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 Posted - November 16 2013 : 6:50:13 PM
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I've been [slowly] modeling a steam era railroad, turn of the century maybe [1900]. Finding people costumed that way can be expensive and I don't see much available unpainted. And then, what's available may not be postured to be doing what you need them to do; don't usually need six people in exactly the same position.
A while back I got this bulk pack of Model Power unpainted figures which I thought was going to be a bargain since you get about 50 figures for $13.00. You can see through the package and I could see the women all had short dresses, and the men had long ties and all seemed like they were dressed in the 1960's, but I bought them anyway and and ended up putting them away disgustedly. Then I came across them the other day and sorted through them once more. I did a little cutting and painting and got some use out of these three . . .
and this is how I've put them to use so far.
[I know the trucks aren't period correct on that tender, but they sure do help that motor run nice.]
I'd like to see some pictures of what some other folks are doing with scale people. I keep waiting for someone to come out with a basic figure that you could glue the arms and legs on the way you want to position them, etc. Come on now . . . I'll bet one of you folks have the equipment to do that and are already doing it.
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Posted - November 16 2013 : 7:54:25 PM
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| I've been using OO scale people, not too much size difference between HO and OO people, just easier to paint.
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Posted - November 16 2013 : 8:53:14 PM
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| Thanks Mike. I'll have to check that out.
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Posted - November 16 2013 : 10:19:25 PM
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That's a nice job of painting. The finish is flat like clothing and the conservative colors look good for the period. I can remember prepainted figures coming in gloss paint.  Yours have it all over those things. 
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - November 16 2013 : 10:25:19 PM
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quote:| I keep waiting for someone to come out with a basic figure that you could glue the arms and legs on the way you want to position them, etc. Come on now . . . I'll bet one of you folks have the equipment to do that and are already doing it. |
Affordable 3D printing is supposedly just around the corner!  Those figures you've done look great, period correct to my untrained eye.
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 Posted - November 17 2013 : 01:11:41 AM
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Hi Barry,
Those look great. I really like the finish as well.
I have bags of unpainted people that I need to go through. Not sure who made them, they have been packed away for years.
Thanks for sharing.
Mytyco
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Posted - November 27 2013 : 12:14:30 AM
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| There are people that can be posed. Arms and legs are off and can be set. They're in O/S scale though. Dunno if they are made anymore.
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Posted - December 17 2013 : 8:33:02 PM
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Slowly been working on creating the population of scale folks required to support a little railroad; and that leaves quite a few to go. But I still think it would be interesting to see what other folks might be doing and, as always, I dig lookin' at the photos people post, so here's one. It's interesting to me how many "things I missed" seeing, even under the magnifying lamp, that show up with a close-up photo . . .
These are a couple of folks from the Model Power bulk pack of unpainted figures. For the guy in black: he was waving with his arm in the air (that's why you can see the lump in his right shoulder). For the guy in blue: I moved his left arm closer to his body, and brought each of his legs "in" some (he was suppose to look like he was walking) by cutting a wedge out of the side that I wanted to bend the leg toward and then filling that with a little JB Weld. I didn't fuss with trying to carve the JB weld down because I didn't think it would show, but it sure did. Guess the camera is a tool that should be employed (at least by me) to see what the heck kind of tiny work you really are doing.
I'm not so happy with the skin tones yet. I'm mixing small amounts (a few drops) for each session of use, but I'm not getting it thin enough yet. I'm thinking it needs to be thin enough that it requires a few coats to achieve the desired color and then the fine work of hair or what have you.
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Posted - December 17 2013 : 8:46:26 PM
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Barry - I have to tell you, I admire your patience and precision with painting these tiny people. I think I have the skill to paint them, but the desire part.... I don't think so! Maybe I should give it a go
And honestly I do not see the critical things you have pointed out, to me they look amazing. I understand though that YOU see those things, so that's what's important.
