Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Old West => Topic started by: Heisler on 01 December 2015, 06:23:48 PM
-
Its been a while since I posted anything here about so here is a little background to refresh the memory. Calamity is my old west town that is currently under construction, a long slow construction. The concept is to create a display level gaming board that can travel to local conventions. That requirement has forced me to really think about how the board itself will be constructed but it also affects how the buildings are going to be mounted on it. Which brings us to the Row House. Now in old west parlance a row house is really just a small catalog house that exists right along similar (even mostly identical) houses. Typically used by miners and soiled doves (as their "crib"). This one could have been purchased right out of the Sears & Roebucks catalog and delivered to the building site, by freight wagon, with everything you need. The inspiration for this particular build came from a Grandt Line kit from their HO Scale Gold Series. I scaled it up to 1/56th scale and went from there. I didn't draw any plans per say just made sketches and notes and went from there. The Row House is being built more as a testbed of techniques and materials. It may or may not actually make it on to the game board itself as its actually larger than I anticipated but its a good, simple, practice piece. I envision two types of buildings for Calamity, Hero buildings and Support buildings. Hero buildings are those that I anticipate will see a lot of action, like the saloon, the land office, the sutler's store and perhaps the railroad station. These will get a lot of extra interior detail. Support buildings will be simpler in design and less likely to see action so they won't have the same level of detail as the Hero buildings on the inside.
Since this build is actually finished I include a link after the picture to my blog if you want more detail on that aspect.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gTsd3Fxt0So/VjQKAKajQpI/AAAAAAAAaDY/6D_WKuSsQlI/s720-Ic42/Calmity.RowHouse1.10.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/10/building-calamity-1-row-house.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/10/building-calamity-1-row-house.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rmKIlIujF4A/VjbiBl8RILI/AAAAAAAAaE0/MIUr9gWObCk/s1024-Ic42/Calmity.RowHouse1.2.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-2-row-house.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-2-row-house.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VN3_uPXuWv0/VjmECXt_3nI/AAAAAAAAaGM/oqPNTuX5OiY/s576-Ic42/Calmity.RowHouse1.3.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-3-row-house.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-3-row-house.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WJ8w_iJ5bKA/Vj7dzzZjCtI/AAAAAAAAaJE/PV_SUeR7wLg/s512-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse1.4.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-4-row-house.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-4-row-house.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dPdD4BFI2Kc/VkAG3Nk34RI/AAAAAAAAaJ4/JExfqQFi_40/s512-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse1.5.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-5-row-house.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-5-row-house.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x_F9Dp2e_AA/VkA1LcXl6wI/AAAAAAAAaMg/yZiH6IaB3MI/s912-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse1.6.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-6-row-house-roof.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-6-row-house-roof.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ufHpwfidIeA/Vk1Ibtf1xUI/AAAAAAAAafw/qdYUd4QWodk/s640-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse1.7.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-7-row-house-painting.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-7-row-house-painting.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aEhldi-7acw/VleDnug90TI/AAAAAAAAam8/brtROTVi9P0/s640-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse1.8.1.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EeUdfT0z6Wc/VleDygCDZnI/AAAAAAAAans/kJ5mliWybLE/s512-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse1.8.7.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-8-row-house-finishing.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/11/building-calamity-8-row-house-finishing.html)
-
Wooh ... Very nice step by step.
The final result is great.
-
Excellent as always. Simple, effective, and looks the part.
-
Excellent weathering.
Well done.
