Thinking About Hogwarts Castle

Regarding the figures, nice find!  They look super detailed and, for 7 bucks + cost of some paint, it seems doable. I mean, the lionel polar express figures cost about the same.  26 bucks for 4 on amazon.  When's the release date?

I saw that Knight models sell an Arkham asylum.  I have to wonder if a hogwarts is in the works!  However, it won't be cheap.  Arkham is 280 euro!  Plus some paint?  

https://knightmodels-sore.com/epages/afaa2a23-c31d-4ae6-b1cd-12757513fd3b.sf/es_ES/?ObjectPath=/Shops/afaa2a23-c31d-4ae6-b1cd-12757513fd3b/Products/AKL002

Ouch.  

If I go for the puzzle castle I figure I could get an exacto knife to carve out around the windows to let the light shade through? Do you think that would work?  Maybe use some electrical tape on the inside to block the light from coming through the puzzle pieces.  Might be too much work with all those windows and no guarantee it would work while ruining the puzzle.  

Ballz2 posted:

Regarding the figures, nice find!  They look super detailed and, for 7 bucks + cost of some paint, it seems doable. I mean, the lionel polar express figures cost about the same.  26 bucks for 4 on amazon.  When's the release date?

I saw that Knight models sell an Arkham asylum.  I have to wonder if a hogwarts is in the works!  However, it won't be cheap.  Arkham is 280 euro!  Plus some paint?  

https://knightmodels-sore.com/epages/afaa2a23-c31d-4ae6-b1cd-12757513fd3b.sf/es_ES/?ObjectPath=/Shops/afaa2a23-c31d-4ae6-b1cd-12757513fd3b/Products/AKL002

Ouch.  

If I go for the puzzle castle I figure I could get an exacto knife to carve out around the windows to let the light shade through? Do you think that would work?  Maybe use some electrical tape on the inside to block the light from coming through the puzzle pieces.  Might be too much work with all those windows and no guarantee it would work while ruining the puzzle.  

 

I haven't heard about any models and I'm not sure if Hogwards will make it but I wouldn't be surprised if they made some sort of terrain items from HP.

There's a whole batch of small lasercut wood accessories to go with Batman as well as the big model.  

Very interesting.

Eilif posted:

If you all are looking for accurate HP figures, there are some options on the way.

Knight miniatures is coming out with a Harry Potter miniatures game. If it's similar to their other games (They make the Batman and other DC miniatures games) the figures should be very close to 1/48.  Knight models are typically what is known as 35mm (sole to eyeline measurement of an average human). That is right around 1/43 scale,  Should be out soon.

Their page for the game is here.  Not much there yet but a bunch of pictures of the figs painted up are here. They look dang good which is no surprise from Knight models.  The figs will be nicely cast in metal and top notch quality but they'll also likely be 7-12 bucks each.

 

Oh yes, those would do very nicely!  Thank you for the link.

 

 

 

Eilif posted:

If you all are looking for accurate HP figures, there are some options on the way.

Knight miniatures is coming out with a Harry Potter miniatures game. If it's similar to their other games (They make the Batman and other DC miniatures games) the figures should be very close to 1/48.  Knight models are typically what is known as 35mm (sole to eyeline measurement of an average human). That is right around 1/43 scale,  Should be out soon.

Their page for the game is here.  Not much there yet but a bunch of pictures of the figs painted up are here. They look dang good which is no surprise from Knight models.  The figs will be nicely cast in metal and top notch quality but they'll also likely be 7-12 bucks each.

 

 

 

 

 

11/2 inches = 38mm. That equates to a 6-foot tall figure in 1:48. So these 35mm figures will be nearly perfect as 1:48 figures.

kj356 posted:

Those figures you posted look good but the link you have says they are 28 mm high and unpainted you have to paint them. An average O scale figure is around 50 mm high!

As for the Diagon Alley puzzle this is much closer to O scale the the castle and I was thinking of getting it as a background building for the layout in general.  The Hogwart's Great Hall and Astronomy Tower I have pictured above built up you can see the scale with the train passenger car in front of them. The board I have them on is 3 feet by 18 inches just the right size to hold them.