In any case, your skill level is already putting Woodland Scenics to shame 
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - December 18 2013 : 11:43:46 AM
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Hey Jerry, with what I've seen of your photos, I'd like to see what you do with some figures if you ever get the urge. It's just my current weird, though I've noticed that even with the less than a dozen people I have painted and placed on my rather crude layout . . . people bring it to life. One of the problems seems to be that even if you can paint, there isn't much of a source for figures. Presently, it seems you can only put so many people on a layout before you run in to the problem of "where do I put that third man standing with arms outstretched holding an oil can; like the two that I have already placed." And then there are those visions you have of a scene, where you see this woman sitting on a park bench with her arm outstretched along the top of the bench, or whatever . . . maybe you can do something with an arm transplant? Ha! You would think that current technology that is available to the masses would allow you to turn a photograph of a person in to an HO scale replica of the person in the photo, but I guess that's a ways out of my budget, so it's cut, glue and paint.
I did have a serendipitous event with skin tone last night. Managed to get it thin enough (like 75% thinner and 25% paint). This was after dropping a few drops of white, Tuscan, and yellow ochre in a cat food can and swirling it around with the thinner while sipping instant coffee and smoking a cigarette; not sure which component had the most to do with it.
Even while this photograph may not show it, it seems to me that when the thin "wash" of skin tone is applied it dries more quickly and also with a more natural flatter reflectivity, which, if the figure you're painting is detailed well, the natural occurring shadows in the face structure will not be obscured . . . or something like that.
I also realize now, that if one is going to talk about painting such tiny things and expect to have those things show up in a photo post, one had better be good a photographing those tiny things. My apologies for the potential inability to see the amazing effects I achieved with the recent figure. Ha!
Man, do you think I could turn this in to my own personal blog?
Anyway . . . Greetings of the Season!
Barry
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Posted - December 18 2013 : 5:57:32 PM
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quote:Hey Jerry, with what I've seen of your photos....
Man, do you think I could turn this in to my own personal blog?
Anyway . . . Greetings of the Season!
Barry
Originally posted by Barry - December 18 2013 : 11:43:46 AM
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And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Barry! And yeah I think it's a great blog I don't mind sharing a few images of my little people but keep in mind they are a far cry from the level you're at - and, I discovered in the process of taking these photos that there is a LOT of unseen way out of scale and funky things going on at this close-up level  But, I use the "3 foot rule" more or less, focusing more on the overall scene.
Keep in mind also these figures came to me painted, I did not paint any of them.
Here is one of my favorite scenes, a couple of old-timers telling tales at the depot
The cook is giving the waitress at the Freezee a piece of his mind for some reason
Fishing at the fish camp. Mostly WS figures, except for the one guy yelling down at the kid on the dock. I think he was supposed to be a road worker but the pose translated to what he is doing now. Sort of.
The maid passes the time with one of the motel guests
A local hot rodder with his ride. I had to cut him in half to get him in the car, but somehow the look worked
A worker at the cement plant looks waaaay down from the top
And there is a story that goes with this, the headless crossing guard at the top of the water tower - his sign says STOP
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - December 18 2013 : 6:33:13 PM
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| The "headless guy"; that's great! I like the way you're figures are all helping to depict the scene; the old timers chatting on the bench; the cook talking with his hands as well; the dock scene. And I dig that old Buick! Did you end up getting these figures from a bunch of different places? Yeah, the paint work on some of the ready-to-go figures leaves something to be desired; even the Preisser models. They have some unique poses, but you still might end up wanting to use only a couple of figures out of a pack of 5 and then you may want to repaint them. I will admit, given unlimited funds, I would probably buy every 1900's figure Preisser made and then repaint the ones I wanted to use, but that still would only be maybe 20 figures at a cost of whatever you paid for the 50 or so that you bought. I'm guessin' there's no market for figures priced any higher than than what the best quality figures already are . . . maybe when someone decides they can make some money gettin' their computer operated machinery to cast and digitally paint the figures. Whoa! Do that maybe, and bring the price down? In the meantime . . . Thanks for posting the photos Jerry. Especially since I haven't seen some of those figures before.
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Posted - December 18 2013 : 7:52:32 PM
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Actually that old Buick is a Packard Over 50 years old, one of my first ever Matchbox cars. How it survived to now is a miracle.
And yes these figures have a wide pedigree - some from loose lots, some from WS sets, some Model Power, some Bachmann...and some just unknown.
Barry there's no doubt the technology exists to make poseable HO figures you describe - getting somebody to do it is another thing. Probably cost would be a big factor too.
I'm starting to notice what you described - I have a lot of figures in similar positions and getting hard to use them because of it. Kind of like walking down a street and seeing everyone in the same pose, you know? Twilight Zone.
