I have this set for presier which is great.
Just find images of place settings, or meals, copy-paste-reduce to scale-print-& install.
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=place+setting&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2
When I go dining, it is for the food and not the bowls and plates. If you're going to that level of detail, you should give some thought as to what is on them. Red spaghetti? Brown steak? Green salad?
Mark
To add to the available detail parts posted above, I have been wanting to give these a shot:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/514-N703020
just an idea but why not take a digital photo of a table setting, reduce it on your computer, print it out and stick it on the table in the car?
grizlump
I've got a set of beer kegs, barrels and beer bottles from Preiser. It's got a bunch of individual beer bottles in green and brown. I've put a few of them on the tables at Lady Buc's clam bar. Inside the dining car, I think you could get away with short lengths of clear, thin styrene rods, glued on end on the table.
Have you got a hole punch for paper, preferably one of the smaller hand-held ones rather than the big 3-hole desk models? Try punching out some small disks from card stock. Get brown or yellow card stock, or take a white piece and print a pattern of some sort on it, and then punch out the disks. These should be about the right size for plates. If they're too thin, glue two or three on top of each other.
My first thought, though, was also to use photos. If you combine a photo with a few plates and bottles to give it a 3D effect, I think it would be a pretty presentable illusion.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
FEZZIWIGShttp://www.oakridgehobbies.com/index.php/model-railroading-railroad-diorama-miniatures/scale-miniatures-diorama-scene-scale-details-accessories/ho-scale-miniatures-for-model-railroading-scale-modeling-smaller-scale-miniaturists-set-designers-and-scale-diorama-scenes?p=5
They have quite a few pages of little detail stuff like that.
Omaha53 My HO scale dining car has bare white tables setting in front of great big windows. I have figures at some of the tables, some of which are holding cups, but the tables are bare. Does anyone have any experience with putting a few very small pieces of table ware on a dining car table? If so what did you do?
My HO scale dining car has bare white tables setting in front of great big windows. I have figures at some of the tables, some of which are holding cups, but the tables are bare. Does anyone have any experience with putting a few very small pieces of table ware on a dining car table? If so what did you do?
Since I'm known for looking for the easy way out, set your 1:1 scale table the way you'd like the ones in your dining car to look. Get above the table and take a picture of it, holding the camera as close to perpendicular as possible. (This part may be easier if you set the tablecloth on the floor and set the "table"). Print out the picture, experimenting with the scaling to get the tabletop in the photo to the right size for your HO tabletops. Cut out and paste picture to tabletop in your car. If you think about it, a 6 inch tall napkin holder would be 1/16 inch (.0625) tall in HO, not a lot of height.
You can set your 1:1 scale table a couple different ways, take pictures, and you'll have some variety in how the tables in your dining car look.
I've never done it but, how about if you used some sequins(sp?) as plates? You can probably get them at Michaels or any craft store. Paint them white and boom, instant food holders you'd just have to fill the hole in the middle somehow.
J.P.
You can take very small stripwood or styrene strips of say 1/16" x 1/16" and paint it silver on two sides and white on two sides, then cut it into pieces about 1/8" and paint the top silver - these can represent paper napkin dispensers. A similar size of circular wood or styrene could be used to represent a sugar container.
I remember seeing someone who used thick paint ( I think enamel ) and a small brush. He put a drop of paint in front of each diner. The paint was thick enough that it didn't go completely flat but came out as a circle with a little depth to it, which represented plates.
A few things like that will make it look thru the windows like the tables are "set". It might not be that convincing if you're doing a "contest quality" model where people will be taking the roof off and looking inside, but for general use it will make a difference.