Cost too much for people figures

[Jumijo]

I repositioned a few arms, and you could trim some of the figures by using a Dremel tool. As for painting tips, I tend to overdetail the figures. some of the guys have 5 o'clock shadow, some have salt & pepper hair. Painted on details make the figures so much more realistic, but what ever you do, don't paint them with glossy paint. Nothing and I mean nothing looks worse than glossy people on a model railroad. I use acrylic craft paint, sold in stores like Michael's. A 2 oz. bottle costs $.50. These paints dry dead flat. No shine whatsoever. That's what looks the best. Use those paints, take you time, use a small brush, and you'll do fine.

Jim

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mickey4479
[
Any tips on how to disassemble an MTH passenger car to insert passengers? Thanks again.

Based on responses to a thread last summer, it seems MTH passenger cars come in many styles, and ways to get into them. I seem to have a "easy" one in my 15" B&O streamline set...2 screws at the bottom, and pop-off the roof. Other versions seem to be a "pain". Just be sure the advice you get is for the cars you have. Joe

[SPFan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by joe0315



I keep seeing posts, here and on OGR, about packs of seated/painted figures...20 for $20., but I've yet to find them. Don't remember if they were K-Line or MTH.
All 120 figures in my passenger cars are MTH. Perfect size, but I had to paint them, which was fun if you do a few at a time. The 120 were $29. Joe

The packs of 20 or so painted seated passengers were done by K-Line (RIP). There was a guy at the Springfield show that had brought 40 packs of them and was sold out by noon Saturday. I hope someone picks up the ball here.
Preiser also offers bulk packs of unpainted figures. When you start painting your own and figure in your time you will appreciate why folks charge close to 5 bucks apiece for them.

Pete

[palallin]

Almost all O scale figures are way overpriced, artista especially. Those metal figs are NOT high quality: 1/72 scale plastic figs are superior in every respect (though much more difficult to paint), and I have a selection of 1/96 scale that are superior to anything Artista ever made. I refuse to even consider them: they are a sick joke played on people.

Most of my 1/48 figs are adapted from 1/48 aircraft and military kits. Others come from various building kits, Lionel and Model Power. The Bags 'o Folks are decent prices, and assembly line painting can make preparing them easier.

Now, try populating a Standard Gauge layout. If the object is to maintain the period look, there are few choices other than the original lead and composition figures of the era (Manoil, Barklay, and so forth, plus the few that Lionel sold) and their modern repops. This route can be very expensive, some figs bringing $100 each or more, and event he common ones usually start around $10 each. These metal figs are certainly crude, but they fit. If period is unimportant, then modern large scale figs work.

[Anonymous]

You can buy inexpensive figures that look like inexpensive figures, or you can buy more costly figures that look a whole lot better. The choice is strictly up to the individual.

Personally, I prefer to pay more and get figures that I feel look like what I want them to look like. I may have fewer figures overall, but I'm not squeamish about paying a bit more--even a good bit more--to get what I want.

Whatever floats your boat, as the old saying goes!

[Dave Farquhar]

Painting tips? Don't use expensive enamels. Buy the $1 bottles of acrylic paints from Michaels or Hobby Lobby or the craft section of Wal-Mart. They're cheap, clean up with water, they dry quickly, and come in a very good variety of colors. Get a decent brush from the craft section too. By "decent," I mean a bru***hat costs a couple of dollars. You don't need the most expensive one but you probably don't want the cheapest one. I probably use my size 00 brush more than any other one, but you'll probably want a size or two above that, and a 000 can be handy for really fine detail.

Also get a can of primer. It makes the paint stick better. Some people swear by Krylon and others by Rustoleum but the most important thing is to get a brand, get familiar with it, and stick with it because it won't surprise you. You'll have to experiment to see whether black, gray, or white works best for you. White gives the brightest colors but if you don't totally cover it, it stands out. Black or gray add depth if you don't cover them completely, so I prefer gray.

Wa***he figures with dish detergent beforehand, dry, and don't touch them afterward. Prime them. Use a thin coat. You don't have to totally cover the figure but it won't hurt it much if you do. Thick coats of paint hide detail. Primer's job is to make even thin coats of paint stick. The primer can do its job even with a coat that's so thin that it's almost translucent.

The other thing primer does is it tends to bring out detail that shiny plastic hides. Since it makes it a lot easier to see what you're painting, it would be worth doing regardless.

