The buildings and businesses of Buffalo Chip are representative of any of the "boom towns" which literally sprang up overnight in the American West.

As cattle trails followed the westward moving railheads, "Cow Towns" immediately appeared with services and diversions tired and (temporarily) moneyed cowboys had dreamed of for weeks, or even months. Western style "R and R" could be loud, messy, or downright dangerous, and it was the stuff legends are made of.

Now aficionados of Western Gunfight and Skirmish games using 25-28mm scale figures can play out their scenarios, or even full campaigns, in an authentic and properly " atmospheric" setting for very little time and expense.

These card stock buildings have been designed for fast, simple construction and are well within the powers of even the least experienced modeler.

The equipment required includes common white glue, a good pair of scissors, a roll of cellophane tape, a foot long ruler (preferably steel). Those who wish a sturdier building will want 1/16" thick mat board and/or 1/8" inch thick foam core board (cheaply available at any craft store) for reinforcing walls, mounting "duckboards", and building foundations. Mat board is very tough to cut - a large paper cutter, mat board cutter, or even a scalpel will be necessary to work with it, but the foam core board cuts easily with a hobby knife.

Wooden matches (the long fireplace type are well suited and cheap) or balsa strips of the same size will help with detailing and sign mounting.

In addition, you will need a hobby knife (such as X-acto®) and some extra blades. Be prepared to change blades a few times during construction of the town as some of the smaller windows or other details deserve a good, clean cut not possible with a worn blade. It is highly advisable to use a large extra sheet of your mat board as a good cutting surface to protect the top of your work desk. Naturally, be careful of your hands and fingers when cutting or scoring! Even a " dull" blade can spoil your day--and your work!

A few small buildings are complete on a single sheet of card stock, but most are spread out over two or more. When choosing a building to construct, first be sure you have all the sections you will need. Universally, these are the Front, Back, and Right and Left sides, the roofs, and may include a length of duckboard, the top rear of the building's False Front, signs identifying the business, and possibly a choice of "stone" slabs bearing a date.

References to "right" and "left" are from the building' s front, the viewer' s perspective.

The techniques of assembly are pretty straightforward, requiring little more than cutting the pieces out, folding, gluing, and mounting. Roofs are separate pieces so that they may be either permanently attached or left removable to facilitate access to the interior. Indeed, with a little forethought you may decide to go ahead and finish the interior to some level of detail. However, it is recommended not to bother actually detailing the interiors because there simply is not enough room both for your miniatures and hands to move them around. Instead, it is best to take a few more foam core board sections cut to match the size and shape of the building's floor and mount furniture or other miniatures on them. With indications of doors or windows, you will have something resembling a movie " set" or soundstage with ample room from the top and sides to move the figures about during your games.

Chose your first building (the Small Saloon is a good example).

Walls and Roof
Cut out all the relevant pieces, using your knife with a steel ruler or other straight edge. If you use scissors, be careful to cut evenly.

Notice that some buildings or blocks are provided in four separate sections, while others are in halves, like the Saloon. Near the middle of each half is a (usually vertical) line which should only be scored. That is, lightly stroke along it with your knife so that you may fold it to form another wall. If you should cut through by mistake, just tape the two pieces back together from the inside.

False Fronts
The rear sections of the False Front tops should be glued on now, but first back it with a piece of mat or foamcore board, depending on which looks best for the particular building. This imparts not only structural strength, but gives the critical thickness to avoid the usual " cardstock look."

Windows
If you plan to install the clear acetate windows from the Accessory Set, or to have open windows, cut out the windows along the inside of the dark outline, using your knife and straightedge (ruler), but do not put the acetate windows in now. If you are satisfied with the printed windows, skip this step.

Doors
Do the same to the doors, but score the " hinged" side to allow them to open and close, if desired, and reinforce with a small strip of tape.

The Saloon swinging doors will require a more difficult, free hand cut to keep their shape. Notice that the interior door faces (as well as extra doors) have been provided for variety and to replace losses. Indeed, feel free to add extra doors or windows if the spirit moves you, but remember you have only so many acetate windows to glue into them. Do NOT put the windows in now!

Backing the Walls
At this point, the decision should be made whether to glue each wall section to a single foam core board piece now, or to glue small pieces or strips on after all walls have been connected and glued to the base.

The difference is that a single piece is easier to cut and gives the best possible strength to the finished assembly, but the doors and windows will have to be cut out using a X-acto knife. "Solid" foam core interior walls also present the best surface to work with if the interior is to be detailed.

Alternatively, glue strips of mat or foam board on to the middle of each interior wall and corner, as well as along the top edge of the interior walls, creating a sort of " skeleton" of support. This way, doors and windows are more easily (and perhaps cleanly) cut out than if already backed.

Assembling the Wall
On the ends and/or the bottom edges of sections are "tabs" which should be cut along their exterior edges and scored along the interior. These are then folded over and glued to the inside of the next building section.

Floor/Foundation
When the four walls are "square", measure the length and depth of the building. All have been pre-measured to the nearest half or full inch. Then, using your mat knife or paper cutter, cut out a section of foam core board as a foundation. Glue the foundation tabs and set the base down inside the building and onto the tabs. When complete, the " floor" will now be flush with the doors or slightly higher.

Roof
Cut out the roof section and mount it on mat board. To ensure a snug fit, cut a piece of foam core board smaller in both dimensions than the interior measure of the building and glue this to the bottom center of the roof. When dry, this will prevent roofs from warping and being knocked off during play. Notice that some roofs overhang three sides of the building and others match exactly, fitting inside the walls.

