Seated figures


Emerson05

Emerson05

New Member
Hello guys I have a question. I have four observation cars, I would like to put seated figures in the observation deck but Ive seen that there are two scales to ho figures one is 1;87 the other 1;100. Witch one would be the correct scale of figures to get. Thanks in advanced.
 
Soemtimes, depending on the car, the 1/100 figures will fit in the seats better.
As Bob sez tho 1/87 is HO scale but they may need a little surgery to get them in the seats, ie: amputation.
This is best done on a stormy night with the lights down low and eerie church organ music playing in the background.
Many a modeller has a drawer full of legs and torso bits stashed away from previous endeavers.
Remember to post pics!
 
lol but i dont know where i left my hockey mask :( Well my observation cars are Rivarossi I would like to put interiors in them but i have 15 cars 8 Rivarrosi and 7 IHC so the plan is to put figs in the observation cars and tint the windows on the rest. Here are some pics
 
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Yeah, that is a lot of figures. I am purchasing the El Capitan set. It is much more obvious on those that there are no people in them. It would be silly for the railroad to run a long train of empty cars so I feel obligated to populate them. I started with the Peister sets that are sold with the El Capitan cars. Then I calculated it out and decided I didn't want to spend $500 just for people. Now I'm buying the cheaper sets of 100 seated people and planning on painting them myself. Hopefully it won't take 3 years just do do that!

Sleeper cars are so much easier to poplulate than coaches.
 
I usually populate the cars with 8-10 people each, and stagger them so you see figures when you look into the windows. I am a little more generous with domes though. If you watch the Walthers sales bulletins, you can find the Preiser and Faller sets on sale. I found a guy at a swap meet selling sheet plastic who was also selling painted figures seated and standing for 35 cents each. $35.00 per hundred, loose in a big bin. Count out your own and pay, he provided the baggies. I bought a bunch of those! Of course there is nothing wrong with painting your own either! True, nothing looks worse than empty passenger cars, unless you're modeling 1970 or early Amtrak...then it would be prototypical! :D
 
The only problem passenger cars with figures in them is that they look really weird sitting on a siding in my main yard. No matter where I try to store them they just look out of place. Really draws the eye too.

What we need is an "Easy-Peasy" window shade system! :)
 
Dave S said:
What we need is an "Easy-Peasy" window shade system! :)
Click to expand...

Exactly!!!!! I have too many cars to find the correct interior and populate them, so the easy way out is to tint the windows and buy a small set of figs and populate the observation deck. Besides Ive noticed that some modern passenger trains do have tinted windows, my set my not be modern but what the heck. Sure beats looking into an empty car with nothing in it. :D Also a fellow on here mentioned I should buy the 1:100 scale figs because they will fit better in the seats does everyone agree with that? I'm fairly green to model railroading so don't be surprised if you see me asking some dumb questions :)
 
It's been about 55 years since I rode in Milwaukee road Great Domes, and about 60 since I rode in a Burlington VistaDome. These were all in the Wisconsin and Central Illinois area. In only a couple of cases did I find all the seats taken. My own domes have a number of people in them, but not completely filled. I usually like to put a young boy in the right front pair of seats, except leaning against the forward shelf, with an older gentleman (my grandpa) in the seat next to me, near the outside window). :) Of course, on the CalZephyr, all the seats might be filled, especially going through the Rockies!
 
Cjcrescent said:
Emerson,
The only dumb question is the one not asked!
Click to expand...
Thank you Cj if you dont mind ill be adding you to my contact list, ive recently acquired a 6x8 layout that i plan to build up picked it up for 100 bucks from a fellow that started it but never finished it. This is the first time i take on a project like this and will be in definite need of help.
 
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Dave S said:
The only problem passenger cars with figures in them is that they look really weird sitting on a siding in my main yard. No matter where I try to store them they just look out of place. Really draws the eye too.
Click to expand...
A loads in-empties out passenger station to coach yard track.
 
Rico said:
As Bob sez tho 1/87 is HO scale but they may need a little surgery to get them in the seats, ie: amputation.
This is best done on a stormy night with the lights down low and eerie church organ music playing in the background.
Click to expand...

Great stuff Rico!

I actually heard the organ music as I read along! :p
 
Dave S said:
What we need is an "Easy-Peasy" window shade system! :)
Click to expand...

Why not just do a "window treatment" by cutting shades from paper or tissue? As for putting people in your cars with no interior seating, one trick I've used in the past was to cut off the lower torso and then glue the upper torso to the interior wall after positioning in the window. I've done this with life-like pick up trucks and a F7 locomotive too.
 
Old 97 said:
Why not just do a "window treatment" by cutting shades from paper or tissue? As for putting people in your cars with no interior seating, one trick I've used in the past was to cut off the lower torso and then glue the upper torso to the interior wall after positioning in the window. I've done this with life-like pick up trucks and a F7 locomotive too.
Click to expand...

Good tip but I think you misunderstand. My dilemma is if I put in the shades then I won't be able to see the people inside.

But if I can see the people inside then the car will look a bit odd sitting in the yard. It only looks realistic when it's rolling on the main line or sitting at the station.

What i'd like to figure out is a way of drawing the shades when the car is not in use, possibly through a magnet activator circuit like the Easy peasy lighting system made by Rapido turns the interior lights on and off.
 
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