I’m new here… great forum, with a wealth of knowledge!
I am in the early stages of planning to model the Alaska Railroad south end (Anchorage to Portage, Whittier, and Seward) in my 25x35’ garage, and while the layout benchwork has yet to even be started, I’ve amassed quite a number of ARR locomotives, passenger cars, and rolling stock.
My passenger fleet all includes transparent windows and full interiors, but it looks silly (especially in the vista domes) for the cars to be completely empty. Are there any companies out there who manufacture HO scale figures specifically to populate the interiors of our passenger fleets? If not, any other suggestions?
Really appreciate any help you guys may be able to offer.
Preiser makes a number of different sets. Some are made without legs, specifically for putting in passenger cars where the legs can’t be seen, and only get in the way. You can search for stuff at www.walthers.com. I used “Preiser unpainted” and “unpainted passengers” and got a lot of hits. There’s even a set on sale right now.
I’d suggest the unpainted ones, which of course means you’ll have to pull out the old brush and do some work yourself. You can also get painted figures, but they are much more expensive, and probably way too nice to hide inside a passenger car.
While you’re inside, take some paper and make window shades, pulled down at different heights. That adds a lot to the look.
I would highly recommend the Preiser seated passengers. If I remember right, they come in a pack of 36. It has been a while since I bought any, but I think they came out to about a buck a figure. I had to stock a consolidated Super Chief/El Cap, so the money side added up quick, but they look AWESOME. Here is a Walther’s 500 series “Pleasure Dome” that I used them in…
Edit: I don’t mean to take away from painting them yourself, which can be very cost effective, but with all the work I had involved with modeling this passenger train, I didn’t want to fool with the figures. If I didn’t have to paint interiors, exteriors, decal, etc, I probably would have bought the un-painted figures.
Thanks very much for the help. I’ve gone ahead and ordered 8 of the Preiser painted 36 figure sets from Walthers… that oughta hold me over for awhile. Like Smitty, I feel it’s worth the extra few bucks to just plop them in a spot of glue and move on to the next lucky passenger!
Thanks for the tips on the paper window shades, too… they definitely add another element of dimension to the cars, and I’ll be putting those in place!
I have used the 3x5 notecards in the past as shades, but on the shades in the pics, I used styrene that I painted. The card stock worked nice, but humidity got to some of them and they warped an fell off. There is probably a way to “seal” the paper, and Mr Beasley may have some insight on this.
Not all shades were silver, and white is a pretty safe bet if you are not sure what shade your prototype uses/used. Plano makes some really nice etched metal venetian blinds. There are different sizes in the one package.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve actually never detailed a passenger car. I like to use tissue paper for curtains and shades on structures, though. Yes, some of these fall off. I always figured it was poor gluing, or paint on the surface, and I put it back on with CA. No more problems. In a passenger car, you’ve got the light which is providing heat. That may be the source of “glue failure.”
One of the reasons I went to styrene is because the glue seemed to hold it in place better. I like the paper or card stock though because it comes in some great colors for shades, and seems to look more realistic as a shade.
I think for structures paper would be the way to go for sure. It would be easier to get a more “natural” look for curtains and such. I hadn’t thought about that (I haven’t gotten to the structure phase yet). Thanks.
I also didn’t want you to think that this was one of those “my way is better than your’s” sort of thing.
Regarding the shades falling off, I’ve found that using “Alene’s Tacky Glue”, available at craft stores, holds great. If you’re trying to glue paper shades to the plastic wall, nothing beats Alene’s and it doesn’t attack the plastic and can easily be pulled off later if need be. Also, if you should get some where you don’t want it, it wipes right off with a Q-tip and water.