I would not give up on the Puzzle of Hogwart's Castle as I think it is the best thing cheap enough on the market that looks good and if you use it at the top of a forested hill looks about right for forced perspective. As an example the Universal studios versions of the train and Diagon Alley and Castle towering away high above!

Link to the puzzle website.;

http://www.wrebbit3d.com/produ...10-diagon_alley.html

A 50mm figure is nearly 8 feet tall in 1:48. Most O gauge figures are closer to 38mm.

Well, I was lucky enough to snag one of the Blue Ford Anglia 1:48 die-casts and it comes with 1:48 scale Ron and Harry figures, although they are not nearly as attractive as the Knight models.

My primary hope is to find the more noteworthy professors and especially something to represent Hagrid, and a dozen or so 'students'.  My greatest need and least likely to easily resolve however will be the half-dozen or so Quidditch players, on-broom.  OI plan to have an animated pitch need Hogwarts and these are more or less a necessity.

My research shows me that it looks like Citadel had a canceled project for this.  They weren't pretty, but they would definitely work.  I'm trying to see if I can find a way to take those images and perhaps extrapolate them into a 3D model to 3D print, although I fear that would (at least) skirt the edge of legality in many ways.

KJ346, it looks like someone posted the castle from the same maker as your quidditch field:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-...2:g:KFUAAOSwTM5Y7Q39

 

BMMR posted:

Well, I was lucky enough to snag one of the Blue Ford Anglia 1:48 die-casts and it comes with 1:48 scale Ron and Harry figures, although they are not nearly as attractive as the Knight models.

My primary hope is to find the more noteworthy professors and especially something to represent Hagrid, and a dozen or so 'students'.  My greatest need and least likely to easily resolve however will be the half-dozen or so Quidditch players, on-broom.  OI plan to have an animated pitch need Hogwarts and these are more or less a necessity.

My research shows me that it looks like Citadel had a canceled project for this.  They weren't pretty, but they would definitely work.  I'm trying to see if I can find a way to take those images and perhaps extrapolate them into a 3D model to 3D print, although I fear that would (at least) skirt the edge of legality in many ways.

If the game does well, it's very likely that more of the hogwarts professors might make an appearance.   I don't have any ideas about the quidditch players though.  

Here's a few more options for Hogwarts (some quite affordable) though they're all smaller "top-of-a-hill" type models.

Figurine:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Univer...%26sd%3D322480365906

Paper:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/univer...%26sd%3D301971423043

The previously mentioned Polly Pocket:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-...8:g:w70AAOSwDKtY1wic

A different version?

1oAAOSwvihY-qqR" target="_blank">http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-...4:g1oAAOSwvihY-qqR

Hallmark

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hallma...4:g:cUoAAOSwcLxYHlXy

Thanks for the update on Figure size this then looks perfect for layout and trains, just a lot of work to paint them.

As for the Hogwart's Castle with the LED lights that was posted above on e-bay. Yes looks like the one from the series that I got the Castle was sold out before I could get it. Think it was around Christmas they were with the Christmas village houses etc,. Was around 30-50 $ as I recall at the time? Castle on e-bay below;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Harry-...2:g:KFUAAOSwTM5Y7Q39

As for cutting out windows in the 3D Puzzle there are hundreds of them not sure how well that would work with the puzzle pieces. I would think it would look better just building it and lighting it with light in front. 

The puzzle looks really good.

Man, that does look good.  And I think you are right - putting the lights outside, in would work as well.  I have these copper lights that would look amazing (magical even).  

I just ordered the great hall puzzle.  Looks like its at the historical low right now:

https://camelcamelcamel.com/WR...e/product/B016NWRFGA

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just got the great hall puzzle part.  holy moly it's gonna take a load of time....  look at all the pieces in the box!  

