US 7th Cavalry Mounted

Lots of figures getting based up recently, the first being of the mounted variety. This group is the US 7th cavalry from Artizan.

I completely forgot to do a year in review and goals for 2019 post but getting mounted figures completed was definitely on the top of any and all 'to do' lists I had.

The nice thing is I think these can be used in several types of skirmish games.

I'm sure they will see action in Dead Man's Hand and Gunfighter's Ball, in scenarios very Hollywood-esque along the lines of the John Ford cavalry film trilogy.

To even something like Peckinpah's Major Dundee could be really fun, as this guy almost has the exact face of James Coburn's character Sam Potts - of course the outfit is all wrong, but still, pretty solid likeness in my eyes.

This guy wins Movember 😂

And it's always fun to get more horses completed too, as all the riders are able to be taken off their mounts so corrals can be fully stocked.

Next up are some mounted robbers - it's been so long since I purchased these guys (big surprise right) and I can't for the life of me remember who the manufacturer is, though I'm leaning towards Artizan again.

A little variety with this group weapons wise as opposed to the cavalry, with this robber brandishing a rifle.

And a shotgun.

This guys hat makes me think he's probably from Kansas, and a former member of the outlaw groups there, as all he needs is a feather in it - maybe that could be a fun side project.

And finally I would like to say welcome and thank you to new follower of the blog Esben Christiansen, really appreciate you following along 😀

As always, thanks for looking!
Cheers!
Ivor

Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo

The latest batch of finished figures are from my Knuckleduster KS for Gunfighters Ball (lots more to come), and represent the main characters from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Ugly - Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Ramirez (known as "The Rat")

The Bad - Angel Eyes

The Good - Blondie (aka The Man With No Name)

How cool is this model of Tuco in the bath?! "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk!"

I threw Angel Eyes on this old Architects of War model - sort of representative of the beginning of the film.

Here is another excellent little AoW piece too.

It's a real shame that they ended up going out of business, as they really had a lot of nice little diorama pieces like these.

Appreciate you taking the time to give the blog a read, until next time!
Ivor

You Can Always Tell A Cowboy By The Red Sash

The irony of that title is that you can actually see only one of the cowboys wearing a red sash lol! A bit disappointing, but honestly a very small complaint when you see how great these figures are from Knuckleduster. I got these figures with my Gunfighters Ball Kickstarter but they also have these figures in mounted versions, and they are definitely on a very short list of purchases to make in the near future.

These figures are all modeled after characters from the 1993 film 'Tombstone', and the likenesses are just spot on. I set this little scene up to try to copy the very beginning of the movie when the cowboys come to exact revenge of the killing of two of their own.

Johnny Ringo, the only cowboy who has a red sash.

Curly Bill Brocius - you've seen Curly Bill before in the clear bases tutorial, but now I can show off the poker cards on his chaps! Such a neat part of his outfit that it was an absolute must to have them.

Ike Clanton - played by Stephen Lang. It was only recently that I realized that this was the same guy who also portraid General George Pickett in the film 'Gettysburg' (and also Stonewall Jackson in 'Gods and Generals').

Tom McLaury

Billy Clanton

Frank McLaury

I'm still having issues trying to comment on blogs I follow while on my phone - this image is what is coming up as I attempt to write a comment. I can write out my comment but when I hit publish the page reloads and my comment disappears into the zeros and ones, so I'm still completely stumped. I can comment normally when I'm on my laptop but I'm not on it very often, so again my apologies to all those blogs I follow for the silence.

I'd like to welcome aboard new follower Phil R. Thanks for adding me to the reading list!

(I'd even tried to follow my own blog hoping that would allow me to comment on my posts while on my phone but no luck there either)

Until next time, thanks for looking!
Ivor

That Must Be A Peach Of A Hand

Or, "Maybe poker just isn't your game Ike. I know let's have a spelling contest."
I really wanted that to be the title of this post but it wouldn't fit dammit!

These are a bunch of Knuckleduster old west figures I got from the Kickstarter for Gunfighter's Ball - more on that KS in a future posts - and they were painted up by my mate Arthur.

The can-can girls are just brilliant! And the clear bases work a treat for them.

What I really love about the entire Knuckleduster line is the uniqueness of the figures and poses. Does anyone else make a woman sitting on a cowboys lap?

Here is one of the ladies of the saloon trying to upsell appetizers with the drink order at table three.

I was really skeptical that the clear bases wouldn't work on the can-can dancers because of only having one foot available to glue to the base and the balance issue that could cause. But yet again these bases haven't let me down and there is absolutely no issue with the glue or balance. Now these girls can even dance in the streets and their bases won't look out of place lol!

The barkeep and saloon lady. Arthur did an amazing job on that apron!

Sitting cowboy without his can-can friend.

