Ghost Town Commission

[cmsciulli]

As I mentioned in another thread, I am putting on a large game at a convention next week.

As pat of this game I needed a ghost town, so I commissioned a friend to scratch build one for me.

Please enjoy his workmanship!

[Shikari Sahib]

TERRIFIC I love them

take care of your friend, is an artist

Piero

[Malamute]

Superb, very atmospheric looking buildings

[Bugsda]

Beautiful

[Malebolgia]

*Jaw falls on the ground...THUD*

Fantastic! This will look so awesome in so many games. You could use it for western gaming, steampunk gaming, Dark Tower settings, and even some sci-fi settings. Your buddy is really talented!

[cheetor]

That is a really consistent and effective looking set of buildings   

Do you know how long it took your friend to make the entire set from start to finish?

[Aaron]

That Lee sure makes it look like he knows what he is doing! knowing him he did it all in about 8 hours all at the last minute!

[Doomhippie]

Excellent stuff. Lucky you!

[richarDISNEY]

Just stunning!  Tell your pal, wonderful job!

I cannot seem to take my eyes off of them....

[cmsciulli]

That Lee sure makes it look like he knows what he is doing! knowing him he did it all in about 8 hours all at the last minute!

Hahaha!

I can ask him what the exact number of hours are that he put into the town from start to finish, but I think it is probably close to your estimate.  I know he took a few days off to finish some big painting projects up and he's right back in the thick of them again :-P

[BunkerMonkey]

First off, using my very poorly-imitated Elvis voice, "Thankyouverramuch!" for all the compliments.

It took about one work session (3-4 hours) to make each building (the saloon took longer). It took another afternoon to base everything. I had to wait for each layer to dry but fortunately we're experiencing a nice batch of weather so that helped.

Most of the buildings were inspired by my own travels thru New Mexico and Arizona. All of the storefronts were lifted from my photo albums. The saloon was an exception. I went for the Hollywood look instead. The saloon was inspired by The Morning Star from the film Silverado.

I was going to do a little more super detailing for the ground but decided against it since the piece is going to be used for wargaming and I figured it would just get crushed. I also added some features to each building to allow creative players a chance to perform heroic and/or sneaky manuevers, such as the block and tackle on the general store, the open barn on the freight office, back fire escape on the saloon, etc.

I'll post a bibliography of some books I have in my collection that are great source material for anyone who's interested.

Thanks again for all the kind words,

Lee Howard

[Alfrik]

Nicely done, not overly falling apart which would have put them out of the period to have the time to really "look" like current pictures.

[BunkerMonkey]

Alfrik,

I noticed you're in Sacramento. You are smack dab in the middle of ghost town country! There are some great ones in semi-ghost condition all over Northern CA and Bodie is over the mountains from you, although I imagine it's still quite a drive.

Here's that bibliography I mentioned earlier:

_Ghost Towns, Gamblers and Gold_ Chuck Lawliss
_New Mexico's Best Ghost Towns_ Philip Varney
_Ghost Towns_ Tom Robotham
_Ghost Towns of the West_ Lambert Florin

All have lots of photos and I got them all at discount book stores. The most expensive was only $15.

[Hitman]

Those are absolutely fantastic looking. Excellent work. Thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Hitman
 

[Hawkeye]

Beautiful buildings, and they're great gaming pieces too! I noticed the opportunities for derring-do and heroic leaps built into the structures. Very, very nice! Great detailing, and the Saloon is fantastic.