Aberillo - An Old West Town in 28mm

 As described in the previous post about the pueblo of Vacaloco, Aberillo is a town close to the border where Welsh settlers decided to make their home. Quite why it was named Aberillo isn't clear: there is no river Illo and certainly no river mouth. We can only assume that these early Welsh settlers had a sense of irony.

Aberillo, or at least my ambition to build a western town began with the purchase of four extremely good value MDF building kits at Hammerhead in March this year. I was lucky. Hammerhead turned out to be the last wargames show of 2020, and who knows when the next one will be. These buildings were from the Cactus Creek 28mm range by Warbases. They're very simple structures with square windows and are considerably improved by a little extra work, but were an excellemt start. All other buildings were scratch-built mainly from cardboard, MDF and balsa. I will put up a step by step guide to how one of these buildings was made in due course for reference.

Barrels and crates are from Debris of War, and figures from Foundry Miniatures, Artizan Miniatures, Great Escape Games, Knuckleduster (Gunfighter's Ball range), and Dixon Miniatures, and despite minor scale differences work pretty well together. The wagons are scratch-built, using wheels from Irregular Miniatures. All other terrain items are scratch-built. 

Below are photos of the finished setup, which didn't quite all fit on a 6x4 table - the church is therefore slightly out of the town. More photos will no doubt follow with games played on this terrain. Enjoy! 

Welcome to Aberillo

A view down Main Street towards the station

The station master checks his watch - the 3:10 is late as usual

On the platform, passengers are getting impatient

But there's no sign of the train along the empty track

As Mr Ying brings in the laundry, a pair of prospectors enter the town

Doc Brown watches from a distance, keeping a low profile

Bob comes out of his hardware store. Where are all the customers?

Further along Main Street, something has drawn their attention

The old timer shakes his fist. He has no idea what is happening

Patrons of the Belle Vue saloon, and the tobacconist, come out to see what's going on

Nothing distracts the legal staff here, though. Forms need to be filled in

While Mrs Evans wonders what's going on, Mr Evans rings his bell. Fresh bread is baked and ready!

Maybe there is a story somwhere for the local paper?

Outside the barber's shop a travelling salesman is drawing a crowd...

...drawing everyone's attention with his banter

Bronwyn's girls watch from the balcony 

Dr Quack's Elixir Tonic Wonder Cure-All sounds a bit too good to be true

Dai, the undertaker, doubts this will affect his business

A wider view of the scene

Outside the town, the gravedigger takes a break from his work

While Rev Byron Frimstone practices his sermon

I've had a lot of fun making all of this, and am looking forward to playing some games as soon as lockdown permits!

Here are some shots of the whole table setup. Apologies for the poor games room lighting.

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