There have been many threads posted on the forum that discuss available figures to use in our passenger cars and on our layouts. I thought I would post a direct comparison of the options ordered best to worst quality. Price reported is calculated per figure.
1. Artistta ($7.99 Painted/$5.75 Unpainted). These prepainted pewter figures win on detail, variety, and poses. No repainting required, though they could benefit from some shading washes and highlighting if they are placed up front. Most are painted in muted or pastel colors which adds to the realism (a technique I copy when painting my own figures). Sold individually. Also available unpainted.
2. Preiser ($6-8 Painted/$1.60 Unpainted). These injection molded plastic figures are available both as unpainted and painted figures. Like Artistta, they have great detail and poses, and pretty good variety.
3. 3D printed figures ($8-12 Unpainted). Resin 3D printed figures sourced from various small vendors often have equal quality compared with Preiser. They also have great detail and poses. As more and more vendors (often one man shops) are entering the market, variety is improving. Some vendors are laser scanning 1:1 people, then editing the files and printing. These are always unpainted figures. Here, I painted 2 of them.
4. Woodland Scenics ($4.50 Painted). These pre-painted injection molded plastic figures have great variety and poses, but details are a step down from #1, #2, and #3. They are sold in theme packs of 5-7 figures. Paint is generally good except faces have bug eyes (it is best to never paint eyes).
5. Scenic Express Figures ($3-9/Painted). These injection molded plastic figures have very good detail. Where they shine is in the variety of figures, activities and poses. These figures really have character, from Brigette Girl Gidgette to the Fonz to the Church Lady to Edith the concerned mother. The paint is decent except when they try to paint eyes and lips (paint over those). They are sold individually and in theme packs.
6. Bachmann SceneScapes ($3/Painted). These pre-painted injection molded plastic figures have very good detail equal to Woodland Scenics and Scenic Express figures. They are sold in a dozen theme packs of 6 figures, so variety is less than WS and WE. They also sell 12 waist up figures for passenger cars ($16). Colors are appropriately muted. Eyes and lips are not painted (great job Bachmann!). Most of these figures are modern (80s to present).
7. Circus Craft ($2 Painted/$0.16 Unpainted). These injection molded plastic figures have very good detail, but not much variety. Since you have to glue on the arms, the poses can be adjusted some (the arms look a little awkward, though). There are also replacement heads to add a little more variety. They are sold in 4 different 100 figure unpainted bulk packs (Men, Women, Boys, Girls), and 5 packs of not-so-well painted figures. The bulk packs are a good cost effective option for filling passenger cars, but are hard to find.
8. MTH 120 unpainted figures pack ($0.25). These injection molded plastic unpainted standing and sitting figures have good detail, and fair variety with both adults and children. They are also undersized (more like S scale), but this actually makes it easier to fit the sitting figures into the undersized seats in passenger cars. They are out of production and hard to find. Hopefully MTH will bring them back. MTH also sold painted figures in theme packs ($3/figure) which can still be found and have been re-released by Atlas (#MT005A $1.22/figure, #3009950 $2.33/figure). Unpainted figure on the left is how they are supplied. I painted the 3 standing figures on the right, and the seated figures in the second photo.
9. Little People from Golden Gate Depot ($1/Painted). These injection molded plastic seated figures represent 1930s-1950s clothing. 6 each of 6 different figures are sold in packs of 36. The detail is poor, but poses are good. They are smaller, and fit in most passenger car seats. Paint is acceptable though a little glossy, but the skin is yellow. After repainting the skin, they are an OK choice for filling passenger cars.
10. China Ebay Standing or sitting figures in packs of 50-130 ($0.25-$0.50 Painted/$0.08-$0.18 Unpainted). These injection molded plastic figures have fair clothing and facial detail, and natural poses. They are available painted and unpainted, but the painted ones have bright gaudy unrealistic colors with yellow skin tone. There are multiple vendors that sell the same figures, but quality varies, and only one had halfway decent detail and colors. The second photo shows 4 sitting figures as supplied on the left and my repaints of the same figures on the right. This gives acceptable results for use in passenger cars or background locations. (Edit: I should probably do a finger amputation on the heavy set lady).
