suit. HG, RG and EG mobile suit kits.
• 1/100: about 18 cm (7 in). MG, Full Mechanics and RE/100.
• 1/60: about 30 cm (11.8 in). PG and PG UNLEASHED.
• Grade is not scale: Bandai lists HG kits at 1/144, 1/100 and 1/72, and one RG at 1/48.
• Big suits break the rule: GUNDAM Official called the HG Psycho Gundam Mk-II approximately 270 mm tall, close to a 1/60 kit of the RX-78-2.

Overview: what the scale number means

Wikipedia's Gunpla article explains that scales "are given in terms of the ratio of actual model size to the size the machine would have if it were actually built." It also uses the RX-78-2 as its yardstick, because it "stands at 18 meters tall and has releases in every major Gunpla line." GUNDAM Official gives the same 18 m as the Gundam's height in the anime's settings.

So the chart below is our math on one suit. Your kit will differ if your suit is taller or shorter.

Diagram: PlamoDesk. Our math on an 18 m suit (RX-78-2 height from GUNDAM Official and Wikipedia); scale-to-grade mapping from Wikipedia's Gunpla article.

Desk note: In our copy of Bandai's English schedule (574 items, January 2024 to December 2026), the scale field reads 1/144 for 65 HG items, 1/100 for 29 HG items and 1/72 for 5 more. For a US builder, the letters "HG" tell you the line; only the number after them tells you the size.

GODEEPER: What each grade adds besides size. Gunpla grades explained →

Step-by-Step: working out how big a kit will be

1. Read the scale in the name. Bandai and GUNDAM Official print it there: "HG 1/144 Gelgoog Menace (Lunamaria Hawke Custom)", "MG 1/100 GUNDAM BARBATOS LUPUS", "PG UNLEASHED 1/60 ν GUNDAM".

2. Find the suit's height. Look for an official figure first; for the RX-78-2, GUNDAM Official gives 18 m as the Gundam's height in the anime's settings.

3. Divide. 18 m divided by 144 is 12.5 cm; by 100, 18 cm; by 60, 30 cm; by 48, 37.5 cm. To get inches, divide the centimeters by 2.54.

4. Add the gear. Backpacks, wings and funnels stick out. GUNDAM Official says the PG UNLEASHED 1/60 Nu Gundam measures "approximately 557mm in total length including the funnels."

5. Check for "no scale". SD kits have no scale. Bandai's English page for the MGSD Freedom Gundam gives an overall height of approximately 115 mm.

6. Check the base. If the kit comes with a stand, it adds height on the shelf; our action base guide covers which stand fits which scale.

Diagram: PlamoDesk. Sources: Wikipedia's Gunpla scale table; our copy of Bandai's English schedule (data/kits/schedule.json, read Oct 11).

Tips: scale surprises worth knowing

• HG 1/100 is Macross. 28 of the 29 HG 1/100 items in Bandai's schedule are from Macross, and 10 of the 29 are water decal sheets for those kits. Examples: the YF-21 (January 2024, ¥4,300 before tax) and the VF-19 Custom Fire Valkyrie with Sound Booster (May 2024, ¥5,000).
• HG 1/72 is AMAIM. The HG 1/72 items come from AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline, such as the HG 1/72 Bunyip Ginga (June 2024, ¥3,000).
• RG 1/48 exists. The RG 1/48 AV-98Plus (Ingram Plus), a Patlabor robot, is in the schedule for June 2026 at ¥5,500 before tax.
• 1/1000 is ships. Bandai lists six 1/1000 items, all ships from the Space Battleship Yamato series in its Japanese list, such as the Space Battleship Yamato 3199 (November 2024, ¥5,500).
• Mega Size is 1/48. Wikipedia says the Mega Size Model line is "3 times the size of their High Grade counterparts."
• A big HG can come close to a PG. GUNDAM Official called the HG Psycho Gundam Mk-II (March 2025, ¥11,000 with tax) "a massive kit that is approximately 270mm tall," against about 300 mm for a PG RX-78-2 by our math. One HG, almost a PG of shelf.

Diagram: PlamoDesk. Sources: GUNDAM Official (HG Psycho Gundam Mk-II, PG UNLEASHED Nu Gundam); our math on an 18 m suit.

