Populate that New Lionel Doodlebug

I put people in my MTH Doodlebug the same way, it was a 2-for-1 split.   My MTH Red Arrow Liberty Liner needed the same treatment, so I split the people there as well.

"but were not difficult to cut in half (head to toe) with a utility knife."  That sounds hard to me!   I've cut the legs off of figures to fit in my passenger cars more realistically, but what you did sounds way more difficult.

walt

Looks good John. I have 2 packages of seated Beep People for just this use. I've done surgery on figures that Ive added to locomotives. I use my dremel with a small cutting wheel. I agree that the yellow plastic wall doesn't look good.

Bob

I, too, cut my MTH Doodlebug peeps from head to toe. Actually, I think it was more like shoulder to toe. Painting the partition black is a good idea. Thanks,

Walt, the plastic on my Beep People was on the soft side.  I was surprised.  I've cut feet off people, too - to get them to fit in passenger cars - but the Doodlebug seats are so narrow you need to cut the people in half.  This is starting to sound macabre!

John

Two passengers for the price of one - can't beat that. Nice job !

@Steam Crazy posted:

Walt, the plastic on my Beep People was on the soft side.  I was surprised.  I've cut feet off people, too - to get them to fit in passenger cars - but the Doodlebug seats are so narrow you need to cut the people in half.  This is starting to sound macabre!

John

I was thinking originally that 'soft' was probably involved but didn't want to ask so as to NOT minimize what you did.  thanks for confirming.

walt

I've had a few situations where I had to slice the passengers and engineers up.  Even the K-Line factory did it for the Plymouth switcher...

By the way I was able to purchase some of those Lionel 6-83653 / 21' Passenger Scale Figures from TRAIN Z.  Lionel was Out of Stock , or Not Available.  These are the ones specified in that OGR article in "RUN" 335.

FREDSTRAINS

@Fredstrains posted:

By the way I was able to purchase some of those Lionel 6-83653 / 21' Passenger Scale Figures from TRAIN Z.  Lionel was Out of Stock , or Not Available.  These are the ones specified in that OGR article in "RUN" 335.

FREDSTRAINS

The name of the dealer is Trainz, not Train Z.

Sorry  I misspelled it !

Started dissecting my MPC car today. I bought a K-line interior from Trainz (small z.....😀😀). I will have to cut it in pieces to fit. Seats to the rear and I'll kitbash the sleepers to use for the Post Office area.

I'll have to cut the white plastic off of the roof and figure out a way to secure the roof.

LED lighting will follow.

Bob

This probably needs to be a new topic, because it does not involve populating a Doodlebug. I'll be watching this project with interest, though. I've been wanting to add interiors to a set of MPC Milwaukee Road baby Madisons I have. I picked up a relatively recent set of Lionel Santa Fe baby Madisons some time ago, which cars (like all the more recent baby Madisons) came with interiors, six wheel diecast trucks and some other updates.

I've initially examined what will be involved in transplanting the interiors. It should be possible, although it will take a little surgery. But they're the right size and have proper seat arrangements, etc. The interior lighting will have to be re-arranged, also.

I'd like to transplant the 6-wheel trucks, too, but that looks like it would be a more significant undertaking that I'm not going to spend the time to attempt. 

My UP Doodlebug arrived this week along with a pack of Lionel 21” passenger car people. The people (mainly men) needed surgery to make them fit, LOL. Here it is with a full load of paying passengers:

@stangtrain posted:

My UP Doodlebug arrived this week along with a pack of Lionel 21” passenger car people. The people (mainly men) needed surgery to make them fit, LOL. Here it is with a full load of paying passengers:

Any idea how these scale in size to Beep People? Looking at yours compared to the Beeps in John's, they appear to be a little smaller.

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

Any idea how these scale in size to Beep People? Looking at yours compared to the Beeps in John's, they appear to be a little smaller.

Bob

Good question Bob before I order the Beep or Lionel people for mine.

Gene

@RSJB18

Sorry but I don’t have any BEEP People to compare, but even the small Lionel people needed some surgery to sit in the tiny seats of the Doodlebug.

@stangtrain posted:

@RSJB18

Sorry but I don’t have any BEEP People to compare, but even the small Lionel people needed some surgery to sit in the tiny seats of the Doodlebug.

Is it possible for you to measure one? If you can give us head to butt, I can compare to the BEEP's that I have. Happy to share with the group.

The all need surgery to fit regardless.

Bob

@RSJB18

Bob:

Here goes - just bought this nice digital caliper from Micro Mark and this is my first actual use:

The girls just needed a little shaving on the wall side, but the boys needed more extensive surgery to fit.

Maybe post the BEEP People size if you can.

Good luck!

Stan

@stangtrain

The Beeps are slightly taller.

36" = .75" @ 1:48 scale for reference

I'd say close enough to mix both mfr's figures for greater variety.

            Man                                                                                                     Woman

It is the width that is the greater concern.

As Bob mentioned, the Lionel female figures require very little adjustment to fit in the narrow seats.

Dave

@Soo Line posted:

It is the width that is the greater concern.

As Bob mentioned, the Lionel female figures require very little adjustment to fit in the narrow seats.

Dave

Agreed. I haven't opened my Doodlebug yet so I will see how the BEEP's fit and report back.

I never saw, nor even heard of these things until this year.  I gotta admit they're pretty cool.  I'm looking to get a Lionel PRR and will use the advice in this column to populate it.  I really like the way the black painting of the walls looks.

Has anyone had any operational issues with them?

