Sheriff Office: Part 3

Almost done with the basics of the sheriff's office. Snapped a couple quick pics before we watched the shuttle Atlantis take off this afternoon. Next step is to glue on the detail parts. Today, I bought a sheet of 5.2mm plywood to cut into bases for the buildings. When I do this, I will add front roof supports to the building. Sadly, the building does not come with roof supports. First, I have to borrow some power tools my my Tool Time neighbor. When done, much better photos coming.

Edit 5/15/10: I just realized I took these photos outside with the camera set to "light bulb" instead of auto--hence the odd tint to the photos. Lesson learned. Check the camera's settings every time I use it!

Colors Used:

• Rear Interior Wall: Ceramcoat Antique White heavily drybrushed on black primer
• Front Interior Wall: Folk Art Bayberry
• Interior Trim: Ceramcoat Walnut
• Jail: P3 Pig Iron
  
• Gun Rack: Americana Russet.
• Windows & Doors: Ceramcoat Tomato Spice with some Ceramcoat Toffee Brown dusty highlights
• Roof: Americana Neutral Grey, Slate Grey and Sky Grey
  

Sheriff Office: Part 2

Another shot of some of the work I did yesterday on the sheriff office. I did some more work after the photo, mainly painting the sign and touching up the black paint and the walls. The walls are Ceramcoat's Antique White, which is a great off-white. The red is Ceramcoat Tomato Spice. While doing McFly's Studio last year, I came to the conclusion that I don't like doing interiors--lots of extra work for little pay off in the long run for me. The upside with the sheriff office is that it has a jail, which can play into a scenario.

IGN's Top 25 Westerns of All Time

On Monday, IGN released their Top 25 Westerns. "Our criteria, then, for what made the grade: the films' popularity and longevity with audiences, their impact on the genre, their basic coolness quotient, and their quotability." Having just spotted it this morning, I haven't picked over it yet. However, I do agree with their #1 pick, which they present in a video format. Plus it's the only Western I actually own on DVD. (I tend to watch a lot of Westerns on the Encore Western channel.) So see what you think.

Sheriff Office & OK Corral Progress Photos

Below are some progress shots of the latest 25mm buildings I'm working on for my Western games. They are both Old Glory I bought two years ago during their big Western sale. The top is the sheriff's office, and the lower is the OK corral. I also painted some outhouses but forgot to snap them. Sorry but I forgot to write down how I painted the stone. (I used the hedges out front as a photo stand. I use free USPS boxes for painting, dulcoting, and holding models.)

Painting Wood:
Americana Burnt Umber DA064
Americana Khaki Tan DA173
Ceramcoat Sandstone 2402

I left the air bubbles in the sheriff's office instead of filling them. My explanation is that Gun Town is such a rough place, that the office has been attacked many times--even by Gatling gun. Like I said, a rough town to be a lawman.

Yesterday, I also cleaned up Old Glory's Harwood House and their wooden bridge. I found an easy and cheap solution to fixing Harwood House's poorly fitting roof and will post that asap. I cannot stress this enough: when cutting resin, always wear full safety glasses! The resin chips easily and flies everywhere. Two years ago, I learned the hard way that an Optivisor is not safety glasses!

Yesterday, I also primed the interior details for the sheriff's office and dulcoted three more Western figures I finished last week, taking advantage of a low humidity day here in Central Florida. I just have to finish their bases. That brings my total completed Western figures to 17, with a few Victorian gentlemen tossed in for measure. I promise that I will take closer photos of the Western figures and explain how I made the bases.

Scratchbuilt 28mm Space 1889 Ships

On Thursday morning at Cold Wars, I had a great time chatting with a fellow who scratch builds Space 1889 aeronef ships in 28mm. He makes everything himself, including the cannon in the lower photo. He plays a game or two with them, and then sells them off in the flea market. I would have bought one--the gray ship really caught my eye--but I had no idea how I would get them on the plane! Sadly, I watched other people buy them instead.
As a little aside, a fellow on the other side of the room had set up a great looking ancients game in 1/72 (I believe) and was tearing it down because practically no one signed up for it. Th became a common theme that day from what I saw. Still, we had a great day.

Old Glory 15mm Train: Good, Bad, & Really Ugly

I first saw Old Glory's new HO scale Model Power passenger train set at Cold Wars. The set has been discontinued. Joel purchased it for their new line of largish 15mm Western figures and buildings. The set retails at Old Glory for $150, but is cheaper with the Old Glory Army discount, which I assume most purchasers will have. The Army price is about what you would pay online for such a Model Power set.

I realize Joel had a difficult time finding a decent HO set, but there are other, better choices for the same money or just a bit more. I've been a model railroader since 1976 and for the past 12 years have provided research for companies like Lionel, MTH, Atlas, and Athearn so they can accurately design their Conrail locomotives and freight cars. I have also been a fan of Western narrow gauge railroading, modeling in Sn3 back in the day.

The Good...
I guess the good part is that the Old Glory (aka Model Power) set is a train set and that it scales pretty well with the Old Glory 15mm figures. (This implies that the 15mm figures are closer to 1/87 than they are to 1/100, which is fair to say from my pirates.) I hate to say this, but that is where the good ends.

The Bad...
Where do I begin? The type of loco is totally wrong for the era. The loco is basically a 1930's-1940's 0-4-0 yard switcher with an "old time" diamond stack applied. The 1870's to 1880's, the main era of Western gaming, should really feature the 4-4-0 "American" style locomotive. Yes, most gamers are not sticklers for model railroading like I am. However, you place a model train on a gaming table--and then run it around--it will become the focus of attention for everyone for a long time. Therefore, it should look like it belongs.

The Really Ugly
My real gripe with this set is the paint scheme. The red and green look like Christmas. Worse, the entire train has "Pennsylvania Railroad" painted on every car and the loco. While as a kid I pretended that I was playing cowboys and Indians in my backyard in Central Pennsylvania, I knew that my backyard was not the Old West! The set's paint scheme is a huge problem I cannot overlook.

Once Upon A Time...
In the intintroduction to this post, I promised an alternative. Right now, there are few Western HO train sets in production. The hobby goes through these phases. My main suggestion is to pick up Bachmann's HO train set called "Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific Railroad." What? A Disney train set. Wait a minute. Walt Disney was a huge model railroad buff. This is a replica of his 1/8 scale train that he ran in his own backyard. It has the proper 4-4-0 American locomotive, correct boxcar, two gondola for your gunslingers to fight on, and a nifty "bobber" caboose. You can get the set online for about $99 from MB Klein, the same as if you bought the Old Glory Model Power set.

This Bachmann set also looks good enough and is reliable enough that you could use it as a train set during Christmas. I would be loathe to use the Model Power set for the holidays.

But what about passenger cars? I have you covered. Roundhouse, which is owned by Athearn, makes scale 32' Overland passenger cars for the Old West. Many have been discontinued but are to be reintroduced late July. You can see them at the Roundhouse website. My personal favorite is the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad, the quintessential movie railroad. Many films used these cars, which run on the Durango & Silverton scenic railroad in Colorado to this very day. The D&RGW Overland combine car was also the first train kit I built, way back in 1976! You should be able to get these cars discounted online for a decent price.

Cut! That's a Wrap!
So while I like the folks at Old Glory, I just cannot recommend this train set. I've given some suggestions. Over time, you even could add more and more pieces and new locomotives to the Bachmann set. I don't see that happening with the lower-quality Model Power set Old Glory offers. If people ask, I will also write an article offering advice for using model trains in 28mm Western gaming.