Modelu Figures & Component News

[alanbuttler]

15 minutes ago, Mikkel said:

You didn't happen to scan Teddy sitting in a tree watching trains, did you?  I suppose not. 

 

Not to worry, I'll see if I can modify one of the two sitting poses. Although now that I know his name that suddenly seems an unpleasant thing to do!

 

 

 

I could adapt the scan if him sitting on the case if that works :-)

[Mikkel]

Thanks Alan, I'm not sure you need to go to the trouble as I think that one might fit as it is, if I cut away the case. Although arguably that's quite a confident pose for a tree climber 

 

I suppose these are more typical poses:

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-young-boy-tree-sitting-branch-sunny-day-image61722279

https://www.colourbox.com/image/a-young-boy-sitting-on-an-apple-tree-image-1057478

 

[alanbuttler]

10 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Thanks Alan, I'm not sure you need to go to the trouble as I think that one might fit as it is, if I cut away the case. Although arguably that's quite a confident pose for a tree climber 

 

I suppose these are more typical poses:

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-young-boy-tree-sitting-branch-sunny-day-image61722279

https://www.colourbox.com/image/a-young-boy-sitting-on-an-apple-tree-image-1057478

 

 

Let me see what I can do :-) 

[alanbuttler]

Hi all,

Here is a summary of our latest releases over the last couple of months :-)

 

 

Chris Cox visited our stand at the SVR O Gauge Get Together and had himself 3D scanned in two positions, to simulate pushing a heavy load.  Chris' idea has proved popular in our Modelu Modellers group, so with Chris' permission we've added them to the range! The figures are suitable for many uses, such as pushing canal lock gates, or a turntable!  https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/industry/1870-1947-ind/workmen-early-20th-century/

 

 

During the SVR O Gauge Get Together, Dai Price visited our stand.  During the weekend he was rostered as the SVR's Duty Traction Inspector, so what better a chance than to capture and add him to the range.  You can't get more authentic than that! https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/railway-and-lineside/1948-1968-rl/shed-staff/

 

 

 

Thanks to Nick Willcox, our range of 1950s/60s photographers has been expanded to include two new poses.  Nick wears the familiar attire of shed bashers towards the end of steam, posed with his Kodak Brownie 127 and Ian Allan ABC spotters book. https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/town-and-country/1948-1968-tc/photographers-1948-1968-tc/

 

 

 

 

 

The first of our new products recently captured at Didcot Railway Centre are now available.  These include many items you'd find lying around the shed, such as fire bars, loco brake blocks, and various oil feeders and flare lamps.  We also 3D scanned the blacksmiths forge, anvil and leg vice.  We've much more still to come later this month, including fitters benches and vices, packing press, fitters cupboards, buffer beam trolley, clinker shovels and fire irons, and jacks!  https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/detailing-components/loco-shed-details/

 

 

Thanks to Nick and Dougie at the SVR, we have a new range of Creamery workers. These include workers moving milk churns, lab technicians testing milk, farmer and farmhand, and a chap having a ciggy break. We also scanned the churns themselves which are now available in packs. https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/industry/1948-1968-ind/creamery-workers/

 

A new range of Graffiti Artists / Vandals (delete as appropriate!) are now available. https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/town-and-country/1998-present-tc/general-public/

 

 

 

We have two new seated passenger packs suitable for modern image layouts.  These packs include 5 seated figures at 20% off the individual figure price.  For more information see the website https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/town-and-country/1998-present-tc/seated-people-1998-present-tc/

 

 

[The Fatadder]

Really like the look of the 1940s figures, will definitely be making a note to get some once the layout is a little more complete that I can start adding figures...

 

 

[bordercollie]

Hi

Recently I read on another forum that there was some concern about the fragility of the point rodding stools and I suppose other types of infrastructure items. It was speculated that the may have been a problem with the resin used. Was this problem sorted out and are these smaller scale items more usable now?  I have been looking at GWR rodding stools, lamps and signal post finials in particular and also see cranks are now available.

Best wishes

[46444]

Brilliant service from the Modulu team. 

 

Ordered a set of Wickham Trolley crew for my Bachmann model recently. 

 

They arrived safely and packaged nicely. 

