Skip to main content

In another thread, the question was asked if anyone modeled or ran European trains.  I mentioned the Hogwarts Express.  This got  me to thinking, how cool would it be to add a Hogwarts Castle to a layout.  I found some Lego sets, but I figured they would probably be somewhat small for O gauge.  Then, I found this on the internet:  

 

 

article-2109071-11FC8982000005DC-208_964x640

 

 

The castle pictured above is 1:24 scale and is fifty feet in diameter.  I guess even a 1/48 scale is out of the question for me.  Would have been pretty cool though.  Pipe dreams, oh well.  

Attachments

Images (1)
  • article-2109071-11FC8982000005DC-208_964x640
Last edited by Bob Severin
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

I have several of the Harry Potter/Hogwarts Lego buildings and a few I designed myself. On the layout, they make great background buildings and are around 8 inches tall. Mine are anywhere from 5 to 8 inches wide. Depth...Up to the builder. Mine are the same as the old Elfin and other background buildings at 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches in depth. With that size, they match up well with quite a few companies products.   Terry

 

I still need to add lighting and other effects!

Last edited by EastonO

I know that this is a very old post at this point, but I did want to add a comment to it, as I am currently starting the preliminary stages of a smaller scale project centering around the Hogwarts Express -including Hogwarts School, Hogsmeade Station, the castle grounds, as well as King's Cross Station and Diagon Alley- that we can use seasonally which will be modular and store-able.

Its at the earliest of planning stages, but I will be sharing my goals and progress along the way, so would love any input people might have as the project progresses.   I'll not spam the web address, but if you're interested, you will be able to find it in my signature, as well as my profile.

I'll make sure to update a new thread I'll post, once I actually have something worthwhile to share.  Until then...

scott.smith posted:

I don't ever think I have seen anything as impressive as TW TrainWorx Harry Potter layout>
10406478_688684337834111_950284101332965001_n

Here is the link to the Facebook photo album of the layout:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/T-...m_id=688667714502440

Scott Smith

Scott, that one was on a whole different plane than we're probably considering!  It is one seriously impressive effort, I was marveling when they originally posted the images here.

John F posted:

I had gotten the Lionel Hogwarts Express set for Christmas as a gift some years ago and run it as an elevated line. As it is towards the back of the layout (which is in a 12 foot by 9 foot setup) I started looking at murals of Hogwarts as background and I found some possibilities on Amazon.

 

JohnF

John,

I considered a Harry Potter layout at one point when I was in the design phase. I came to the same conclusion, a painting or mural of Hogwart's Castle in the distance would be visible from the train station at Hogsmeade. Much easier than trying to model the castle in terms of scale.

Bruce

Thanks for the lively responses guys! My preliminary plans will have two separate 'trays' that will go on either side of our Christmas tree on the floor.  They'll be connected to each other by a series of looped tracks that will encircle the tree.   One half will be London, with King's Cross Station (a mix of backdrop and scratch built 3D model; essentially half a 'tunnel') and Diagon Alley (3D models).  The other half will be Hogsmeade Village & Station (3D models), Hogwarts Grounds (medium background 3D models) with Whomping Willow, Black Lake, Hagrid's Cottage, and the Quidditch Pitch and then Hogwarts Castle, again a mix of 3D model and backdrop, sitting on a cliff on top of a tunnel.

Something like this:

BMMR Sketch 

PRR Bruce posted:
I considered a Harry Potter layout at one point when I was in the design phase. I came to the same conclusion, a painting or mural of Hogwart's Castle in the distance would be visible from the train station at Hogsmeade. Much easier than trying to model the castle in terms of scale.

Bruce

I'm going to do somewhat like they did at Universal Studios, taking the scale down to 1:72 or perhaps higher.  It will look big from where the viewer will be or POV for Hogsmeade, but obviously be only a sliver of the Castle.  I do want some dimensionality to it though and I plan to have the village facing side lit and the Dining Hall large enough to be both lit and house a hidden Blu-tooth speaker to play music from.

I have always been looking for buildings and figures to add to the Lionel train since it came out. As I do many model train displays a year and would like a Hogwart's theme display.

