So, the CEO wants to discontinue passenger service on our line because of a lack of ridership. Onle two of the current fleet of passenger cars ever have passengers. Thus it has fallen to me to increase ridership. But a quick check of the Woodland Scenics catalogue shows that it wll cost me about $1000 to put ten passengers in each car. That is a difficult pill to swallow. Does anyone out there have a source of HO scale passengers that is a bit more affordable?
Under the gun,
The GN goat kid
I used these seated figures (OO scale, I think) that I found at my LHS...
While a bit oversize, they were cheap and once painted (with amputations to suit seating arrangements) looked not too bad in my doodlebug...
I also order some Model Power figures from Toy Train Heaven, but have not yet seen them - they were very reasonably-priced. Also, check out We Honest - they offer a number of pre-painted figures, which would fill several passenger cars at a reasonable price:
120 HO scale figures
60 HO scale figures
Wayne
I've done a number of cars with unpainted figures. Through the windows it's hard to tell that I painted them myself. I populate restaurants the same way, if they've got big windows that visitors can look in.
The Model Power ones are very reasonable and actually look quite good when painted.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
If you do not mind painting figures, the Preiser unpainetd figure set is the way to go.
Merten also has a set of 60 unpainted passengers for $16.99, presently out of stock at Walthers, but may be available elsewhere
https://www.walthers.com/unpainted-seated-people-pkg-60
As mentioned above, 1/87 figures may have to be cut to fit passenger car seats.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
G PaineAs mentioned above, 1/87 figures may have to be cut to fit passenger car seats.
I prefer the Preiser figures, but the Walthers Scenemaster passengers are pretty good too. The undec ones are often on sale at Walthers or through other online stores.
What I do is spray an entire sprue's worth of people at a time, before removing them from the sprues. I like Tamiya spray can paint, it has a good nozzle that produces a fine spray. Often a set of say 72 figures will have four sprues with 18 people each, so you get four versions of each person. I spray one sprue's worth gray, one pale blue, one pale green, and one tan. Paint fleshtones on the face and hands, remove them from the sprue and paint the hair, and that's all you really have to do. Of course, I usually do paint them some more, add colors etc. but for passengers you don't really need to do a lot to make it look good. BTW, spraying them first makes it a lot easier to brush paint them compared to raw plastic. I use Acrylicos Vallejo paint for brushpainting, with a couple of very fine brushes.
BTW don't add too many people to each car!! Unless you're modelling a commuter train, you don't need 80 people for an 80 car coach. First, most HO coach seat-pairs are too small for two HO adults, so figure on one person per pair. That brings you down to 40. Not every seat should be occupied, even on a 'full' train. People go to the restroom, club car, diner, etc. Leaving some seats unoccupied, you maybe only need 20-25 people to make a car look like it's well patronized.
To put the number of people needed in perspective, Pullman required that a railroad ensure that there would be at least 12 passengers for each sleeping car. If the car Pullman provided was the common 12-1 sleeper, it meant the car only had to be slightly under half-full to meet the requirement.
Scan ebay, you might find a deal on HO figures.
Don't cut service just yet....
RR_MelI use a Winsor & Newton Kolanski Sable 000 brush to paint my figures. They are a bit pricy but over time they are actually cheaper than using cheap brushes that don't last very long.
.
The Windsor and Newton Series 7 Kolinski Sable brushes are the best... period. They make two different size 000 brushes. One is a detail spotter and the other is a tapered brush. The tapered brush is the one I use. The detail spotter does not hold enough paint.
Unfortunately a few sellers are refusing to carry natural animal hair brushes, and this is driving up prices. I paid over $30.00 for my last W&N S7 brush.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
How many cars are in your train?
Usually the improbable name of the Chinese Ebay Seller WE HONEST comes up. I have not bought from them, but several people have and have been happy. You can buy various quantities of people for around 19 cents a person.
Sitting people
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
How long has revenue and ridership been dropping?
For painting figures, don't forget about the "Brifayle" method. Easy to use and effective. Here's a link that covers it for O and HO scales:
http://www.brifayle.ca/2c.a.painto.html
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
I don't have any decent pictures, but I added figures to a few dome cars on my Christmas train set-up.
I think I used Atlas figures, maybe Model power, I know they were cheap enough, hand painted in flat acrylics hobby and craft paint, but I also had to cut off the legs to get them into the seats.
I did the same with a Rapido lounge car, and still had to cut off the legs.
I still have to finish a station project, with lots of travelers and communters milling around.
Mike.
My You Tube
I have the same problem. My commuter trains are ghost trains and my excursion has just a handful of people on board. Nice figures from Preiser and Walthers are available but very pricy. The unpainted figures from Preiser are a better bargain. I have gotten pretty good at painting figures so I use them. Since the seats in the cars are modeled to be empty and the cushions don’t absorb the weight of the people you have to give them butt reduction surgery with an x-acto knife. In the future I plan on ordering the cheapo figures from China but I refuse to buy the ones which are already painted. I mean, wow, who dresses those figures. The fashion police should arrest them. I will buy the unfinished versions and paint them myself. I believe the figures are rip offs of the Preiser figures. I will know for sure when I get some. Someone suggested getting the 1/100 scale figures so they fit into the seats better. I’m afraid they might look like children however. If I could make my own line of figures I would make them to fit in the seats of passenger cars. I would make them so two people are the same figure seated together and already have the butt reductions done so the fit perfectly. My plan is to have a limited number of riders on the commuter trains but the excursion has to be sold out like the real thing.
RR_Mel This is one of my passenger cars under construction (Kitbashed). This is a Athearn fulldome kitbashed to a SP ¾ dome, the Athearn seats on the upper deck are too mall for 1:87 figures. The lower deck (lounge) has 1:87 Preiser figures. As you can see I use #8 birdshot to add weight to my rolling stock. Mel Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951 My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Very nice.
Lone Wolf and Santa Fe
I am glad to see Dick Blick is carrrying them again at 40% off! This is great news. My set is just about worn out. I think I have had the current set of brushes about 4 years, and I paint LOTS of military miniatures with them.
Thank you for the tip.
Thanks,
I'm running 4 to 5 passenger consist with 4 to 18 cars at any given time. A few empties sitting in the yard is ok. About 60 cars that I need to populate. At 10/car (minimum the CEO will accept in the very near future, and she's looking for an increase over that before too long) that works out to 600. It will help to have a few standing figures at the three main stations. If I can't get this done the entire Empire Builder fleet (mostly Balboa's) and a full Portland Rose will be on the block.
-GN goat kid
Since the late 1950's. gngk
Thanks LW,
How much does the plastic surgeon charge. If the price is right I might schedule an appointment for myself.
gngk
wjstix BTW don't add too many people to each car!! Unless you're modelling a commuter train, you don't need 80 people for an 80 car coach. First, most HO coach seat-pairs are too small for two HO adults, so figure on one person per pair. That brings you down to 40. Not every seat should be occupied, even on a 'full' train. People go to the restroom, club car, diner, etc. Leaving some seats unoccupied, you maybe only need 20-25 people to make a car look like it's well patronized.
I'd continue operating for the time being,
Keep thinking about ways to lure folks out of thier cars and back to the rails.