"Re-Building my Old West town" Topic

Just wanted to post some photos from my latest project. Years ago I sold off my scratch-built western town and I decided I missed it. I've started a new one and here's the first block:

Individual buildings are modeled after the Gem Theater in Deadwood:

The Birdcage Theater in Tombstone:

And the Pigeon's Nest from the movie studio set at Mescal outside of Tucson, AZ:

I still need to add some detailing and such features as signs, flocking, etc. but figured I'd get 'em up to see what people think.

Enjoy,
J. Lee Howard

Love it! Very nice work.

Did you have those at Historicon?

Those are really great. Nice color in the weathering. Curious about the boardwalks – are you using stain or shoe polish? I really like that worn color.

Very nice. AND YES, Please tell us what you used for color and weathering. You've hit a really nice balance between realism and showy colors.

@ Sir Walter- Yes, I did. I was running the pickup game in the back of the room.

Re: weathering. I use cheapo ceramic paints from the craft store because they are cheap and there's a lot of waste since most of the technique uses dry brushing. The two brands I use are Ceramcoat and Americana Colors but any of the other cheap acrylics should work just as well. I also suggest getting a cheap set of wide, flat brushes as the will be worn out and not good for anything other than dry brushing after a couple of uses like this.

I spray coat the entire piece flat black and then lightly drybrush the entire piece to bring out the wood grain and highlights. Then depending on the look (new wood, aged, ghost town, etc.) I use a three-color palette.

As an example, the Gem and boardwalks start with a heavy dry brush of Burnt Umber followed by a lighter coat of cinnamon (medium red-brown) and finally a very light coat of light tan.

For the painted buildings, like the Pigeon's Nest, I start with a somewhat smeary coat for the base, leaving the areas around windows, doors, joins, etc. bare and then dry brush the next two colors as above.

The wood's texture does most of the work. It's just a matter of experimenting with some colors and controlling the pressure you put on the brush.

Great looking stuff.

Those are fantastic, mine are also scratch built before the MDF crave started. They would benefit from a repaint like yours. (if I ever get time)

Thanks CIA – They sure look more like some secret technique than craft paint. Great job.

Most impressive.

Very nice!

And I'm painting up specific civilians to go with each block. Here's EB, AL and Tom by Brigade.

This really is outstanding work.

Simply fabulous! Thanks for sharing and the inspiration.

He's fighting in his pajamas!

amazing…

Thanks, all! I paint minis professionally so it's hard to find time for some of my own projects. This is one I've been wanting to get back to for a while and it's been a lot of fun.

The overall plan is to build a block to a certain theme (in this case, the saloon/red light district) and in addition to the buildings, I'm painting appropriate civilians and a gang to go with each block. Next on the list is Chinatown!

re: Laser cut and MDF buildings. I saw two games at Historicon using these and they look really great. Although I prefer scratch building my own stuff, I recommend many of those kits as well. With a little paint and some extra detailing, they look quite fine.

I should add that the railings on my balconies are not scratch built. I cheated and used HO scale picket fence sections.

And here's the gang: The Infamous McSorley Brothers! All figures from the Old Glory Cowboy Wars line.

lovely set of buildings, a joy to play with.
Figures are nicely done too.
Well done