 

The figures are superb and crisply printed. They fit the Bachmann model superbly and I'm looking forwards to painting them and putting them in the Wickham Trolley. 

 

I will do a blog entry shortly. Watch this space....

 

Thanks once again to Modelu. A brilliant product and excellent service. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Mark 

Edited November 10, 2021 by 46444

[bordercollie]

Hi 

 

I should say that I purchased some milk churns and sliding chairs previously and I am satisfied with them. I was just asking if fragility issues identified earlier in this thread in relation to point rodding stools had been addressed. I know that Modelu has a good reputation but I didn't want to order point rodding stools to find that the problems still existed.

 

Best wishes

[black and decker boy]

I’m liking the ghostbusters set

[Mallard60022]

Just to say I have tested out the Modelu suggestion for a painting figures service. 

Dan Everson of the Parish is the man. 

I only have this pic of his at the moment, of a mixed group that has been turned around very quickly for me.

It includes some of the recently introduced Dairy Workers.

My cunning plan is to get Dan to paint ones that need a lot of detailing and work and I can probably manage Loco Crew that will mainly be Hidden!

I shall be taking these up 'The Junction' shortly and may take some close ups.

So far I am well pleased. His service is  worth looking at.

P

 

[MoonMonkey]

I finally got round to doing a few more Modelu figures.  I wonder what they are so talkative about?  

[MoonMonkey]

Oh, general confusion and bemusement about how on earth the old bod in the blue manages to levitate?  Hovering over the bench in the most alarming fashion!  (Mental note to self... place figures correctly before photographing!!!)

[2750Papyrus]

The way the middle figure has turned to look at him, I suspect a bad case of flatulence.

[MoonMonkey]

Just now, 2750Papyrus said:

The way the middle figure has turned to look at him, I suspect a bad case of flatulence.

That's it!  She's generated forward thrust through her bum venturi!  Having managed the same once before, it's such a sense of achievement (although I didn't actually levitate, it was more of a momentary motion upward and then back to earth (the loo seat) with a thud).  I reckon she's probably giggling to herself like child at this amazing feat!.

[alanbuttler]

Good morning everyone! I hope you are enjoying this slightly damp (in Bristol at least) bank holiday weekend.  These last few months have been quite a transition period for myself and Modelu, with a house move and a workshop move taking up much of our time. 

 

New Staff Member

We've also said good by to Nicola who has gone on to work in project management, and it has been quite a challenge to replace her.  I'm now very pleased to say that Chris Schiller will be joining us at the end of this month, bringing many years of customer service experience and a passion for all things railway, from 1:1 to N gauge.  

 

Product Development

With our workshop move complete, and Chris on the way, I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into a summer of product development.  We've so many ideas waiting in the wings, not to mention all the amazing feedback from the Modelu product survey.  We'll be putting the data together from the survey into a series of focused new product releases in the coming months.   First in the queue are a large number of scans we captured in April, thanks to Steve Ashton and Evan Bradshaw, both who brought their kit and knowledge to Modelu HQ for a number of scan captures.  From Steve we haves surveyors, walkers, bird watchers and more.  From Evan we have a comprehensive collection of loco shed staff, featuring many of the roles on shed such as cleaners, ash men, firelighters, coal men, fitters.  We also captured new crew poses for the Kato/Peco Small England.  

 

In addtion to new products, we've many exciting collaborations with other manufacturers cooking away, more of which to come later this year!

 

Modelu May Bank Holiday Sale

This weekend we have a 15% discount off all products until midnight Monday 2nd.  Head to the website, use the code MAYDAY22 and grab yourself a bargain!  This is a particularly good time to take advantage of our product bundles which are already 20% cheaper than the individual product prices.

 

www.modelu3d.co.uk

 

[alanbuttler]

Hi Everyone! We are running a sale this weekend to mark the Queen's Jubilee use the code JUBILEE70 to get 15% off sitewide until midnight Monday! 
Remember to enter your discount code at checkout!

www.modelu3d.co.uk

 

 

 

We're really excited to announce another first for in the hobby for Modelu, with a new collaboration with super detail specialists, Accurascale.  Beginning with the Deltic, we've teamed up to create highly realistic bespoke crews using the latest full colour 3d printing.

