I’m new at this. I’m a total rookie. But I’ve been to the hobby store already and am pretty hooked. Sheesh! I think I’m obsessive.
I’ve compared 1:72 scale figures to the HO trains. They are a ‘little’ large. But I’m wondering if anyone has doe this on a large scale. Are these too large, or does it work?
The trouble I’m having is finding figures in 1:87 (HO) scale that are facinating. Most are ho-hum, while 1:72 offers a ton of interesting characters. So, does this work or not?
p.s. Just what in the world is DCC? I’ve seen this acronym but I don’t know what it is nor can I find info on this. What is it? What’s the advantage? Why would I want this?
p.p.s. I’d prefer to work in N scale due to space limitations. Are there INTERESTING figures in this scale or close to this scale?
Sounds like you should go straight to the nearest Walther’s catalog (most train stores and some hobby stores should have one available, or just check Walther’s website). Believe you me: there are plenty of really interesting figures in HO (and unlike 1:72, most HO figures are non-military). Having dabbled in N-scale, I suspect N doesn’t have quite the variety of figures HO has. Having said so, N presents unique modeling possibilities.
For info on DCC (Digital Command Control), I think you should search the forum for the term. You’ll get plenty of good information as well as some strong opinions on whether it’s worth the extra expense.
Best thing you can do is to leaf through some issues of the major model RR magazines to get a good idea of what is available on both scales.
1:72 figures would be about 20% oversize for HO. Some examples:
A five foot gymnast would suddenly become a six foot runway model.
A five foot eight inch middle distance runner would become a six foot ten+ inch basketballer.
A football guard, in full uniform, would suddenly become a human-looking Godzilla!
The same problem occurs when trying to mix 1:72 vehicles into an HO scene, where a pickup transmogrifies into a light dump truck. They just don’t look right. [sigh]
Of course, John Allen hired an O scale yard hand for light switching on the G&D. [(-D] John also made his own figures (wax over wire armatures, IIRC.)
You might have better luck with 1:96 figures. It’s easier to explain undersize.
Most of my figures are either Preiser or Woodland Scenics. I’ve got a set or two of Mertens, also.
Look at the online catalogs at www.walthers.com, www.discounttrainsonline.com and www.rocousa.com. All have pictures of most of the figures, and I think you’ll find that once you know where to look, the available figures in 1:87 offer more variety than anyone could possibly put on a layout.
But we’re still waiting for Miners, aren’t we? It’s a strange world where you can get 1:87 scale llamas, but no miners.
1/72 figures shortened to fit 1/76 OO scale and an HO figure pointing on the running board. The locomotive is the OO scale IHC oldtime 4-4-0 on the new Athearn/Roundhouse 4-4-0 frame representing the smaller 1870’s locomotive in OO versus the 1880’s locomotive in HO.
The difference is only about 15% but that is a huge difference, suprisingly
I don’t quite understand it. There’s a big need for non-military figures. These can be used for a variety of things. Some do exist, but at premium prices. But these are usually onesy-twosies, and $29 for a single or a pair of figures. Even sets of six aren’t cheap! These run from $8 to $100, depending on the manufacturer!
I mean, come on! Where’s the Circus figures and circus animals? Where’s a Indian Muslim family? I’ve seend Davy Crockett, wild west trappers, Lewis and Clark. WHere’s Dr Livingston? Where’s a peaceful indian village that I can mix with either store bought or self-made Teepees? Where’s the freaking Indian and african elephants? Where’s some longhorn cattle?
I don’t understand the mentality. Are people only amused with warfare? Are humans, by nature, only interested in replicating war scenes? Not by any means! Just look at the mdoel railroaders! So where are the figures that show historical incidents of peaceful life? WHere’s Wilbur and Orville? Where’s Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and similar tycoon giants and their entourages? Are the modeling companies stuck in a rut? Have they no imagination beyond conflict, death and destruction? If these manufacturers are so brilliant, then why don’t they create a wider variety? IN 1/87 AND 1:160!
Everybody agrees that war is hell. So why do these manufacturers create nothing but reinactments of hell?
Now, I’ve looked into creating my own figures. Uh uh. No can do with reasonable speed and home made molds. These are injected molded plastic, or complex molded tin. I can’t do this in
Your photo makes my point perfectly. The HO figure looks like a (young) teenager - which is not totally unbelievable. OTOH, an S-scale figure in your OO scene would look like a refugee from a circus.
