Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pulp => Topic started by: Argonor on September 02, 2008, 12:11:38 PM
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I'm wondering:
What would a small(ish) mid-western town look like in the inter-war period?
Does anyone know of models appropriate (paper or resin)?
I have a pretty good hunch about farms and the likes (I also would like recommendations of models for those), but towns...?
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Sorry, no pictures here but maybe you could find some inspiration in the old Waltons series... ? lol lol lol
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It would vary. But you could use any pulp building style currently available as long as none of the buildings were above 4 floors (that's not a rule or anything but most small towns would probably only have had 2-3 story buildings since there was no need to go higher). All the commercial buildings would be situated along one road.
An even smaller town would have the General store, a gas station, probably a town hall and some homes all along a central road.
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What would a small(ish) mid-western town look like in the inter-war period?
Does anyone know of models appropriate (paper or resin)?
I have a pretty good hunch about farms and the likes (I also would like recommendations of models for those), but towns...?
You might take a look at model railroad kits. Here's a good example of what a smallish city would look like:
http://www.horailroad.com/fsm/fsmlayout.html[/u]]http://www.horailroad.com/fsm/fsmlayout.html (http://[u)
Now, that looks very busy and much too large to game on, but there are some important elements there. Notice that the industrial buildings are all brick and the rest of the buildings are wood frame and siding. Probably the only other brick or stone buildings in town would be the bank and the town hall. In the midwest, these are likely light colored limestone (the exact same color as that stuff from Northern Germany that's so full of lovely fossil fishes and Archeaoptryics) and done in a Federal style. Pretty much every town has a central square with a war monument on it, guarded by a few inoperative cannons. That's usually an obelisk, topped by a bronze statue of a soldier, or Lady Liberty holding a dead soldier, or Lady Liberty holding a laurel wreath over a soldier, or... you get the picture.
The important thing to consider is that American towns are fairly sprawling affairs, as real estate is generally cheap. Thus, like Rich said, there are very few buildings over a storey or two tall.
If you want a farm house, any farm house from an American Civil War range would work just fine. Make sure you put lots of tall trees right by the house. These were to shade the house (the prairie doesn't have much shade) and to act as impromptu lightning rods.
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Sorry, no pictures here but maybe you could find some inspiration in the old Waltons series... ? lol lol lol
That's exactly where I have my hunch about farms from lol
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Other points to remember. Most Midwest towns are built on a grid pattern aligned north south or along the railroad. The central square is simply a block devoted to parkland with the business district facing it. Also residential houses will have large yards, especially by European standards.
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www.horailroad.com/fsm/fsmlayout.html
Had to clean up the link a bit...
Looks like some of the 'nicer' Old West buildings could be mixed with brick buildings if the wooden walkways were replaced with sidewalks....
I think the look of that one is a bit too 'industrial' for what I'm thinking of... I would like a small town, not quite a village, where the local farmers come to buy theit fertilizers and seeds... and tools and stuff... ya' know, the kind with one main street where the businesses are, and some side alleys where the residential area is placed to one side, and the small 'industries to the other...
A sleepy place, where you can be sure something is amiss just below the surface, in the good american horror tradition... :)
EDIT: Much like the one you describe later on.... ::)
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Would something like this be the style...?
(http://www.rpgnow.com/images/466/16633.jpg)
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That looks like it would be close.
Go to http://pro.corbis.com/ (http://pro.corbis.com/) and type in "town midwest 1929" in the search field and you'll get a good shot of what a town would look like.
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Oh, yeah, that 4th photo seems more like it :)
Broad dirt main street, and a street silhouette that resembles that of an Old West town... I think I could use those Cheepsville buildings... I just have to replace any signs and the likes with something pulpish...
Another project added to the list ;D
But first comes first - next up is the purchase of some Mean Streets and Mean Sets from TVAG.
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I'm trying to remember the details from my most recent trip out into the mid-west countryside. Very wide streets (by European standards) - wide enough for a horse wagon to do a u-turn. Probably a dirt street. Midwest towns were agriculturally based so you may want to add a grain elevator along the tracks. A very small bank may be the only brick building in town...
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take a look at these:
http://flickr.com/photos/artorg/sets/72157601295903741/
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Those are good, too... confirms my belief, that I'll be able to use the Cheapsville sets with a few kitbashes :D
After all, the PI has to go somewhere to find the evil cultists that kidnapped the million dollar heiress... ;)
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Wisconsin towns nearly always have a bar, at least in the 60's. Prohibition would put the bar out of (open) business. Wisconsin hunters are a thirsty lot. lol
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A lot of those really small towns in the 20s/30s/40s have a combination Post Office/Gas Station/Grocery Store plus the required Tavern/Greasy Spoon and a few small houses and that's it. Heck, if you drive around in rural Wisconsin, you still can find some of these small outposts of humanity in the middle of nowhere - though how they still survive is beyond me.