11. LifeLike/Bachmann ($2.25-$3.00 Painted). These rubbery prepainted figures originally from LifeLike, now under Bachmann are sold in Scene Scapes theme packs of 6 figures. But unlike the other SS packs, the detail is poor, the paint is glossy, and the arms are massive. Compare the 3 LifeLike figures on the left with the Woodland Scenics figure on the right.
12. Beep People ($1 Painted). These rubbery prepainted figures from Ready Made Trains (RMT) are sold in packs of 48 sitting or 48 standing figures. They are also the figures in K-line passengers cars. The detail is poor and the paint is glossy, bright, and gaudy. The seated figures have limited variety, and the poses are stiff and unrealistic, with every figure staring straight ahead with arms at their sides. The figures are large and require foot amputations to fit most passenger car seats. But with a better paint job, they can be used to help fill passenger cars. Because of the glossy finish, you must prime them with auto primer before painting. The first 2 figures below are as sold (note the gloss). I painted the remainder.
13. Lionel 21" Passenger Scale Figures 24 pack ($1.20 Painted). A quick trip to my LHS to view these convinced me not to buy any. These injection molded plastic seated figures have poor detail, glossy paint, and several bad color combinations. Faces have giant lipstick lips and cartoonish eyebrows. Clothing is more modern. Their only good feature is the smaller size that fits the undersized passenger car seats that are so common. But with a repaint, they can be used to fill more modern passenger cars. If only Lionel would offer them unpainted in a cheaper bulk pack . . .
14. Model Power ($1.40-$2.00 Painted/$0.31 Unpainted). These injection molded plastic figures come in 36 packs (painted or unpainted) and also painted theme packs of 6. While detail is only fair, they have a decent variety of figures and poses. While the paint is too gaudy and bright, the real deal breaker is that they are oversized and chunky. Compare the 4 Model Power workers on the left with the 2 (scale sized) Woodland Scenics workers on the right.
15. K-line. These pre-painted injection molded figures are included in plastic building kits. Detail and colors are good, but the deal breaker is that the figures are huge. Compare the 3 K-line figures on the left with the scale Woodland Scenics figures on the right.
16. Menard's. Well, somebody had to be last. Menard's does not sell separate figures, but the injection molded plastic figures supplied with their buildings have glossy bold paint, toothpick arms, fair detail but really creepy faces. I include these for only one reason: Don't paint eyes and lips! It isn't necessary and it never looks good.
So there is the lineup. Of course, the most costly products are at the top. But you can use the cheaper bulk packs further down the list and a little painting effort to fill your passenger cars.
I would stick to #1-#6 in foreground areas. #7-#10 will work at a 2-3 foot distance with painting or repainting. Repainting #11-#13 will work in background and inside passenger cars. I wouldn't bother with #14-#16.
As others have suggested, there are additional figure manufacturers. I will list them here but I don't yet have any to review:
- Atlas Premier (Ex-MTH) - *I'll evaluate these at April TCA York
- Noch
- Busch
- Rock Island
- Bowser
- Selley
- Barclay
- Metal Figures (Metalfigures.net)
- Model Tech Studios - *I'll evaluate these at April TCA York
- The Railmen Co.
Don't be afraid to try your hand at painting or repainting figures. Most of these figures can only be improved! Best tips for painting:
- Paint 15-20 figures at a time which allows figures to dry as you work
- First prime with grey auto primer
- Use mostly pastel colors (or mix brighter colors with white). I mostly use Ceramcoat Craft matte paints.
- Start with skin, then shirts then work out to the outer layers, and finish with hair and shoes
- Use a fine point brush. To paint an edge, hold the brush parallel to the edge and touch down and draw it parallel.
- Don't paint eyes or lips
Bob
