Populating Passenger Cars

1:100 people.....I had not thought of that.

Do you have any pics of what they look like "in" the passenger cars?

Bobby,great tip! Just a couple questions though, please.

Are your RailKing cars the same size as the ones that come in MTH's rtr starter sets?

Do you also use 1:100 standing figures in the cars with the seated figures or are all figures in your cars seated?

In MTH's RailKing dome cars, do you use the 1:100 figures just in the bottom of those cars or also in the seats in the top dome?

Is 1:100 considered HO scale, N scale or neither?

Thanks for asnswering my questions.

Wow, the manila folders would be PERFECT for shades!  And here I was trying to think of something to use!  Thanks!  As for populating the cars, I guess MTH cars are larger because I find that Beeple work out great for populating them!

I have found that MTH unpainted figures, a bag of 120 for $29., are small enough to fit on the seats, side by side. I have about 200 sitting in RailKing heavyweight and streamlined cars.

Joe....that sounds like a good resource.  Do you paint the figures yourself or just put them in there naked?!!!  

Santa Fe VA, I posted some pictures of the 1:50 and 1:100 people in Rail King 027 passenger cars. The 1:50 people needed amputations to fit into the seats, and to get their heads viewable in the windows. As you can see, the coach interiors are ideal for the 1:100 size people which did not need amputations.

Ogaugeguy, the Rail King 027 cars were once the standard for RTR sets, and now they are in the Rugged Rails RTR sets. Yes, the standing people are 1:100 also. The 1:100 size is close to HO (1:87).

tackindy, I tried some Beep people and I agree, they are a more realistic fit in the MTH cars. Also, the Beep people are made of a flexible material. I don't use the Beep people to populate cars because they are too expensive.

Bobby

Thanks for posting the photos.  Very helpful.  Some of the people looked like they were a tight fit so perhaps those were 1:50 folks.  

I might have to have a "casting call" for all of the Beep people, 1:50 and 1:100 figures and see which ones I can allow to ride the rails for free and which ones are more qualified to be driving the vintage cars and trucks that are on the layout.

I use masking tape instead of card stock.  Manilla colored masking tape applied to the back of the window to simulate shades.  It hasn't come off in seven years so far when applied well.  Although harder to find, if you can find the strapping tape that has straight fiberglass threads in it - if you use that it looks very much like blinds.

 I don't tint windows - in fact I just replaced the dark green tinted windows in the Blue Comet cars with clear, but i suppose it depends on how dark.

Wheres the pictures?

Transman---Bobby Ogage started this thread and added some pictures to his original post.  Just scroll back up to the top of this thread and you should see the picture attachment. 

You must click on the small photos at the bottom of the post.

Right in front of me

Those populated cars look great Bobby!  Where did you source your 1:100 folks from?

Thanks,

Robert

Yes, I painted them...about 15 at a time. I used the "assembly line" method...first all the flesh, then the light colors, then darker colors, last shoes and hair. Not that anyone notices, but I think no two are exactly alike. For drying, I "sit" them on a 12" wood "bench".

Preiser makes 1/100 figures.  

http://www.reynaulds.com/catalog/dept_361.aspx

Neal Jeter

I'm going to have to look for some 1:100 figures, those coaches look great!

Neal,  they look nice  but sure are not cheap !!  anyone know a more reasonable priced source for 1:100 people ?

Another little tip:  If you are populating the interiors of older style trains, ex; heavyweights or early streamliners, 3rd Rail (Sunset) imports painted figures representing the 1940's and 1950's.  Really nice, vintage dressed people for that time period.  The women generally are wearing hats and skirts; the men usually have suits and ties on.  This is the way that people traveled back some 50 plus years ago. 

The people are all "seated" and come in a package of about 30 or 40 individually painted figures.  They are not too expensive, costing well less than a buck apiece, but the results are worth any cost difference.

Paul Fischer

Probably not to the quality of the others mentioned here, but certainly a lot cheaper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...=ADME:L:COSI:US:1123

Looks like WeHonest's brother lives in Greece

Apparently.

I buy my people from eBay at a cost of about $12 per 100. These people are from China, and they come painted. Shipping is included in the price. Delivery takes a few weeks.

Thanks for the compliments about the cars. I can do four cars an hour when I get into a rhythm.

I ordered some of the 1:100 people, I really like how yours turned out.   I have a bunch of passenger cars that all need riders.

I did the math and figured out why the 1/100 people look so good in Rail King passenger cars. The answer is: They aren't 1/100. Closer to 1/68, in other words they are really S scale people (1/64), which is just about right for a traditional or Rail King size passenger car. 

Here's the math: I went to the seller's ebay store and found the standing version of the 1/100 people. The ad said they were 14-18 mm tall, which is consistent with the advertised 10-14 mm for the seated ones. Figuring the tallest, at 18mm, represents a six-foot man, a few quick calculations get you to S scale people. 

Bobby,

Thank you so much for posting this, looks like the passenger service just became a lot more profitable...... hard to stay in business without riders.

These looks like a great, reasonable, alternative to the ghost train.

Nice work Bobby.  I wish MTH put window shades in their O gauge cars like they do with their HO passenger cars.