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People for an Athearn Boat

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  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,289 posts
People for an Athearn Boat
Posted by FRRYKid on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 2:23 AM

Got yer another one for my Forum friends. Does anyone have a good idea for figures that would be appropriate for use in an Athearn boat? Mine was a BB offering at the time but I'm told that they still use them for their RTR line currently. It will sit in my lake area and as that is one of the first things seen on my layout I have decided that it should be a bit more detailed than it is. As usual, any assistance that can be provided would be most welcomed.

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
  • Member since
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  • From: Bakersfield, CA 93308
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Posted by RR_Mel on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 4:15 AM

How much detail are you looking for in the figures?  When I want high detail I go with printed figures from Shapeways.

The detail is high enough to make second and third generation molds and cast my own dups from resin.






These are all Mel castings, second and third generation.

Mel


 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 6:38 AM

Preiser offers several varieties of this speedboat with different passengers:

 Bascule2_sm-1 by Edmund, on Flickr

I don't recall seeing the figures sold separately although they may have. Buy the speedboat, pull out the little people and toss the old Chris-Craft on the shore.

Good Luck, Ed

  • Member since
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  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 10:51 AM

I bought two little bags of Model Power undecorated figures, one set of standing figures and one set of sitting figures.  I generally select a few for a scene, paint them with craft store acrylics and save the rest for later.  Most of my coach passengers are done his way, and many figures inside structures are, too.  Each bag holds a bunch of figures, so there are a lot to choose from.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Fullerton, California
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Posted by hornblower on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 2:51 PM

Don't forget the Preiser "Adam and Eve" figure set.  Although these are meant to be nudes, you can easily paint bathing suits on the figures once assembled.  The other nice thing is that the set offers LOTS of posing possibilities as you have to assemble legs, arms and heads to different torsos.  This makes it easy to fit full body figures in different standing, seated and/or lounging poses anywhere on your boat.

I also discovered a few years ago that Lionel offers the exact same boat in a four-pack.  Oddly, Lionel intends these boats to represent an O scale load when these are definitely HO scale boats.  I also discovered that simply repainting these boats can transform them from toys to fairly nice models.

  

I added anti-fouling paint to the hulls, painted the wood deck areas with various wood tones, and highlighted the bright work using a silver Sharpie marker.  These boats look so much better now.

Hornblower

  • Member since
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  • From: Bradford, Ontario
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Posted by hon30critter on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 3:39 PM

hornblower
 I also discovered that simply repainting these boats can transform them from toys to fairly nice models.

I did a little kitbashing on my Athearn yacht:

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,289 posts
Posted by FRRYKid on Tuesday, September 7, 2021 7:19 PM

hornblower

Don't forget the Preiser "Adam and Eve" figure set.  Although these are meant to be nudes, you can easily paint bathing suits on the figures once assembled.  The other nice thing is that the set offers LOTS of posing possibilities as you have to assemble legs, arms and heads to different torsos.  This makes it easy to fit full body figures in different standing, seated and/or lounging poses anywhere on your boat.

I will have to look into those. I've never worked with that particular kit as I normally like to keep my figures decent. EDIT: I tried searching for that set on both eBay and Walthers with no success.

hornblower

I also discovered that simply repainting these boats can transform them from toys to fairly nice models.

  

I added anti-fouling paint to the hulls, painted the wood deck areas with various wood tones, and highlighted the bright work using a silver Sharpie marker.  These boats look so much better now. 

Those look quite nice. I think I will "hijack" you idea. One question thought. What company produced the anti-fouling paint that you used, just out of curiosity?

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
  • Member since
    October 2007
  • From: Fullerton, California
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Posted by hornblower on Wednesday, September 8, 2021 11:51 PM

Dave

Sweet looking runabout!

FRRYKid

That would be the Craftsmart brand of anti-fouling paint available at Michael's!

Hornblower

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
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Posted by hon30critter on Thursday, September 9, 2021 12:27 AM

hornblower
Dave Sweet looking runabout!

Thanks!

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,289 posts
Posted by FRRYKid on Thursday, September 9, 2021 2:11 AM

hornblower

FRRYKid

That would be the Craftsmart brand of anti-fouling paint available at Michael's!

So basically speaking, a reasonable looking red craft paint from a big box store would work as well. (I don't have a Michael's in my neck of the woods.)

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Bradford, Ontario
  • 15,797 posts
Posted by hon30critter on Thursday, September 9, 2021 2:40 AM

FRRYKid
So basically speaking, a reasonable looking red craft paint from a big box store would work as well. (I don't have a Michael's in my neck of the woods.)

Hi FRRYKid,

Any brownish red paint will do just fine. You could also use black. Some anti-fowling paints were really just a heavy coat of carbon black. The algae and barnacles couldn't stick to the carbon, but like all anti-fowling paints the carbon would eventually wear off. I don't think you need to worry about that with your models.Smile, Wink & Grin

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Miles City, Montana
  • 2,289 posts
Posted by FRRYKid on Friday, September 10, 2021 2:34 AM

hon30critter
FRRYKid
So basically speaking, a reasonable looking red craft paint from a big box store would work as well. (I don't have a Michael's in my neck of the woods.)

Hi FRRYKid,

Any brownish red paint will do just fine. You could also use black. Some anti-fowling paints were really just a heavy coat of carbon black. The algae and barnacles couldn't stick to the carbon, but like all anti-fowling paints the carbon would eventually wear off. I don't think you need to worry about that with your models.Smile, Wink & Grin

Dave

Thank you. That helps a lot.

"The only stupid question is the unasked question."
Brain waves can power an electric train. RealFact #832 from Snapple.

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