Cowboys, 0n or off a horse.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I want to model an HO scene of about 50-60 head of cattle being herded down the street and turned into a fairly large corral to be watered, then loaded on to stock cars. But I can only find one cowboy. ANYWHERE. Woodland Scenics

has one cowboy on a horse roping a calf for branding. But that’s it. Walthers, Preiser, all the big names , all zero. I even googled it.

There’s 4 different manufacturers of corrals with loading ramps. Theres lots of different makers of cattle and sheep, but no body makes any cowboys?? Just plain old cowboys on a horse next to the cattle to turn them into the corral.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Rory

2

http://www.musketminiatures.com/ should have what you’re looking for!![:)]

3

Go to the MusketMiniatures, as suggested above. There is a second set of cowboys along with long horn cattle further on the lengthy catalog list. (with image) Looks great! Bob Hahn

4

Preiser’s “US Figures” unpainted set has a cowboy, cowgirl, horse, saddle and some cows, it also has a figure wearing a jacket with a cowboy hat on. I think it has at least two versions of each one.

5

Unless Preiser has stopped production they should still offer acollection of western figures. I have not only cowboys on horses guarding cattle but also a cowgirl standing beside her Jeep Bronco and even a rather drunk cowboy sitting in the back of a pickup.

6

WOW! Thanks guys for all the help. I never heard of Musket Minitures before. ( oh they got a full dress stage coach and team in there! My layout is changing as we speak. And I sure missed my target looking in Preiser’s. thanks so much.

Rory

7

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/590-29065

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/675-160

I tried finding the Preiser “US Figures” unpainted set on the Walthers website but didn’t see it. It might not be made anymore (or maybe I just missed it) but I’m sure you could find it on ebay or at a flea market etc.

They also make a few Indian / Native American figures, based on characters from the Karl May books. The Old West stuff has been popular in Germany for 100+ years. I know Preiser used a cattle drive as the cover or rear cover pic on one of their catalogues a while back.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/590-29031

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/590-29040

8

I have used both the Musket miniatures and the Preiser. My recommendation is to go with Preiser first. Most of the musket miniature castings were pretty rough and I couldn’t use many of them without major re-shaping by filing them. That said, they do offer some unique figures. If you go with them, make sure you are prepared to file.

Here are some shots of the various brands. Not all would be suitable for your application, but take a close look at the various detail offered by each brand. The LL (Lytler and Lytler) and MM are metal castings. The LL took some clean up, the MM took lots of reshaping. The Preiser is plastic. Very little clean up as I bought this one painted[:D]

Here is a close up of MM figures:

Also look for OOP Lytler and Lytler figures. Some real gems there as well.

Close of LL figures:

Close up of Preiser figure:

For what its worth,

Guy

9

Don’t forget Jordan Models for wagons, the Budweiser one, a stagecoach, and buckboards too. May be others.[C):-)] BILL

10

Bill is right; the Jordan open wagons all come with a driver, and I believe all have positionable arms and legs. Another possibility is to find figures that aren’t cowboys but are in otherwise suitable poses. Use your X-Acto and some fine files to re-shape their clothing as necessary, then add a styrene cowboy hat. For example, you could add a styrene hat brim to a figure with a hardhat then paint the hardhat and brim to match, with perhaps a painted-on hat band.

Here’s a Jordan wagon with one of their drivers. The horse nearest the camera must’ve moved just as the shutter opened, not surprising given the lack of reins and tracery. [swg]

Wayne

11

Thank you all for your kind assistance. I really like Musket Minatures,

and it would seem they have pretty much what I need and while I’m not

all the way thru Preiser and wont be for several days, I can see I’m going to

have to save up before I can place an order. Thanks again guys.

Rory

12

Take your 1/87 cowboy and stick him up your ass with your GI Joe. What a moronic waste of a post question. Been living and possibly thinking long?

13

Historical side note:

Those outrageous figures John Allen was noted for were built up pink wax on wire armatures. A friend of mine tried the same thing for passengers in an interurban car - tedious work, but very satisfying since his figures didn’t even resemble any of the commercial little people available at the time.

Back in the '80s I lived in cattle country for a few years. On one occasion I caught an interesting sound bite on TV, the local County Agent (a government employee) having a discussion with one of the more successful ranchers in the area. The County Agent looked like an extra from a spaghetti western - big Stetson, handlebar moustache, bandanna… The Rancher was wearing a Vikings windbreaker and a Twins baseball cap.

Moral of the story? Not all cowboys look like cowboys.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with not a cow in sight)

14

Hear ! hear ! After living in Alberta, and seeing “cowboys” the best thing I saw on the back of and old beater pickup was a sticker: “REAL COWBOYS WEAR OVERALLS”