After that, just paint. The first few will take you half an hour or more to do. With practice you'll get faster. Paint several at a time. Some people like to paint 3, some can do as many as 12. I do the light colors first, then the dark ones, since it's hard to cover darks with lights. So I'll paint things like hands, white shirt, etc. first. And if you're sloppy, the darker colors can cover them. I paint things like black shoes and belts and hats last.

If you mess up too badly, you can wa***he paint away with plain old water.

When you finish painting, spray a clearcoat on them. I like the Crafts Etc. brand sold at Hobby Lobby. If you don't have a Hobby Lobby near you, spring for Testors. It's more expensive but won't make your paint bubble. Use flat finish if you're a hirailer. I usually use a gloss, which gives me a classic toy soldier look that seems to go well with my pressed tin trains.

Your first figures might not look all that great. Put 'em at the back of the layout, inside cars, or other places where their shortcomings won't jump out. After a few batches, you'll get a lot better. Most likely by the time you paint a couple dozen, the figures you paint will look as good as the pre-painted figures you can buy. Maybe better.

Once you get a little better, you can start experimenting with thinning your paints and doing washes of dark grays to bring out the depth in the figure. The idea with a wash is to stain the figure, not paint it--you just want to bring out a few shadows. Then drybru***he raised areas with a slightly lighter color. For instance, if you were painting a blue pair of pants, paint them a medium blue, then apply a gray wash, then drybrush a lighter blue on the raised areas. Be prepared to mess up a lot, but you'll get the hang of it.

You'll be amazed at how good you can make even a really cheap figure look. Usually the biggest difference between a cheap figure and a really good figure is the paint job. A good paint job can disguise a bad casting, but a bad paint job can obscure all of the ornate detail in a good casting.

What do I mean? I've painted up cheap figures from Dollar Tree and people have commented on them. They were super cheap (a bag of 40 or 50 for a buck) and I'm not an especially talented painter. If you can find a bag or two of roughly O scale figures at Dollar Tree (look for figures that are 1.5-1.75 inches tall) that can be a good investment. You can practice on those, and you'll be more willing to mess those up than a package of hobby figures.

[mickey4479]

Thanks for the info posters and especially Dave for the time to detail the steps. I will let you know how I do on my first batch.

[thor]

Well try painting a few yourself and you might feel a bit differently about the cost - GRIN! By the way if anyone has any useful tips about what tools to use, please let on! I found it the devils own work to get my tiniest paintbru***o cooperate. I'm thinking a Rapidograph (the old fashioned kind of German mapping pen with metal nibs that you fill yourself) might be the way to go.

I use those Homies figures from vending machines and you could cut them in half and glue the top halves to your coach seats so they can be seen through the windows only as torsos, which would help to get them down to size a bit.

Half the fun is asking friends and family to keep their eyes open for little peoples and seeing what they come up with! My well meaning wife shoved a handful of quarters into a White Castle vending machine but what she got wasn't Homies - as the label said - but RATS dressed up like people, punks, boomboxers etc. usual offensive stereotypes!

Well, for a moment or two I was a bit put out but what that made me think of was how funny they would look on a subway platform! I might have to buy a subway set just to model that scene, sort of tuck it away somewhere where it wasnt immediately obvious, then put it up as a picture here and see how long it takes for someone to notice!

[palallin]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Allan Miller

You can buy inexpensive figures that look like inexpensive figures, or you can buy more costly figures that look a whole lot better. The choice is strictly up to the individual.

Personally, I prefer to pay more and get figures that I feel look like what I want them to look like. I may have fewer figures overall, but I'm not squeamish about paying a bit more--even a good bit more--to get what I want.

Whatever floats your boat, as the old saying goes!

but the problem is that the expensive ones are the poorer figures. Injection molded plastic is far and away a better medium than cast metal, but the metal ones cost more.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by palallin
[
but the problem is that the expensive ones are the poorer figures. Injection molded plastic is far and away a better medium than cast metal, but the metal ones cost more.

Have you ever tried using words like "in my opinion", "I think", "it seems to me"? Joe

[palallin]

QUOTE: Originally posted by joe0315
Have you ever tried using words like "in my opinion", "I think", "it seems to me"? Joe

In my opinion, such hedges are unnecessary when the contrasts are objective. Injection molding allows for finer details, thinner cross-section, and lower cost than die-casting. None of these attributes is subjective or in dispute. These qualities are the subject of the discussion.