Couple of Simple rules of thumb,
1. Work in millimetres and metres only and not centimetres, that way your mistakes are obvious.
Example if the model is to be 600M (Metres) long you know to question the measurement as it is looooong, likewise if it is 600mm (Millimetres) long you know it is about right. In essence roughly 1800 feet versus 2 feet
2. Use multiples of, One inch equals 25 millimetres as a rough guide,
Example 4inches is 100 mm, 12 inches is 300mm (3 times 4 inches), 2 feet is 600mm, 18 inches is 450mm and so on.
going the other way divide millimetres by 25 will give an good approximation.
3. Multiply feet by 3 and add two noughts, example 3 foot model is 900mm, reverse applies divide by 3 and remove last two digits, 1250 is 4 foot model and the 50 mm is about 2 inches so we are looking at approx 4 foot 2inches you can then accurately convert the dimension, if it is in your ballpark size such as, it will fit in the car etc.