Friday, May 7, 2021

A Work in Progress

The California Grand Palace's streetside view and main entrance.

The Oakdale trackside area has had a blank spot in it for far too long. Part of the reason it stayed vacant is because I had not yet decided what might go well in that spot. Several weeks ago, I finally reached a decision had began building a suitable structure. I wanted a large saloon with a detailed interior including a stage for entertainers. This saloon would also include a sound track. As of this point, I have completed the exterior structure of the building but the sound and detailing the interior still needs to be accomplished.

     

The Long Bar is ready for customers but standup ones only. Tables and chairs are still to be added. The stage curtain is typical of early theaters which put the advertising space to good use. The "kerosene" lamps were made from plastic beads and very small leds. 

The saloon is totally freelanced and not based on any specific structure. To be honest, real saloons were generally  built with a narrow front entrance but a long depth, just enough for the bar and a few tables. The Grand Palace has more in common with the huge edifices often seen in Hollywood western movies. It's not particularly prototypical but it is what I was looking for.

    Construction is with acrylic sides with styrene siding laminated to them. The window and door casings were cut using my laser cutter. Other parts were styrene shapes plus detail parts from Tichy and San Juan Details.

     The interior of the building has a stage with a working curtain and a number of LED lights. There's much more to do but the drinking class of Oakdale seem to be looking forward to completion. 

6 comments:

  1. Will you model it with a brawl in progress?

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  2. I just sent your site to the guy who runs “Knuckleduster Miniatures” as a sample of EarlyRail modeling. Would recommend you check out his HO scale Saloon characters and “soiled doves” in HO scale:

    https://knuckleduster.com/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_78_79#intro

    Those figures are the kind of thing that would look great in this. A firm called “Old Glory Miniatures” also has a good Wild West line in 15mm, which is basically HO scale, with a full saloon scene (and a set of western movie-themed characters). They are good, not quite in the same class as Knuckleduster, though:
    https://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/products.asp?cat=15mm+Old+West

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  3. I can almost hear the Honky-tonk, the din of the bar, an occasional gunshot and lots of laughter. Great Job!
    Is there going to be a scantily clad maid on a Swing over the crowd?
    Greg

    ReplyDelete
  4. have a couple of questions re the heinz
    boxcars/reefers?
    thanks
    clipper841@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete