Well, now that you mention it, I am one of those weirdos. I love the MUTCD. I really like the models I build to look like what they do in the real world. And standards like the MUTCD are a great resource in determining sizing, clearances, functionality, etc. I've been in the standards world for most of my working life and have learned that there are standards for almost everything, just have to figure out which organization writes the one(s) your interested in.
I like to make items that no one else does and that add some variety to the operations of our models. As an example here are a few of the models I've made that are in fact based on the MUTCD like Frizzen's arrow board. If you've been to the Indy or Ohio meets the last few years you've probably seen them.
Portable, Changeable, Message Sign (PCMS for short). The one I made meets all the MUTCD criteria for size, height above ground when deployed, font, maximum number of characters and lines of text, and color.
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The traffic cones around the sign are also scale 28" high with proper 6" and 4" reflective bands so they can be used on all roads under all light conditions.
Another item I made is a set of temporary traffic contol lights. The MUTCD dictates size of light heads, their color, color of trailer, height of the individual light heads above ground when set up and more. The MUTCD also provides guidance in how to set up traffic control zones.
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I think signs add a nice touch of reality to our scaled down world when we get together for meets. I've seen a number of different signs in use over the years but almost none of them really resemble their real world counterparts. The MUTCD has a whole ton of standards dealing with size, shape, color, wording, permissible fonts and sizes. height above ground, placement and on and on. Can you imagine the confusion that would exist if everyone made and placed signs as they saw fit to do?
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The top sign in this photo is correct to scale 48" by 48" 'square on point' (government verbosity at it's finest) with correct font, size and placement and colors. The bottom sign is ???.
Just a few examples of why I like 'standards'. And Frizz, I absolutely take no offense to the term 'weirdo.' I am. But the general public probably considers us all to be a bit weird in being grown ups playing with our "toys."