1:32 Preview

[james_coldicott]

Marty,

planning lots of figures in 1:32- mainly industrial workers and civilians. They won't come too quickly as my time is spread pretty thinly already. Next is a seated driver for my Planet 10hp 4wpm which is the first locomotive. Mostly will be 1890's to 1950's era people and probably linked in era/ continent to whatever loco or rolling stock is coming out at the time.

Process for mastering figures is quite time consuming- Soldered brass armature quick enough but then successive layers of milliput are added and carved until I'm happy with the result. Photo's don't really show just how small the detail is- a challenge but very rewarding.

Am happy to receive photo's as inspiration for future figures if there's anything you guys would like. Good photo's of people in fairly static poses with good detail in the face and clothing are really useful.

Would love to see the corliss painted up- a shame to cover up all that craftsmanship but good paint only ever adds to a great model. 

James

[Fred H.]

Figure suggestions: (1) Uncle Russ the Fireman = bemused "knowing" look on his face, shaking his head, eyes rolling. (2) Marc the 1930s Vagabond = titanium bike thrown over his shoulder, sourpuss face as if someone just shouted: "Colorado narrow gauge!"

[james_coldicott]

Guys,

thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

Figure suggestions: (1) Uncle Russ the Fireman = bemused "knowing" look on his face, shaking his head, eyes rolling.

The only issue with a figure of Russ seems to be that it would be a '3 for the price of 1' deal- Russ with his permanently affixed bikini clad babes- one on each arm! 

The website is all updated so please stop by and take a look. Obviously it is early days yet but have sourced some more glass and TCT scribers and written a guide for cutting- I've tried lots of different tools for cutting the 0.13mm Borosilicate Glass in my store but most times I can cut an intact 1mm x 50mm strip off the long edge of a piece of glass with this cutter.

Still waiting for prices from casters for the figures but the shed is in stock and available now.

www.james-art.com

Select '1:32 Models' from the product section.

Cheers!

James

[finescalerr]

Attractive and elegant little website. Nice job. -- Russ

[RoughboyModelworks]

Attractive and elegant little website. Nice job. -- Russ

Agreed... nicely done James.

Paul

[Philip Smith]

Greatly detailed figure James! Best yet!

Philip

[Krusty]

here is a pic of my first figure based on George Batty

Look forward to Mr Batty becoming available. Will you be doing Norah Batty and Compo to keep him company?

[shropshire lad]

here is a pic of my first figure based on George Batty

Look forward to Mr Batty becoming available. Will you be doing Norah Batty and Compo to keep him company?

  Good suggestion , Mr. Krusty . I'll go for them . In fact ,I admire Compo's sartorial elegance so much that  I try to emulate it whenever I can .
   Well , if you can get Dad's Army figures in 1/35th scale why not characters from Last of the Summer Wine ?

  ( If you don't know what we are talking about , you must be American ! )

  Nick

[james_coldicott]

Nick,

,I admire Compo's sartorial elegance so much that  I try to emulate it whenever I can .

...and I thought the piece of string holding up your trousers was a subtle homage to Tom Ford's 1999 collection for Gucci!

Actually Compo would fit right in. Did some internet searches for Nora Batty's trademark attire and came up with some very interesting websites! 

Actually wondering what you guys actually buy when it comes to figures? I always go for static poses either at rest or in quiet conversation. Always seems incongruous to see a figure frozen in time, mid activity while a train rumbles past behind them. I'm relatively new here- has there been much discussion on populating layouts? Not something I've often seen done well in the railroad world as compared to the military market where the figures are often really central to a scene.

James

[finescalerr]

As some of you may either know or remember, I am a major advocate of 1:32 narrow gauge and got into it around 1993 when I saw Richard Christ's 1:32n40 swamp logging diorama. A small switching diorama in that scale/gauge combination will be my retirement project and I'm currently working on a CAD drawing for an 8 ton Plymouth I hope to build. (Bob Poli recently sent me a ton of information on the little West Side Plymouth including a drawing somebody scaled from the actual loco -- the first such drawing of that kind of engine I know of.)

I was part of an NMRA committee to develop "AAR" standards for 1:32 (and then quit the NMRA), have built some structures in that scale, and have a small 0-4-0T Glover. See below.

Any of you guys who want to do projects in 1:32 or 1:35 have my enthusiastic support.

Russ

[JohnP]

So I do 1:13.7 outside and 1:48 inside. Rats. George is very nice, realistic but certainly not goofy- nothing to detract from the natural appearance.

The website is nice, functional and worth exploring. Best of luck with the modeling part of the business!

John

[james_coldicott]

Just a quick update on progress with the shed kit... I've been rather taken by surprise by the response. My ad came out on Saturday, by Tuesday the first batch had sold out so I stayed up late Tuesday and Wednesday night casting parts for a second batch, half of which is sold out now so I'll make up another batch to make sure I have at least a few for the Narrow Gauge Convention next month.

If anyone wants one for collection in St.Louis can you let me know? Contact me privately and I'll let you know the dollar price.

By the way I decided the downpipe arrangement was a bit weak (very simple plastic rod with a fabrication template) so mastered one and included it in resin in the kit. I'll develop the system a little more and include guttering and downpipes as a stand alone item in the scratchbuilding section but that will be after the convention. Also coming are brick and stone sheets in plaster and resin plus roofing sheets in resin- corrugated aluminium will be on the site plus a resin sheet of scale corrugated with fixings and guttering attached to the lower edge for a quick and easy way of doing tin roofs. Also tiled roof sheets in resin when I can find a suitable prototype- Nick, any suggestions for a pan Europe/ UK roofing tile?

Thanks again for all your suggestions and support.

James

ps- awful photo, sorry- look at the left bracket and you'll best see the cast socket/ attachment lug mastering- squares are 10mm each.

[shropshire lad]

- Nick, any suggestions for a pan Europe/ UK roofing tile?

Thanks again for all your suggestions and support.

James

  James ,

  The answer is in your question . Pantiles . Either single or double roman . Clay or concrete ?

   Plain tiles are also used on the Continent . Either square ended or shaped .

  I have been looking at European roofs quite a bit myself recently as I will need to tile a large roof for myself . Maybe if I wait long enough you'll come out with a suitable tile sheet that I can use in 1/35th . Not this Micky Mouse scale of 1/32nd !

Here you go , three different tiles/slates on one building . Taken in Goslar in the Harz Mountains (that's in Germany ) last month .Not necessarily typical throughout Europe .
   How about doing some slate dormers like these?

  Nick

[Gordon Ferguson]

Can't beat the number of tile variations but if you want dormer windows how's this



Well done James on the success of your new venture, currently trying to stay clear of yet another scale.

[Malachi Constant]

James --

Congrats on the initial reception ... no doubt I'll order some goodies from you as funds allow.  Appears that the 1/32 vs 1/35 debate will result in various forms of entrenchment ... but that's how it goes.

I'm dabbling in 1/35n2 here ... couple other local guys are getting started as well ... one in the same scale/gauge ... the other in 3/8n40 (1:32).  He's planning on including some 2-foot gauge track to his 1:32 layout, so all three of us will be mixing some equipment together ...

Again, please keep us updated as new items are added ... you've got a very interesting range of items planned.

Cheers,
Dallas