I never got around to populating my last railroad with realistic people. Mine still stood on that little oval base. I always thought the best way to mount people was to melt a piece of piano wire into their foot and glue that.
I saw a youtube vid from Ken Patterson, who makes his $ as a professional model railroad photographer. He interviewed a competitor, who had a yard diorama, just track ballast and something that could pass for a road. At the end, Ken showed himself taking pictures of an (at the time) new Athearn engine surrounded by people, which became the photo for the Athearn ad.
I doubt he poked holes in this guys diorama, maybe he ACC glued them in place, but I don't think I would have let him do that to my dioramma. How else could these people be standing on their own 2 legs?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I like to keep my people and animals movable just to keep things looking different on the layout. So I use lots of different methods to hold them. In the pic below, a man and his dog take a pee break at the elevator. No one has that much beer in them so I need to be able to get them back to work.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I use very few figures.
I prefer to sugest life around the railroad with such things as the bike leaning on the signal cabin steps ect.
I find a lot of the figures avalable spoil the scene because they look like they should be moving and of course they are static.
I don't also don't get the millions of people on the station platform iether as its only like that ten minutes at a time.
I have a grand total of seven carefully selected people on my layout and one waiting to be painted.
I am still looking for jack the station cat who will be curled up asleep on top of a baggage trolley.
None of my figures have a paving slab on them I have some unknown manufacturer rubery ones that a spray of artists varnish desolved the glue holding the base on they are just held in place with a tiny bit of PVA the rest are white metal figures with a spigot moulded on one of the feet so the have a hole they stand in again a little spot of PVA just to hold them in place.
regards John
Some sugestions I found for temporary positioning of figures, I haven't tried any of them:
Allene's Tack-it, Allene's Flexible Glue, Beeswax, Morticians Wax, Holding wax http://holdingwax.com/hobbiescrafts/ , Woodland Scenics Hob-e-Tac
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I use the Allene's stuff, (bought at Michaels) it's like a wax, for tempory figures on my Christmas time lay out. I use just a touch, making sure the "feet" are filed flat. and maybe alittle more for people crossing the street, as it looks like slush around the shoes. I also use the same for my permanent layout. I like to change things around.
Mike.
My You Tube
To paint figures, I glue them w/ Testors to either a long piece of wood or cardboard. Once painted and ready, I secure them to the layout again using Testors. Any ground foam I put around them, but most of my figures are around industries which is easer to secure since there's not much ground foam.
I recall one great MR article about weathering figures. It's well-worth reading!
I'm another fan of Ailene's Tacky Glue. It goes on white but dries clear. Just a bit on each foot of the figure will do the job. I support the figures until the glue sets up, just an hour or two, and then they will stay in place. On the other hand, it's soft enough even after years of service that the figures can be removed easily without losing their feet.
Oh, and don't think you're stuck with the figures positioned as you buy them. These are from a Model Power "bag of people."
Razor saw surgery, glue, some putty, sandpaper and paint gets you a new set of characters entirely.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I have never put "scale" people on any of my previous layouts, and will not put any on my current layout (if I ever get it finished).
To me, scale people are by far the weakest link in model railroading. They look obviously fake - especially in N scale. We have very realistic track, locomotives, rolling stock, & structures, but scale people more often than not detract from what otherwise is a very realistic scene, in my opinion.
I can't count the number of times where I have seen a photo of a modeled scene, and you would be hard pressed to tell if it was a model, except the presence of "scale" figures was a dead giveaway.
Scale vehicles (cars and trucks) are the next weakest link. More often than not, to me they don't look quite right.
Here's a cheap and easy way, school glue!!!! Mega size Stick glue is the best, use tooth pick stick it on dries "speedy", and invisible!!!!! Usually purple, made by Elmers, and in all stores that sell school supplies!!! I use it because I rebuild my setup a lot, an it just peels off!
WARNING: Not suggested for extreme stability!!!
Why is the text suddenly smaller???
ed_nTo me, scale people are by far the weakest link in model railroading. They look obviously fake - especially in N scale. We have very realistic track, locomotives, rolling stock, & structures, but scale people more often than not detract from what otherwise is a very realistic scene, in my opinion.
I really wish I could get unpainted metal high-detail figures for my layout. I'm pretty skilled at painting miniatures.
Julian
Modeling Pre-WP merger UP (1974-81)
ed_n I have never put "scale" people on any of my previous layouts, and will not put any on my current layout (if I ever get it finished). To me, scale people are by far the weakest link in model railroading. They look obviously fake - especially in N scale. We have very realistic track, locomotives, rolling stock, & structures, but scale people more often than not detract from what otherwise is a very realistic scene, in my opinion. I can't count the number of times where I have seen a photo of a modeled scene, and you would be hard pressed to tell if it was a model, except the presence of "scale" figures was a dead giveaway. Scale vehicles (cars and trucks) are the next weakest link. More often than not, to me they don't look quite right.
It's a matter of preference but I think people add a lot to a scene. They make it come alive. To me the biggest drawback is that they are stationary but we have the same problem with automobiles as well. Having said that, I still think scenes look more real with people in them than without. One thing I definitely won't do is try to animate a figure with some sort of repetitive motion. With few exceptions, anything that moves on the layout other than the trains looks toylike and unrealistic.
Another problem is that at various times of the day the population of scenes change. For example passenger platforms would be crowded at rush hour especially if you have commuter operations but at others they will be sparely populated. I split the difference so that it looks somewhat believeable regardless of the time of day.
As for the OP's question, I've used Woodland Scenic's cement that will hold figures in place but allows them to easily be pulled up and repositioned as desired. Most of my figures I just use ACC because I don't plan to move them around.
I like to create small scenes with no more than two people. Non train related visitors ailways seem to focus on those scenes and they like them. Here are some examples :
Talking with the boss (the acetate base will eventually disappear)
Washing the pickup truck
Planning the work at the engine terminal
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's