Priced at £9.95 for a 3D printed in full colour driver and second man in full 1969 issue BR uniform (with earlier uniform pack to follow!), these packs will be available exclusively from Accurascale and expected be in stock in mid June.    Thanks to Kevin Dare at Didcot and the team from Accurascale who hepled us to produce these super figures.

The Deltics are just the beginning...!

 

Pre-order your crew here

 

 

Our first release of new Shed Staff is now available!  Created with the assistance of Evan Bradshaw of the 'Blinged by Bewdley' cleaners tea, these new poses depict many roles of a shed's staff including: Ash men (x2), Firelighter/Steam Raiser (x1), Cleaners (x5), Driver inspecting (x1), Fitter (x1), and a couple of cleaners having a break.  Available individually, or in two bundles at 20% off the individual product price.

Our next release will include fitters, inspectors, boilersmiths, and senior shed staff.  Look out for them later in the summer!

 

 

 

These pictures perfectly illustrate what we strive to acheive at Modelu  Our new shed staff, expertly painted by Dan Evason, positioned on Michael Hickling's Larkrise layout.   We've now teamed up with Dan at Tunnel Lane Model Railways, who offers a professional painting service for our Modelu figures.   For more information see the Modelu website

 

Thanks to the wealth of responses to our Modelu New Product Survey, we are happy to announce the first of a new range of animals.   In order to bring an as yet unavailable level of accuracy to scale animals, we have commissioned the skills of a digital sculptor to help us create the specific breeds and poses you have requested.

These will include domestic pets, working horses, livestock, birds, and wildlife. Our initial release features a pair of very loyal border collies - the pack includes 2 collies, one standing and one seated.   See them on the website here.

To help us commence our next animal projects we are proposing something a little different, detailed below!

 

 

Of the almost 2000 detailed responses we had to our recent Modelu New Product Survey, over 1300 of you responded to our Livestock & Wildlife question.   Our initial focus will be on traditional UK livestock breeds, working horses, domestic animals, and UK wildlife.  But, with so many to chose from, even if we limit our attention to the popular ones, it makes it quite a challenge to know where to start, and to also know what people will buy.

What we are planning is a kickstarter/crowd funding style system whereby we launch a number of prospective projects, and interested customers can pre-order models in their chosen scale.  Once we reach a target number of pre-orders, we can then light a fire under the project and commission our digital sculptor to get to work.  This is where the 'Steam Raiser' idea comes in! 

There are some finer details to work out, such as:

rewards for 'steam raisers' who help us get enough interest in the product to put it into development and production

how to communicate progress updates to backers

setting timescale expectations once project has been funded

We'll have more information later this month and will plan to go ahead with the following initial projects:

Chevoit Sheep

Suffolk Sheep (including Rams)

Shorthorn Cattle

Sussex Cattle (including Bullocks)

Suffolk Punch Horses (with tack, etc)

Seagulls

Rabbits

This gives us an exciting oppourtunity to design and produce exactly what people need, especially where an alternative product doesn't already exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ian J.]

I'm always impressed with how much the scanned figures look so much better proportinally that pretty much any other non-scanned products made by other methods. Once I'm actually at a point of doing scenic work, I can see myself investing 'heavily' in such figures. I do think they need to be hand-painted rather than print-coloured though.

[Mallard60022]

I love Modelu Figures. One of the lovely things about it is the scaling choices. For loco Crews some 00 examples are just a tad too tall, so I have gone for HO and that is just right as a Bear would say. When they are in the Driver's seat, or doing Cab work you do not notice the slight difference in scale.  I reckon the height of humans has increased in the decades since the 50s.

I also find painting these a most Mindful experience. I'm not as good as some mates of mine, or the chap that offers a Modelu Painting Service (I have a set and they were inexpensive and beautifully finished), but I really enjoy it also as a procrastination device.

Such fun.

Phil

[hayfield]

3 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

I love Modelu Figures. One of the lovely things about it is the scaling choices. For loco Crews some 00 examples are just a tad too tall, so I have gone for HO and that is just right as a Bear would say.

