Cannot find small bits an pieces on net HELLP!!! and other things

[buzz]

Hi all
Have been looking for western figures on the net in HO scale
with no success.
Particularly for a Mexican having a snooze with the big hat over his face
and a passed out drunk these must be wild west style figures.
That is the proposed entire population of Helengon except maybe a sheriff,
provided it is a static pose figure.
Helengon is to be a one horse town that even the horse would have left
if it wasn't tied to the hitching rail.
I have not been able to find any western buildings other than the Woodland scenics ones anybody know of any.
also are wooden skewers OK for the timber roof beams on a HO adobe house.
Any one ever made wooden tomb stones?? if so what did you use
regards John

[ebtnut]

You need to peruse the Walthers catalog.  I think you'll find most everything you need there.  It is on the web, but it's a bit of a pain because you kind of need to know what you want to look it up.  I'm pretty sure Preiser makes several varieties of Wild West figures.  A trip to your LHS is in order.

[buzz]

Hi ebtnut
Small problem with LHS it's 610km away
I thought Walthers might do something no luck on there web site.
Thanks to the web I now know how to build a real adobe house
but nothing on making a model of said house am thinking foam core board
wooden skewers and balsa wood for the structure and wall filler to get the adobe effect.
But am worried it might end up either to smooth or to rough.
regards John

[James Thomas]

www.wildwestmodels.com has a whole line of western kits in HO and O scales.  Banta modelworks.com also has some western looking buildings.  If you go to valleymodeltrains.com you will find a number of kits that may fit the bill.

Look in the model train magazines and you will find many other sources.

Playmobile makes plastic cactus  -- may be a bit large for HO.

-JRT

[WoundedBear]

Have a look at Musket Miniatures' site. Something in their catalogue may catch your eye.

http://www.musketminiatures.com/

Sid

[jerryl]

You may have to do some "plastic surgery" on your figures to get what you want. I have a figure of a bum in the reclining pose you want.Just take a short pc. of styrene rod & a circle of paper for the brim & make a hat.  Many figures can be transformed into cowboys in the same way & you will have distinctive figures.   Dover publishers had & maybe still has a book of cutout western buildings in HO scale. They are printed on very thick card stock.  Also there are many structures with the western style false fronts that could easily be converted to what you are looking for...That's the FUN of the hobby.    Jerry

[Jim Banner]

... are wooden skewers OK for the timber roof beams on a HO adobe house.
Any one ever made wooden tomb stones?? if so what did you use
regards John

Skewers are just fine for wood beam in H0 scale.  Such beams were often little more than tree trunks with the branches knocked off.  If you use bamboo skewers, the surface is a little rougher and when dry brushed look like aged beams or tree trunks with the bark still on them.

I have made wooden tomb stones.  Surprisingly, I made them out of wood.  In 0 scale, the end of a Popsicle stick is about the right width and is already rounded.  For H0 scale, a wooden coffee stick is thinner and narrower but still has curved ends.  It is easy to make them narrower still with a sharp knife and a bit of sandpaper.  A little grey stain or iron acetate aging solution soon has them looking old for planting in the grass.  The occasional brand new grave marker at the head of a fresh mound of dirt shows a new burial.

In H0 all it takes is a few dots and dashes with a pencil to suggest writing on the marker.  In 0 scale, it is possible to print out fronts for grave markers on paper, then glue the paper to one side of an aged Popsicle stick, and finally trim the edges.  They look like the marker has been painted white on one side, then lettered.  It gives you a chance to express your wit.  There are many witty epitaphs on line.  Just Google witty epitaphs.  Ones like this are a perfect fit on a tall maker:
      Jedediah
      Goodwin
     Auctioneer
     Born 1828
       Going!
       Going!!
       Gone!!!
        1876

or this:
          here lies
       John Henery
         Rich Man,
          Banker,
       died anyway
            1881

The printing will be very small, so it helps if your grave yard is close to the edge of the table.

Piece of trivia - wooden grave markers were often rounded on top to help shed the rain and make them last longer.  They rarely had pointed tops.  Perhaps because grieving relatives throwing themselves on top of pointed grave markers tended to be messy.

Jim

[Terry Toenges]

In Jefferson Barracks, Confederate tombstones are pointed so the "damn Yankees" can't sit on them.