The Jail roof is lower than the walls and is set below their tops. When putting in corner supports for the roof, measure to see just how far down from the wall tops they should go to accommodate the roof. Also for the Jail, cut out the shutters for the two side windows and fit on scraps of mat board. This will give them a substantial thickness, after which you may cut out the firing port in the middle and then glue them open or closed on either side of the windows as you prefer.

The Bank is different in that it has a triangular front. The front door is at the corner of two straight sides and there is a straight back wall. The roof section gives you the shape and can be used as a template for assembly. The duckboards should be cut diagonally and fitted together to give a straight section across the front of the Bank

The Hotel has a small balcony above the ground floor which should be cut out and glued to mat board for the right thickness. This should be glued to the Hotel front along the dark line printed across it. The balcony railings may be mounted on a thicker material though the spaces between the rails must be cut out before gluing the assembly down. Alternatively, some HO scale picket fence or similar commercially available pieces may be glued on instead for a better look. Matchsticks or balsa may be cut and used to make a railing as well. The balcony floor need not have any visible bracing, but using bits of mat board scrap or matchsticks, you may wish to glue some diagonal supports under the floor and against the front wall. These suggestions also apply to the Bordello and the Grand Saloon which also have balconies.

Similarly, the corral fencing for the Stable must have the spaces between the boards cut out. Alternatively, the fence may be used as a template for building a better one with matchsticks. The shape and arrangement of the corral is left to your discretion, but one side could be formed by the barn wall with the row of stall doors on it. The Stable is the only building that should be mounted on mat board or similar thin material as its floor would be earth and duckboards won't be necessary (except possibly in front of the office). Also, the Stable roof is gabled, so score down the middle, fold, and fit to the walls. Mount it on matte or foam core board cut to allow the roof to hold its shape permanently. Don' t forget to cut open the hayloft doors!

If you want to allow figures to be placed on the second floor of the tall buildings, it will be necessary to build a walkway inside to stand them on. The simplest way to do this is to put strips of foam core board in the corners of the ground floor and cut to a height which, allowing for the flooring itself, reaches to half an inch from the level of the second story window sills. Then glue inch-wide strips of mat or foam core board that rest on the corner supports already in place to form a catwalk. A similar procedure may be followed to provide a platform behind the hayloft doors of the Stable.

Duckboard sections should be at least as long as the front of each building, also mounted on foam core. When ready, glue each section to the front edge of the building (and along another side if you wish). To allow for some regularity in the spacing of your buildings, it is recommended that 1" extra be at each end of the duckboard section. This way, abutting buildings will have a uniform distance between them. Finally, you may wish to put porticoes over the fronts of some or all of your buildings. To do so, simply cut a length of the extra duckboard sections and glue to mat board. Then cut some matchsticks 1" or 1 1/2" long as vertical supports and glue to the sidewalk. Glue the slant roof section two inches above that and angle it down until it rests on the vertical supports. You may decide to do without this architectural detail, however as it restricts your access to figures standing under them.

At this point, your building is structurally complete.

Detailing can be the most fun part of the job. The interior surfaces of doors should have a piece of mat board or balsa glued to them and then the printed interior surface of the door glued onto that. This makes the doors look heavy and (if previously taped along the "hinge" earlier) allows them to open and close snugly.

Each business has been provided with at least three different names, as well as a variety of appropriate signs to mount on the exterior walls. If you engage in campaign games involving several, possibly competing, towns, you can have separate identities and "characters" for every business. For example, the Bank can be a power mad, greedy "Cattle Barons'" or an honest but dirt poor "settlers'" bank, each attracting the attention of a different class of Bank Robbers. Similarly, there are some names that hint of Civil War politics to help color your games. In any case, feel free to use your own imagination and create your own signs.

The matching pairs of signs found on the building templates should be mounted back to back on a scrap of mat board cut to size, then mounted at right angles to the front of the finished building. It was a very common practice for businesses to advertise so that a man riding down the street could find a place without having to be directly in front of it. Glue the signs horizontally to a matchstick connected to the building's front and attach to a vertical match support glued to the outside edge of the sidewalk. The height can be determined by the building or your preference, but should be at least high enough to accommodate a figure standing beneath. Alternatively, you may prefer simply to glue these signs high up on the sides of the building instead of having them hang above the street.

For best effect, the windows should be cut out and glued in place on the interior surfaces of the walls after assembly. The colored, decorative windows may be used as you wish, but notice there are matching sets that can be used together in the same building.

Modular Mounting
Finally, you can mount each completed building on more sections of foam core board so the entire town can be modular. This allows for considerable extra details to be added, such as hitching rails, water troughs, cacti, trees, the main street, etc. Cut each modular base 1" wider than the front of the fully assembled building which allows for the overlapping duckboards on each end. The depth of each module should be the same for uniformity and 10" is recommended, though more is possible. The building should be mounted on its modular base with perhaps a 1/4" of the duckboards hanging over the front edge.

Street sections from foam core board should be cut separately to a width of 12" and length of 24" tp 30." Sand and white glue, or any other material you prefer, can be used to make the unpaved street surface, but leave a 2" wide strip bare down each side of the street section. This allows for the street sections to be tucked under the overhanging "lip" of the duckboards, helping to keep your streets and building modules locked together during play. If the buildings are supposed to be in a Mining town (like Tombstone), the streets might be only 6" wide, but ultimately the streets may be as wide as you wish.

Though the Bank is a corner facing structure, most of the Cow Towns consisted of one long street wide enough for a freight wagon and team to turn around, with only two rows of buildings facing each other. Also, most Cow Towns (certainly those in Kansas) were set up on the prairie with little likelihood of shade trees or shrubbery around. A surface water supply would be nearby but wells and reservoirs were still in the future.

So get after it, Pardner! Soon enough you' ll have yourself one mighty fine little town to "hoorah" to your heart's content.

And I guarantee, THIS town ain' t big enough for the both of us!