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - December 19 2013 : 11:15:33 AM
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| I shouldn't have focused my comments on Preisser. I'd also (given unlimited funds) buy all the 1900's Walthers figures. Actually I think some of Walthers figures are painted better than the Preisser figures, but same deal . . . buy a pack of 5 and maybe be able to use a couple of them.
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Posted - December 20 2013 : 4:11:06 PM
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And I should have mentioned Woodland Scenics. I think they make some good looking people. Bottom-line is that I'm just a tight wad and it urks me to have to spend as much on tiny little people as I might on a couple of wayward rail cars, you know? Perhaps, when you run this little empire (e.g., YOUR railroad), it is like a microcosm of the real world and you can invest in the brick and mortar, or the "social capital" or what have you. And then, like the real world, if your investments aren't balanced . . .
Anyway, tried another little person with emphasis on trying to do the skin tone correctly. I'm not real happy with the rather bland dirty look of the facial skin on this guy; I think a bit more color would be better, but . . . another "coat" of "paint" (I put paint in quotes because what seems best to me so far, is just thinner with a bit of color to tint it . . . just a wash) and the detail that creates the life-like shadows would be gone. At least that's my "theory" so far. So what you see is just another experiment (and I will be looking forward to any critiques or suggestions or most certainly photos of other folks efforts and techniques). The buggies in the picture are a couple of Jordan models that I finally finished off. Man they are fragile.
With this particular figure, I think my biggest conquest was the belt, although, as with many of these HO models, we are fortunate to have good detail lines to follow. Just paint by the numbers!
  
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Posted - December 20 2013 : 10:40:53 PM
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There's one good point to mention about the man and the brown horse. They are both in pretty static poses. In a picture, where time is frozen anyway, dynamic poses look okay. When you look at a layout in person, the trains are moving, but running people and horses are frozen in their tracks. Cars sit in the middle of the highway, equally static. It creates fewer issues if vehicles are parked and living things are posed in ways that call no attention to their lack of motion.
In short, the tool maker who posed the horse as grazing created a more believable model than if the horse were frozen in a dead run.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - December 21 2013 : 12:27:41 AM
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That's a real good point Don and one that will help me to keep in mind. The black horse in the last photo post poses that sort of predicament, so that one'll be used on the "road to somewhere" . . .
In the scene above, that brown horse probably should be in a corral or have a lead going to a hitching post or something, and the driver of the buggy needs some harness reins . . . isn't it great how your imagination can get way out in front and then you can go about the business of gradually putting it together and as time goes by it evolves into something a bit different even before you complete it . . . serendipity I guess.
I'm kinda looking forward to getting started messing with the buildings in the above photo. I'm not thinking anything drastic to begin; maybe like get the air conditioner out of the upstairs window of the one building and get rid of the other things that don't look like horse and buggy/very early car days.
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Posted - December 25 2013 : 1:25:43 PM
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Merry Christmas Y'all! Managed to pick up some kind of a "bug" and painting little figures seemed a nice diversion to take my mind off of it. And, now that the kids are out of the house, Christmas morning is sort of a freebee. So here's a couple photos of what I'm working on this morning. I did discover that if I didn't like the way the skin tone was going, I could just clean my brush and go over the spot again while the brush has just a hint of thinner on it (too much and you'll wash color off where you don't want to). In the photos, I like the face on the guy with the cap on, better than the other one. This may have to do with the original detail of the model? Anyway, hopefully as this string goes on, you will note improvement.
Both of the figures in the above photo had "surgery"; the one on the left to lower his arm from the infinite "wave"; and the one on the right to remove an oil can.
Some paint work needs to be done yet.
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Posted - December 25 2013 : 11:43:38 PM
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You're painting is uncanny, Barry. Do they move when you turn your back like the Weeping Angels?
