Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Old West => Topic started by: BunkerMonkey on November 10, 2014, 06:48:00 PM
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Howdy, pards! Recently started refurbishing my Old West collection and decided it was time to replace my buildings, minis, etc. To that effect I've begun scratch-building a new town designed to be done one block at a time, each block with a specific theme with civilians and a gang assigned to each one.
The name of my town is Poker Bluff and I figured I'd start with the outlaws. This block will be referred to as Low Town. I still need to add signage a detail or two but so far I'm pretty satisfied with this project.
Low Town block
(http://i.imgur.com/W6jTfaM.jpg)
Theater based on The Birdcage Theater in Tombstone, AZ
(http://i.imgur.com/DCXkY8E.jpg)
A saloon and dance hall based on Al Swearengen's Gem theater, Deadwood, SD
(http://i.imgur.com/xau3tsu.jpg)
A brothel based on the Pigeon's Nest, Old Tucson Studio lot, Mescal, AZ
(http://i.imgur.com/tP7cFm9.jpg)
The residents: EB Farnum, Al Swearengen and Tom Nuttall, Brigade games minis:
(http://i.imgur.com/wsvegaN.jpg)
The gang- The McSorley Brothers (named after my favorite bar in New York City). Old Glory Miniature's Cowboy Wars line.
(http://i.imgur.com/6hO9QpD.jpg)
The McSorley gang mounted up and ready to cause trouble!
(http://i.imgur.com/QJZ9ewy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5lJ8xmD.jpg)
Enjoy!
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Great stuff. I look forward to seeing your town expand.
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Farnum was actually my favourite character in that show (which I didn't really enjoy much). Nice work!
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Nice work indeed.
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I like the theatre! :-* Its a very unusual addition to most towns around here, but looks a treat. 8)
Cheers
Matt
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Great idea and great looking terrain and minis. Will be interesting to see rest of the town.
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What a wonderful idea, making the Town a block at a time with attached characters.
8) 8)
I really like the buildings, especially the Gem.
I need more balconies in my own Town and this provides great inspiration.
Love it all.
:-* :-*
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Good looking buildings and figures. :)
Looking forward to seeing more of your town.
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Thank you all! Have another block drying but the residents are going to have to wait until I fulfill some customer orders first!
re: Balconies. I like providing unique positions for the models to get to and attack from. I should post photos of some of the rears of the building as well. I've included extra stairwells, doors, hay chutes, etc. Lots of places for a fella to hide when the shootin' gets too intense! It also gives players the opportunity to get creative, not just plunk their models down in the street and bang away.
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Very nice, I like the idea of a theatre .. Might Nick that.
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The concept of tying together sections of scenery with gangs/groups is a great idea.Scenery looks great.
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I love the whole "Block at a time!" concept! Do you have anymore pics of that theater? I would love to see the rear of the building! I knda borrowed your idea. Well I was until I realized that I had no clue what the rear looked like. Any help would be appreciated.
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Hi, Denizen! Sorry for the late reply. I just checked in today. Yes! I'll see if I have some and if not, I'll take a few. Check back in a bit.
Okie dokie! Found the photos!
Here's a side view:
(http://i.imgur.com/1XbHER4.jpg)
And here's the rear view.
(http://i.imgur.com/Dg9ec6q.jpg)
I've been lazy about adding the rope and pulley to the support sticking out from the upper storey. Have to get on that. There's a always a player who wants his gunman to find a unique location from which to shoot and doesn't like taking the stairs!
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These are very nice.
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Fantastic stuff.
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Awesome. Love the flybox at the rear of the theater. Very well done. I can't wait to see more of your project.
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Thank you so much for the pics Bunk! I hope you dont mind but I sort of stole the front you made and built the back from scratch!
Your backside is much better than mine! (Aaa I mean the rearend is much cleaner than...never mind lol I like your piece better!)
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Think of it this way Denizen: We both stole it! Here's a photo of the original building in Tombstone, Arizona.
And you're a fine piece as well! Wait...did I just say what I think I said... :o
(http://i.imgur.com/7tk6nVS.jpg)
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Looking at the pic I realized WOW! Mine is VERY different than the real deal! Lol On the other hand I guess originality with a dash of inspiration is a good thing! How big a footprint is yours?
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The dimensions on mine are 10" long, 6" wide and the height varies from 4 1/4" at the front to 5" in the back.
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Gorgeous stuff! :o
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So I ran a play test of my game this past week and had the town set up. I'll go into more details in future posts on the individual town 'blocks' but thought I'd share some glamour shots of the town. Note that the old Spanish style block at the end has buildings that are not of my making. The church is Old Glory and the two adobes are from Miniature Building Authority.
Enjoy!
Overhead shot:
(http://i.imgur.com/xATITCX.jpg)
Street view:
(http://i.imgur.com/NasO5ZX.jpg)
Low Town:
(http://i.imgur.com/RCjvpLb.jpg)
Chinatown:
(http://i.imgur.com/BtvAa0I.jpg)
Merchant's Square
(http://i.imgur.com/EJZJfCv.jpg)
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Great looking town :)
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Great looking town :)
It sure is!