Although I am primarily an AF S gauger, I bought the Lionel O gauge Hogwarts Express as a Christmas gift for my wife several years ago.  She and the grand kids are big HP fans, and I admit I really enjoyed all the movies. We just got back from joining our sons and grandkids at Universal StudiosParks in Orlando.  Sherry could spend all day just soaking up Hogsmead and Diagon Alley, and I really like the train ride between the parks.

I missed the Ford Anglia and the Harry and Ron figures when they came out, but I found these figures on eBay.  I think they were from Italy and were originally intended to be put in a plastic bubble to be sold in "gumball" machines that dispense toys rather than gumballs.  Mine also came with a second set of the of the same figures but unpainted.  Although Platform 2 is a Department 56 piece, I put the Platform 9 3/4 magnet I bought on an earlier trip to Orlando, set up the figures on the platform next to the train, and call the resulting diorama: "Trouble on Platform 9 3/4."

Cheers!

Alan

Alan B posted:

Although I am primarily an AF S gauger, I bought the Lionel O gauge Hogwarts Express as a Christmas gift for my wife several years ago.  She and the grand kids are big HP fans, and I admit I really enjoyed all the movies. We just got back from joining our sons and grandkids at Universal StudiosParks in Orlando.  Sherry could spend all day just soaking up Hogsmead and Diagon Alley, and I really like the train ride between the parks.

I missed the Ford Anglia and the Harry and Ron figures when they came out, but I found these figures on eBay.  I think they were from Italy and were originally intended to be put in a plastic bubble to be sold in "gumball" machines that dispense toys rather than gumballs.  Mine also came with a second set of the of the same figures but unpainted.  Although Platform 2 is a Department 56 piece, I put the Platform 9 3/4 magnet I bought on an earlier trip to Orlando, set up the figures on the platform next to the train, and call the resulting diorama: "Trouble on Platform 9 3/4."

Cheers!

Alan

Those look great. How tall are the figures?

From one of the early play sets shortly before the release of the first movie. These inch-and-a-half figures, based on the book art, have adorned my Halloween layout for almost 15 years now.

Cool. Those figures look they are o scale too.  Do you recall what the search term was for those figures?  What was the ebay title?  Better yet, if you have the link to the completed listing, I wonder if its some ebay company that makes a bunch of cheap figures.... 

Jim R. posted:

Alan B posted:

Although I am primarily an AF S gauger, I bought the Lionel O gauge Hogwarts Express as a Christmas gift for my wife several years ago.  She and the grand kids are big HP fans, and I admit I really enjoyed all the movies. We just got back from joining our sons and grandkids at Universal StudiosParks in Orlando.  Sherry could spend all day just soaking up Hogsmead and Diagon Alley, and I really like the train ride between the parks.

I missed the Ford Anglia and the Harry and Ron figures when they came out, but I found these figures on eBay.  I think they were from Italy and were originally intended to be put in a plastic bubble to be sold in "gumball" machines that dispense toys rather than gumballs.  Mine also came with a second set of the of the same figures but unpainted.  Although Platform 2 is a Department 56 piece, I put the Platform 9 3/4 magnet I bought on an earlier trip to Orlando, set up the figures on the platform next to the train, and call the resulting diorama: "Trouble on Platform 9 3/4."

Cheers!

Alan

Those look great. How tall are the figures?

I just measured Ron Weasley, and he is about 1 5/8 inches tall without his stand which is removable.

After digging around in the "train room" this morning, I found the rest of what I got from Signore Roberto Satta in Italy along with these figures.  

The material that came with the figures included several small identifying/promotional/licensing/choking hazard inserts to be included in the gumball capsules with each figure.  Gotcha, Tomy and Gotcha International are mentioned on the insert.  I see that Gumball.com still supplies "Tomy Gotcha" Toy Capsules, but they don't show Harry Potter figures at this time.

It has been two or three years since I found these on eBay. I was looking for the Ford Anglia and its figures (which I found to be too expensive!), and these showed up.  

Alan

Alan,

You are awesome.  The hunt is on!  I found this video of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxmYBY56SDM

Finally finished the great hall half. I haven't done a regular puzzle in decades and so it took me about an hour a week. 

