Here are two enginseers. A proper metal one and the new plastic one. They are not unrealistically scaled; I know people (some of whom read this blog) who are either bigger or littler than me in the same ratio as these two.
But unsurprisingly, it is the newer plastic one who is the larger, albeit not by much. So the difference is not so much GW reflecting reality as scale creep.
These two need basing but aside from that they're good for the table top.