"28mm Victorian Outpost?" Topic

In the Space 1889 Rulebook, I believe it is mentioned that many of the great powers have scientific outposts out on places like Mercury, Venus and Mars. I thought it might be interesting to build one in 28mm. What would these installations look like? There must have been real life installations on Earth in the late 1800s/early 1900s, but I haven't been able to find any references, pictures, or anything on them besides a brief mention of their existence.

Here is an Airfix Fort Sahara model

auction

Google "French Foreign Legion Fort Images" and "Afghanistan Hill Fort Images" and you will have plenty to look at.

Ft. Larned, out on the plains, was built as a central parade ground with barracks and other buildings around it. Then the Indians ran off their livestock a couple times, and Congress voted additional money for a blockhouse. Why go to the added trouble of fortifying it if nobody is going to attack it? So I'm thinking something modular, where you could put in what you need.

I've dealt with a modern scientific/military facility in Farthest Australia, with three modular buildings arranged to fit the piece of land they bought, a few sheds and whatnot, all surrounded by a fence. Barbed wire would be available by then, and would provide some security from drunks, rowdies, juvenile delinquents, and emus. Even Western Australia is relatively civilized, so the only form of attack it endures is Snake Alerts, when a poisonous snake is actually spotted, and the 8-10 stationed there stay inside.

Just some thoughts.

Grelber

The Boer War featured multiple, largely pre-fabricated blockhouses as part of the British containment strategy. Various corrugated iron sections based on water tanks with a layer of rocks between two layers of iron, bigger installations might feature cement and field stone towers to give better views of the surroundings.

So you could use Hirst Arts plaster moulds for making field stone walls and corrugated tin from Model Railway supplies for the iron bits.

As for VSF, you can let your imagination run. Fabricated panels of iron riveted into a framework, portholes and hatches from Model Ship building supplies, a parabolic reflector to concentrate heat for running a Stirling engine or a small steam plant to supply electricity are all within known Victorian technology.

Maybe start with something like Mason's Hut and then let your imagination run as bsrlee suggests. See: mawsons-huts-replica.org.au

Mars: Unlimited Martian buildings,whole cities even.

Mercury: Princess Christiana Station,a layout of which is given.

Venus: Mainly native style huts on stilts. Most other things rot in the wet conditions.

You want to get yourself a copy of Conklin's Atlas for the basic info and go from there.

Or have a look at my humble work on the subject.

link

Fisher Price makes a nice space station that could be easily converted for use with 28mm figures. There are lots of them on eBay.

Venus: Mainly native style huts on stilts. Most other things rot in the wet conditions.

Or sink into the muck?

Do like the FP Space Station idea; tis smoothly modern, but with some panel lines, 'riveted' reinforcement strips, could do the duty. The more recent one is already on a rock outcropping, no sliding into muck.

Doug