The real buzzard of the Old West plus guide to minis

[oabee]

The Warhammer Garden of Morr came with a raven.

It's available by itself here in the States via Hoard o' Bits:



They also have one of the Reaper ravens by itself:



No idea how their shipping is internationally: they do great service here in the States.

Reaper also has its Murder of Crows:



Bits of War has a pack of ravens and Old World Vultures that are very nice (especially like the signposts/fenceposts/etc.):



I'll keep looking.  

[oabee]

Dang, almost forgot. Here in the States, Scenic Express (model railroad scenery company) has Rudy the O-Scale Black Crow. A little pricey at $3.99, but I picked one up anyway. Being O Scale, he makes a good 28mm raven. Just needs a little dry-brushing.

[doctor_ocks]

Reaper also has its Murder of Crows:

Still the baddest ass collective noun...ever.

[HerbyF]

Perhaps the reason so many of us are comfortable with old world vultures in our western scenes is that we grew up on spagetti westerns, most of which were filmed in Spain & North Africa, so the vultures we saw in the movies were old world. Most of our games are based more on western movies than the historical old west.

[oabee]

Perhaps the reason so many of us are comfortable with old world vultures in our western scenes is that we grew up on spagetti westerns, most of which were filmed in Spain & North Africa, so the vultures we saw in the movies were old world. Most of our games are based more on western movies than the historical old west.

I've been trying to figure out how that Old World Vulture became an Old West Icon, and this is the best explanation I have seen.

The only specific movie I could remember with a vulture was Jeremiah Johnson, where Jeremiah comes across Del Gue ("with an 'e'") buried up to his neck. Well, they did use a real Turkey vulture in the scene, but had it making a squawk of sorts: Turkey vultures actually have no voice, they can only hiss. Another ornithological Hollywood myth: those scenes of a Bald eagle soaring across the Western sky, making a majestic drawn-out screaming chEEeeeerr call. That's actually the call of the Red-tailed hawk: the eagle's call is much less majestic and unsuitable for the purposes of the Hollywood director! Sibley's Field Guide describes the Bald eagle's call as "rather weak, high, yelping calls." Not what the director is looking for.

[oabee]

Check bits duties....GW do a good bird or two as well as the vulture.

Mr. Digits:

I've been checking around, trying to find Games Workshop's vulture and other assorted birds, and have come up empty (except for the raven I noted above).

Any idea where we could find the GW birds, on either side of the Atlantic? Tried Hoard O' Bits with no luck.

Mike O

[Digits]

http://bitzbarn.com/oscommerce/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Vulture&x=2&y=0

Vulture

[oabee]

Very nice. Was unaware of the Bitz Barn....great! 

[Elbows]

Still the baddest ass collective noun...ever.

[FifteensAway]

There will be a sermon down the church Sunday, preech is going to wax philosophic on Ornery Theology.  Leest I think that's what he done said.

Hey, what's this white spot on my hat?

[oabee]

 

Mr. Elbows:

Picked up the PDF of Shoot N Skedaddle: great stuff! I have a philosophical question, but will post it in the appropriate thread.

By the way, everybody, I found it fascinating that the Common raven that haunts the American West is the very same bird (Corvus corax) that also haunts virtually all of Europe and Eurasia:

[Elbows]

Sheesh and I thought pigeons were bad...

[Digits]

More here bud.

http://www.bitsandkits.co.uk/advanced_search_result.html?keyword=Vulture&sesid=mb0mkgfkm952l606e65dd3om67&search_in_description=1

[oabee]

Is it possible that our concept of the iconic scavenger of the American Old West is based on a 1942 Warner Brothers cartoon?  

Perhaps the reason so many of us are comfortable with old world vultures in our western scenes is that we grew up on spagetti westerns, most of which were filmed in Spain & North Africa, so the vultures we saw in the movies were old world. Most of our games are based more on western movies than the historical old west.

I fully agreed with this explanation, but then I stumbled across Beaky Buzzard, shown here with Bugs Bunny somewhere in the American desert:



According to toonopedia.com (corroborated with Wikipedia and tv.com), "Beaky Buzzard, both physically and mentally the runt of his litter, first appeared in Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid, which Warner Bros. released on July 4, 1942 [predating the Spaghetti Westerns ]. The director (and creator of the character) was Bob Clampett, the man who created Tweety Bird, introduced Gremlins to the cartoon world, and later created Beany & Cecil. Beaky's voice was provided by Kent Rogers (Horton the Elephant, Joonyer Bear), in imitation of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's character, Mortimer Snerd. (It was also reminiscent of Pinto Colvig's Goofy.)"

Beaky was then featured in  Dell's Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies comic book, where he was frequently teamed with another minor Warner character, Henery Hawk. He later appeared in three more cartoons: The Bashful Buzzard (1945), then in 1950 (With the great Mel Blanc doing his voice) appeared in The Lion's Busy and Strife with Father. There was even a brief merchandising campaign:



These items are currently on eBay, if you're interested.  

Another, not as popular, cartoon buzzard was Buzz Buzzard who appeared in some of Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker cartoons:



Buzz's first appearance was in 1948, again predating the Spaghetti Westerns!

Further, the cartoon vultures, which obviously don't look like the New World Turkey Vulture or Black Vulture, are not based on any particular Old World Vulture, but rather a cartoonish collection of a few Old World features, mainly the long neck, naked head, more pronounced beak, and fluffy white collar. Further, they are both named Buzzard, a term applied exclusively by Americans to American vultures, but are based on Old World Vultures, which are never called buzzards.

Now I'm really confused. Yes, even more than normal.  

[Digits]

My wife just got back from Oz with two packs of Eureka vultures for me......beautiful!

Now to figure out how to base them.....