SSNJim

Most O-Scale (1/48 in the US) railroaders use 1/43 scale cars for their layouts, so it's close enough for them. I just looked up the scales on Wikipedia, and it turns out that O-scale is defined as 1/43, 1/45, or 1/48 depending on where you are in the world. There is a lot of scenic stuff in your LHS for 1/24 scale, also. Railroad G Scale and #1 scale are 1/22.5 and 1/24. There are people and animals (varying in realism from cartoonish to very real) and lots of items for dioramas. Jim Edwards

Krylon had a line of paints called Make It Suede for a while - I suspect they've been discontinued. You may still be able to find them at craft stores. There was no black color, but there were several interior-ish colors. I have a can of blue for my Crown Vics, but haven't done much with it so I don't know how it will look. I think it would be pretty good.