Steam Western, Cowboys in the UK.

[Rockula]

I have been trying to resist the Rough Cut that Tescos has been selling at £5 off. Honest I have guv!
I finally succumbed. I am now trying to figure out the best way to paint/Mod it so that it looks "Cowboy".

I've been watching the price slowly come down on that as well.

On another note; When some of us (hopefully) return to Camber next year I think we should do some Steam Western in the pool. Then we can mod some of the Nerf water blasters too. And maybe enter a team in the Volley Boater.

We would have to wear Western style 'long johns' instead of the usual swimming costumes. Team leader to wear a sheriff's badge?

I'd have to wear something underneath. They get very clingy and, erm, revealing when wet.

[Capt. Dirigible]

I have been trying to resist the Rough Cut that Tescos has been selling at £5 off. Honest I have guv!
I finally succumbed. I am now trying to figure out the best way to paint/Mod it so that it looks "Cowboy".

I've been watching the price slowly come down on that as well.

On another note; When some of us (hopefully) return to Camber next year I think we should do some Steam Western in the pool. Then we can mod some of the Nerf water blasters too. And maybe enter a team in the Volley Boater.

We would have to wear Western style 'long johns' instead of the usual swimming costumes. Team leader to wear a sheriff's badge?

I'd have to wear something underneath. They get very clingy and, erm, revealing when wet.

I think all the Volley Boater players wore something under their cozzies...even if it was only a cricket box, eh Willoughby?

[Mr Addams]

I have been trying to resist the Rough Cut that Tescos has been selling at £5 off. Honest I have guv!
I finally succumbed. I am now trying to figure out the best way to paint/Mod it so that it looks "Cowboy".

I've been watching the price slowly come down on that as well.

I got suckered into buying the Rough Cut from Tescos the very same day I got back from Camber!

It looks as though I got my timing just right this time, When i went to Tescos yesterday, they had sold out.

[Rockula]

El Zombiro, defender of the weak.

[Capt. Dirigible]

El Zombiro, defender of the weak.

Holy Frijoles!!!

[Photofishboy]

El Zombiro, defender of the weak.

That is utterly superb!

[Rockula]

El Zombiro, defender of the weak.

That is utterly superb!

Thank you. But it's incomplete. The whole cyborg (Steamborg?) ensemble will not be on display until The Asylum.

[sebastian Inkerman]

If anyone will be at that there Whitby over the weekend, I will have a few western inspired leather hatbands on the stall upstairs at the Rifle Club.

[Mr Addams]

I cant help noticing that things have gone a bit quiet on the western front. So I thouht that i would throw a topic into the ring for discussion.

Assuming that we will be staging a Steamwestern Shootout at the Asylum. What would be the best way to organize it?

These are my thoughts, and I am presenting them for discussion, and to encourage alternative ideas.

1 FORMAT.
Whilst this is being done for our own amusement, we are also trying to put on an entertainment for those in attendance. So it would be a good idea to create some form of story or rational for this combat.
It may well be worth borrowing some of the conventions of reenactment in order to put on this show as these have been tried and tested.

(a) Circle of treachery.
This is a common convention in reenactment shows, all combatants stand in a circle, and on the command "Treachery" all the participants fight each other until there is only one man left standing. Usually, alliances are formed between combatants to give them an advantage, until one of the team decides to betray the others, and (usually,) stab them in the back.

(b) Simple Battle.
Basically the participants form into two teams, line up, and fight each other, usually until one side has eliminated the other.
In the context of the western shootout, this could be Lawmen V Bandits, Cowboys V Indians, and so on.

(c) capture the flag.
One team has an artifact that it has to defend, the other team has to try and capture it. This could for example, be bandits trying to capture a strongbox being guarded by lawmen.

These are the main conventions used in reenactments, and are set out in their simplest form. they can of course be modified or embellished. Or we could try something different.

2. SCRIPT and STORY
In the context of reenactment, the "script" is usually a frail outline of what is supposed to happen, and the order in which it is supposed to occur, that seldom makes it past the first minute of the event.
The temptation is to create some massively over complicated blow by blow structure for the whole show, but these invariably go horribly wrong very quickly.
The best enactment scripts keep things as simple as possible with a clear, well organized sequence of events.
In this context, the "Script" should not be confused with the Story. This is the reason that the events are unfolding. Again, the story should be strong, but not overcomplicated.
"The sonofabitch shot my brother, now hes gonna pay" could be enough.
When devising the story for this event, there are two things that should be taken into consideration. It is Steampunk, and it is Western. So it should embrace the conventions, and dare I say it, the Cliches, of the Western Movies, and it should have some Science fiction element.

3. RULES  
If we are having a nerf gun shootout, it thing that we should establish some sort of standard for everyone to conform to.
For example is it one hit and you are dead, or do you have a set number of lives?
I would suggest, that any hit to a limb, disables that appendage, and the first hit to the body counts as a wound, and any subsequent hit to the body is a kill.
This introduces the possibility of a a "Medic" If each team has a medic, if a player is wounded, thy must make their way to the medic before they are hit a second time, in order to have the wound healed. This would give non-combatants something to do, it also introduces the strategic possibility of a team trying to eliminate their opponents medic(s).

