Table Panel Frames and the Foot Bridge

My plan for the SCTC established, I made some initial orders of some structures to evaluate their quality (I'll discuss these in an upcoming post). I also bought the lumber for the table sections at my local Lowe's. The design for the table panel sections is pretty straightforward: thin plywood as the sub-base over a pine frame with 2" foam sheet on top so I can carve in terrain features (like Schitt Creek). I went with a 2' x 4' panel for the main camp and a 2' x 2' side extension panel for the camp living area.

I like doing 2' x 4' table panel sections like this as I can expand as far as I want in any direction with additional sections, and this size panel is easily transported and stored. Harmony and it's environs will also be done on 2' x 4' panels.

Table Panel

After looking over several structure manufacturers, I couldn't find any bridges that were even close to what I was trying to show; namely, utilitarian bridges that were built on-site with a minimum of frills. So, I decided to scratch-build both the footbridge at the living area and the wider, wagon bridge leading into the main camp. While I was at it, I also decided that I would go ahead and scratch-build the simple pole barn for lumber drying and storage as well...but that's for another post. I use basswood for all scratch-built structures, btw.

Here are some progress pics of the footbridge and a pic of the finished piece. I'll weather it some more after it's installed:

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I decided to add some water discoloration on the pilings to show that Schitt Creek has variable levels.

Next time, I'll show the completed wagon bridge, but here's where it stands right now:

Cheers!

Harmony, AZ and the SCTC.

A Little Background on Harmony, Arizona and Environs

I decided to locate the town of Harmony west of Williams and what is now the Kaibab National Forest, in the vicinity of the town of Ash Fork. History buffs will appreciate that Harmony is close to the modern Route 66 (so get your kicks!) and BNSF (ex-ATSF) trackage.

I chose this location because it's my favorite part of Arizona, the terrain is varied, and early on I decided I wanted to model a mining camp of some kind as well as a more standard western town. A little research and a peek at the beautiful Sarissa Precision Sawmill kit, and voila! I knew the mining camp would actually be a timber company logging camp.

And so was born the Schitt Creek Timber Company...which is located 10 -15 miles east of Harmony. The area has abundant Ponderosa pine trees and running water to power the sawmill, and is close enough to both the Williams and Harmony railheads to facilitate the transport of cut timber. Since Harmony is relatively close to the SCTC, the town is an attractive weekend destination for thirsty (and horny) loggers.

The fictitious Schitt Creek flows in a southerly direction and feeds into the Verde River in the vicinity of Perkinsville. It's a spring creek that is supplemented by winter snow melt, so flow is year-round and can be quite fast.

Since the terrain around Harmony is relatively flat and the SCTC is located in higher elevations, building separate boards for Harmony and the SCTC allows me to model varying terrain. After all, you can never have too many game boards, right?

With the above in mind, and a wealth of kits and terrain material available I decided to start with the SCTC and I drew up a basic plan for a modular board in two sections, one for the camp proper, and one for the living area:

The Schitt Creek Timber Co.

In my next post, I'll go into more detail on the board construction and the buildings and scenery I'm using. Cheers!

Happy Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to All! And Happy Birthday to "A Town Called Harmony!" To see what's going on here, check out the ABOUT page.