 

 

Just a thought (not a complaint) going back 70 + years, people were smaller both in height and especially girth, its a great Idea of scanning people, but is the fault that nowadays we all are a larger scale ? Back then heavy manual work was the order of the day and the diet of most workers was not as it is these days (no big Macs, with large fries and giant cups of cola, let alone KFC's )

[MrWolf]

That's a good point. I was reading something recently about how in the last seventy years or so, the average height has gone up by about two inches, whilst our average weight has increased by two stones, men from 12st to 14st, women from 9st to 11st. The average male waist has gone from 34" to 38", the average female waist from 27" to 34". 

It really started to change in the 90s (round about the time of the takeaway explosion.) and while it doesn't sound much, visually it's a big difference.

[BernardTPM]

I'm certainly bigger than I was in the 1950s, but then again I was only two in 1959...

[Modelu Chris]

Good afternoon everyone. I would like to introduce myself, my name is Chris and in the last month I have joined the team at Modelu. I have had an interest in trains from a young age and model in OO gauge myself. 

 

We are really pushing on with new products at the moment. I don't want to spam RMweb with just our products, so please keep an eye out for our social media pages (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). I will be coming onto here often so please feel free to ask any questions.

 

I look forward to seeing Modelu products featuring on your layouts.

Chris

[Bucoops]

Welcome Chris :)

[Modelu Chris]

So today is the first of the month making it time for another newsletter! 

 

Welcome to our July newsletter! Things are a little hectic at present, with Steph, Margot and Myself (Alan) sofa surfing friends houses whilst our new house in Bristol is renovated.  It's a testing time but will be so worth it when it is completed, hopefully before we get married in September!

 

At Modelu HQ we've welcomed Ed Greenlees to the team - Ed is a final year Product Design intern from UWE and has joined us on an 8 week internship.  Harrison, who joined us full-time after completing his UWE internship last year, is mentoring Ed and setting his work programme. 

Ed's projects are varied, from researching and designing a new Photogrammetry rig for super high definition 3D scanning, to creating a new bespoke figure pack for the Dapol Class 122.   Ed's Photogrammetry project has been made possible thanks to Modelu being awarded a 33% Cash Back Grant from the North and East Bristol Enterprise Support programme (NEBES).   We are really excited to be working with NEBES and Bristol Council to widen the services Modelu offer.   

 

Since Chris joined us at the end of May, we've had much more time to manage our social media and Modelu Modellers group.   Chris has also blown the dust off of our Twitter account. 

If you are a Twitter user, give us a follow!

 

 

Our latest product release is a new bespoke figure pack for the Dapol Class 121/122 Diesel Railcar.  Available in OO and O gauge as well as other scales, the pack features a driver and 5 passengers pre-cut to drop fit into the seating.  Two versions are available, covering the 1960s/70 period and 1980s/90s.

Thanks to Steven Woodman-Dix for the loan of his Class 121/122 unit.  Steven's kind assistance was invaluable in helping us create these figure packs - if you would like to help us with designing bespoke figures for locos and rolling stock, please email us at alan.buttler@modelu3d.co.uk

 

 

For customers looking to populate their loco fleets in a cost-effective manner, we have launched a number of new crew multi-packs.  Available in packs of 5, 10, and 25, these bundles offer price point discounts to make it easier than ever to crew up your locos:

5 Pack at 20% Discount

10 Pack at 25% Discount

25 Pack at 30% Discount

The bundles include:

91105 Diesel Driver in drivers jacket (1950/60/70/80s)

91162 Diesel Driver in shirt & tie (1980/90/present)

91163 Diesel Driver in hi-vis (1990-present)

91070/71 Fireman (5 types) available in left and right hand drive

91090/91 Drivers (5 types) available in left and right hand drive

 

NEXT MONTH...

After a few months of trawling eBay and Facebook marketplace, we have a growing collection BR Corporate era clothing.   

Look out for a whole new range of poses next month, inspired by the Crewe Railway Works Inside Story documentary, including depot staff, fitters, and more.

 

 

[spsmiler]

Hello,

 

On the topic of poses, maybe these could be commercially viable;

 

*people buying from vending machines (I have train tickets in mind but also part of life would be food / drink vending machines and interacting with 'pay to park' machines

 

*people with tickets in hand about to pass through electronic station ticket gates

 

Regards, Simon