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What would a small(ish) mid-western town look like in the inter-war period?
Does anyone know of models appropriate (paper or resin)?
I'm going to set up a town like that using Lemax Christmas Village ceramic buildings. They are lit from the back. Also, there are streetlights which actually light and other assessories available. The buildings remind me of the old brick buildings I knew in small towns in the rural south when I was growing up. Most of the Lemax Village buildings look right for 28mm. I just avoided the buildings with too much Christmas oriented stuff on them.
There is also a line of Lemax Village buildings for a rustic mountain town, which has a lot of unpainted wood plank or log buildings.
There is another line of Lemax Village buildings for a seaside resort, and that line has some really fun stuff in it, including a lighthouse, a boat shop, and an aquarium.
All these buildings, with there silly cheerfulness, could make a great setting for a horror game. And the cool thing for horror is that these buildings light up, so you could set your scenario at night using just the light from the buildings and the streetlights.
This thread reminds me that I ought to get out my Lemax Village and take a look at what I've got. The plan was to use it for gangster encounters, alien encounters, Cthulu scenarios, or for zombies. It was probably a silly purchase, given my usual dedication to regular wargaming, but the buildings just looked really cool.
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Having grown up outside a small Iowa town (300 people) and lived in a few more I'd say --
Most houses are wood framed, 1 or 2 story with yards of varying size and lots of trees for shade and windbreak. There might be a few big Victorians thrown in for the "wealthier" folks. This was before lawns took hold in a big way, but most houses had gardens (flower and vegetable) along with things like chicken coops and outbuildings.
The main business street is lined by brick and woodframed storefronts. Usually 2-4 fronts with a break -- an alley, lot, or just a gap. Most are 1 story a few might be two. Virtually nothing is 3 stories. Businesses include a general store, dry goods, cafe or two (no saloons), a machine shop or two, post office (it was point of pride to have a post office because it generally meant you were an incorporated town) and maybe a phone exchange. There might be vet's and doctor's offices. The gas station would have old tower pumps and probably a kerosene tank on a scaffolding. The side streets will have more mechanics and general handymen with all sorts of junk in the back. The main street is really wide as mentioned.
A watertower and pumping station were usually near the center of town. Most really small towns didn't have a square, but there was usually a grassy park for things like horseshoes and town picnics. The school is probably newer and brick, maybe 3 stories tall with a gym and ballfield.
There would also be at least one, probably more, churches -- Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic. Small, wood or sometimes stone.
The economic heart of the town though was the grain elevator and railroad siding/station (if they had one). This was almost always on the edge of town, usually at the bottom end of the main street. The feed store, co-op, farm implement dealer, etc. were usually down there.
Street lights were rare. Towns were generally electrified (farms were another matter), so electric and telephone poles would be common. Streets are generally a grid, although they conform to the terrain.
There's a few pictures of our old family farm (and the town we lived near) here: http://cthulhumonkey.com/blog/index.php?page_id=10&album=1&gallery=1
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Nice :)
@ warrenbruhn:
I would buy a lot of Lemax stuff if I could find a reliable source on my side of the pond... I especially like their halloween stuff....
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What's the story with this one?
http://www.lemaxland.co.uk/
EDIT:
I just ordered some stuff from here now LOOK, what you made me do >:( ;) ):
http://www.lemaxstore.nl
They charge €18 for shipping to DK, a bit on the rough side, but I guess the stuff has to be protected a lot to not get smashed in the mail...
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I had extreme difficulty finding good European sellers of Lemax stuff a couple of years ago. I don't remember if I checked that Dutch store but I hope it works out for you.
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A lot of those really small towns in the 20s/30s/40s have a combination Post Office/Gas Station/Grocery Store plus the required Tavern/Greasy Spoon and a few small houses and that's it. Heck, if you drive around in rural Wisconsin, you still can find some of these small outposts of humanity in the middle of nowhere - though how they still survive is beyond me.
Waterstreet, Eau Claire, Wisconsin... Okay, a modern supermarket but change that into an old store and you have it. How they survive? Well, I must have spent about 2000$ or more getting drunk in the bars... ;)
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What's the story with this one?
http://www.lemaxland.co.uk/
Now open for business.
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What's the story with this one?
http://www.lemaxland.co.uk/
Now open for business.
Just got the mail announcing it... I did order some stuff from a Dutch store 4 weeks ago, they should be on their way now (they would nort stock up until October - beats me, why?)
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http://tinyurl.com/3slx4d
You mentioned paper buildings. Here are some from the heartland.
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http://tinyurl.com/3slx4d
You mentioned paper buildings. Here are some from the heartland.
They are nice! unfortunately HO scale, and would need some work to re-size - just like the ones from Fiddler's Green.
When I finally get some spare time for it, I'll start working on a step-by-step process for re-sizing HO-stuff for 28 mm.... but this is not the day....