# Cheeep Track Accessories



## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

E-Bay seller Everydaygoodz' online store has a number of items that could be used on race layouts (especially HO) at what seem to me to be amazing prices.

They have people in various scales, in quantities from a hundred to a thousand (HO). Large quantities, pre-painted, for very little money. Now you can fill those empty grandstands and spectator areas. 

The _numerical scales_ in the people listings are not accurate. For instance, they say the HO people are 1:100 but in fact the 19mm height makes them about 1:87, right on for HO. The _millimeter heights_ in the listings _are_ accurate (at least they were on my HO batch). If this is true for the other scales, it would mean that the "1:75" 00 figures are really close to 1:64, and the "1:30" figures are actually 1:32 (using a 5'10" man as an average height figure). The 1:25 people are accurate for 1:25, and should be usable for 1:24.

I got a test order (only 100) of their HO people. The painting on my lot of HO figures was pretty haphazard, but would suffice for a "mass effect" of background spectators. Since the manufacturer likes to use a bright pinkish red frequently, you may want to repaint many of the pink-clothed figures with some more neutral color, especially the guy in the all-pink business suit (what were they thinking?). About one figure in 6 or 7 was a seated figure, but even a grandstand of mostly standing figures looks better than an empty one (just assume something spectacular has just occurred). And for lining the fence on straights, or gawking at the inside rail of curves, or lining up at your classic Atlas racetrack hot-dog stand, standing figures are just fine.

Note: the standing figures have no bases, so they will have to be glued in place, or stuck down with tacky wax or something similar. 

Everydaygoodz have working scenic lampposts and lights for buildings, roads and streets. Haven't tried them, so don't know about quality, but don't see how prices could be any better. Be sure to note the quantities (e.g. "20x") on the listing title and find the height in mm from the description, so you can judge how they'll look with your cars. The highway-style lights should work as-is for most HO tracks. For 1:32, maybe an extension base of tubing would make them usable.

Everydaygoodz also carry some nicely priced trees and other scenic stuff; just backtrack to their main store page and click the appropriate category. Haven't bought any so I can't comment on the quality of the trees, but in the photos, most look fine for racetrack use.

-- D


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## RiderZ (Feb 19, 2007)

*!!!*

Nice selection of layout detail material-too bad there out of HongKong!!!


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Dslot said:


> E-Bay seller Everydaygoodz' online store has a number of items that could be used on race layouts (especially HO) at what seem to me to be amazing prices . . .
> -- D


Amazing indeed!

Wow - they must have a bunch of 10 year-old kids painting figures all day long. But what the hell -- I ordered 1,000 for $32 plus $11 to ship. Sure beats $10 for 7 or 8 figures from Preiser or Faller.

We'll see how they look -- I got a ton of empty seats at my track.










About how long after you paid did it take for you to receive your order?


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## Scafremon (Dec 11, 2006)

"Harold?"

"Whadya want Kumar?"

"Don't paint fuscha shirts on the lil peeps with yellow pants, or we won't get our penny"

"Okay. By the way, I heard someone just placed an order for 1000 of these"

"$%&*"


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Scafremon said:


> "Harold?"
> 
> "Whadya want Kumar?"
> 
> ...


:lol::lol::lol:

:thumbsup:


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

1976Cordoba said:


> -- I got a ton of empty seats at my track.


Can't wait to see all those grandstands on your track teeming with life. I'm finding it takes about 100 HO figures before a 3x8" 7-tier bleacher unit starts to look reasonably full. Since I lucked into almost 700 decently-painted seated figures a couple of years ago (for $25!!!) I am using about 90 sitters and 10-15 standers in a stand, and it looks pretty good. The upper tiers are still a bit sparsely populated, but that's not unrealistic. To solidly pack it requires about 140, plus a few extras standing at the front wall, walking up and down the steps, and entering and exiting. 

I've also been painting up seated and standing figures from Plasticville, Atlas, Model Power, Preiser (and whatever else I can get my hands on cheap at train shows); I plan to use them for the front rows, and put my mass-painted and Chinese figures in the rows farther back. Wish I had more of the old (Atlas?) race-fan figures with the ballcaps, hotdogs, binoculars and excited poses.



> About how long after you paid did it take for you to receive your order?


 As I recall, it was about a week. Not unreasonable, anyway.

-- D


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

I've used him not only for people (I've already glued in the first 300 and another 300 are on their way) but also trees, street lights, etc. The stuff comes I think directly from HK so it takes a long time to arrive and shipping can be pricey, but the cost of the products can't be beat. And as already stated, poor quality on the molding and paint of the people, but for a mass effect in grandstands or a concession area, what a quick and cheap way to add life to your layout. And I find the 1/75 scale to work out really well. 