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - December 26 2013 : 11:47:08 AM
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question for you Barry, what era is your railroad? reason I ask is it looks to me as post civil war era, I'll have to look but I think there was a company that did civil war era figs in HO/OO scale and may be a good compliment to your layout
just me Ray... and just because I have Tyco doesn't mean I am not a model railroader
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Posted - December 26 2013 : 12:27:25 PM
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| So far I can only nail the era down to "steam", and as I learn more, I realize the steam era covered a lot of ground. I only have the buckboards and horses on there because they came as kits with my initial train purchase a little over a year ago. I had decided not long after that I would try to model the Colorado Midland, as that railroad ran right by our back door (e.g., like 50 feet or so); like 1886 to 19"teens", and then it went through a bunch of takeovers and financial maneuvering until the last run in 1949. However, it seems that the best models of Colorado Midland locomotives are MEW or Hallmark and I've been hesitant to spend that much on a locomotive yet. So I painted a couple Tyco-Mantua 4-6-0's in the CM colors. Maybe it's because I've gotten use to working on them, but I like the Tyco-Mantua and Mantua steamers. Early photos do show things like horse drawn wagons unloading for a CM train and maybe mixed with early autos or trucks in the same photos . . . so, we'll see what this layout looks like in another year?
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Posted - December 26 2013 : 12:29:17 PM
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| Nelson, I just have to try and keep them from going to the bar.
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Posted - January 03 2014 : 12:37:13 AM
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"Finished" painting the guy above. Still need a bunch more experience trying to do skin and faces, and maybe some sort of meditational exercise to steady my hand (I think eyebrows are seriously a key to "bringing" the eyes out?).
Then, this guy below, I had done a while back, but I kind of thought he looked good walking up the steps of this slope back tender. He was a Model Power figure that was suppose to be climbing a ladder with right arm extended up to grab a rung. Climbing a ladder might have looked good, but he is really kind of a huge figure and never really fit in a ladder situation. His face could probably stand to be entirely redone. And I'm thinking I should probably whittle down his right hand some . . . or perhaps just scrape off all the clothing detail, get rid of the bucket, glue on some fuzz and turn him into a gorilla!
The engineer in the cab is a pre-painted figure, I forget the company now (popular one), comes with a fireman (used elsewhere). I didn't mess with him at all.
Regarding the Colorado Midland side door caboose in the lower left; it's interesting to me how my tastes have changed (maybe just have seen more nice models in the past year?), but when I bought that caboose (pre-built), I thought it looked so fine with that "weathering", ha! Now I'm trying to think of how I might get that off without wasting the lettering. I briefly tried a little alcohol on a swab on an area of the roof, but didn't do anything to speak of. I may resort to loosing the lettering, though; that weathering job just flat needs to go.
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Posted - January 04 2014 : 9:13:49 PM
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Barry - your figures are a real treat to see. You definitely have a talent, this is not painting figures, this is art.
I'm with Nelson, I wonder if these people move??
And I see the wood treatment on those cars was not a fluke either, the platform woodwork is phenomenal.
I can relate to your thinking a previous weathering treatment was great and now you aren't that thrilled with it - I go through that all the time. I look at some of my first weathering work and wonder "what was I thinking??" (or drinking?)  But on the other hand it lets me know I am indeed making progress.
http://tycodepot.com/
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Posted - January 08 2014 : 01:12:07 AM
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Trying something new here; trying to be a hatter . . . I liked the pose of this fireman, but I wanted to see his hat a little more like an earlier period I guess. Used a leather punch to punch out a circle of paper with a smaller hole in the center to fit over his existing cap. While I was at it, I extended the lady's hat to be a bit more Victorian era. Little bit a whittlin' to do on her yet; trying to make a long dress with the Victorian "accoutrements" . . . we'll see how that works. The first photo is the brakeman before I messed with him. I didn't have another lady figure to show you what she looked like, though basically she had a short dress and was carrying a suitcase.
You look at that last photo and you think "Is this guy nuts, or what?" . . . no, just someone with more time than money who's too damn set in his ways to work for anyone else.
Anyway . . .
I do keep looking at ready made figures and I'm finding there are a bunch more than I realized, so I expect I'll be poppin' for some of that new material at some point.
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Posted - January 08 2014 : 01:14:49 AM
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| Always learnin' somethin' (e.g., looking at that last photo and I see the firebox is half-fallin' out of the locomotive; just for that touch of class!).
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Posted - January 08 2014 : 01:20:37 AM
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Posted - January 08 2014 : 7:57:28 PM
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Engineer wanted a hat "upgrade" as well.
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Posted - February 27 2014 : 12:09:22 AM
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| Great detailed work on those figures. It enhances your equipment and scenery with them.
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