Building Crabtree: First shop mostly done...

A moderately overdue update, (given the fact that I am behind schedule)....

Okay, as promised to you all, I am working hard to get the town going, but once again this thing called "Real Life", (and sub-classified as "work"), seems to be tossing in the spanner wrench again, it does indeed get very frustrating.

However with the two outhouses done, it was time to start getting the actual buildings done. For starters I am going with Knuckledusters "Small Shop" (X2) and Small Shop with Stepped Front.

A quick look at these and I did the initial base coatings to give them a worn wood look.

(It's amazing how miniature wargamers will paint a piece of wood to make the piece of wood actually "look like wood")....

Using some tips and tricks I have learned, I set up the first three to get an idea of what they will look like, and thus here for your enjoyment (and for historical posterity), is the very pics pics of "The shops of Crabtree"...)

The three shops side by side to get an idea of color and size. If you look at the shop on the right you will see that it is exactly like the one in the middle EXCEPT I made the windows two large glass sections instead of the numerous small panes. Well yuh gotta have a nice window to throw people through!!!

A close-up showing the staining and the way the wood took the paint colors. the variety is great and the wood weathers up quite nicely. Figures are for scale comparison...

So now that I had an idea what they would look like, I started actual initial painting and building of the first building (Small Shop with Stepped Front). 

While the building itself is simple, there are a couple of slightly tricky parts, and for those people like me that "want a little more well...the buildings can be modified. 

I've decided to put "window glass" in my windows for them. For some reason the idea of a western town with now windows in their window glass just kind of looks..odd...I also think that it will add to the overall appeal.

And yes, I will be adding a section later on how to do this....

But for now the first part...

A front shot of the Small Shop w/ Stepped Front  with the initial base coats and weathering done. You can see the wear on the boardwalk and some of the aging and weathering on the green and the outer trim of the store.

A side shot showing the building. Here I decided to use the Slanted Roof kit that you get separately to give it a little more flavor.  

A nice close up front shot. I am thinking though that in the future I am going to mount each of the buildings on a 2-5mm MDF board base to allow a "stepdown" into the street that is a little more pronounced.

And two more shots of the side, (one with flash), showing the weathering and how it looks so far...

An interior shot. This shows the worn floor, and a side wall that I need to paint to the correct color to match the other one (and the front), as well as the windows and doors interior which will be marked and showing where the windows will go....

A final shot showing the interior walls that are the color I want, as well as checking the size of figures inside of the building. This one shows off the weathered walkboards as well as the wear and weather on the building itself. 

Most of my buildings will be minimally painted, as paint was expensive in the Old West, and the elements played hell on lumber. Raw wood usually bleached out to a grayish-white color within 1-2 years at the most, and even painted wood, faded and peeled, so for attraction purposes the paint was used on the front, (and perhaps down a little of each side to make it "fancy".  

More will be coming to stay tuned!