Well look at that, he's found a friend. I'm sure she's only there for the stimulating conversation.

I wanted to try to make the stacks of chips be random with different colors, but my attempts were pretty awful so each stack ended up one color only. But if it were really me at that table, with my OCD, I'd have everyone's stacks the same color anyway! I really like Wild Bill Hickock in the back.

I still have another three poker tables to finish up, along with a faro table. I also need to grab the Knuckleduster pool table set to complete all the saloon games.

I've also begun to read up on the Gunfighter's Ball rules and they look really good, except for movement. You have to roll for movement?!?! As someone who can't even roll out of bed successfully you can imagine my face when I read that when on horse back, for example, you roll 2d10 (foot is 1d10) - knowing full well I'll be rolling snake eyes like it was my job lol! Two inches for movement while riding a horse? Again, I've yet to actually play a game, but it seems incredibly silly to have die rolls be your movement - to me that's a board game mechanic. If anyone has played the game I'd really love to hear your thoughts, especially since I'm already thinking of house ruling this.

Oh Kickstarter... I received this email not too long ago but not sure it's really something to be proud of!

I do need to be a wee bit more selective on what I back going forward - but only after I back Crooked Dice's latest KS for some boss pulp figures lol! Mola Ram? Yes please!

As always, thanks for looking!
Ivor

A New Undertaker

A good friend of mine (from the original Saturday mornings back in the day) and my son got a few games of Dead Man's Hand in a few weeks ago. A good time was had by all, and I only really messed up one rule - which for me is pretty amazing. I buy rules sets to play them wrong and make mistakes throughout an entire game! Anyway, after the last game it became quite clear that an undertaker was going to be needed in Ford's Canyon sooner than later (an older post tells how I changed the original C.F. Caldwells undertaker building into a saloon). The carnage that was left made the end of Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch" look like a walk in the park!

This new undertaker business was again born first through the sign I found. The sign is very simple, but the way "Undertaker's Parlor" was written almost felt like a frown to me, and the name John Benson Gollon was pretty neat. Like C.F. Caldwells, most undertakers were doing some other type of carpentry/furniture making, so I knew I wanted to make this build something more than just a side street building. I needed to make it bigger somehow.

The main building is 4Grounds side street building #3. I grabbed a few of the exact same buildings because this allowed me not to have to make posts for the porches. Their posts have nice little details on them that my Balsa wood posts don't and the only real differences between the three side buildings is the roof sign and window placements. I painted the front wall with Plastic Soldier Army Sprays "British Armour".

I have a ton (and even more to build still!) of 4Grounds excellent 28mm Historical range of buildings. I had the Woodshed/Cart Shed from their Age of Black Powder range (pictured above) already built and I knew with the wood siding I could work this into the new undertakers, I just needed to decide if I wanted it vertical or horizontal to the main building. I found a really neat "Furniture & Undertaking" sign that fit perfectly onto the back of the shed, which made the decision of placement very easy.

The basic footprint of the building is bigger than any of my other builds because I knew I wanted to add the extra shed and I also knew I wanted to get the Yard Panel Fencing by 4Ground in there as well. I set the glued sub base and boardwalks down and weathered them with Age It Easy by Micro Mark.

I had already built the fences, so I had to pull the bases off and I drilled small holes into the footprint to secure the fence better. The fences were also weathered with Age It Easy and also a new product I found called Dark Mud by AK Interactive, was placed along the bottom of the fence. It's an enamel and you just paint it on - I used a Q-tip to soften the transition, and honestly I'm pretty happy with it, though my awful camera phone doesn't do it justice.

I added my customary lamp posts and horse hitches to the front as well.

I added a lot of posters to the side fences. They are all from old 4Ground kits.

One small tip I can give on signs and posters is before you place them, take a black Sharpie and go around the four edges with the marker. This simple addition will improve the look of your signs and posters on your buildings, I guarantee it!

The same styrene strips, Evergreen #142, from all my other builds were used here as well for the roof and porch overhang. The coffins are made of hydrocal - I got them a long time ago and can't remember from what company. I got a ton of them, and boxes as well, pretty cheap. Though they definitely need repainted.

There is one wooden barrel next to the building made by Hirst Arts. These are new to the table and these things are fantastic, and inexpensive! Took paint really well - I decided not to prime them in hopes to get a little more weathered look (they come white) by painting my initial coat of wood brown very thin. I couldn't be happier! I've got close to 40 on the table now. A silver Sharpie is all I used for the bands.

Army Painter tufts were placed randomly around the building and two yellow JTT flowers were place out front. The basic flock is Woodland Scenics Ballast Fine Brown, and dry brushed with a light gray to bring it out a little bit more.

                                     
That's pretty much it, as always thanks for looking!

Cheers!
Ivor