Check out some of the other things he sells. As bad as the people are quality-wise, I was very pleased with the trees and other items.


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## fastlap (Nov 11, 2007)

*idea*

I still think I could do a resin version of "mass seated people" that one could paint then rest on the stadium seats. In other words...not glue in. Say, 10-15 people wide and two to three deep as one casted piece. Doesn't have to be totally detailed, just enough to get the effect of a bunch of people. I got to get my butt in gear to do that. I bet there could pretty nice market for something like that?


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

fastlap said:


> I still think I could do a resin version of "mass seated people" that one could paint then rest on the stadium seats. In other words...not glue in. Say, 10-15 people wide and two to three deep as one casted piece. Doesn't have to be totally detailed, just enough to get the effect of a bunch of people. I got to get my butt in gear to do that. I bet there could pretty nice market for something like that?


I'd buy some from you Gary. Save a lot of leg work...I built 12 grandstands last summer and if I ever get around to it ( now those are rare) I'd like to do press boxes etc. Like Wes did so i could use them...


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

fastlap said:


> I still think I could do a resin version of "mass seated people"


I would rather see them in single rows and trimable as far as length. I have three different kinds of bleachers/grandstands, each has different seating. If you made them in several rows deep they wouldn't fit all of my seating. IMHO single rows will fit more situations. Let us know i'll definately buy some. mj


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Can't wait to see those seats filled! :devil: rr


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## slotrod65 (Dec 4, 2005)

Do HO scale figures fit properly in the old Aurora/Atlas bleachers? I always thought that T-jets were really OO scale (1:76) because they are based on Vibes, which were made originally in England to compliment OO scale trains....

Whatever fits should work best....

Fred


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

Original TJ's are about 1/72 or OO scale but later cars are more around 1/64 which I think is called S scale. True HO, like for model railroads, is 1/87 scale. I have three of Aurora's turn bleachers ganged around a banked curve. This guy's 1/75 scale people are just a little large, but still fit and look pretty good. 

First, nearly all of the people in his assortment are standing. I once asked if he had an assortment of seated figures and never got a response. I decided that most people are standing for an entire race anyway, so let me go ahead and just glue them in. For standing figures, I'm able to get their feet to the floor between the benches and they don't look too large. Out of my box of 300, there may have been only about 10 sitting figures. Here the difference in scale becomes more obvious. They could only fit in the front row where their feet could stretch out.

I have a couple of balsa wood true HO scale straight bleachers and they will definitely be too tall for those.

BTW, these guys seem a little tall for 1/75 scale. They are excellent looking massed in the stands or hanging around a concession area if you've built one, but they're too tall even for modern 1/64 scale cars. Traditional HO figures still look more approriately sized if they're going to be close to the cars, like in the pit area.


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## fastlap (Nov 11, 2007)

Peacefield,
I am assuming you already have both the 1:75 and the 1:100 figures you are referring to? Can you post photos of both standing next to a modern 1:64 scale slotcar so we can determine the sizing for our own particular needs? That would be a great help to all of us thinking of ordering these.
Thanks, Gary


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## bumpercar88 (Feb 6, 2005)

Glue the figures in the bleachers? I like seated figures, no need for glue and the kids love to watch them fly when a car lands in the bleachers. Fans have to sign waivers before entering Dolansville Speedway ;-)


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

I didn't order this guy's 1/100 scale. Those will almost certainly be too small. I have his 1/75 scale as well as some (as yet unpainted) true HO scale, 1/87 by Model Power. I'll try to get some pictures but it may take a day or so; it's a busy time at work for me.

Bumpercar, I'm with you, but these guys will never stand without a healthy dab of hot glue. And they are in stands around a bank curve at the end of a 14' long straightaway, so you can imagine the risk they've all taken! For just that reason, I put up some chain link fence to protect the crowd (6d nails and window screen).


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

Well, I forgot when I said I'd take pictures of these guys next to cars that I already had them all glued down. So I laid a car in my concessions area next to a few race fans. Be mindful that the cars are therefore sitting a little higher than they would if on the track.

The red Tyco Viper is a larger 1/64 scale car. Nearly all the people around it are the 1/75 scale from the HK dealer and are sized perfectly. The only person not 1/75 is the photographer I've placed in front of the car. He's a traditional HO at 1/87 and a little too small (as you'd expect).