I just purchased the "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Trivia Game".  Same as this one on amazon except mine is missing one of the bludgers.

It's the game with the 8 quiddich player figures .  Here's the Harry.

From the very back of his right heel to his right eye he measures about 28mm (1.1 inches) which is  pretty close to 1/48.  In that scale he's probably closer to the size of an adult than kid, but sideways flying on a broom I don't think anyone's going to notice. Fairly rudimentary as far as sculpt detail and paintjob but no worse than many of the classic style O figs I've seen.

Not sure if I'm going to keep the set as I got it on a whim with ideas for wargaming.  It would be fun to show up with a squad of flying quiddich players to a game of "Song of Blades and Heroes" but I'm not sure if there's enough detail to be worth giving a proper wargaming paintjob.  However, I'll probably at least try the game with my wife as we do both like Harry Potter.

for anyone interested in WWII and vintage aviation, there is a Mid-Atlantic Aviation Museum near Reading, PA.  I just discovered it last year.  They put on what looks to be the Mother of All events to honor and remember WWII including bucket list flights in many of the era aircraft.  The musical entertainment looks amazing, too

http://www.maam.org/wwii/ww2_sched.htm

sorry, the above post was not intended for the Harry Potter thread!  sorry

Eilif posted:

I just purchased the "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Trivia Game".  Same as this one on amazon except mine is missing one of the bludgers.

It's the game with the 8 quiddich player figures .  Here's the Harry.

From the very back of his right heel to his right eye he measures about 28mm (1.1 inches) which is  pretty close to 1/48.  In that scale he's probably closer to the size of an adult than kid, but sideways flying on a broom I don't think anyone's going to notice. Fairly rudimentary as far as sculpt detail and paintjob but no worse than many of the classic style O figs I've seen.

Not sure if I'm going to keep the set as I got it on a whim with ideas for wargaming.  It would be fun to show up with a squad of flying quiddich players to a game of "Song of Blades and Heroes" but I'm not sure if there's enough detail to be worth giving a proper wargaming paintjob.  However, I'll probably at least try the game with my wife as we do both like Harry Potter.

Nice find and great info. Thanks! I'm going to hunt for the trivia game just for the figures. A lot of decent O gauge figures can be found in this manner. 

Jim R. posted:

Nice find and great info. Thanks! I'm going to hunt for the trivia game just for the figures. A lot of decent O gauge figures can be found in this manner. 

You're very welcome.

       I just noticed that there's examples in the used section of Amazon and on Ebay for around $15 shipped.  That seems pretty reasonable for 8 painted figures. 

One warning though, there seems to be a version of the game (possibly only in the UK?) where only two of the 8 figures are painted.

Eilif posted:

Jim R. posted:

Nice find and great info. Thanks! I'm going to hunt for the trivia game just for the figures. A lot of decent O gauge figures can be found in this manner. 

You're very welcome.

       I just noticed that there's examples in the used section of Amazon and on Ebay for around $15 shipped.  That seems pretty reasonable for 8 painted figures. 

One warning though, there seems to be a version of the game (possibly only in the UK?) where only two of the 8 figures are painted.

 

Thanks. I did find one for about $16 shipped on eBay, literally minutes after I read your first post. Bought it now.

Shoot, does this mean I'll be modeling a quidditch pitch next?

Garrett76 posted:

sorry, the above post was not intended for the Harry Potter thread!  sorry

I was wondering. You can easily delete it. 

Jim R. posted:

Eilif posted:

Jim R. posted:

Nice find and great info. Thanks! I'm going to hunt for the trivia game just for the figures. A lot of decent O gauge figures can be found in this manner. 

You're very welcome.

       I just noticed that there's examples in the used section of Amazon and on Ebay for around $15 shipped.  That seems pretty reasonable for 8 painted figures. 

One warning though, there seems to be a version of the game (possibly only in the UK?) where only two of the 8 figures are painted.

 

Thanks. I did find one for about $16 shipped on eBay, literally minutes after I read your first post. Bought it now.

Shoot, does this mean I'll be modeling a quidditch pitch next?