I didn’t mention I also added an engineer to my B&M Doodlebug.  I believe he is an Arttista figure.  Foot surgery was needed.  The interior of the cab was maroon, so I painted it with a light “industrial” green to brighten it up.

John

@texgeekboy posted:

I never saw, nor even heard of these things until this year.  I gotta admit they're pretty cool.  I'm looking to get a Lionel PRR and will use the advice in this column to populate it.  I really like the way the black painting of the walls looks.

Has anyone had any operational issues with them?

Mine ran great right out of the box. The only issue I had was some clearance problems due to my 027 curves.

@Steam Crazy posted:

I didn’t mention I also added an engineer to my B&M Doodlebug.  I believe he is an Arttista figure.  Foot surgery was needed.  The interior of the cab was maroon, so I painted it with a light “industrial” green to brighten it up.

John

What paint are you using John?

@texgeekboy posted:

I never saw, nor even heard of these things until this year.  I gotta admit they're pretty cool.  I'm looking to get a Lionel PRR and will use the advice in this column to populate it.  I really like the way the black painting of the walls looks.

Has anyone had any operational issues with them?

Purchased in December. No issues at all. It’s my #1 simple and easy go to locomotive with the most run time in 3 months.

Gene

@RSJB18 posted:

Agreed. I haven't opened my Doodlebug yet so I will see how the BEEP's fit and report back.

This is great information. There was an earlier note that one brand was easier to cut. Which of these are the softees?

@pennsyfan posted:

This is great information. There was an earlier note that one brand was easier to cut. Which of these are the softees?

The BEEPs are soft enough to cut with diagonal cutters (for the legs). I used my dremel with a cutting wheel to trim the poor guys butt.

I have some Lionel engineers and they are made from a harder plastic.

Bob, I used Model Master FS 34227, pale green paint.  You're probably aware Model Master has been discontinued, but you might find some on Amazon or the Bay.

Pennsyfan, I agree with Bob that diagonal cutters are adequate to amputate feet and legs from Beep People.  Per my original post, I also was able to cut them in half, head to toe, with a utility knife without too much difficulty.  BTW, I still have all my fingers!

John

The positive reports from y'all gave me the confidence to place an order for the Lionel PRR Doodlebug from one of the forum sponsors.  I didn't buy any people because I think I already have plenty to use.  I'll get my scalpel ready to perform the necessary amputations!  I'm looking forward to getting it.

@Steam Crazy posted:

Bob, I used Model Master FS 34227, pale green paint.  You're probably aware Model Master has been discontinued, but you might find some on Amazon or the Bay.

Pennsyfan, I agree with Bob that diagonal cutters are adequate to amputate feet and legs from Beep People.  Per my original post, I also was able to cut them in half, head to toe, with a utility knife without too much difficulty.  BTW, I still have all my fingers!

John

John, Oh I know diags work on the BEEP  legs and feet. When I was populating my NH&I passenger cars, I did about 70 amputations. They were all piled up when my adult daughter came in. She was very upset; Dad what are you doing? I said I had to cut their legs off so they fit in the cars. Reply was “that’s gross”😝. Here they are waiting to be installed in the cars.
All the posts about the doodle bugs got me going about doing my MTH version. I also have a wooden kit that’s about 80% done for 30 years.

I ordered my Lionel PRR Doodlebug from Charles Ro on Sunday night after my wife caved in. It arrived in perfect shape Friday afternoon via UPS. It looks and runs great. I ended up controlling it with the iPhone app so that I can use my Cab1-L controller more easily with my TMCC culvert loader and unloader accessories.

I really want to populate the doodlebug and paint the walls black as done by the OP, but I’m going to force myself to put that off. I have 2 current projects I need to finish, and then I’ll be cleaning up my work area and test track in the game room in order to get new carpet upstairs . At that point I hope to put in a 12’x12’ layout.

Congratulations, Texgeekboy!  You are right, you need to get some projects done first.  I can keep a small number of projects going at once, but as it was when I was working, if I had too many projects going they all suffered.

Here’s a video I intended to include with my first post, but it was still in the cloud.

John

I ordered the people today for my Doodlebug. I’ll be painting the walls flat black as mentioned here. Thanks John @Steam Crazy I also wanted the walls black behind the engineer and baggage area. I used black construction paper with a thin spray of flat black to match the passenger walls. I’ll adhere it with double sided tape.

Gene

I primed and painted the walls then did the necessary cutting to fit the Lionel passengers. I did my best to lessen the bright led’s with a post-it flag filled in with an orange paint marker and secured with double sided tape over the led. I think it came out pretty good.

Gene

I have been following along with interest, and I guess I got the Doodlebug bug too.  Pun intended!    A forum member posted an MTH B&O Doodlebug for sale, and we just came to an agreement on it.  I'll be meeting him at an I-80 exit closest to me while he is on his way to York next week, and we will complete the transaction.  So, since I put LED lighting in all my passenger cars, and am collecting unpainted passengers for the set that doesn't already have passengers, I will have to figure out what to do with the Doodlebug.  Now that I am thinking of that, I have an MTH Pittsburgh PCC car that has no passengers or interior.  Oh no, there is always another project that could be added to the list. 

welcome to the club Mark.

Gene- Nice work on yours. Construction paper was a good idea.

I've posted on the WOTWATM (think about it)......

But it should go here for posterity. I moved the 2 standing people and added a postal worker in the front (not shown in this video)

Bob

@RSJB18 posted:

welcome to the club Mark.

Gene- Nice work on yours. Construction paper was a good idea.

Bob

Thanks Bob.

Gene