This is what I have to date.  The 3D Puzzle 2 building sets came out recently and can be found in stores that sell puzzles. While I would like something with more detail I put the 2 puzzles together in a week and used glue and sticks and cardboard behind each wall to add strength and glued to a wood base with the green grass covering. The other buildings I found at Walmart near the start of the Hogwarts's craze. The figures have been an issue I have looked a long time for something suitable but nothing on the market, these over sized head figures were on the tops of pens that I chopped off.  Perhaps we could get Lionel to make a figure set to go with the train sets like the Polar Express figures they make? I also took photos of the Hogwart's castle in Florida with the idea that I could use this as a backdrop to the train set as a large poster size image, but the puzzle sets will do for now.  Click on the photos for a larger view. The platform with cart was from Hallmark a couple of years back, bit oversized.

IMG_8912IMG_8913

These are the puzzle buildings and engine that are currently available.

http://www.wrebbit3d.com/products/27-harry_potter

Attachments

Images (2)
  • IMG_8912
  • IMG_8913
Last edited by kj356

I was very lucky and managed to find the Weasley family's powder blue ford Anglia on Amazon and it comes with a 1:48 Harry & Ron.  The rest I'll be scratch-building from materials as much as possible.  I found a reference to a now discontinued Quidditch miniatures game by Games workshop that had created a few sets of prototype minis for the players.  I'm hoping to created a mold from the images and 3D print a small set, even though they'd be the wrong scale for my purpose.

At this point, other 'people' in the display will need to have some work done.  It's too bad one of the Brit train hobby suppliers doesn't have an 'Oxford professor' set.  Oh well.

As for Hogsmeade, I know that there's a 1:32 scale model of Goathland stattion, so I'll keep looking for a 1:48 if it exists.  The rest will just get created form scratch most likely....

I was just looking at the 3d puzzle of hogwarts castle (with hall) and I'm totally glad to find pics of it here.   So it does look like it could be o scale?  It looks like several people on amazon had the same idea.

 https://www.amazon.com/Hogwart...Puzzle/dp/B01ABYSY34

Any updated pics or video?  My wife just found the hogwarts express lionchief on 50% clearance at barnes and noble (for 200 bucks) and got it for me as an advanced bd present.  Now, its time for me to build around it...

Do you think putting a village light inside the puzzle would light it up?  Is it transparent enough?

 

The 3D Puzzle is a much smaller scale would look good on the top of a hill over a loop of track for the train.

As for light in it, no do not think that would work, it is printed paper face and foam behind for structure. I think at best a light inside would just show up the jagged puzzle edges.

Sure wish there was a good source for the figures though, perhaps we could Lionel to make them?

kj356 posted:

The 3D Puzzle is a much smaller scale would look good on the top of a hill over a loop of track for the train.

...

Sure wish there was a good source for the figures though, perhaps we could Lionel to make them?

I'm planning on scratch building a proportional model for a portion of the castle to reflect perspective and use a backdrop for the rest.

As for the models, I believe Lionel lost their license to the Hogwarts Express as most merchandising is now being handled by Universal Studios under the Wizarding World of Harry Potter license.  I'm not sure if Lionel is working to regain the license or not .

 

Proportional model?  Sounds very very cool.

I hadn't heard that they lost the harry potter license - they still sell their trains everywhere. 

I did get mine on clearance at Barnes and Noble but I do see their lionel train sets go on clearance after christmas all the time. 

Its too bad that they don't sell the accessories like they do with polar express. 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

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

Last edited by kj356
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.

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice figures. How many characters in total?

Sean

Sean007 posted:
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 areA. 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.

  

Very nice figures. How many characters in total?

Sean

The link shows 10 so far, but that's just the initial offerings.  Most games launch with a small selection and grow from there and this will likely be no different.  There will probably even be different sculpts of major charachters over the various releases. I personally wouldn't mind some more sedate and less in-the-wind versions of the main charachters.

 

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!

 

A bit of confusion there. In current wargaming parlance, "28mm" is a catch-all term for most wargaming minis that range from 28-35mm in height (measured from sole of foot to eyeline). The size range seems to get bigger every time a new figure comes out, a phenomenon we refer to as "Scale Creep".

I don't think Knight has officially named a scale but their previous models were some of the largest in the industry, being around 35mm from sole to eye which is about 1/43.  

I will defer to you about O scale figure height, but 50mm seems shockingly tall.  A figure that is 50mm high  is probably about 48mm to the eyeline, which would make it somewhere between 1/32 and 1/35.  That's considerably larger than O gauge which I've understood to be either 1/43 or 1/48.

