4Ground Single Storey Small Building Under Construction

4Ground Single Storey Small Building Under Construction

This is a laser-cut mdf building from 4Ground for Great Escape Games’ Dead Man’s Hand set of rules.

When a camp town started becoming more prosperous the residents would start producing town buildings, these were often frame buildings in which the timber frame was built as a shell and then the rest of the building was built in and around it.

This was easiest to do in areas with large amounts of lumber (or easy access to it by railroad). Many towns would have this kind of building almost under constant construction at one location or another as the towns grew.

These buildings make great terrain pieces as they can provide cover without blocking line of sight.

This is just the skeleton of a house.

4Ground Single Storey Small Building Under Construction

You do need to take care pressing this out, as it is a little more delicate than those models with complete walls.

I would say the roof is very challenging, so take your time and it can’t be rushed.

Painting the roof

This was the third Sarissa Precision Old West building I constructed, House with Stone Chimney. Like my other Sarissa Precision models, these went together really easily, and are for comparison purposes much simpler than the 4Ground models (but also as a result less detailed).

Like my other Sarissa Precision models I have now painted the roof slates.

House with Stone Chimney

I still need to paint the chimney.

House with Stone Chimney

I am contemplating if I should paint the wooden sides, doors and window frames.

A&D Hardware Store

4Ground A&D Hardware Store

This is a laser-cut mdf building from 4Ground for Great Escape Games’ Dead Man’s Hand set of rules.

Andrew Dewey and Dave Annabelle met whilst they were serving as elected members of the Territorial Legislator of Montana and both living in Helena. They both had a firm interest in travelling to the Town of Dead Man’s Hand and joining the gold rush, after buying as much equipment as they could they set out on the road.

Along the way they found out about the boom town of Bitter Creek and the gold just being picked up from the ground. So after passing through Dead Man’s Hand the partners reached Bitter Creek, they quickly realised that the gold was not just waiting to be picked off the ground as they had been told, but the constant influx of new pioneers would pay handsomely for the abundance of equipment they had brought with them. Annabelle and Dewey quickly decided the best thing to do would be to set up the first hardware store in the town, ordering in all the goods they needed they quickly started earning a fair amount.

Now the A & D Hardware Store sells mining goods, tools, provisions and clothing to prospectors and pioneers. As their shipments have increased they have noticed a rise in the town of unsavoury types said by some to be under the payroll of S. L. Wheatley in nearby Dead Man’s Hand.

Like most of the newer 4Ground models, this is a well designed kit with lots of interior detail as well as on the outside. So there are inside walls as well as exterior walls.

4Ground A&D Hardware Store

Inside the building is the main retail area, time to add a counter and stock, whilst there is a rear storage area at the back of the building with a rear exit for a quick getaway if required.

4Ground A&D Hardware Store

The model goes together really easily, but as the instruction recommend you should use clamps (or pegs) when sticking the exterior walls onto the main frame to avoid unsightly gaps and a near fit.

4Ground A&D Hardware Store

4Ground A&D Hardware Store

I think the only challenge I can see is adding glazing to the windows.

Steaming along

I am making progress on my Sarissa Precision Old West steam engine. The first part I attempted was the tender.

This went together really easily and is a clever design, turning what is flat pieces of MDF into a three dimensional model. Laser-cut MDF models use to be mainly buildings, or thing with straight lines, however companies like Sarissa Precision have taken it to the next level, using flat MDF to create complicated curved models such as the steam engine.

It has to be said that the tender is more akin to the buildings with slab sides, though I do like the angled tender sides at the top.

It wasn’t the easiest of builds and I found the instructions slightly confusing, but I got there in the end.

Steaming

So in the Old West one thing you need to do, is to rob a train! However in order to play this scenario on the table you will need a train!

I have been thinking for a while about getting a train for some Old West games. First thoughts were to get a toy train and repaint it, but knowing my history in buying stuff and not painting it, I decided that if I was going to go down this route then I would have to leave it until I had the time to do it justice. Also getting one which was the right scale and didn’t look too much toy like was also a challenge.

