Where do I get cheap little people

[Rex in Pinetop]

Our Pinetop home is under 2' of snow so needless to say I'm not out in the yard working on the R&SRR railroad.  I am building buildings in my nice warm shop in the warm desert so that I have something to start with in the spring.  Our layout includes a logging operation, a gold mine, a saw mill, a town and some ranches.  My to do building inventory has 25 more business buildings plus 19 houses for the people that work in or from town.  I got started with wooden buildings from Garden-Texture so will probably stay that route and buy more of Bob's plans.

I did a people inventory while I was figuring out which buildings to get plans for.  Most of the miners will be down in the mines but I still need about 5 visible ones working the mine shaft elevator and the ore tipple.  The loggers are out in the open so will need at least 10 of those.  The saw mill has an open roof (so you can see the detail inside) so I'm thinking there are at least 5 visible people there.  The town needs to have some people walking the streets and playing in the park.  The 4 trains need engineers and firemen.  The ranchers need people too. To make a long story short I need at least 40-50 visible people.  I don't have the budget to spend $135 per person or even $25 per unpainted person. 

Where can I find 1:20 cheap people?

Thanks,

Rex 

[Rastun]

The cheapest way is learn to make them yourself.

Look here for information http://1stclass.mylargescale.com/RickRaively/FigClass/MLSFig.htm

You can look through "Garden Railways" at the ads and you will find at least a few different places advertised. Google searches might be a thought too.

Jack

[Rex in Pinetop]

Wow!

Great instructions for this step-by-step figure making process.  I can see where it could be addictive.  How many hours does it generally take to do a figure once you have made at least the first 5?  I'm thinking 20-30 hours per figure.  If that is close and I need 50 figures then we're talking a half a year of doing nothing but figures.  I suppose one could do building construction during some of the baking steps so it wouldn't be that bad.  I have 4 months left before getting back to moving dirt on site so maybe I'll give this a try.

The only fear I have comes from what I've learned in building RC airplanes.  If I put too much time into a plane then I'm very reluctant to take it out to the field and crash it.  If I put too much time into each figure I might be reluctant to let the neighborhood kids play with them.  Then again what is life for but to enjoy it.

Thanks,

Rex

[Rastun]

Rex,

 After the first 5 or so you'll start to see that figures take about 6-8 hours to make including baking time. You can also work on a different figure while one is baking. The process does get easier and faster every time you make another figure. Try it. Have fun remember this is a hobby meant to be enjoyed.

Jack 

[Rene Schweitzer]

Rex, this is a great time of year to scour places like Wal-mart, Ace Hardware, and Michaels craft stores to find the Christmas people (brands like Lemax have very inexpensive people and accessories that can be modified).Did you ever read the John Franzen articles? All of his people were Lemax in a previous life.

[vsmith]

Just Plain Folks sell 1/22.5 figures that average about $6-8 apiece and are prepainted. I have been using these and so far they are very varied so they can be used in many differnt situations.

[ttrigg]

Rex:

Look at the pics in my thread No Fishing in the Scratchbuilding (unlikely treasures).  At two bucks a person, not two bad.  Not quite to scale, but well within the "scales" of available people in "G"(ummi) Scale.

[mudchicken]

Bergie has them locked in the basement in Milwaukee. Please leave them there.

[jerryl]

Our Pinetop home is under 2' of snow so needless to say I'm not out in the yard working on the R&SRR railroad.  I am building buildings in my nice warm shop in the warm desert so that I have something to start with in the spring.  Our layout includes a logging operation, a gold mine, a saw mill, a town and some ranches.  My to do building inventory has 25 more business buildings plus 19 houses for the people that work in or from town.  I got started with wooden buildings from Garden-Texture so will probably stay that route and buy more of Bob's plans.

I did a people inventory while I was figuring out which buildings to get plans for.  Most of the miners will be down in the mines but I still need about 5 visible ones working the mine shaft elevator and the ore tipple.  The loggers are out in the open so will need at least 10 of those.  The saw mill has an open roof (so you can see the detail inside) so I'm thinking there are at least 5 visible people there.  The town needs to have some people walking the streets and playing in the park.  The 4 trains need engineers and firemen.  The ranchers need people too. To make a long story short I need at least 40-50 visible people.  I don't have the budget to spend $135 per person or even $25 per unpainted person. 

Where can I find 1:20 cheap people?

Thanks,

Rex 

  I agree cheap 1:20 figures are hard to find. Poe O Honua has some great ones. I think they were reviewed in GR. Yes the painted ones are $135, but the unpainted ones go for around $ 10. & well worth it. You can still find some bachman figures that are close to 1:20. I purchased one a few weeks ago for about $6 . Also you can make your own from sculpy clay...there was an article in GR concerning that. You can also look at Christmas ornaments, With a little help from a Dremel you can transform a Santa to a slim old man. Email me & I'll send some pictures etc.  Jerry

[TheJoat]

If you make your own, you can make them do what you want them to do!   I made the driver of my inspection car in a few hours - not counting baking time.

[Takasaki Matt]

As with anything, the more you practice the better, and faster you get.  You can keep looking for cheap figures and repaint them to your own preferences or have a go at making them.

There are some wrbsites with extreemly detailed step-by-step guides that make onr think it will take forever to produce just one man.  I don't have the time or patience for a master class figure building process and there are other ways to make approrpriately attired figures.  I take about 30 minutes to sculpt a little figure and after baking on average an hour to paint.  Then comes the weatherproofing.

The best way is to have a go and see what you can do.  Look around and you will find varying ways of figure building - easy or difficult.

Best regards, Matthew Foster.

[Takasaki Matt]

A bit of 'British' inspiration for you:

http://www.robbennett.org/

Have a look!

 

[altterrain]

I was cruising eBay yesterday and noticed that there are quite a few "action figures" at 3 3/4" tall. At the tall side of 1:20 at 6'3" but not bad.

These include Star Wars figures -

http://cgi.ebay.com/STAR-WARS-30th-Ann-39-Lando-Smuggler-Outfit-Loose_W0QQitemZ260194894690QQihZ016 

and GI Joes -

http://cgi.ebay.com/GI-JOE-3-3-4-Action-Figure-1980s-Series_W0QQitemZ5950204616QQihZ016

-Brian 

[piercedan]

After Xmas, Wal-mart may have some larger figures on sale.

 

Homies are a good choice for figures and some Bachman figures can be found.  Lemax is OK but more to the 1/32 to 1/48 scale.   Same goes for all the figures in the Joannes Fabric stores.  These are too small for 1/20.3 as are the Dept 56 figutres.