Adding Figures

[KenS]

never want to throw out extra parts, there usually is some use down the line! now these may take a while to come up with a good use for... o

 

A mechanic (or accident victim) under a car? 

 

I had a whole bunch of cut-off legs/feet from when I put passengers on my EMU, since some of the seats weren't high enough, but I didn't think to save them.

[cteno4]

Ohhh a grim accident scene, ken you are the sick one now! there was a rock video that was all shot on an O scale layout with figures in grim scenes from the song, use to have the link to it but cant find it...

 

perhaps a mannequin factory truck delivery of legs?

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Kamiyacho]

Fortunately, reasonably priced health care is available to all citizens of my layout.  The nurse will even come out to meet the ambulance (which seems to make regular runs from the bus stop).  And if you get a room high and in the back you can watch the Shinkansen come by.

 

Perhaps a swimmer cut in two could serve two roles - one person treading water and another diving in?

[bill937ca]

 

perhaps a mannequin factory truck delivery of legs?

 

 

:blob1: :coffee:

[cteno4]

Perhaps a swimmer cut in two could serve two roles - one person treading water and another diving in?

 

or worse, du-du, du-du, du-du-du-du-du-du-DU-DU-DU! (well the jaws theme in words...) then could do an interesting panic scene on the beach as well! beats the frankie and annette scenes on the beach!

 

BTW i have a growing gallery of curt's detail shots up on jrm

 

http://japanrailmodelers.org/photos/curtsdetails/index.html

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Kamiyacho]

One can sense the danger............

[Kamiyacho]

Forgot the photo.

[cteno4]

Ouch, i can just hear the N scale neck snapping! better leave one of your new ambulances parked over near the beach there! i think its going to be needed!

 

wonder when tomytec will come out with the two attendants and a stretcher?!

 

Curt you need a little shark fin or two out in that ocean area and see how long it takes for folks to find it!

 

ive looked ALOT of coastal areal shots doing gray whale and otter surveys in the past and its amazing how many sharks you can see at the surface around most beaches! folks never see them but they are out there! i always figured they liked the beaches as there were a lot of people splashing in the surf that were maybe pushing the surf fishes just out into deeper water than they would normally be and it was good pickens for the sharks! porpoise also seem to cruise crowded beaches a lot and perhaps same thing.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Kamiyacho]

This seems to be a good day for adding figures to the layout.  For a couple of months I've been meaning to complete the Obon festival but wasn't sure about the using the plastic base.  However, after a lot of thought I decided that it would hold together better, and be easier to move if I change my mind, with the base.  Given that it is about 18 inches back from the edge of the layout I think it will be fine if I disguise the transition a little.  More work to come.

[cteno4]

wheres the hundreds of visitors?! i expected with a whole weekend we would see about 500 out there!

 

cheers

 

jeff

 

ps for your beach scene

 

http://paperwings.phobby.com/images/free_downloads/shark.pdf

 

jr

[Tenorikuma]

This seems to be a good day for adding figures to the layout.  For a couple of months I've been meaning to complete the Obon festival but wasn't sure about the using the plastic base.  However, after a lot of thought I decided that it would hold together better, and be easier to move if I change my mind, with the base.  Given that it is about 18 inches back from the edge of the layout I think it will be fine if I disguise the transition a little.  More work to come.

 

I would hide the base if possible. Those dances just take place on level ground.

[Kamiyacho]

I agree, and here is one attempt.  Jeff and I have been discussing the concept of removable scenes as I'd like to be able to change things from time-to-time without destroying a section of the layout.  Another benefit is that a scene could be moved from the main layout to a t-trak module.

 

One idea for this area might be to make several identical "patios", somewhat larger than the scrap one being tested here for the vendors, on which I could stage different scenes.  The dancers could also be removed when a different event is planned.

[cteno4]

Curt,

 

what about making a frame that you mount into your scenery by insetting it into the landscape and faring it into the surrounding scenery. then your little platforms could set into the inside of the frame. then just make a similar scenery around the edge of the platform to get it to blend in with the frame. you could make 3 or 4 platforms with the frame at the beginning so they all look the same in the frame, then mount the frame into the scene and blend the outside of the frame into the surrounding frame permanently.

 

love the idea of changeable scenes, keeps the layout fresh. once you have a bunch you have a huge permutation you can have of scene changes. also could do more seasonal things as well layout wide.

 

really want to see different convention displays going on in the conference center.

 

cheers

 

jeff

 

ps nice hide with the shrubbery! jr

[Kamiyacho]

OK Jeff, more people are appearing.  It looks better in real life than in this photo.

 

For the front section I made a patio out of painted "brick" sheet,  Then I set it on top of a piece of black paper which was slightly larger on two sides and glued some foliage to the protruding edges of the paper.  The whole thing comes apart so I can place my festival scene on some other surface as well, like a t-trak module, without the foliage border. 