You would definitley have to paint them or pay to have them painted if you didn't want them all to be sliver-grey.

For more about the vagaries of scale and how millimeter and fractional scales are calculated, there's a very handy document at The Miniatures Page .

 

 

Last edited by Eilif

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.  

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.

 
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.

IMG_2468IMG_2469IMG_2470IMG_2471

Attachments

Images (4)
  • IMG_2468
  • IMG_2469
  • IMG_2470
  • IMG_2471

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

IMG_0997

Attachments

Images (1)
  • IMG_0997
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

IMG_0997

Those look great. How tall are the 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

IMG_0997

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

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.

Last edited by Eilif
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?

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.

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!

imageThanks 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

 

Attachments

Images (1)
  • image
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!

I thought about adding the Horntail dragon to the hogwarts roof and low and behold:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...an-horntail/30078852

It says that the display is 7 inches, but I figure that's with the case, so the dragon itself is 5 - 5.5?  A bit large but Doable. The Detail is amazing.  

I think Barnes and Noble regularly has coupons that we could apply to this. Right now there is a 15% off 35 dollar purchase w/ code MOREISMORE.  Personally, I'll wait until the coupon hits 25-30% off. I just need to find suitable figures now!  That Quiddich set was tempting...

I finally finished the hogwarts puzzles.  Scale wise a tad smaller, like what was already said but not too bad. Definitely works when put on a hill. Any bigger and you would really have to dedicate some real space to it.  I took someone's advice and taped the puzzle pieces together and was glad that I did. 

Now, onto finding the figures! 

Attachments

Images (1)
  • IMG_0104
Ballz2 posted:

I thought about adding the Horntail dragon to the hogwarts roof and low and behold:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...an-horntail/30078852

It says that the display is 7 inches, but I figure that's with the case, so the dragon itself is 5 - 5.5?  A bit large but Doable. The Detail is amazing.  

I think Barnes and Noble regularly has coupons that we could apply to this. Right now there is a 15% off 35 dollar purchase w/ code MOREISMORE.  Personally, I'll wait until the coupon hits 25-30% off. I just need to find suitable figures now!  That Quiddich set was tempting...

We put the Dragon over one of the tunnels... Roger found the Dragon on Ebay:

IMG_9091IMG_9143IMG_9144IMG_9145

Happy Tracks!

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

Attachments

Images (4)
  • IMG_9091
  • IMG_9143
  • IMG_9144
  • IMG_9145

I have added a couple of items that I have acquired since I first posted my little Harry Potter vignette that I set up on my O gauge loop.  Mr. Weasley's Ford Anglia has now landed beside Platform 9 3/4, and it looks like a dragon (possibly a Hebridean Black?) has joined the fray.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found the Ford Anglia on eBay.  I haven't figured out how to use the extra Harry and Ron figures that came with it yet.  Perhaps I can work in a Time-Turner Device so that Harry and Ron can reverse time, see their previous selves and save the day as Harry and Hermione did in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." 

The dragon I picked out from a group of dragons for sale in the Tudor Gift Shop at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR where my wife and I attended several plays last week.

Cheers!

AlanIMG_2083IMG_2085 

Attachments

Images (2)
  • IMG_2083
  • IMG_2085

Apparently Lionel will be releasing another Hogwarts Express lionchef set (this time with bluetooth).  So it appears that they still do have license to the property.  I went ahead and contacted lionel support, asking to sell us accessories!  You guys should do the same.  Hopefully, if there are enough of us asking, they will do something by Christmas time!

http://www.lionelstore.com/Hog...ss-LionChief-174-Set

Ballz2 posted:

I finally finished the hogwarts puzzles.  Scale wise a tad smaller, like what was already said but not too bad. Definitely works when put on a hill. Any bigger and you would really have to dedicate some real space to it.  I took someone's advice and taped the puzzle pieces together and was glad that I did. 

Now, onto finding the figures! 

The puzzle castle looks great!  Thank you for posting photos!!

The castle in the story intrigues me more than the story itself.  I'm not much into fantasy, but our grown daughters and their husbands grew up with Harry Potter and friends, so I bought one of the LionChief sets for Christmas.  The young adults all like it, and I like it a lot too!  I wouldn't mind getting a castle, but as you mention, I don't know where I would put it.  I do think the puzzle option may be an option for us too.