-
I finished the 2nd row house off over the weekend. I tried out a couple of different techniques and materials but overall the build is still very similar to the first row house. Primary components are; foamed PVC sheets and commercial parts for the doors and windows. I used a different type of shingle for the roof which lent itself to slightly different style of weathering. I'm still up in the air on the usefulness of the chipping fluid to create chipped paint and a lot of the chips are actually painted on. So another completed build for Calamity. Here are some pictures of the build along with links to the relevant sections of my blog.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TKekDaq8MFE/Vl3CCU6lhyI/AAAAAAAAaqM/0Bjo1JBWLDQ/s576-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse2.1.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-9-row-house-2-initial.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-9-row-house-2-initial.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t-DTtptCKio/Vl5_4EVoD3I/AAAAAAAAarg/kfS25ixOLTE/s800-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse2.2.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-10-row-house-2.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-10-row-house-2.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VdeqUGnuE3A/VmBLZ42d5vI/AAAAAAAAatI/SWNdmG5iIgs/s800-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse2.2.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-11-row-house-2-more.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-11-row-house-2-more.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gV6mQPh7ehQ/VmKHPynWGyI/AAAAAAAAatw/ZtptOvoUZe8/s640-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse2.3.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-12-row-house-2-even.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-12-row-house-2-even.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RhpbCDxpBHw/VmUh1uffT_I/AAAAAAAAaxg/C1V8w6A1qiU/s800-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse2.4.15.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-13-row-house-2.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-13-row-house-2.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YpMMMjndYfs/VmhjXpodWPI/AAAAAAAAa0Q/8vPeFBgb02E/s720-Ic42/CAM06577.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-14-row-house-2-roof.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-14-row-house-2-roof.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VgUopXp07FY/Vm0Adk8p2kI/AAAAAAAAa7E/mFH2IAYNiSI/s576-Ic42/Calamity.RowHouse2.5.2.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-15-row-house-2.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-15-row-house-2.html)
-
Love the roof on this one! While it's a pain to attach the shingles one at a time, row after row, the ramshackle end product is worth the effort. Also love the weathering on your buildings. I tend to paint mine as they look today (stripped of paint and dark) but your stuff looks like it would've during the time period. Nice stuff.
-
Well as much as I would like to take credit for putting on the shingles individually that particular brand comes in strips with an adhesive strip so they really are quite easy to put on. It took a lot more effort to get them the color that I wanted.
-
that particular brand comes in strips with an adhesive strip so they really are quite easy to put on.
Cheater! ;)
Easy to put on, you say? Where would one find these wonderful, unheard-of-until-now devices?
-
Cheater! ;)
Easy to put on, you say? Where would one find these wonderful, unheard-of-until-now devices?
Those shingles are a model railroad product produced by Builders in Scale called Truewood. I used package #704, O Scale Rustic Oak Shingles. A package covers about 30 square inches which actually goes quite quickly. That roof basically took up one full package of shingles. However, I probably spaced them closer together than I could have. They are real wood, self adhesive strip shingles. They are a bit on the pricey side though.
The shingles on the other row house are from Branchline Trains from their Laser-Art Structure line. There is quite a variety of shingles in the line and there are two sheets in a package making them a bit more cost effective. They don't make those nice shake shingles though.
-
Lovely realistic buildings with great weathering.
Bravo!
:-* :-*
And thanks for the roofing supplies links.
:D
-
And thanks for the roofing supplies links.
Cheesy
Ditto!
-
I'm not sure what this building will actually be when it gets to the table but for now its a Hardware store. This is based on a kit I purchased and built from Wild West Scale Model Builders in HO Scale which I measured and scaled up to 1/56. They make a fine range of kits and its likely that 1/56th scale versions of a number of their kits will populate Calamity. The nice thing about working from something like this is that its already "compressed" so I don't have to think to much about having to make it smaller to better fit the space and keep the proportions right.
I started this build a couple of weeks ago now but the holidays have somewhat interfered with me moving forward with it.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eEuCkRfpYc4/Vm-omUr1MII/AAAAAAAAa8Q/9HCHREgUp6M/s800-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.1.13.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-16-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-16-hardware-store.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FTxl9uR6BOc/VnJPBpNJoYI/AAAAAAAAa-4/fF_A7DMacKU/s512-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.2.4.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-17-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-17-hardware-store.html)
-
Stick with those shake shingles. As nice a modeling job as it is, I really didn't 'buy' your first row house but that second one sure works - and the shingles make most of the difference, the paint job doing the rest.
I'm building my own scratch built old west town but it will never match yours in detail - and in 15 mm, of course.
Very nice work.
-
I think most of the buildings will get some variation of shake shingles. I will probably reserve the Truewood shingles for the Hero buildings though. I need to experiment with some tarpaper roofs too.
