Let's assume we have a good blueprint of the vehicle we want to scale and we have chosen a LEGO wheel as our point of reference. Now we can begin the actual scaling. (Note that the following process works the same way regardless of the part we use as our reference point)
We will be taking various measurements off the blueprint.
We can do that directly in the blueprint file. measuring distances with a program such as GIMP or Windows Paint. When you open the file in Paint, for example, and drew a line, the dimensions of the line (in pixels) will be shown in the lower-right corner of the program window. By holding down the SHIFT key while drawing, you can make sure the line is perfectly horizontal or vertical. The other way to measure the blueprint is to print it out and simply use a ruler. Person-ally, I prefer this method, as it allows me to add notes to the printout, and it measure something. The notes on such a blueprint can become quite elaborate and include a great deal of information, as Figure 20-5