That is the loco Bachmann SHOULD have built instead of their limited prototype 4-4-0. It is an HO IHC oldtime 4-4-0 merged with the new HO Athearn/Roundhouse 4-4-0. I have a “what-I-did” at:
Harold, your website just knocks me out!!! I can steal the coolest ideas off your website and no-one in the far,far reaches of the wild west with maybe the exception of a certain Mr. Poteet will ever know.[C):-)]
Lengo: I have to agree 100% with you, for some reason the makers of figures fall far behind, it seems they are too big, too small, fat arms , big heads, awful model-like poses, shiny paint jobs, might as well use gumby figures, some are so bad a quick glance signifies just how bad these are, I refuse to put these plastic stick men on a layout as they contribute nothing to the scene, surely some manufacturer can come up with realistic figures, I wonder about some modelers who are so precisce about scale and prototype and rivets then cover their layout with these out of proportion plastic toy-like figures, are you manufactureres listening???
I don’t quite understand it. There’s a big need for non-military figures. These can be used for a variety of things. Some do exist, but at premium prices. But these are usually onesy-twosies, and $29 for a single or a pair of figures. Even sets of six aren’t cheap! These run from $8 to $100, depending on the manufacturer!
I mean, come on! Where’s the Circus figures and circus animals? Where’s a Indian Muslim family? I’ve seend Davy Crockett, wild west trappers, Lewis and Clark. WHere’s Dr Livingston? Where’s a peaceful indian village that I can mix with either store bought or self-made Teepees? Where’s the freaking Indian and african elephants? Where’s some longhorn cattle?
I don’t understand the mentality. Are people only amused with warfare? Are humans, by nature, only interested in replicating war scenes? Not by any means! Just look at the mdoel railroaders! So where are the figures that show historical incidents of peaceful life? WHere’s Wilbur and Orville? Where’s Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and similar tycoon giants and their entourages? Are the modeling companies stuck in a rut? Have they no imagination beyond conflict, death and destruction? If these manufacturers are so brilliant, then why don’t they create a wider variety? IN 1/87 AND 1:160!
Everybody agrees that war is hell. So why do these manufacturers create nothing but reinactments of hell?
Now, I’ve looked into creating my own figures. Uh uh. No can do with reasonable speed and home made molds. These are injected molded plastic, or complex molded tin. I
I intermix 1\72 scale figures on my layout, and they work perfectly, take a look at the real world and you see people of different heights…but the manufacturers only produce 1\87 scale figures…so what you end up with is everyone on your layout is 6 ft tall. [except the kids of course], I never buy those expensive prepainted sets…waste of money…I buy Preiser unpainted figure sets…120 figures for $25 and paint them myself.
I also use non scale vehicles…if you look at a typical 1\87 scale vehicle you immediately notice how small it looks next to a figure…while it might be ‘‘exact scale’’ real vehicles don’t look that way…so I mix scale and non scale trucks and cars [and equipment] and end up with a more realistic looking setting. The price factor is also a big consideration…the ‘‘scale’’ vehicles are grossly overpriced, just take a look at Woodland Scenics offerings, or the Busch line, while these may be nicely detailed, they are not worth the price that the manufacturers want.
If you want to mix scales then by all means do so…1\144…1\87…1\72, mix them all, after all it’s your layout and you can do whatever you want.
Model railroading uses S-gauge (1:64) and HO gauge (1:87) but there’s nothing really available in the 1:72 scale for trains. So, you’ll find engineers, brakemen and townspeople in either S or HO. Also remember that train-gauge modellers have two strong markets - the transition era between diesel and steam, and the modern era, with less interest in the intervening years. So, the number of Native Americans is not very large, as they’re not much of a component of the railroad landscape in the 20th or 21st centuries.
You will find a lot of circus figures, particularly from Preiser. They make a lot of animal figures, too. Preiser is a European firm, and their choices may reflect their own market rather than our own. IMHO, Woodland Scenics models aren’t quite as good as Preiser’s yet, but they are getting better. WS seems to be adding more sets, too, while I haven’t noticed much new from Preiser for a while.
That’s an awesome how to! I don’t know half of what you said, 'cause I’m a newbie, so I bookmarked it for later. I then bounced on to other how to’s. Cool stuff! Great site! Thanks!
Have you pictures of your layout? I’d like to see more!
p.s. I had a little success today at finding some HO scale figures. I work in paper mache, and was working on a box. Since looking at dioramas and model railroads, I’ve decided to turn this into a mini-diorama and still keep it a box. The scene is a Muslim Mosque in Malaysia. This is based on a real place, from photos I’ve seen of it. So, to add a little bit of scale (it’s still a characature, because I had no intention of scaling it), I went to Walther’s and found a HO scale Indian woman in a sarong! BOY WAS I HAPPY! I also found an elephant in HO scale. Two of these women + the elephant was only $8 + shipping. So, I’ve calmed down a bit. [:D]
Paper mache is great medium for modleing lots of things for railroading. You can make buildings, trees, rocks, cactus, fence, weathered board, and lots and lots of things, perhaps even carriage models. Today, I’ve modeled trunks for palm trees. Paper mache save you some money, but it’s time costly. If anyone shows any interest in learning more, I’ll start a thread about how to do it right so that your creations will last a long time. Just holler. [:)]