-
Here is some work I did over the holidays on the Hardware store. Its seems to be taking forever to move forward on this one.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FTxl9uR6BOc/VnJPBpNJoYI/AAAAAAAAa-4/fF_A7DMacKU/s512-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.2.4.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-17-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-17-hardware-store.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AbnBoG_JZbI/VnOW0EKB6LI/AAAAAAAAbAY/DVTvLBXdDl4/s720-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.3.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-18-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-18-hardware-store.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HzHY-CzSAlg/VoC7FBygRNI/AAAAAAAAbDo/yEEVRIhCqeY/s640-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.4.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-19-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2015/12/building-calamity-19-hardware-store.html)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RZKNfXu1meE/VoyR7XuYIdI/AAAAAAAAbK0/yn5ZjLJmLAE/s800-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.5.7.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-20-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-20-hardware-store.html)
-
Looks good, can't wait to see it finished.
-
Neither can I! I'm trying to be patient and not skip any steps on this one.
-
That looks like an impressive building in the making - lots of walls, lots of roof angles - look forward to seeing the finished product. I should be so bold.
-
Yea, I'm kind of excited about the roof. It will add a lot of visual interest, especially when we are mainly looking at our buildings from above.
-
There is a little more progress on the "Hardware" Store. There has been a lot of painting and wallpapering and even a little assembling. It is eating up my stock of plastic strip though!
21 Building some Windows
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G-2ZpvmeoiQ/Vo9Qw4FO80I/AAAAAAAAbLk/2Uw8OUPeX3U/s512-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.6.1.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-21-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-21-hardware-store.html)
22 Windows and Trim
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LaNKkuRA_Uw/VpCaIWyHBbI/AAAAAAAAbM0/znb9sonRYN8/s720-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.7.10.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-22-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-22-hardware-store.html)
23 Wallpaper
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BN6pj6Axg1k/VpZtdSevCgI/AAAAAAAAbRg/ekFKxhmmcQE/s640-Ic42/CAM06787.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-23-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-23-hardware-store.html)
24 More Interior Work
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tH3zkSpAKUY/Vpi52gWmJhI/AAAAAAAAbTU/OTWoJEACFck/s640-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.9.15.jpg)
25 Wallpaper on the First Floor
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b1XshXu1hK8/Vp5MSiw5DtI/AAAAAAAAbXE/oykMVTJuvF0/s576-Ic42/CAM06828.jpg)
[url=http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-25-hardware-store.html] (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-24-hardware-store.html[/url)
26 Doors and Floors
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OSvRPaDoftI/Vp-dWam0ywI/AAAAAAAAbao/XixZ_hOXzts/s720-Ic42/CAM06845.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-25-hardware-store_20.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-25-hardware-store_20.html)
-
Looking good. Really want to see that roof you've got planned. :D
-
Am I missing something? Looks like you only have a window on the "false front" face of the building. Never seen anything like that. Are you following a prototype or am I deceived and there is more to come that will answer the question? In either regard, nice work as always.
-
A window in the false front of a building is not terribly unusual. But this one is based on a Colorado prototype. There are some good pictures in the Time Life Western cities on the towns folk.
-
This build is looking quite complex, should be good when done. I'm impressed that you have drawn it all up, cutting the pieces and wallpapering before assembly.
On the simple builds I have done it's basically build and wing it, but yours is clever.
The wood shingle roof on the previous build is excellent, will you do the same on this, I think they are way better than the simple laser cut shingles.
The dolls house paper, do you have links for them, I would be grateful if you could supply them.
Read your blog a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks for posting
-
I like to wing it at times but the more complex the buildings become the more I find I need to sit down and draw things out and apply a little discipline when I start putting them together. This one will get the wood shingle roof, at least once I figure out how I'm going to build this roof.
Here is one of the better dollhouse wallpaper sites. Remember you really need to reduce the wallpaper to really make it usable for our western miniatures.
http://www.jennifersprintables.com/ (http://www.jennifersprintables.com/)
-
Thanks for that.
Good luck with the roof
-
A little more work on the Hardware store. Its finally starting to look more like a real building at this point. I'm not sure how I managed it but I apparently forgot to take a picture from the front. I'm now down to the roof, the stairs and exterior paint.
