John Cutler
In a bid to cut costs per head, Slater’s pack of 24 unpainted figures were purchased. These are actually 3 packs of 8, with one of the eight being a young (-ish?) couple, so you get 27 people. They are mostly six-feet and plus tall so oversize. They all have unrealistically small i.e. thin buttocks so some look decidedly odd if viewed side-on. There is a soldier and a sailor, both wearing oversize hats; easily remedied but a pain. The awful surprise is the mould quality. There is a lot of flash and one chap has lost most of his arm. All 3 sets are the same. I am not surprised that no retailer shows a close-up of these figures. My advice is not to touch with a barge-pole. I expected better quality from Slater’s. Do they really think I will buy their wheels on the basis of quality if I ever upsize to 7mm scale?
Ugh!
As a counter to my disappointment, I can report much better success with the Preiser figures I bought at the same time. These are ready-painted with good proportions and despite being cheaper, compare favourably with ModelU. Perhaps they are a little on the small side but not overly so; they are 1:76 and definitely not HO. The 73011 set are dressed more for summer than winter, which suits me. They seem a little Germanic rather than British but I cannot quite put my finger on why. The long-haired lanky chap is definitely 1970s or later but the rest are OK for the 1960s.The moulds are made in Germany but they are beautifully hand-painted in Mauritius! These are extremely good quality and value for money. Recommended; I am buying another set!
Comparisons. Left to Right: Preiser, Monty’s, Preiser, Preiser, scale3d, Preiser, Monty’s, Preiser, ModelU.All the Preiser figures are from their set 73011.
Why, oh why, can Hornby not produce such quality figures? Their 1960s Dinky figures, manufactured in the 1960s, were superb in terms of quality. Unfortunately, their seated people were over-scale. Surely now they should be competing with Preiser and ModelU? They have no 60s era passengers.
So I thought I should try some British-made painted figures. Unfortunately the Peco Modelscene seated passengers are badly overscale and more suited to S gauge 1:64 scale than to 1:76. I wonder if Peco got hold of some unused 1960s moulds as they match the oversize Dinky figures rather well? Fitting these to fill a compartment will be problematic! These are not cheap so I am pretty annoyed with Peco; they were sent back for a refund.
The oversize Peco Modelscene figures compared to Preiser.
Bachmann’s passenger figures are cut off at the knees. The price is cheap but they look decidedly Chinese and my impression is that the quality is poor. Avoid.
So on order are some cheap (but hopefully not nasty) figures in bulk from China as per Nigel‘s suggestion. A report will follow!