Yes. It most certainly does!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

WOW!  I agree with Lee, I think the only hope is a compressed model, that's a bit large for most layouts.  It would probably fit at the NJ-HR layout, maybe they should add this.

 

Actually John I think it is a littler much for even the NJ HR layout.  

But it sure is impressive.

If anybody is looking for the non LionChief  Hogwarts set, the shop in Zionsville Indiana has a second hand boxed set in the shop.  I have been tempted to get it myself, but chose to go another route instead.   Mike

How much is it going for?  I got the Lionchef set on clearance at Barnes and Noble for 200 a month ago.  You might be able to find a set at one of their stores... maybe.  

Eilif posted:

I just purchased the "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Trivia Game".  Same as this one on amazon except mine is missing one of the bludgers.

It's the game with the 8 quiddich player figures .  Here's the Harry.

From the very back of his right heel to his right eye he measures about 28mm (1.1 inches) which is  pretty close to 1/48.  In that scale he's probably closer to the size of an adult than kid, but sideways flying on a broom I don't think anyone's going to notice. Fairly rudimentary as far as sculpt detail and paintjob but no worse than many of the classic style O figs I've seen.

Not sure if I'm going to keep the set as I got it on a whim with ideas for wargaming.  It would be fun to show up with a squad of flying quiddich players to a game of "Song of Blades and Heroes" but I'm not sure if there's enough detail to be worth giving a proper wargaming paintjob.  However, I'll probably at least try the game with my wife as we do both like Harry Potter.

Thanks for the great lead.  I managed to google a copy of these on ebay and snagged them.  That was a huge potential obstacle to one of my plans and I knocked it out of the way before i even needed to. Thanks!

Thanks to the inspiration of the postings on this thread, I gave my wife, the Harry Potter fanatic and a puzzle aficionado, the Diagon Alley puzzle today for Mothers Day.  Of course, she saw right through me and pegged my ulterior motive, but she really is looking forward to assembling the puzzle and seeing it on the train table along side her O gauge Hogwarts Express.

I was also inspired to search again for an affordable Corgi Ford Anglia and found this one on eBay.  The box is a little rough and the car and figures needed a thorough cleaning, but it was very reasonably priced and the seller threw in the keychain with an HO sized diecast Ford Anglia that will actually work very nicely with my own HO Hogwarts Express.

Anybody

Cheers!

Alan

For inspiration : ) Hogwarts Castle in the making...

I posted a page on my blog with the finished photos...

Enjoy!

In the Style of Harry Potter Custom Layout by TW TrainWorx

Happy Tracks!

Traindame aka Dorcie Farkash
TW TrainWorx
Dallas, Texas USA
(214) 634-2965
www.trainworxlayouts.com 

Thank you, Dorcie, for these pix and the link.

I was planning to find the finished TrainWorx Harry Potter layout pix again for yet another look, and now I don't have to search.  A truly inspired and inspiring creation.

Cheers!

Alan

Wow! Amazing. 

Alan B posted:

Thank you, Dorcie, for these pix and the link.

I was planning to find the finished TrainWorx Harry Potter layout pix again for yet another look, and now I don't have to search.  A truly inspired and inspiring creation.

Cheers!

Alan

My pleasure Alan

Wow Dorcie, that is something else. Magnificent.

Traindame posted:

For inspiration : ) Hogwarts Castle in the making...

....

I posted a page on my blog with the finished photos...

Enjoy!

In the Style of Harry Potter Custom Layout by TW TrainWorx

Happy Tracks!

Traindame aka Dorcie Farkash
TW TrainWorx
Dallas, Texas USA
(214) 634-2965
www.trainworxlayouts.com 

Thank you very much for the inspiration.  I'm always very impressed with the scope and impact of that set.  I truly with I had to space and resources to do something as impressive.  Still, it'll be a challenge to try working in a more compact work space and condense some of the magnificence you have on-the-track into my own work.  Thanks!

Amazing Dorcie.  I saw you used the Lego HP figures, but have you looked into any other figure sets?