[KODIAK BEAR]

as the subject says i do not wish to upset anyone etc but in the new hornby mag and in other railway model mags too i have noticed some fantastic layouts but one common fault......

that fault is the lack of people / passengers inside a coach.

some layouts (not many) dont even have people on platforms etc too.

why not ?

is it that hard to do ?

only asking out of interest thats all.

as some have put, the hornby mag is great because it helps with all sorts of modelling subjects and i hope it carries on the good work.

 

[Dennis David]

I've collected a lot of people for my layout but it does get expensive and N-Scale is too small for me to paint.

 

[Doug]

Pre-painted people are quite expensive and painting people is a real pain. No wonder they are the last thing modellers add to a layout.

I bought a couple of boxes of Preiser unpainted people from a shop liquidating stock. I then organised some child labour and now I have about a hundred nicely painted figures - at a cost of about 20 euros.

Don't worry, the child labour was not anything bad - I got my kids involved. They actually offered to do it and they enjoyed it and I think with their eyesight, they did a better job than I could have done.

 

[john woodall]

Putting people into coaches, IMHO requires three things.

The interior needs to be painted (most coaches only have a single colour moulded insert).
The coach needs to have interior lighting
There needs to be a balance between people sitting in their seats and a couple walking the isle.
For some the provision to turn the lights off and on via DCC needs to be looked at.

As for towns and platforms, there is little if any excuse not to, but again, unless you have a football stadium on match day, less is probably better.

John

 

[Brian Considine]

It is very common to have almost entirly empty stock. Depending on the coaches it does not always show up too badly, until you light the coaches & then it really does show.

The most cost effective way of populating coaches is to us eithe Priesor unpainted range. Being inside they do not have to be superdetailed, just basic colours.

Couple of things we have found (in HO anyway) - you cannot sit four people together in four seats (maybe you can using HO figures in OO ?).

Often, (again in HO) buying the sitting people is a waste - the "floors" of many HO coaches are much too high & amputation just over knee height is required.

I have no problem at all with the painting - I get BRITHO to do it (thanks Dave).

Just one small point - do not use superglue to fix people in coaches - the fumes can attack the windows !

We hope to eventually have a decent sized poplulation on SL, as well as drivers in/on all the loco's.

 

[john woodall]

Its funny how we can focus on some obvious superdetails to the detriment of other parts.

Two very cheap but effective details to add are:

Number plates on Cars, and when they are "being driven" a driver.

Number on houses and street name signs.

John

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (john woodall @ 16 Mar 2008, 07:33) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Its funny how we can focus on some obvious superdetails to the detriment of other parts.

That's very true John,

We are always working on these "little" things that make a "big" difference - on SL we have at least got drivers in all the road vehicles that are "moving".

It's these little things that the public (especially the ladies) tend to notice at exhibitions & shows.

The Euroscale Team & my close family are all represented on SL (as well as 4 penguins !).

 

[Bilbo]

There is on Ebay a chinese seller Wehonest(don't laugh) and they sell pretty cheap painted or unpainted people in 1:75 scale. I have bought a load to cut in half to seat in various coaches.. The painting isn't brilliant but they are in a coach so won't be too visible.

 

[john woodall]

Hi Brian,

I was lucky enough to be corresponding with a guy in German and he sent me a file with German street signs and house numbers in it from the 1920's. Considering the house number are 3mm or so square, they are easy to miss, but when people actually notice them its like wow look at that.

My clubs layout have a couple of Tigers roaming around the grape vines!

John

 

[Martin71]

Hi

I do have some people inside my coaches and the interiors are painted. Yes it looks good but unless pointed out how many people really notice!To be honest it is such a time consuming job and I have another 25 coaches to go..... noooooo

It is so much work!

Click on photo for more detail.





This is the people that went in the 1 coach, see above.



I am starting to think an empty coach painted and lit looks better!



Thats my 2 cents!

m

 

[Brian Considine]

That first picture looks superb Martin.

We have somewhere like 50 coaches to do - lighting & people !

 

[neil_s_wood]

Very nice Martin.

 

[7113]

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 16 Mar 2008, 07:19) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The most cost effective way of populating coaches is to us eithe Priesor unpainted range. Being inside they do not have to be superdetailed, just basic colours.

Very true, normally base colours like blue or grey is suffecient.

QUOTE (john woodall @ 16 Mar 2008, 07:33) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Two very cheap but effective details to add are:

Number plates on Cars, and when they are "being driven" a driver.

It has to be said that putting the lady crew in a Herpa MAN was NOT an easy job - it took several attempts to cut the right amount off the crew.

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 16 Mar 2008, 08:48) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>The Euroscale Team & my close family are all represented on SL (as well as 4 penguins !).

I really should be photographing the buses not the trains!!

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 16 Mar 2008, 10:06) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>We have somewhere like 50 coaches to do - lighting & people !

Looks like I'm going to be busy then..........

Regards

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 17 Mar 2008, 13:13) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I really should be photographing the buses not the trains!!

Yes, but there's only two on SL (& one of them took a 300' dive on it's last outing at Brighton).

 

[7113]

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 17 Mar 2008, 13:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Yes, but there's only two on SL (& one of them took a 300' dive on it's last outing at Brighton).

How many would you like?....................................

 

[KODIAK BEAR]

Wow this sounds a right pain in the what knots.

Ok ready painted sounds expensive and unpainted sounds like that i will be 6ft under by the time i paint them and the coach seting etc etc.

The child labour used by Doug sounds good

Going to have to wait a while as my daughter is only 4 but when she is older i can get her painting them

I will have a look on ebay and find that 'kitchen sink' that Bilbo mentioned

thanks all on your input

 

[utility]

[I agree with you. Having just been to see a model railway exhibition and no passengers in sight either on the platforms or in the carriages and no railway staff or crews on the footplate/cabs.

I think it is too much like hard work for some people - the train is the thing - anything else is done whenever.

Its not difficult to place crews in locos, even diesels. Same for carriages. They all dismantle with care.

What really bothers me is dismantling trucks, cars and buses to put in people. Too much of a wrecking job for me I think.

 

[poliss]

Maybe everyone models Easter Bank Holiday trains?

 

[ebaykal]

QUOTE (Bilbo @ 16 Mar 2008, 08:59) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>There is on Ebay a chinese seller Wehonest(don't laugh) and they sell pretty cheap painted or unpainted people in 1:75 scale. I have bought a load to cut in half to seat in various coaches.. The painting isn't brilliant but they are in a coach so won't be too visible.

Yes, one of my friends has got these figures, comes in packs of 50 all painted at a price of 2 usd!
Suspect these figures are for use in architectural models.
However, they serve their purpose quite well as long as you do not put them on your layout.
Inside coaches,cars and buses just as I did.

Baykal

 

[Brian Considine]

They look fine in the bus, so theu should be OK in railway coaches.