8) 8)
I have to do my own 'Chinatown' later in the year.
I look forward to stealing your ideas seeing what you have done with yours.
:D
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Thanks, all!
Mason, I'd be happy to share my sources with you. There aren't many period photos of old west Chinatowns so what I did was just sort of 'Orientalize' standard Old West buildings by adding details such as signs using a pulp-inspired font and the new block will have lanterns and other details added and I'd be happy to let you know how I did them.
I'm going to be 'demolishing' and re-doing the Chinatown block so I will have better detailed photos of it up when I do. The saloon on the block is way too big and I don't really like the layout in general. I'll be keeping the other buildings (and Mr Wu's pigpen out back!) and adding two or three smaller structures in place of the saloon.
Do a Google image search for Chinatowns. Most of the hits will be modern ones from New York and San Francisco but you can find lots of interesting details such as window and door frames, signs, decorations, paint schemes, etc.
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All scratch build ... very impressive.
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Outstanding! :-*
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Love that town layout 8)
www.gallopingmajorwargames.com
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Mason, I'd be happy to share my sources with you.
I would certainly appreciate that.
I am aiming to make my own Chinatown as generic as possible so that I can use it for other genres, so all reference material is welcome.
Feel free to PM any links my way or post them on here as they should all be useful.
Thank you!
:D
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Great work and an excellent result....the whole town has great feel to it - I shall enjoy following your progress with this project
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Good looking buildings!
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Now this is just my kind of town. I scratch all my own buildings so appreciate the thought and work. It looks very cool and I would feel at home playing in it. As Mason says, the China town reminds me I need to work on mine! I love the use of the statues, I may have to look at that.
Keep it coming please.
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love the Chinatown part of town
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Finally! An update! Finished the latest block of my town. Introducing Merchant's Square:
Merchant's Square front:
(http://i.imgur.com/Aq6i4UN.jpg)
Merchant's Square rear:
(http://i.imgur.com/RAuxhFK.jpg)
And the denizens of Merchant's Square- Miss Millie, Apothecary Abrams and Postmaster Samuels:
(http://i.imgur.com/o0O0lz6.jpg)
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Miss Millie's Dress Shoppe:
(http://i.imgur.com/lETeGKg.jpg)
Close up of Drugstore and Post Office:
(http://i.imgur.com/kS634pa.jpg)
Close up of Gunsmiths:
(http://i.imgur.com/nf1ycdR.jpg)
Gunsmiths Range:
(http://i.imgur.com/MClm2fT.jpg)
Gunsmith rear including range:
(http://i.imgur.com/WTUMlKX.jpg)
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Lovely stuff, great to see some nice scratchbuilds in these MDF kit dominated times :)
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Yup, great indeed. I think a touch of humour is required. Stick a dead cat by the firing range target! ;)
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Brilliant additions, especially 'Miss Millies*'.
:-* :-*
*There seem to be a few 'Ladies Specialist shops' with similar titles these days.
lol lol
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Brilliant town! Love the target in the gunsmith's yard, and excellent paintwork on the Old Glory figures :-*
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Thanks all! I really like the Blue Moon figures. Lots of character...although I think that's because Bob Naismith did most of the sculpts. I love his style. Although probably too 'cartooony' for most tastes, I'm a big sucker for that style.
Yup, great indeed. I think a touch of humour is required. Stick a dead cat by the firing range target!
I'm debating on what other 'targets' to add to the range. I was thinking of getting an image of whoever was current President at the time! Or maybe a pair of Wanted posters.
And a quick search informs me that there were three (!!!) presidents that year in 1881: Rutherford B Hayes, James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur! I guess folks weren't content with just shooting at paper targets...
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Resurrecting an older thread because I just found this but I don't think too many will mind. Further updates out there some where?
As to Chinese architecture of the old west, I'd say it is mostly the same as other buildings and only the use and signage made it different. Coloma has a few preserved Chinese buildings and that is all that makes them different. Oh, for those who don't know, Coloma was the site of the gold discovery in California (January 1848) that set off the Forty-niners and, in a very real sense, started the "Old West". Before that, it was pretty much Texas and the Mexican-AMerican War and, at least to my mind, that wasn't the Old West.
I, too, am working, slowly, on my own scratch built old west town but in 15 mm.
I'm off to google Coloma and see if they have photos of those Chinese shops - apothecaries, joss houses, bath houses, and the very familiar laundry being fairly common. (Sorry, very few images - but they just show the signage as mentioned - and some colorfully painted door and window coverings but otherwise standard architecture.)
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That'd be great if you could find some photos of Coloma's Chinatown! I have lots of photos in my personal collection (I've visited a LOT of Ghost Towns in my travels) but nothing from the period that was genuine Chinatown.
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Wonderful stuff. Thanks for sharing
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Great!! ;) :-*