Fly's Studio: Part 7 - Finished Product

In case you are just joining us, this series of articles chronicles my real-time adventures preparing and painting Old Glory's Fly's Studio from their OK Corral series of 25mm Western buildings. Because the entire process is an experiment, you'll get to see my successes and mistakes along the way. To see the entire series of articles, click on the Fly's Studio link.

Wow, it's been one year since I began this series! I finished the building last Autumn, but was only able to take some decent photos recently.

The Finished Product
I wanted the false-front to look maintained with a fairly fresh coat of buff paint. After all, this was the part folks saw from the street. I wanted the sides to look more worn down, with the paint wearing away. Overall, I think I achieved it. I omitted roof posts because I was afraid they would break off. I wish the roof section lifted off, not the top half of the building. In hindsight, I could have pinned and then epoxied the posts to the floor. Oh well. Next time I'll do that. I still have to add some signs and other details, which I'll do as well.

Lessons Learned
I learned a great deal with this project that I will be taking onto other projects. I've learned that I'm not a fan of interior detailed buildings, though I still have a few more of those type of buildings to do. On future buildings, I want to lighten the look, make the wood more faded than on this one. I think I'll make bases for the buildings as well.

What other Old Glory Western projects are on my table? The Harwood House is primed, and I've figured out an easy way to fix the badly molded roof so it fits level on the building. (More on that in another post.) The sheriff's building, the OK Corral horse pen, the tented roof building, and some outhouses are also primed. These are my summer projects.

Overall, this was a fun and frustrating project. I hope you enjoyed it and learned a few techniques as well--what to do and not to do based on my experiences!

Zorro (Reaper 28mm)

The blurb from Miniature-Giant: "This Chronoscope series figure by Reaper Miniatures is entitled "Zorro", #50054. This pewter miniature is of a human. "Zorro" was sculpted by Tim Prow and released on April 13, 2009. This Chronoscope miniature shows a male adult wearing a hat, mask, and cape and holding a sword in his right hand." Retail is $5.99.

When we get into the $6 range for a single figure, it better be good. I like this figure and will eventually buy it, just as soon as I finish painting some of the 40 Western figures I currently have in various stages of completion. After all, who else makes "Zorro"? (I wonder how long they can call this figure Zorro until some IP lawyer discovers it?)

Zorro's pose is fluid and dramatic, looking to me more like Tyrone Power's Zorro than Antonio Banderas' version. (Over the years, many actors have played Zorro--even George Hamilton, though I wish I could forget ever seeing that movie.) I also like how his head tilts down slightly with this arms extended in a natural-looking, menacing pose. I prefer this Zorro's hat over the head-covering bandanna-mask we sometimes see Zorro wearing. A fun and engaging figure capturing the essence of Zorro.

Though I keep saying Chronoscope is hit-or-miss for me, this Zorro is a hit. Well worth the wait. For more information on the 'real' movie and TV Zorro, check out the official Zorro website.

Making 15mm Hedges

In preparation fora 15mm WWII game this coming Thursday evening at my house, I began working on some portable hedges. I used the same techniques Games Workshop and others recommend, cutting scouring pads into strips and gluing them onto a base. I had my doubts, but in the end I was quite pleased. This is a great, easy project that any new gamer or kid will enjoy doing. Plus, who couldn't use more terrain?

Making the Hedges
For these hedges, I cut the scouring pad 1cm high more or less, roughed them up a bit. Though I did mark the cut lines with a dull pencil, being exact really isn't critical. After all, nothing in nature is perfect. When I had enough strips, I glued each onto its own 6" popsicle stick. I also cut one strip into thirds and glued them onto cut down sticks. I can use these small strips as fillers or corners. Eventually, I will make true corner pieces, bending a strip to fit on a custom cut L-shaped section of balsa wood.

Important Tip: Always weight the hedges with a book or something else heavy, otherwise the sticks will warp. Placing several under the same weight works well. Because I didn't want the sticks to warp at all, I let the glue dry over night. This way I knew they would be fine.

Painting the Hedges
The next day, I took the dry sticks of hedges outside for a good primer of Wal-mart black $1 spray paint. When that dried throughly, I began "wet" drybrushing the hedges with Ceramcoat Forest Green 2010, leaving some black for depth. This part felt like it took forever! When that color dried, I began normally drybrushing with Ceramcoat Medium Foliage Green 2536, then Light Foliage Green 2537, followed by a very light brushing of Moss Green 2570 for the highlights.