27 First Floor Assembly
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VqwMfLNUX9k/VqpwXDMEUEI/AAAAAAAAbdU/Ssgat2c1Oeo/s512-Ic42/CAM06861.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BPMWONTKdZE/VqpwXB6AN6I/AAAAAAAAbdc/K_7KPJ0HNTc/s512-Ic42/CAM06862.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I-2tahF4YL8/VqpwXPaB9pI/AAAAAAAAbdk/Zig4S1Otyow/s576-Ic42/CAM06863.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-85L4kt3oy5s/VqpwZEmUlpI/AAAAAAAAbcg/Hkp0Prs6_dw/s200-Ic42/imgcache0.40873910.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-27-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-27-hardware-store.html)
-
Okay, now I see what I was missing - if I'd only looked at earlier photos more carefully I would have seen that you are building a two story structure and that there is a door and windows on the first floor and the window only I saw on the false front was on the upper story. I was worried you were building some sort of hybrid 'false side' thingy. ::) I'm so relieved.
Looking good. So top floor will be removable for games, then? Looks like.
-
Sorry I didn't pick up on that. Yes, indeed, two story building! Yes, the top floor will be removable for games.
-
A bit more work on the Hardware store. Finally getting to some external paint work.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WxFrQPQ4bVs/Vq5VOaR1OcI/AAAAAAAAbew/zsX346qG7eQ/s512-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.10.15.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vIsU8f5yoP0/Vq5VPVlyrII/AAAAAAAAbfE/L15eUOqxbDs/s512-Ic42/Calamity.HardwareStore.10.17.jpg)
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-28-hardware-store.html?showComment=1454346975619#c779309239148271219 (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/01/building-calamity-28-hardware-store.html?showComment=1454346975619#c779309239148271219)
-
Heisler, the coloring of the hardware store looks good. But I have to ask, are you going for an old and dilapidated look? Nothing wrong with that, naturally. Just wondering. I always think we tend to overdue the dinginess (not the dirt) of the Old West. By and large, people took as much pride in putting up a good front then as now, an important lesson I learned as a docent (re-enactement volunteer) at Sutter's Fort many years ago. But there were also skin flints then as now, too, so works either way. I've seen buildings that look like that - old ones.
-
The weathering layer is always the first layer I paint on a building. I don't know where I'm going to do a peeling paint effect so its easier to just do the whole thing. There will be a couple of different affects going on with this one. First the staircase side and the back will be unpainted as will the lean to on the back. The front and window sides will be painted with some peeling effect. All the trim will be painted some will get the peeled effect. There is a porch roof that still needs to go on the front so the portion under that will have almost fresh paint. The top will be at least a little faded. The window side will also be painted but will probably have a bit more peeled paint than the front.
Weather is rough on buildings and it didn't take long in the west for wood to turn grey and start to weather and paint wasn't nearly close to the quality we have today so it weathered pretty quickly as well. In my mind it doesn't have as much to do with pride of ownership as it does with the weather having its way. There will be buildings that will look "fresher" coming down the pike. My experience with even well maintained buildings in Colorado is they weather fast.
-
I'm trying to get started on the roof. I'm having a hard time figuring out the proper angle where the sloping roof of the dormer window meets the slope of the regular roof.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--geC4eBPRRk/VrNyi60N8dI/AAAAAAAAbi0/lQajm1-7gjw/s640-Ic42/CAM06914.jpg)
For the trials and tribulations of the roof there are more pictures on my blog:
http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/02/building-calamity-29-hardware-store.html (http://wargamesandrailroads.blogspot.com/2016/02/building-calamity-29-hardware-store.html)
-
Wow! i did miss this thread and i should now repent! I'm in awe!
-
Where do you buy the 2mm expanded foam you use for the buildings?
-
Check out Micro-Mark tools - they have one that will let you match those angles to a T and then replicate with east. That is, if you don't mind spending a few bucks for the tool. Don't remember what it is called but you'll know it when you see it.
-
Where do you buy the 2mm expanded foam you use for the buildings?
I get mine from foam board source here in the US.
Foamboardsource.com
-
Lovely build.
A simple way to calculate the dormer roof angle might be to use a mini-spirit level sitting where the hip of the dormer would go. That'll let you know where it hits the main roof. Mark that point and then you can use a straightedge/ruler to draw the two lines (to the left and to the right) from that point to where the dormer sides end. You then leasure that length, the length of the hip to get the shape of your trapezium. Make sense?
-
I get mine from foam board source here in the US.
Foamboardsource.com
Lots of choices there. Is it the Sintra that you are using?
-
Yep, the Sintra. I think its 10 sheets to the pack for 1mm and 2mm thicknesses. I have got my 3mm from another source so I could get larger sheets.