This month's Sapper's Report deals with the conversion of two building kits available from LIFE-LIKE PRODUCTS into edifaces useable in an "Old West" atmosphere. The two kits are #1339, the Belvedere Hotel, and #1337, the Mt. Vernon Mfg. Co. The hotel will remain a hotel, except for the addition of a combination porch/veranda to give the structure the standard western appearance. This porch/veranda structure will be removeable so the building can be used as stock. The factory will have a more unusual end. A yard can be constructed with walls and a gate and the factory buildings can be arranged to complete a prison just ripe for an escape attempt. These buildings will also be removeable. Since these model buildings are already painted, none will be required. Assembly of the models is done as per the included instructions. The only differences will be: first, the hotel will only have two stories and second, the factory must have its walls in particular positions, so that the door and the docking bay will be inside the prison compound. A look at the photos will give you some idea of what I mean. The western prison assembly drawing shows the floor plan of the yard and the arrangement of the walls and buildings. Also included is a detail of the cutoutandplacementofthefrontgateandagatedetail. Note that the floor plan and wall drawings are 1/2 scale while the gate drawing is full size. Dimensions for all the pieces needed for the prison walls, are given with, the drawing. The western hotel has its drawings on two sheets. The first shows the size and shape of the porch/veranda sections. Alongwith that are details of the support column cutouts. The second gives templates for the veranda railings and a railing and column assembly detail. These drawings are all full scale. Most of the balsa components are made from 1/4 in. thick stock. The railings and columns are made from 1/8 thick stick Bass wood would be good to use, but balsa would suffice. Both the prison gate and the railing posts are made from wooden toothpicks. They can be square or round as you desire. I suggest square for the gate and round for the railing posts. Final detailing would include scribing the prison walls to look like brick. Then painting light gray to match the buildings. The gate is painted black and glued into the cutout in the main wall. The inside of the prison yard can be dirt or grass flocked to complete the model. The porch/veranda assembly is painted brown and the railings on the veranda could be white. Any additional details are left up to the builder. I hope that these two models will provide the gamer with some new ideas for their western gaming. ENJOY! Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VIII No. 5 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1989 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles covering military history and related topics are available at http://www.magweb.com