Drinks on the House!

Turns out building a western town is thirst work. So shortly after finishing the Sheriff's office and jail, the good citizens of Tranquility built themselves a saloon.

Like the Sheriff's office, this is a kit from Tri-City Laser as supplied by Knuckleduster. Assembly was pretty much the same, with a mix of craft paints, Testors and Vallejo. The bar with shelving I thought was a nice touch. Those classic western saloon doors are cool too!

I have more under construction that hopefully I can share soon. I have plenty of old painted minis to put on a decent game, if only your basic gunfight or rob the bank scenario. I'll have to get a few more painted, as well as some additional terrain bits and bobs to get into the full potential of the genre.

In the meantime, how about that drink, pardner?

Welcome to the Old West Town of Tranquility

It's been a hot summer. Kind of like the old days out west. So what better to work on than my old west town?

I've had about half a dozen buildings for a while, but this is the first one actually finished. It's the Sheriff's Office from Tri-City Laser, available via Knuckleduster Miniatures. It's very solid construction, and has some great details like the jail bars.

Old West seems like it always gives a fun game. We played a few many years ago using The Rules With No Name, and I would kind of like to get back to that. These figures were painted up back then, but I also have some more in the works. Back then we played using paper buildings, but those got wrecked in a basement water incident, hence the purchase of these. I've also included a sneak peek photo of the saloon.

Other buildings I'm working on are a bank (got to have a place to rob), a newspaper office, a stage stop, a couple of stores (hardward and dry goods?) and a two-story building I'm not sure what I will do with yet. Some things I want: Sawmill, blacksmith/livery, hotel, corner saloon, barber/doc, dance hall, mining supply/mine, railroad station... the list goes on. And some houses, of course.

It should be noted I have been able to work on these for a couple reasons. First and foremost I am stuck waiting for parts on back order for the primary summer project: the Mustang. I should provide an update on that, I just haven't gotten to it. Second is the fact we have no air conditioning right now, which has made me kind of lethargic and not wanting to stay inside. So I've set the building construction site up in our screen room. I think the wife isn't too happy about the mess, but c'est la vie. Hopefully more to come!

It's May! Al Unser Jr. in 1989

May is one of my favorite months. Well, at least the last couple of weeks of May. Indy doesn't really have a month of May anymore. But it's still worth celebrating!

I finished this one up a while ago, but had been saving it. It's Al Unser Jr.'s 1989 Lola Chevy. If you don't know the story, Little Al and Emerson Fittipaldi were battling for the win late in the race. Emmo went low inside of Al in turn 3 with two laps to go, they touched wheels, and Al ended up spinning and hitting the wall. When Fittipaldi came by, Al applauded.

Who says no one remembers who finishes second? I suppose I should do Fittipaldi's car at some point. I have the kit and the decals.
Later, when the Speedway did its renovations to meet NASCAR standards for the Brickyard, that included all new, higher walls around the track. Many of the old wall sections now line the pond in the infield golf course. The turn 3 stretch? Little Al somehow got a hold of that and set it up on his property in Albuquerque. :)

Anyway, standard AMT Lola T-8900 kit with Indycals and Tamiya paint.

Something New and Different: A Dollhouse

My wife has long lamented that I can paint plaid on kilts on figures an inch high, or obtain smooth finishes on scale cars, but can't seem to find the motivation to pick up a brush to do any painting on the 1:1 scale house.

Well, how about a 1":1' house?

She actually spotted this on a table at a church rummage sale Friday evening. I'd long thought about doing something like this for our girls, so at $8, it was a bargain we couldn't pass up.

Now, about $75 in paint and accessories later, maybe we should have!

Nah, just kidding. It has actually been a fun project, and one the girls have been able to help out with a bit. They picked the colors, but I did all the painting, just to avoid the mess. Kate is particularly anxious to get this done, and hasn't been so patient with all the prep work. I've actually rushed through it, and haven't done as good a job as I should sanding and such, but it is turning out OK.

So far I have gotten paint on the exterior and most of the interior, and hope to get it assembled tonight. Well, at least the main walls. Then there are stairs, detail trim, the roof...

I can see how this could be another addictive hobby. We're already plotting our next build, but my wife says not until the 1:1 scale car in the garage is finished. So maybe Santa will bring us one.

Rebels

I've been a Star Wars fan since seeing that star destroyer sweep across the screen in 1977. Now, I really am big on the animated series Rebels. I like it even better than Clone Wars. And my daughters are right there next to me on the couch to watch.

So I've been buying the toys for my kids.... Oh, who am I kidding. They are for me. Actually, some of them my wife even bought for me for Christmas!

I recently picked up some base stands for these figures, which makes them easier to display. And it has even given me an idea to use them in a game, like Pulp Alley. In addition to the crew of the Ghost here, I also have the "bad guys," including Darth Vader, the Inquisitor, Agent Kallus and the gang.

Terrain could be an interesting challenge. I don't have any of the spaceships in this scale. But it could be fun! And that's what it's supposed to be about, right?

A Look Ahead

Just a little something I've been working on. Anyone who says Viking shields are tough should try Aztecs. And no LBMS transfers here!

This guy is from Eureka, and I really like the figure itself. The shields don't attach too well, so will have to be careful if/when these see the tabletop. I'm bouncing around between using Saga, Dux Rampant or some homebrew rules. One of the main reason this project has languished for, oh, 20 years is I have never found a set of rules that I feel really represents Mesoamerican warfare. It's a different beast, to be sure. I'm open to suggestions!

I have a number of these going right now, but wanted to share a glimpse. Watch this space.

Sdkfz 221 ... Finally

Actually, this has been done for a while. I just now got around to taking a photo. I had to look, I first made a post in March of last year showing this Black Tree Design Sdkfz 221 in all its multi-piece gory, I mean, glory.

To put it bluntly, this was a challenge. Lots (and lots) of glue, filler, sanding, priming, more filling, and finally it started to take shape. I wish I had some in progress pics, but there it is. In the end, it turned out not bad. I still think it's a bit large for 28mm or 1/56, checking in at 1/50 or so, but as long as it's not parked next to my Warlord resin pieces, it should be OK.

And, I have to say, this thing is HEAVY. That's a lot of thick metal there.

One of these days, I need to get an early war game going. I have plenty now for some small forays in Norway, or even some messing about in Belgium or France against the BEF.