The blue Torino is a 1/72 scale TJ. Now, the 1/75 guys are looking just a little too tall, but not bad. Tradiational HO remains a little small, but also not too bad (remember that the car is sitting up a little). 

With most of my people in the stands or other areas away from the cars, I can get away with either scale as long as I don't intermingle them. I'm essentially using all 1/75 in my Aurora corner grandstands and the concessions area, 1/87 in my smaller HO straightaway stands, and then a few other HO'ers off on their own like photographers out on a remote corner. Someone asked about 1/100; those would undoubtedly be too small.

Also, for giggles, I'm attaching a few photos of the corner stands populated with the mass of these 1/75 folks (of which I'm only 2/3 done). As you can see, they fit pretty nicely standing, but the few sitting guys that you get are really too large. Their legs consume the entire walkway in the front row and they reach so far back that you still can't put someone behind them.

Enjoy.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

I think the Viper R/T is more out of scale than the Torino. The door on the Viper would be lower than the average man's belt line.


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

Yeah; it all comes back to HO slot cars are much bigger than HO. The real scale is S, but it's hard and expensive to find anything in that scale. I'm told that it's a more common scale in Japan.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

The Pink Suit Dudes are a little disconcerting. Scale model flamboyance on your slot car track. However, the cost of acquiring a mass of Chinese spectators is hard to resist. I guess I now know how it feels to be the head of HR at a big American company.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

What gets tough when painting all those little buggers is how to paint groups when you have certain paint colors on your brush. You have the brown bottle open and you go; "hmm, who needs brown?" Then you get into this fashion mindset- "Does blue go with brown?, should the lady have a pink sweater with a yellow skirt?" :lol: It gets a little weird and you end up doing a lot of duplicates so you don't waste your whole night. So sometimes you end up with a lot of odd looking folks that are the target of the fashion police but nobody really notices except your girlfriend.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Peacefield said:


> ... HO slot cars are much bigger than HO. The real scale is S, but it's hard and expensive to find anything in that scale.


Actually, the Hong Kong "1:75" figures are close, if the listing's mm size is correct (as it was for the HO figures). 27mm works out to be 1:66 scale for a 5'10" average man, about 1:68 if he's supposed to be a heroic 6'0".

In the HO line "Mr. Pink" is 19mm (as claimed), which scales out to about 5'6" in 1:87. Funny, he carries himself like a taller guy. If he represents a 5'10" average fella, thats about 1:94, if he's a six-footer, that's 1:96 scale. He and his kind do look pretty puny next to Plasticville and Model Power HO figures, who are not only taller, but beefier to boot.

Though I say it too, I'd guess that the idea that HO cars "are" 1:64 (S scale) is almost as big a myth as that they are "HO". Since various bodies have to fit on the same chassis, with only a smidge of front-axle adjustment, the cars are whatever scale(s) they have to be to fit the frame. James Dean's little Porsche rennwagen on an AFX frame will be a much larger scale than Richard Petty's big Plymouth on the same frame. Often the same body will be to different scales in length, width and height. 1:64 is just a convenient approximation. These are toys, not scale models.

So being picky about a particular scale for people and accessories is kinda pointless in HO. Especially since, as Peacefield says, you can get away with a lot of scale variation, as long as you don't put the larger scale items right next to the smaller scale ones. If it doesn't look wrong to the casual observer, it's right.

-- D


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Slott V said:


> What gets tough when painting all those little buggers is how to paint groups when you have certain paint colors on your brush. ...


 I use the cheap craft acrylic paints in the little squeeze bottles - a few drops of four or five colors onto a paper plate with a coffee mug of rinse water and paper towel near. I still try to do all the browns at one time, but if I see something I missed while I was doing the reds, or need to mix colors for variation, it's easy to change what's on my brush.


> Then you get into this fashion mindset- "...should the lady have a pink sweater with a yellow skirt?"


 (Chuckle) I noticed that, too. They're all going to be just faces in the crowd, but when you're painting them, they start to take on personalities. "Aww, _he_ wouldn't wear _that_."


> ,,,sometimes you end up with a lot of odd looking folks that are the target of the fashion police but nobody really notices except your girlfriend.


 SHAZAM!!!! 
That's it! 
"Dear, I just don't seem to have the fashion sense for this. How would _*you*_ like to paint up these thousand spectators???" 

 ...I've got a golden tiiicket...
-- D


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

*That's MISTER Pinky to You...*



AfxToo said:


> The Pink Suit Dudes are a little disconcerting.