4. PERFORMANCE
There are two elements to this.
(a)Characters. Players taking on key roles in the story. This would involve playing out parts that move the story along.
(b)Hamming it up. if you are shot in the arm, React. Grab the injured limb. Yell. etc.

I think that I have covered most of the bases. Whilst I have opinions on most of the above, for this first post, I am trying to be as neutral as possible, so that you all have an opportunity to express your own thoughts.


 

[Eve Korvinus]

I certainly lean more towards the wild/weird west

[Eric T Paradigm]

I have just realised that I need to practice shooting left handed if the gun fight involves moving about much since I have to use my right hand to drive the scooter. Oh, and I'll need lots of single shot Nerf guns since reloading one handed is not practical. Well, plenty of challenges there then!

[Fat Spider]

I must make the effort to lose some weight, smaller targets are harder to hit

[frances]

Hey Eric, any thoughts about steaming up your scooter?

[Eric T Paradigm]

Hey Eric, any thoughts about steaming up your scooter?

Hi Frances,
I have done some work to "steam up" my scooter. All the battery and motor area is covered in polished woodwork, I have brass inlays on the front mudguards, a smoke generator at the rear and the scooter makes steam engine noises.
The fact that you asked the question makes me wonder whether the photo that I tried to attach to my post below is actually visible to other people. Can anyone else see it?

[Rockula]

Hey Eric, any thoughts about steaming up your scooter?

Hi Frances,
I have done some work to "steam up" my scooter. All the battery and motor area is covered in polished woodwork, I have brass inlays on the front mudguards, a smoke generator at the rear and the scooter makes steam engine noises.
The fact that you asked the question makes me wonder whether the photo that I tried to attach to my post below is actually visible to other people. Can anyone else see it?

Yes Eric, we can see it. I've seen it 'in the flesh' and it's marvellous. But the photo may have been too small for Frances to see clearly what work you've done on it.

[Eric T Paradigm]

Yes Eric, we can see it. I've seen it 'in the flesh' and it's marvellous. But the photo may have been too small for Frances to see clearly what work you've done on it.

Thank you, sir.
The photo seems quite large when I look at the post, so perhaps it depends on the browser being used. (I am using Firefox.)

[frances]

Oh, sorry Eric, but the pic is tiny on my computer.  Now you mention it I can see that the lower part looks like wood.  Can you take a pic of the salient parts and post them then, so that I can admire it properly please?

[Eric T Paradigm]

Oh, sorry Eric, but the pic is tiny on my computer.  Now you mention it I can see that the lower part looks like wood.  Can you take a pic of the salient parts and post them then, so that I can admire it properly please?

Frances,
It is strange that some people only see a very small picture on the post. There are a number of photos you might like to look at on the Paradigm Engineering web site at http://paradigmengineering.yolasite.com/detail-photos.php
best wishes
Eric

[IGetPwnedOften]

That is a cracking conversion - stylish yet still practical.

May I ask where you got the smoke generator?

[Eric T Paradigm]

May I ask where you got the smoke generator?

I considered various options but my constraints at the time (must not set off smoke alarms in buildings, must be no risk of fire, zero warm-up time, insufficient power available for electric smoke generator [unless I used the scooter battery and risk becoming immobile]) left me with a single option. Maplin's smoke spray in a can (part no. NA66W). It costs about £8 but it lasts quite a while if I only produce smoke just to show people who are interested.
I now have some additional batteries that might be capable of running a small smoke generator such as those used on model boats. My plan is to try that at some stage since it might be more convenient to operate it electrically rather than mechanically.

[frances]

Ah ha - got it now.  Can you put colour in the smoke???

[Eric T Paradigm]

Can you put colour in the smoke???

Any colour you like as long as it is white.
I can't think how you could colour it unless you know of coloured aerosol spray that you could mix in with the aerosol smoke from the smoke spray. So far I have not discovered any. (If you find any, please let me know.)
All of the other options that I have found so far to produce coloured smoke involve heating dyes/coloured particles to a significant temperature and they can stain things they contact.
The aerosol smoke can is at room temperature, so no risk of burns/fire.

[frances]

What you have done looks very smart.  Can you mod the back of the seat at all?

[Grumfoss]

What you have done looks very smart.  Can you mod the back of the seat at all?

A seat in wicker or Studded leather and wood would look fab.

Grum

[Eric T Paradigm]

A seat in wicker or Studded leather and wood would look fab.

Grum

I keep thinking about it but one of the constraints is that conversion of the scooter from/to normal mode has to be quick and easy. Only two options seem practical: 1) a slip-on cover to disguise the normal seat; 2) a replacement scooter seat post to support a complete steampunk seat. Option 2 would be best but I have not yet found where I can obtain another seat post to fit my scooter. Making a wicker slip-on cover sounds tricky and I think I might need some guidance from the memsahib on any other cover.

Flattered as I am with the comments on my scooter, I think it is now distorting the original topic of this thread. Obviously any further comments via private messages would be very welcome.