Thanks Mark!  FYI, the puzzles were a real chore to put together because, the way that they package it, the puzzle have ALOT of junk pieces that you have to pick out and throw away.  Also, because the pieces are made of this foam type material, they can get loose so I recommend taping the walls together.   Needless to say, this is gonna take some time. 

Luckily, when I decided to buy it, it happened to be on sale on amazon for 27 - 28 bucks each.  Good luck!

Ballz2 posted:

Thanks Mark!  FYI, the puzzles were a real chore to put together because, the way that they package it, the puzzle have ALOT of junk pieces that you have to pick out and throw away.  Also, because the pieces are made of this foam type material, they can get loose so I recommend taping the walls together.   Needless to say, this is gonna take some time. 

Luckily, when I decided to buy it, it happened to be on sale on amazon for 27 - 28 bucks each.  Good luck!

Thank you for the tips!!

Ballz2 posted:

I thought about adding the Horntail dragon to the hogwarts roof and low and behold:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...an-horntail/30078852

It says that the display is 7 inches, but I figure that's with the case, so the dragon itself is 5 - 5.5?  A bit large but Doable. The Detail is amazing.  

I think Barnes and Noble regularly has coupons that we could apply to this. Right now there is a 15% off 35 dollar purchase w/ code MOREISMORE.  Personally, I'll wait until the coupon hits 25-30% off. I just need to find suitable figures now!  That Quiddich set was tempting...

That would make a really hot head end  load for a flatcar on the HW Express.

Interesting idea.  You could put him in a cage on the flatbed so its like they are transporting him around (like they did in one of the books).  FYI, they were sold out at my local Barnes and noble but I noticed a similar item was sort of heavy.. with the case though.  I'm not sure the puzzle's roof will be able to handle the weight...

Dave Zucal posted:

Ballz2, it would be so cool to add a small gear motor with a stiff wire to your dragon, to make it slowly dip itself forward and back, like it's looking for the train to come out of the tunnel.

I'm thinking of doing something similar for a number of my scenery pieces, like the Whomping Willow, my Quidditch players (using an old turntable motor), 12 Grimmauld Place, and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley.

In other news, finally about ready to begin construction.  Here's my mock up for the entire display:

Now its just down to actually constructing that.

Here's my forum post on the process.

Ballz2 posted:

Hey guys, I know most of us here have the train set already but it just went on sale for 200 bucks.  Its the historical low.  


https://www.amazon.com/Lionel-...ativeASIN=B01C35QNMS

Wish I would have found that about a week ago before I bought my set on Ebay, though I can't complain because I didn't pay that much more than the Amazon price.  It's almost tempting to buy a second one for a backup at that price.

kj356 posted:

I have always been looking for buildings and figures to add to the Lionel train since it came out. As I do many model train displays a year and would like a Hogwart's theme display.

This is what I have to date.  The 3D Puzzle 2 building sets came out recently and can be found in stores that sell puzzles. While I would like something with more detail I put the 2 puzzles together in a week and used glue and sticks and cardboard behind each wall to add strength and glued to a wood base with the green grass covering. The other buildings I found at Walmart near the start of the Hogwarts's craze. The figures have been an issue I have looked a long time for something suitable but nothing on the market, these over sized head figures were on the tops of pens that I chopped off.  Perhaps we could get Lionel to make a figure set to go with the train sets like the Polar Express figures they make? I also took photos of the Hogwart's castle in Florida with the idea that I could use this as a backdrop to the train set as a large poster size image, but the puzzle sets will do for now.  Click on the photos for a larger view. The platform with cart was from Hallmark a couple of years back, bit oversized.

IMG_8912IMG_8913

These are the puzzle buildings and engine that are currently available.

http://www.wrebbit3d.com/products/27-harry_potter

Ok guys I came across the little pop figures that kj356 had and decided to pick them up.  Even though I was going for something less cute and more realistic, let me just say that it fits better than I had imagined with both the puzzle and the train. The figures fits inbetween the train cars (I always thought the cars were a little boring so this spices them up). And using the lights in the castle I got them to "fly."   Anyways the cheapest I found them online was at GameStop for 3.99. I got some from target on clearance for 2.99 but I think I got lucky as they don't seem to have them online not at any other targets.  Anyways check out the pics!  

http://m.gamestop.com/product/...ter-quidditch/138881

Attachments

Images (3)
  • IMG_0555
  • IMG_0553
  • IMG_0546

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×