Model Railroading > Thoughts on HO figures

Good Evening All,

I have been hand painting some very fine pewter HO figures for my HOn3 layout. I found these on EBay. They have no flash, very detailed, useful poses. I start by airbrushing them with some primer gray. I have found that I need to then hit them with some dullcoat so that I can handle them without the primer rubbing off in spots. Then I hand paint them with the new generation of water based paints from Micro-mark. The painting includes eyebrows, beards, buttons and so on. Not my favorite thing to do but useful for a foreground scene.

The quality of the pewter figures got me thinking about the other stuff out there. Preiser has a large selection of course but could use some input on period figures for American scenes. The Woodland Scenics figure selection is also large but to me the figures seem fat to put it bluntly. I think more work could be put into the masters before manufacturing begins.

I take some ideas on painting and detailing from our friends in the 1/35 military modeling hobby. Those guys are good with some very advanced techniques. Of course if you did what they do but in HO, you would never have time for the layout.

Any thoughts on product lines, techniques, paints and so on regarding HO figures would appreciated! 

I really like the Prieser figures but the only issue I have is each pack only has one or two guys that will work for a 1950's layout due to the clothing and the style of hat. Only being able to use one or two makes them an expensive purchase. There are a couple of sets where I can use all of the figures but that is the exception.

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I'd say we need more "modern" figures for 1970s through the present period.

Some examples I'd like to see:

• People standing around or walking/distracted with cell phones in hand.
• Adults in T-shirts and jeans.
• Folks wearing cowboy hats and sitting - would be perfect for train crewmen on certain railroads.
• 1970s-1990s modern train crewmen through 1990 (pre-flourescent PPE), but with radios and baseball caps/etc.
• Heavyset people in multi-packs.  I know Preiser has offered them as a single figure, but that is not very economical if you want a few.
• etc..

 Feel free to cite other examples of figures we haven't yet seen in HO scale. 

Cheers,
Harry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/16 21:38 by tracktime.

And, I miss the Flexable Freddy

I model HO 1920's -1935 and it's nearly impossible to find everyday people figures that typify that era. I have found some Langley figures from England which are listed as oo gauge and appear to fit that era. One of the things you're dealing with is that almost all men wore hats and women wore midi size skirts. I agree with you that 1950's era figures could suffice. I have found a company that manufactures HO scale derby's and placing these on some of the modern day business men figures adds a 1920's feeling to my layout. My next project is to find or make HO scale straw hats.

Years ago at the Timonium MD show there was a vendor called Little People. A woman owned the business. She had detail parts, Preiser people and her own custom painted HO scale figures that represented regular 60-70's style mens dress. Guys with flannels shirts with sleeves rolled up. Beards or no beards. Jeans or Khaki pants. Work shirts , long sleeves etc. Some made sitting that fit perfectly in Kato cabs No engineers hats or Bib overalls. They weren't cheap but I did buy a few. Wish I had bought more !! ---   Ken 

I recently painted the crew members in a pair of Proto2000 FA2's. One tip I have is that various hobby stores sell a painting kit for fantasy figures, these are perfect for painting small figures as they include flesh tones and typical clothing colors.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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