modeling help

At a recent model show  I have been asked several questions on how I did things  and thought I might relay a few of the hints  here 
I usly work in HO  so  painting  small art work  can be a chore   to day with our computers  has solved a few of those problems    by  doing the art work in larger scales  and then reducing it to the smaller scale  has worked well for me    (ie) the people for my seat wagons   and  also so of the art work on cage boards or wagon sides    most were done in  1/2 or 3/4 inch scale and then  reduced  to 1/87th or HO     I then print to either card stock or  Photo paper   

I have animated my rings in my big top display  with  mirror ball motors    they are battery operated  so there is no need for electrical outlets    once we get them set up  the batteries last for several weeks  and thats with out turning them off   

another question we almost always have is were do we find our figures  
most of my figures are commecial  and  available thru hobby dealers   but  I always say you have to look out side the box  so to speak    a foot ball player or socker player   painted a bit different  makes a good
preformer   and then  doing  a little creative  changing of  arms or legs  makes a big difference in how they are presented