The re-birth of Drake's Branch, NM. (New warehouse complex, page 9!)

[Colonel O Truth]

This is a great thread - my apologies for not noticing it sooner (I've not done much Old West stuff recently)

Your town is looking great - BUT - (there's always one) I have always felt that scratch building is by far the best way to go. One can create anything at all, and as a consequence, large projects such as towns develop organically - without constraints imposed by the availability of kits/styles of building/variations in scale between manufacturers, etc.

And while time may indeed be money, Old West buildings are not that difficult or time consuming to produce when compared to Edwardian, medieval, Victorian Industrial buildings (and the list goes on)...

I think what I am trying to say is, if you're going to go to the trouble of building a whole town, why not make it unique?

Just a thought...

[Heisler]

I understand that many people prefer to scratchbuild their buildings. However, some of us have to factor in the time component as well. Buying laser-cut mdf buildings allows me to get the bulk of my town built quickly. I'm then free to spend the time to scratch build a few buildings to give my town its unique character, a signature building as it were. Its kind of like characters in a western movie, the no-name supporting roles get held down by the laser cut buildings and the staring roles get filled by those buildings I choose to build myself. For example the classic corner saloon for my town of Calamity will be scratch built with a full interior, but it will be surrounded by buildings from Sarissa Precission and Battle Flag. Each of those will eventually be unique when I get to detailing the interiors and all of my buildings receive some extra exterior detailing anyway mostly to hide ugly seams.

[Elbows]

I'll be honest.  I just don't have the patience or skill to put up with making an entire town from scratch.  My enthusiasm "only goes so far" unfortunately.  Sadly you can see that in all of my gaming.  I make some stuff as needed, but at the end of the day I'd much rather just buy some stuff, assemble it, and put it on the table.  Heck if I could find well painted cowboy miniatures for a fair price I'd be fine not painting any of my own. 

Regarding the Sarissa stuff and some of their more simple kits...I bought some...received them in the post and then assembled nine of them in about an hour of sitting at my desk.  The next day I had a nearly complete town and was able to game.  Now, I'll admit the DMH buildings take a good while, perhaps 1-2 hours per kit if I have the patience.

I'm afraid the answer is quite simple: I can't be bothered. 

I suppose that's always been the case with me.  Back in my GW days I was never ever nearly as good as anyone else with regard to painting or modelling.  However...my stuff was table-top presentable and I was the ONLY gamer...ever...to have a complete, fully painted army.  My buddies armies consisted of gorgeously modified models painted to a golden demon standard...well...five or six models - the rest hadn't been painted.  At the end of the day I want the stuff on the table, and I want to game. 

[Elbows]

Heads up - if I get time to snap photos tonight, a large portion of my Old West terrain is going up for sale.  I'd imagine I have to put it up in the Bazaar and not just in this forum, or I'd give all of you guys dibs on it!  I'll post a link here when it goes up.  Unfortunately I won't be shipping abroad (not worth my time, and it wouldn't save you guys any money really from buying locally!).

Now to clean off the desk...

[Elbows]

Okey dokey, buildings are up for sale.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=55096.msg652820#msg652820

Guys from the Old West forum will get some fences and extra bits included for free (need to clear out some of that stuff too!).

[Elbows]

^Updated shipping and prices on some of the buildings.  Selling them in groups will make it much cheaper to ship.  Check out the thread for updates.  I'll toss it all on ebay at the end of the week if no one is interested.  Cheers!

[Elbows]

Okay,

Need some community help here.  Who makes the best, reasonably priced wooden shingles? Well, wood facsimile, I don't care what the material is...and yes I'll consider doing it myself.

I'm thinking about making a big huge order to 4Ground or GEG...and I'm going to likely pick this up:



Obviously I won't be doing thatching, so it'll be Spanish tile (I have the plasticard) or wooden shingles...so I'll need...quite a bunch.    I actually think 4Ground could make a painted version of this and sell it along the DMH range as it fits very well as a generic ranch from the time period.  I'm trying to create a few more "theaters" for the game.  I've been churning away on Casa Grande and Drake's Branch, so I think a big ranch/farm stead will be a nice change of pace.

Also, are chopped up paint brushes still the best bet for hay stacks/bales?   Small things are happening behind the scenes, but I've been concentrating on selling off all of the old Drake's Branch.

[Elbows]

Finally sat down last night and started cranking away on some more terrain...and yes this stuff was scratch built (I have so many materials I try to occasionally use them).

I am concentrating on "extras" and leaving the buildings to 4Ground (another large order coming soon!)


More detritus stands and a well (poorly sized, but oh well....get it!?)


4Ground wall set (which..they recently released pre-painted! DAMMIT).  The bricks will get a drybrush of orange/dust shortly


Two different fence enclosures.  One is a single, one is a double with taller slats


The taller one is made to stand alone or be backed up behind two buildings...representing storage behind the shop.

Just some more slow steps...trying to finish all of the terrain I've had stacked up lately. 

[Gutbukkit]

Nice work these are the little pieces that add character to a town I think, they make it feel lived in rather than just a collection of buildings lined up for a game. Keep 'em coming.

[Elbows]

I completely agree.  I think the "extras" absolutely make the table.  In fact that's why I have so many of them.  I'm selling off my old stuff, but I have a whole box worth of fences, corrals, tents, boxes, wagons, carts, outhouses etc.  All of the stuff that makes the town feel 10x more interesting (and more stuff to hide behind!).  I washed the walls down with a sepia wash and dry brushed an ochre/orange onto them so they're a bit more dirty and sunbaked.  Look much better.

[Gutbukkit]

These are the bits I need to start gathering. I'll scratch build some, buy wagons and outhouses from 4ground and crates, barrels and goods from Ainsty. My small town lacks good cover at the moment 

[Elk101]

This is all good advice if I ever get my town off the paper stage! I have a whole area drawn up, locations planned  and named, gangs worked out and a few figures aquired, but that's as far as it goes. I am totally in favour of the street clutter and 'stuff' approach.

[Elbows]

I really want to find suitable materials for making some fabric covered buildings...for the outskirts of town.  I think a visit to the fabric shop may be in order.  Does anyone know what material Playmobil used to use on their ship sails?  It's a thick, fabric-like paper...it looks ideal, but I have no idea what it is called or how to locate any of it.

[Gutbukkit]

I was going to experiment with canvas paper (A4 size sheets designed to go in your printer) to try and make some tents for then outskirts (and sails for my pirate ships). The stuff we sell in my shop is made by Polaroid so I'm guessing you'd be able to find similar of not the same in the US.

[Elbows]

Hmmm...indeed, I shall look into it.  I am building some railroad track for the trains, and I was considering building a railhead...lots of shacks and fabric buildings perhaps...