Another Saloon ???

 

The Oriental Palace in a temporary location in Farmington. Its final resting place is to be determined.

It seems that saloons are all that is being constructed on the S&C Railroad. Well, the nineteenth century was known for having a copious number of such establishments in every town. This particular one was built for a couple of reasons. The first was to try out my skills for designing and then assembling my own laser-cut "kit." The second was to try and duplicate a nice structure I saw while watching the movie The War Wagon. 

     The building itself is interesting to me because of the adobe first story surmounted by a frame second story. Also, the suggestion that it is run by a Chinese person indicated by the red and black paint scheme and the faintly oriental style decorations. 

    To design the building, I drew it up to scale in Adobe Illustrator, then included the tabs and notches which make laser kits go together so easily. The windows, frames and balcony decorations were all done in Illustrator as well. The basic wall structure is made from 1/16" thick basswood with the wood siding burnt in by the laser. The Adobe look was made by stippling on some Scale Stucco as supplied by Crescent Creek Models (https://thundermesa.studio/product/scale-stucco-all-scales/). This was then painted a fairly revolting color which proves the proprietor has no aesthetic taste. The windows were also cut on the laser with what I thought was a good result for the window muntins. These are made in three pieces (upper sash, lower sash and frame) so that they can be positioned in an opened or closed position.

     The balcony railing shows a little wear probably resulting from a scuffle on the second floor. I wanted a somewhat seedy establishment and I think I accomplished that.