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).
Though I still have to paint some models for The Chicago Way and make up the Shotgun House I bought at a recent show, I have been thinking about other potential buildings.
Looking over the film The Untouchables, which was the inspiration for the rules, has some nice shots of buildings.
Zooming in (click the images to see larger versions of the screen grabs) we can see the stye of buildings used in the film to represent the 1920s.
These are quite Victorian in style, which is why I might also use my Gaslamp Alley VSF buildings from Sarissa Precision.
4Ground already make a range of really nice buildings for The Chicago Way and they look really nice and appear to fit the game well. I already have one of the Shotgun Houses, but that is still on the workbench.
I think there are other potential buildings from 4Ground that would also work well, especially some of those in the 28mm Gothic City range. I really like the Tenement building range and could see those as ideal background scenery for The Chicago Way games.
From other companies I have also been looking at Sarissa Precision, both their new retro American range and their City Block range.
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.
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.
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.
One of recent purchases was a couple of Sarissa Precision buildings, Victorian brick buildings, part of their Gaslamp Alley range. I had bought the terrached house and the terraced shop. Here is the model from the Sarissa website.
The Sarissa Precision models are laser cut MDF and come plain. I do quite like how the 4Ground models come pre-coloured and though I have few Sarissa Old West buildings, as these are made from wood, the plain MDF look works okay.
The Gaslamp Alley models are brick, so I originally decided when I was going to put mine together, I would paint them later. So when I read the instructions that it was suggested to paint the window frames and doors (which were etched onto card) and the walls before gluing them together, it meant I had to think quickly about how to paint the walls. The instructions did advise about doing it sparingly, my concern was that would the paint cover the eteching.
I took some Vallejo paint red brick colour and watered it down. I was quite apprehensive about the initial result, so had started with the chimney. However after it dried I was quite pleased with the final result.
After the walls were dry I picked out some individual bricks with the unwatered down paint, and some varied brown paints.
After this I painted all the walls. I wasn’t sure about the window frames, decided a wood effect would be okay, so I used a watered down brown paint and almost drybrushed it.
The model went together really easily, though with the way the walls fit to the floor, I wasn’t sure if I should fix the walls first and then put them in the floor. In the end I went with taking it one wall at a time, gluing it into the floor, and doing all four walls in one sitting, so that there was some movement whilst the glue was still wet.
I was quite pleased with the end result.
The building was much deeper than I thought it would be and also much bigger. I really like the model and am now looking forward to building the shop that I got at the same time. I am also adding the corner pub to my shopping list, and thinking I should get a bundle of the houses too, so I can have a proper street.
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.
I was given a laser-etched MDF Stage Coach from Sarissa Precision for Cbristmas, it comes as a piece of laser-etched MDF and a smaller piece of laser-etched card.
It was very simple to put together, the card components were quite tricky and you need to watch that you don’t bend or crumple the card aspects. I was really impressed with the wheels which though looked quite delicate, were pretty easy to remove from the MDF.
The model I made looks very much like the marketing material and I was impressed with the quality of the kit and the explanatory instructions, which made construction very simple and relatively quick.
This is the marketing image of the laser-etched MDF Stage Coach from Sarissa Precision.
I was given one for Cbristmas, it comes as a piece of laser-etched MDF and a smaller piece of laser-etched card.
It was very simple to put together, the card components were quite tricky and you need to watch that you don’t bend or crumple the card aspects. I was really impressed with the wheels which though looked quite delicate, were pretty easy to remove from the MDF.
The model I made looks very much like the marketing material and I was impressed with the quality of the kit and the explanatory instructions, which made construction very simple and relatively quick.
It probably could do with a a lick of paint, but even in the raw “wooden” state could be used for games.