Having now had some time to play with Pinky and his pals in crowds and grandstands, I find he is not so obnoxious in the grandstand as long as he's behind somebody else so you can't see that his legs are the same color as his coat - the pink-red is a dark enough color that it fades into the background and just looks like somebody is wearing a red shirt. It's those clowns in the bright aqua jackets who need toning down. They leap out of a crowd, visually, and look like the race fans have been infiltrated by a batch of evil Doktor Mintfinger's jumpsuited henchmen in a bad 60's secret agent movie.
-- D


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Taste's like chicken*

Given lemons I'd make lemonade and go with a Retro Pastel "Crocodile and Tubbs" theme.

The pink fruit er ...suit dudes are "tailor" made for a little Miami Vice "HOmage". I was thinkin a guy could take one of those dime a dozen black Firebirds cut the roof off and Daytona it a bit.

Model it crashed in a swamp. Pop the pink detectives in the mouth of a coupla strategically placed Gators. Not sure how to go about creating the matching pink flamingos quite yet. Anyone?

Having painted hundreds of lil peoples during my model RR phase, I 'spose a guy could sit down with a triple zero brush and work with what ya got. Ya just gotta play fashion police and buzz around the pile randomly, changing the colors that gag ya and re-detailing.

It is not metioned whether these figures come loose or still attached to their sprues...?

So here's how I tried to simplify the daunting task of clothing the masses. First off do all your flesh tones and let it dry, really doesnt take long, and ya dont have to be OCD neat about it! Just make sure ya got covereage and dont sweat it if youve get a little on the shirt, hair, or sleeves... whatever! Just dot the stuff on and use the dry brush technique to pull off any goobs or runs. After the meat is done it's best to visit the shoe department and buzz around with black and brown. It's easier to fix a messed up shoe than go back and fix someones pants. 

A cheapo pallette is a GOOD idea the more pots the better. I load the three primary colors so that they are seperated, say 12oclock, 4 , and 8. Randomly pick up a sprue of peeps and do some shirts, dresses, and coats, about a third or half of what peeps ya have total. Kinda depends on how they are modeled. European figures are generally dressed more formally, where their american counterparts are a little more casual. So take a gander and see how they are dressed. 

To induce some variation in attire I then mix primary colors to create the basic secondary colors in the empty pallette spaces. Then go back and do another third of the shirts and whatnot. At some point along the way black, brown, tan and grey are used for leather jackets, and dudes in business suits or slacks.

Note: As your colors start to dry up, I use an eye dropper to add thinner periodically the keep things flowing...this also subtly adjusts tonal quality again!

Once you have primary and secondary colored attire, I again mix the secondary colors again to produce both a lighter and darker tone of the secondary color. So you wind up with things like maroon, olive, etc...the off colors, LOL. Use these tones to finish up the remaing un shirted folks.

OK time to put yer pants on. Again ya kinda have to see what ya got first. For everbody who's pants havent been done during the black brown stage, ususally quite a few, Yer blue jean tones should be on the pallette already or easily tonally adjusted with what's already there. Be sure to use some varation here so ya wind up with tones running from stone washed to straight off the rack indigo Levis.

At this point your sprues should be pretty well colored up. Time to play hair stylist. Have at it and be sure to do some grey haired dudes too. This is also the point where I do hats and caps. 

For the final details like belts, hand bags, newspapers in hand, white shirts under suits, ties, mustaches...LOL.... the preiser detail is quite good; The stuff that can be done with a brush is completed. That which is too fine is completed in a special manner. Prior to starting a project like this, I follow the cat around and wait for him to drop a whisker Go ahead laugh it up! Works great for the ultra fine details. I just tape them to a toothpick so ya have a little handle with the whisker tip just sticking off the end.

In the end you should have a nice random assortment of stylishly dressed folks. Cut them loose and hand them their walking papers! 

Granted this produces some very detailed peeps, but the random pallette trick works great and keeps yer brush moving which is half the battle... so adjust the detail portion to suit your needs. Seems like a lot of farting around, but it goes pretty quick once ya get rolling. You can crank out a bunch during the ball game or a chick flick.

Dunno what to do about Doba's dilemma:freak: OMG! Looks like he needs a coupla thousand !


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Bill Hall said:


> It is not metioned whether these figures come loose or still attached to their sprues...?


Loose, and all 100 crammed into a single 3"x21/4" ziplock baggie inside a little plastic tub. Too bad; the sprue would have made repainting them easier. 

Since I was just changing color of a coat here or pants there or adding a streak of shirt color so the suits don't look like jumpsuits, I just grabbed them individually in spring tweezers. For a more complete repaint, you could hot-glue a line of them to a ruler or stick of balsa. You _will_ need to dab them with flesh color, as the clothing- or hair-color often covers the face and hands. Eyes? Moustaches? Cat-whisker sized detail? Not this lad...


