Another small entry. This time some 1920s civilians for my Mob Wars project.
"Uncle" Arthur Williamson
Arthur is the head doorman at L'Hotel Vosay, in the French quarter of Salutesville.
He started working for the hotel as a young lad, back when Salutesville was a small frontier outpost.
Prohibition hasn't affect Arthur too badly as he's been able to obtain a prescription for weekly quart of rye whiskey from his doctor for his rheumatism. He keeps a small dose in a pocket flask in case his joints flare up. Which they do, usually every half hour or so.
The job of a head doorman does mean that Arthur knows who to know and who to go to, which is always helpful when guests at the hotel have special requests. He has many contacts inside Postie's mob. The tips he gets for referrals help to cover the higher cost of his prescription.
After 50 years of work, Arthur looks forward to retirement with his "landlady", Mrs Sarissa.
Francisco "Frankie" Sarissa
Young Frankie knows that "Uncle" Arthur isn't really his uncle, just a very good friend of his mother who has lived with them since about a year before Frankie was born. There are only two bedrooms in their apartment, and it wouldn't be right for Frankie to share a room with his mother. Luckily "Uncle" Arthur is rather old and prefers to sleep in his easy chair in the lounge.
Arthur got Frankie a job at the Vosay as soon as he was old enough. Aged 16 now, Frankie is the senior of the hotel's boys and is proud of the gold shoulder tabs on his jacket.
Frankie is very ambitious. One day he hopes to be head doorman at the hotel, just like Arthur.
The figures are 28mm from Blue Moon. I've painted these up to help me recover from painting the mitres and flags of those grenadiers!
I may paint up some more 1920s civilians to give me a break between batches of Russian musketeers.
Two 28mm foot figures is 10 points.
From Curt:Two great figures with wonderful backstories, excellent! I love Frankie's ardent stepping out pose, with his pillbox hat strapped-down tight and then there's Arthur surreptitiously reaching for his 'medicinal' pocket flask... I think you need to go back and give Arthur a touch of rouge on the tip of his nose. :) Your Mob Wars project is fleshing out very nicely Tamsin.
Excellent, grand to see this on the move again... Bit of red on Arthur's nose by the sound of it!!
ReplyDelete10 excellent points. And always good to see some roaring 20's action. It's on my list of games this year. Brilliant to see them.
ReplyDeleteGreat painting work and great background for them.
ReplyDeleteHa! Postie's Mob! That is grand! ;) Your slice of pulpy Americana is shaping up really nicely. I like your color choices for the uniforms! They look really really good!
ReplyDelete"Boy, call me a cab."
ReplyDelete"You're a cab, Sir!"
(badoom TISH!)
Snappy work on these chaps, Tamsin!
I really like your colour choice on these Tamsin, that red is a lovely deep hue. The back story is superb too.
ReplyDeleteThese are so charming! The way Frankie is walking is so stylized, it's perfect. Wonderful colour choices as well. We want to see more of these please!
ReplyDeleteVery nice work Tamsin!
ReplyDeleteCool:)
ReplyDeleteWonderful bright colours, Tamsin. I especially like the very lively yellow you've managed to get and the shine on their shoes if a great touch :-)
ReplyDeleteBoth very nicely done. I love the backstory on these as well.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant :D
ReplyDeleteIs there going to be a bank manager with an over-blown sense of his own importance? ;)
@ Curt - thank you! I will definitely go back and redden his nose (and maybe cheeks) a touch - it was looking at his eyes in the pics that made me think of that touch for his back story :)
ReplyDelete@ Dave - and there will probably be some more to come :)
@ Clint - thanks. If you want some figures to get you started, I've got a load from Brigade Games going spare - they didn't look right with the Blue Moon, Dixon and Pulp Figures.
@ Juan - cheers! :)
@ David B - yup, the Postie's Mob bit goes back to the little back story I did for Fran's prize figure from me last year :)
@ Evan - I'll get your coat! ;)
@ Millsy - thanks! The colour choices just felt right. I went with blue trousers as it felt wrong to do jacket and trousers the same colour.
@ Anne - I had a feeling that you'd love these. You'll definitely see some more Mob Wars bits from me at some point in the challenge. :)
@ Moiterei - thank you! :)
@ Martin C - cheers! :)
@ Blax - thanks. It hasn't come out as well as I'd like in the pics, but the "yellow" is gold over golden brown. :)
@ Aaron - thank you! :)
@ Roy - cheers. There could well be such an important personage to come at some point :)
Really nice and full of character, which dies first?
ReplyDeleteIan
I really don't know - will it be Arthur the dipso, or Frankie the "stupid boy" ;)
DeleteVery nice!
ReplyDeleteGreat figures and back story. I also like how you set up the street scene. Looks like a great way to break up the monotony.
ReplyDeleteLovely, Tamsin, and great backstory. Remind of "The Grand Budapest Hotel", easily the best film of 2014 IMHO.
ReplyDelete@ Chasseur - thank you :)
ReplyDelete@ Sean - I did have a bit of fun doing that pic, but the lighting in the room I used wasn't brilliant for the photography.
@ Michael P - thank you Padre. I haven't seen that film yet.