[buzz]

Hi all
Well I now have the shell of an adobe House the skewers look good as the roof timbers.
Did they lime wash or colour the out side of them in any way ??
Could not find anything on house size so its a looks right semi scale house
found plenty of dire warnings about rain on real adobe house sites.
Just how did they drain the water off the roofs with the low wall above the roof
No luck finding suitable figures but did find some tent huts that could be usefull.
regards John

[CNE Runner]

Buzz - I think I can help you with your adobe structures. I would imagine you are trying to recreate an Old West look and not the modern adobes found in many parts of New Mexico. The roof timbers, on older adobe buildings, are usually colored gray or very dark brown (it has to do with the type of wood that was used). You might be successful in searching Google Images for pictures of pueblos (such as the Sandia Pueblo).

The parts of the Southwest that had adobe construction as the norm are very dry. Given that, rain eroding walls and flat roofs were not a problem. This is not to say there wasn't constant maintenance required. Adobe needs to be repaired from time to time due to the erosion from occasional [seasonal] hard rain and sandstorms (the Alamo was reduced to a fraction of its original size before being restored). There are usually 'slots' or terracotta pipes that allow accumulated rainfall to flow from the roofs. Originally adobe roofs were covered with waddle (clay on woven branches). More modern adobe structures have a covering of small pebbles to cushion the falling rain's effects...only pitched roofs had terracotta tiles - and they were rare due to the increased amount of wood timbers required.

We stay part time in New Mexico and are always amazed by the scenery (much more mountainous than Arizona), the people, and the adobe style of architecture. Do remember that the terrain, and climate, changes as you travel from north to south in New Mexico ('has to do with the dramatic change in elevation). All in all New Mexico is truly the "Land of Enchantment". Good luck with your southwestern modeling

Ray

[Terry Toenges]

Check EBay.
Bachmann made a series of Old West Buidings years ago that are often found on EBay. I didn't see any on there now.
While on Ebay, look for Muir Models structures from years ago. I got the whole Bonanza collection (house, barn, sheds, etc.) modeled after the TV show.
Currently there are three HO structures - winery, bordello, and buttonworks on there.

[buzz]

Hi Ray
thanks for info.
So if it does have a tiled roof its going to be some one of note in the town,
on account of the extra work and cost in construction.
Will see what I can find in the way of pictures on the net now I have some idea what I am looking for.
Time to go and cut out another house and find the little jail cell drawing
and cut one of those out as well.
I think two houses should be enough to represent a one horse town that even the horse wants to leave??.
What would be good businesses for the town saloon and
regards John

[CNE Runner]

Buzz - an essential 19th century business, in any U.S. town, was the blacksmith. Another related business is the livery stable - although this was usually only found in more sizeable 'burgs. There would have been a general store or trading post. Saloons were not as prevalent as TV would have us believe; but I think I would have one for the 'effect'. Rather than a saloon, you might consider a cantina (more of a restaurant with a bar included). There also might have been an assayer's office (to buy and sell silver...gold was fairly rare in New Mexico) and perhaps a Catholic mission (although your description of your town suggests it is too small for such a structure). You can add structures as you see fit in the future such as: a tobacconist, gun smith, boot repair, wagon dealer, dry goods store, feed store, etc. There were lots of 'niche' businesses in the rural 19th century - so the list could be a long one.

Happy Trails partner,
Ray

[buzz]

Hi ray
Thanks for the reminder about a place of worship the one thing every model railway should have the correct version of to suit the location.
A cantina sounds more like the right thing for the town, rather than a saloon.
Do they have names like one would expect on a saloon or UK pub
say for instance The Loaded Cactus?? [I rather like the sound of that name]
regards John

[Jim Banner]

Ray,
Thanks for the list.  I have squirreled it away for later reference for an 0n30 layout.

BUZZ,
Here is a photo of a window in an early northern Canadian church.  It was a Presbyterian church from Oct 1911 until Jan 1926.  Development in our north at that time was not a whole lot different than in the US wild west 20 or 30 years before.  I plan to use this in an 1880's period layout.



The windows are just regular double hung wooden windows with some shaped pieces of wood in the upper corners to give them a Gothic look.  The otherwise unremarkable building has three such windows on each side and two on the ends.  They immediately identify it as a church, even though the plain gable roof has no bell tower, nor spire, not even a cross.

More photos are available.

Jim