Basing the Hedges
The base is painted Ceramcoat Autumn Brown as are all my bases. I then mixed some Woodland scenics Fine Brown Ballast with some Coarse Brown Ballast and glued that is random places, making it look more natural. Finally, I applied Scenic Express' Pasture Blend flock to the base. In the photo to the lower-left, the worn down section of hedge, the dirt, and "thinned-out" grass make it look like some soldiers have been taking a shortcut through that section. Don't let it fool you. This section is a bit lower than others, which normally come up to about shoulder height.

This morning, I gave the hedges a quick spray of Dulcote. All said, a few evenings light work. Total cost for these hedges (one scouring pad): about 60 cents. Who can't love that price? By the way, one pad makes 10 full sticks.

Final Thoughts
When he first saw the unprimed scouring pad hedges, my son felt they looked ugly, nothing like a hedge. He changed his mind when he saw the final product. Sure, they won't win any fine scale modeling award, but for less than a buck they work for me! This was an easy project. If a club were to pre-make the glued and primed sticks of hedges, kids and others at a gaming convention could make a couple in one sitting and have something useful that looks good as well.

Update 3-18: More Ideas From TMP
To stop the sticks warping, BrianW at TMP suggests possibly using hot glue instead of regular glue. The sticks would be ready in mere minutes instead of waiting overnight. I'll try this for the next batch. Coopman also at TMP mentiones using air filter material for hedges, which is a good suggestion for larger scales. The material is more 'open and loose' than scouring pads. I'm thinking I could apply some Woodland Scenics Fine Green Blend flock to the filter for a lusher look as well. Great suggestions, guys!

Painted London Gentleman

Last week, I posted photos of the bare-metal London Gentlemen pack from West Wind. Below is my painted version of a gentleman from that pack. I'm very pleased with the result, though my photo isn't that great. Like I said, I'll get better photos in the future. I still have to do some detail work on the base.

6mm GZG Photo

I'm posting this photo of Ground Zero Game's 6mm figures for Phil Walling and the guys over on TMP. He was asking for photos of the Tactical Interface Transport. You can see it in the upper-left corner of the photo. Hope it helps everyone. Note that I did not take the photo.

West Wind Gothic Horror Packs

For the past year, I have been slowly working on a Victorian Science Fiction theme relating to my Western gaming. Most of the figures are from West Wind's Gothic Horror range, manufactured by Old Glory here in the States. Unfortunately, these figures will never be manufactured again, so when Old Glory runs out of current stock, these figures will be gone. With the Old Glory Army membership, the packs are $4.80 each, which comes to $1.20 a figure, a good value in my book. As with all West Wind figures, some are excellent while others are fair, with some just downright odd.

While Old Glory has photos of many of the miniatures, a few packs are not represented. This didn't stop me from buying them. Rummaging in my folders, I found these photos of unprimed Gothic Horror figures, which I had shot nearly a year ago. Maybe someone will find them useful.

GHZ-5 The Lady Doctor and her Staff (Gothic Horror: Zombies)
Old Glory has a photo of the two nurses online, but not the Jamaican fellow and the other fellow with the machete and revolver. The lady nurses have awkward faces, which have been difficult for me to paint. The chap with the revolver is quite nice for a West Wind figure. I'm nearly done painting him. Having mixed emotions about the pack, I'm not sure how I would rate them. Would I buy the pack again? Probably. Crazed nurses and female doctors are hard to find. Plus my wife is a nurse.

GHJ-5 London Gentlemen (Gothic Horror: Jeykll & Hyde)
If you play Victorian vampire hunting games, you must get this pack. The fellow on the far right is a dead-ringer for Gary Oldman's Count Dracula in Coppola's 1992 Dracula movie. The fellow to the far left is ok, while the figure second from the left is one of my favorites. He can be a crotchety old man or, in my campaign, the crazy mastermind pulling the strings. The figure second from the right I also like, a stuffy gentleman. I'll be posting my fully painted version of him soon. Regardless, if you need a Gary Oldman "Dracula," you must get this pack before it disappears forever.