[Kamiyacho]

Just to complete the series, adding drivers to Tomytec cars is very easy as well. I don't think I will do this for all of the hundreds of vehicles on the layout, but I will probably add drivers to the cars and trucks near the edge of the layout which are most likely to be noticed by visitors. The less expensive figures from China may make good drivers. 

[Bernard]

Curt - since there are no seats in the Tomytec cars, are you using sitting figures or standing figures that you cut the legs off on? Do you have a photo of the car chassis with the figure added into it without the top on to see how you do it? Thanks.

[Kamiyacho]

Bernard:

 

Here is another one which is still in progress - I thought that I needed a black van for my right-wing nationalists to ride around in and broadcast slogans from.  In this case I cut him off at the knees; getting the correct height is actually a bit of a challenge.  Sitting figures are generally too short unless you make a seat for them first.

 

Note: some of the vehicles, like the more modern small cars, have a solid block of "glass" which makes it impossible to add figures. 

[cteno4]

curt,

 

have you tried heating the chinese figures at all to bend them? hot water or careful placement in front of a hot air gun might get them soft enough to bend and twist some. i have wanted to try this to see if some could get moulded into some interesting forms other than their bland poses, but have not gotten to it yet. maybe ill fiddle this weekend as i need a couple of workers for the house roof repair.

 

mmmm more shark chum! how about a jaws scene with one of the fishing boats and the shark half on the back deck?! shark fin soup gets its revenge!

 

Youll have to hold onto all those legs, there has to be some interesting use for them! perhaps they are good incentive to other figures on the layout to stand up straight and not start leaning or they get sent to a the vehicle chop shop.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Kamiyacho]

Jeff:

 

Never tried it, so I just carried out a quick experiment.  Held one under hot running tap water for about a minute - no effect.  Made myself a cup of tea and placed one in a cup of boiling water for 2 minutes - again nothing, although it felt a bit looser.  At some point I guess it might affect the paint.  Let us know if you come up with a system.

 

I'm feeling a bit constrained by the Tomytec limit of usually max 12 poses and 3 color combinations, so I may eventually have to start modifying them.  If my eyesight can handle it.

[cteno4]

Ha first amputations, now you are putting your figures in boiling water!

 

Ill fiddle with the heat gun and see what that does. torsos may be too dense to manipulate w/o taking out the paint as well or having a total meltdown! wondering if just adjusting arms and legs is possible this way.

 

im actually due of the eye exam soon and may see if they will make a pair of close up glasses for me with my prescription but 2x mag. dont know if they will do that or not. I have not tried the clip on magnifiers yet, but maybe i should. i so have an old cheap one of those visor type magnifiers somewhere and i think they work over glasses, so ill try them as well. the 1.75x new swing arm is great for general stuff (love that 9" lens!) but not quite enough mag for doing tiny stuff like painting figures! i have a couple boxes of the preisser unipainted figures that i held onto figuring i could do some special things with those to fill in if needed, but last resort is going to be doing a lot of figure painting. i lasted a week doing that on larger lead toy solders when i was a kid as a part time job, just was not my thing to do that over and over and over again!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Kamiyacho]

I have mixed feelings about the fact that ProHobby figures come with a little attached base, but sometimes they just fit in so well with a scene that they are perfect. I guess if I was really bothered by it I would cut the bases off.

[cteno4]

Curt,

 

nice, but have to disagree with you, this little lumber yard is the one place you need some trash on the ground! i mean some bits of wood, sawdust, and maybe just a few bits of odd trash!

 

did you take the base off? i have been wondering the best way to do this. thinking of clipping off the big hunks then using the dremel to grind off the rest.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[KenS]

nice, but have to disagree with you, this little lumber yard is the one place you need some trash on the ground! i mean some bits of wood, sawdust, and maybe just a few bits of odd trash!

 

I don't know, even in America lumberyards tend to be pretty clean (some trash might build up around the fence, but anywhere people need to move is generally kept clear for safety reasons if nothing else). And the Japanese are a bit obsessive about orderly public commercial spaces. There are exceptions of course, and places out of public sight are another matter.

 

I can see a bit of sawdust right up against a saw site, or maybe some lumber scraps "saved" in a corner. But clutter just doesn't seem right.

[Bernard]

It depends on who owns the Lumber yard....if it's some like my father-in-law, you could eat off the ground....a friend of mine, you wouldn't be able to see your shoes with all the trash on the ground.

As for the bases, can you just trim down the round part? 

[cteno4]

yeah i have use both kinds myself! was just a rib at curt as he has banned trash from his layout! his municipality spends a lot on cleaning crews!

 

cheers

 

jeff