Why can we immediately spot the difference between a model car and a real one even if there is nothing to compare its size to?

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Just take a look at [this picture](https://www.looksmartmodels.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/lamborghini-huracan-performante-spyder_03.jpg), you can tell immediately that its a model car even though there is nothing in the picture to compare its size to. My guess is that the paint isn’t authentic to our eyes, but are there other reasons as well?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

If you look at how some parts of the car are sharp and others are blurry, they give us cues as to the range of depth and size of an object. The tilt pan effect exploits this and can be used to make large things look like miniatures by blurring the top and bottom of the image which then tells the brain the object is really close and therefore must be small.

I have seen the opposite where using forced perspective makes a model car look like a real car. But that requires background scenery to provide the perspective.

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