> The pink fruit er ...suit dudes...


With teeny plastic guys, it's pretty much "don't ask, don't tell," Bill. 
-- D


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

BTW, I've not bothered to actually count them, but I think I got well less than 300 guys in my 300 pack. I would guess the number to be closer to 250. I don't care much as I needed more than the 50 or so MIA's and am going for another 300. And they are decent looking for how cheap they are, but I don't think the packs are a full count. I may be mistaken, though, as I'm too busy painting and gluing to want to count.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Peacefield said:


> ...I don't think the packs are a full count. I may be mistaken, though, as I'm too busy painting and gluing to want to count.


My 100-pack was short one figure. -- D


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## fastlap (Nov 11, 2007)

*info*

This is good info so far. Thanks for the photos PF. That answered my questions, and I will go for the 1:75 guys. I am thinking of ordering 2 x 500 bags. Come's out to .08 per figure. Not bad for already painted. Hope the count isn't too light on my batch?


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

> Then you get into this fashion mindset- "Does blue go with brown?, should the lady have a pink sweater with a yellow skirt?"


As long as they don't wear white after Labor Day, no problem.

Seriously though, this is a incredible price for model figures compared to what's out there in hobby shops. I can deal with a few fashion faux pas to add another fun element to the little world that I have created in my basement.


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## krazcustoms (Nov 20, 2003)

This is a funny thread. Over the years, I've been picking up ANY H.O.-ish sized figures at yard sales and flea markets and now have everything from vikings to soldiers from just about every war (including Star Wars) as well as the Terminator and Waldo. And when I eventually build my layout, I'm going to use them ALL. It's going to be the type of layout that looks normal at first, until you look close and say "What the........"

I also bought a 300 count bag of the people mentioned in this thread about a year ago although I don't remember what size I ordered exactly but aside from the excessive use of pinks and greens, they looked to be about right and will look even better after I get them some 'new' clothes.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

A lot of what dslot said above about scale is true. Matchbox were originally scaled to fit the box. Hotwheels and Matchbox today still use this practice. So it makes sence that it is done with our slot cars. If you want "S" scale items you need to get a catolog from Walthers or go to there website. They have "S" scale items for sale.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

*JuniorNation*

This would probably be the easiest thing to do as for painting the figures. Just get a bottle of green, give em a quick dunk, and create a "JuniorNation"
I got the idea from Doba's picture. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but this is where I got the idea from. Thanks Doba!!! Last year you saw all red in the grandstands, now it's green, Go 88!!! RM


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Hilltop Raceway said:


> This would probably be the easiest thing to do as for painting the figures. Just get a bottle of green, give em a quick dunk, and create a "JuniorNation"
> I got the idea from Doba's picture. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but this is where I got the idea from. Thanks Doba!!! Last year you saw all red in the grandstands, now it's green, Go 88!!! RM


That last section is one of the bleachers I got from friend of mine. Those are HO scale passengers and yep they are painted pretty much one color, i.e. green head to toe, white head to toe, chrome head to toe, etc. Doesn't look so hot up close but from the distance in the pic it isn't too bad actually.

I ordered the smaller guys for my stands, 1,000 of them, so we'll see how it looks when they get here.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

1976Cordoba said:


> Those are HO scale passengers and yep they are painted pretty much one color, i.e. green head to toe, white head to toe, chrome head to toe, etc.


Maybe it's High School Marching Band Day at the track. --D


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## Peacefield (Jan 22, 2008)

Hey, Kraz, I'm doing the same thing. My boys are 18 now, but still have their old Star Wars toys, Power Rangers, etc. I went through their boxes just today looking for some radar dishes to use for my media tower (couldn't find anything suitable so I'll probably have to pick up some Lego dishes), but I did come across a bunch of HOish Star War figures that I now plan to include. Storm Troopers for security, Princess Leia behind a food counter, and is that Yoda acting as the flag man? 

Same thing, though, people will have to get close before these things become apparent. All part of the fun.


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## krazcustoms (Nov 20, 2003)

Thubtacks with the pointy side up make good h.o. radar dishes. You can also use some 'furniture' tacks - (I think that's what they're called) which are a little larger to mix it up a bit if you're going to cluster them on a tower. Make sure you take some pics of your celebrity h.o. race fans/workers. Your track looks awesome.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

> people will have to get close before these things become apparent. All part of the fun.


Absolutely. I always incorporate a number of little "Easter Eggs" in my track scenery.


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