I also thought about getting the Dixon Miniatures model, which was nice. Another however was that this was a metal kit which means nice and heavy, but again experience tells me I would find the construction of such a kit a bit of a challenge.

So I was intrigued by the new Sarissa Precision railway range which includes an engine, various wagons and carriages, as well as track. All the models are made from laser cut and etched MDF. I was lucky enough to receive the engine and tender from the range as a present.

At a show last year I saw another manufacturer’s range of 3D models made from laser cut and etched MDF. There were old style trucks and cars, as well as tanks and armoured vehicles. The layered approach allowed for curved sides and bonnets. This was quite a paradigm shift in the use of the material, mainly used for flat surface models such as buildings.

The Sarissa train uses a similar construction methods for the boiler and from the pictures on the packaging and the website looks quite effective.

I am wondering if I can hide the layered effect on the boiler to make it look more like boiler plate than layers of MDF.

So at this time, it’s still in the shrinkwrap…

Painting the roof

After my success with painting (or colouring) my Gaslamp Alley building I looked back over my Old West buildings from Sarissa Precision and decided to paint the roof.

Looking back over a previous post back then I reflected on how to do this. For the roof I used 995 German Grey, which I did water down, to avoid painting out the etching and let it come through the paint.

I think I might add some weathering and detail to the roof later.

Old West Building – House with Stone Chimney

I already have two of the Sarissa Precision Old West buildings and I managed to build the third, which I have had in my cupboard for a while now. This is House – Stone Chimney 6.

Old West Building - House with Stone Chimney

This is the other side.

Old West Building - House with Stone Chimney

Like my other Sarissa Precision models, these went together really easily, and are for comparison purposes much simpler than the 4Ground models (but also as a result less detailed).

Still not sure how I am going to paint them, I have been told it is relatively simple and that the etching should still be able to be seen after painting.

Down in the old west

Your time is over and you're gonna die bloody, and all you can do is choose where

At the weekend I had my second game using the Great Escape Games’ Dead Man’s Hand rules. The game saw my outlaws lose convincingly to Simon’s Pinkertons.

Most of the buildings (and this wagon) are from 4Ground models. These are really nice and well detailed, it shows how far laser etched MDF has come in the last few years. The models have interiors and swinging doors.

You can even do a jailbreak from the Sheriff’s Office. In front of the office is a Sarissa Precision stagecoach, alas still unpainted.

These are a couple of my old cowboys from the Dixons Miniatures range. I got these about twenty years ago (or possibly even longer). They are mounted on two pence pieces and I have upgraded their bases to fit in with my current old west miniatures,  painting the base with Citadel Texture: Armageddon Dust. I drybrushed the base with Citadel Ushbati Bone. I then stuck on some Citadel Mordheim Turf.

One thing that I do like about Great Escape Games is they provide a downloadable sheet of “shop” names that you can stick to the front of the buildings.

These are Foundry Old West figures, Ned Buck and Emmet Gates though I have a fair few Foundry figures on my workbench that are being painted.

Overall a fun game and quick to play.

Still some more work…

Looking at a more recent photograph of Ned Buck I realise that I still have some more work to do on the model after giving him a shading wash, and painting his base.

I painted the base with Citadel Texture: Armageddon Dust. Then I drybrushed the base with Citadel Ushbati Bone. Unfortunately I maanged to get some of this on his shotgun, so that will need to be re-done.

In addition I think I might go back and highlight a few areas, notably his hands, to add some more depth to the model.

The full workbench feature on Ned Buck, from start to the latest update.

Old West Gunfighters

More progress on Tucson Bob for the Old West.

I also did some work on Tuco.

Judge Guthrie Prentice has had some more work on his painting too.

Still some more work to do, and I think looking over these photographs that I might need to use some more lighter tones on these and the other models I am painting.