GODEEPER: The 1/60 line in full, from the first RX-78-2 to the newest PG UNLEASHED. Perfect Grade Gunpla explained →

Common Mistakes with Gunpla scale

• Reading the grade as the size. HG Macross Valkyries are 1/100; an MG is 1/100 too.
• Using one suit's height for all. The 12.5 cm figure is for an 18 m suit; a larger suit makes a larger kit at the same scale.
• Forgetting SD. SD kits have no scale, so an MGSD and an HG can stand at similar heights.
• Mixing up the numbers. 1/60 is bigger than 1/100. Smaller divisor, bigger kit.

What we don't know yet: official finished heights for most kits on our calendar. Bandai's site was in maintenance on Oct 25, so this guide uses scale math for the grade table and official heights only where GUNDAM Official or a Bandai page we read earlier states one.

Our take

Pick the scale first, then the grade: 1/144 for desk space, 1/100 for detail you can see, 1/60 for a centerpiece. At 18 m, the RX-78-2 comes to about 12.5 cm, 18 cm and 30 cm on those three scales. Check the number in the name every time, because 29 HG items in Bandai's 2024 to 2026 schedule are 1/100. If Bandai's item pages come back with heights for the kits on our calendar, we will add them to this table.

How we checked this

On Oct 25, 2026 we read Wikipedia's Gunpla article (scale definition, scale table, Mega Size), four GUNDAM Official pages (the RX-78 Gundam height, the HG Gelgoog Menace name, the PG UNLEASHED Nu Gundam feature and the HG Psycho Gundam Mk-II launch) and counted the scale field in our copy of Bandai's English schedule (read Oct 11; Bandai's site was in maintenance). The MGSD Freedom height comes from Bandai's English item page as we read it on Oct 12. Every cm figure for a grade is our arithmetic. The Arctic Shift Reddit archive was rate-limited that morning, so this guide quotes no builders. We did not measure any kit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How tall is an MG Gundam in cm? About 18 cm for an 18 m suit such as the RX-78-2, because Master Grade is 1/100 scale. Wikipedia's scale table gives 18 cm (7 in) for 1:100. Taller suits make taller kits: the number is the suit's height divided by 100, not a fixed box size.

How big is a 1/144 Gunpla? About 12.5 cm (5 in) for an 18 m suit, per Wikipedia's scale table. HG, RG and EG kits of mobile suits are usually 1/144. A large suit can be far taller: GUNDAM Official called the HG Psycho Gundam Mk-II approximately 270 mm tall.

Is HG always 1/144? No. Bandai's English schedule for 2024 to 2026 lists 65 HG items at 1/144, but also 29 HG items at 1/100, such as the HG 1/100 YF-21 from Macross, and 5 at 1/72 from AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline.

How tall is a PG Gunpla? About 30 cm (11.8 in) for an 18 m suit, since Perfect Grade is 1/60. GUNDAM Official says the PG UNLEASHED 1/60 Nu Gundam measures approximately 557 mm in total length including the funnels, so backpacks and weapons add a lot.

What scale are SD Gundam kits? They have no scale. SD kits are super-deformed figures sized for the line, not a ratio of the suit. Bandai's English page for the MGSD Freedom Gundam gives an overall height of approximately 115 mm, smaller than a typical 1/100 kit.

Is 1/100 bigger than 1/144? Yes. The smaller the second number, the bigger the kit. A 1/100 kit of the same suit stands 1.44 times as tall as a 1/144 kit, our math: about 18 cm against 12.5 cm for an 18 m mobile suit.

Related Reading

• HG vs RG vs MG: the same RX-78-2 at 1/144 and 1/100, side by side.
• SD Gundam kits explained: the kits with no scale at all.
• What is HGUC?: the 1/144 labels and what they mean.
• 30 Minutes Missions explained: another 1/144 line that is not Gundam.

References

• Wikipedia: Gunpla (scale definition, scale table, Mega Size Model)
• GUNDAM Official: RX-78 Gundam height (event news), HG 1/144 Gelgoog Menace, PG UNLEASHED 1/60 Nu Gundam feature
• Bandai Hobby Site: English release schedule, MGSD Freedom Gundam, HG 1/100 YF-21, RG 1/48 AV-98Plus