7/8" scale figures

John_Bouck · April 23, 2018, 9:19pm

This last winter I decided to dabble a little in 7/8 scale. I build a four car train and bashed an LGB Porter up to 7/8 scale.

I needed some figures. I contacted Shawn Viggiano and asked him where he gets his figures.

He recommended James Barnett of Little Plastic People.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LittlePlasticPeople?ref=hdr_shop_menu

So I ordered a selection of undecorated figures and went to work. These figures are caricatures, not perfect representatives.

I like them a lot the way they are. Something different.

Here is a 7/8 figure (6’3") compared to a standard LGB figure.

The figures come without heads so you can position them as you wish, or interchange heads. Some hands are also un-attached.

You chose a head and drill a hole in the head and torso, glue in a rod, position the head and glue it together.

I also glue in a rod in either the rear or foot, in order to clamp them in a vice, or to hang on to for painting. It also serves as a mounting post when you

are done.

I contacted James and asked him what kind of paint to use and he told me what to buy. It is acrylic and ou use it right out of the bottle.

First clean, file off partings and burrs, and them prime the models with any rattle can primer.

Some assembled figures positioned on my cars to see how they look.

And painted figures. These figures represent a 6’2" man down to a 5’4" man.

on30gn15 · April 23, 2018, 9:55pm

Those figures are huge! Georgie cat would take one look at them and run away

Tom_Bowdler · April 23, 2018, 11:11pm

One of many things I like about 7/8 scale modeling.

Small prototypes with a BIG presence.

And James’ figures are great caricatures well suited to the chunky, funky, junky locos and rolling stock I favor.

MikeFlea · April 24, 2018, 12:04am

Those are nice. I picked up an engineer for my Sammie from James.

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · April 24, 2018, 4:30pm

I dig it John. Always felt that peeps ( even in small numbers) make the railroad look vibrant and alive. Looking forward to any future population explosion you add.

JohnCVRy · April 25, 2018, 1:30am

Those figures look great, John. They have a lot of character and really bring the scenes to life.

When I was looking for 7/8ths figures, I came across action figures (or is it in-action figures) of Bob and Doug McKenzie. They were correct to scale and came with a couple cases of beer.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/filesharing/folder/view/398/7eighths-scale/parent_type/user/parent_id/2828)(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2828/7eighths%20Scale/McKenzie1resizeimage.jpg)

Here’s Doug discussing the state of the economy with engineer Carlo.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2828/7eighths%20Scale/McKenzieresizeimage.jpg)

Here’s Bob Doing his best to figure if 2 cases of Moosehead will last the trip.

John_Bouck · April 25, 2018, 2:45pm

Looking good, John.

I looked at the action figures, but after seeing James’s caricatures, I couldn’t resist.

Now I’m looking for accessories like your gas can, lantern and tools.

7/8 is 1:13…so 1:12 items fit.

Where do you get yours?

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · April 25, 2018, 3:08pm

John

1/12 is the standard for modern dollhouse miniatures. Hobby Lobby has a good selection but as of this morning a search for 1/12 miniatures on E-bay returned: “59,780 results”.

Yeah I know a lot of people don’t like E-bay but in the modern market it is a great source.

JohnCVRy · April 25, 2018, 5:10pm

John Bouck said:

Looking good, John.

I looked at the action figures, but after seeing James’s caricatures, I couldn’t resist.

Now I’m looking for accessories like your gas can, lantern and tools.

7/8 is 1:13…so 1:12 items fit.

Where do you get yours?

Thanks, I like James caricatures a lot, they do bring a lot of personality. I just couldn’t resist the chance to have the McKenzie Brothers ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdl0QhFOh20 ) run my railroad. I also like Carlo Spirito figures, they have similar character to James’.

The toolbox was a “kit” offered by someone over on the SE Lounge ( http://www.7-8ths.info/ ) The gas can is great, it was part of a “Garage Accessory” package that I purchased. The lantern is oversized and came from Hobby Lobby. A lot of the tools came out of various action sets.

Part of the fun in 7/8ths is discovering suitable accessories. One great find was the containers of slime sold at Dollar store. The can was correct scale for a 55 gallon drum, so, let the grand kids have the slime , I get to play with the container.

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/FileSharing/user_2828/7eighths%20Scale/7_8ths%20barrels.jpg)

The wheelbarrow was part of a non-scale item at a gift shop ( though it was nice and shiny when sold).

7/8ths is sort of a back up scale for me, but I get a lot of pleasure modeling in it. I hope you enjoy your 7/8ths indulgence as well.

John_Bouck · May 2, 2018, 2:45pm

In case any one is interested in James’s figures, he will be closed for a while due to a death in the family.

tac · June 22, 2018, 2:25pm

Boomer K. MOGWAI said:

John

1/12 is the standard for modern dollhouse miniatures. Hobby Lobby has a good selection but as of this morning a search for 1/12 miniatures on E-bay returned: “59,780 results”.

Yeah I know a lot of people don’t like E-bay but in the modern market it is a great source.

So is 1/24th scale, for people who live in smaller houses…a 1/12th Georgian house would be gigantic! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)

tac

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 22, 2018, 3:31pm

Tac

1/24th was the standard through the 1960s. These were much more on the toy side with several sets offered by Marx and Ideal. At some point 1/12th took over as the interest switched from kids to adult modelers. It is a much bigger hobby than GR with lots of custom creations.

They can be huge. Hobby Lobby sells some of the kits.