Bridges, Latrines, and Shacks

It's been a while since my last post, but I haven't been idle and work on the Schitt Creek Timber Co. camp proceeds.

First off, I finished construction and priming on what will be the wagon bridge into the main camp area. Like the foot bridge, it's 100% scratch-built out of basswood (I hate balsa and hardly ever use it!). I was going to finish painting and weathering it, but I got a little distracted...more on that in just a bit. Here is the wagon bridge as it stands now:

Wagon Bridge build finished and primed

Now, as for my distraction, well, I started receiving my orders from Knuckleduster Miniatures. I decided to go with their "Shack" (manufactured by TriCity Laser) for the living quarters for my camp crew. Each shack will sleep 6 to 8 men and will have an outhouse behind it. Upon a little more exploring of the site, I discovered the "Ghost Town" range of shacks and buildings that looked like exactly what I needed for my rough-and-tumble, no-frills logging camp.

So...I've been working on the buildings for the camp living area lately. Now, I'll go into more detail on these kits when I do a formal review, but suffice it to say for now that they are really stunning when they are done! Unlike other laser-cut mdf building kits, these actually have wood grain detail photo-etched into the wood, which really looks outstanding when dry brushed. Here are three of the 6 total latrines...errr...outhouses that I've completed so far:

The detail on  these kits made it a snap to achieve the weathered, bleached wood look I was after and have seen so many times in the American Southwest. I was so thrilled with how these buildings started coming out, that I elected to expand the SCTC living area to include a barber/dentist and a small saloon. So, I went with the Shack II and Large Store kits as well, and got a dual outhouse for the saloon as well (either for high traffic times, or to provide a separate facility for the "floosies" to use). 

One SLIGHT drawback to the TCL kits (to someone as OCD as me, that is) is the total lack of interior detail on the walls. While the floors are beautifully etched, the walls are absolutely bare even to the extent of lacking any door detail on the interior side of the door that's etched on the exterior. It seemed a shame to let all that beautiful floor detail go to waste, so I decided to detail the interiors to show the basic nature of the construction. I added interior wall framing and window frames out of bass wood, and fabricated a duplicate of the interior doors from plastic card and strip:

Shack interiors in progress

If you are going to try something similar (I highly encourage it!) just go slow, check your measurements several times, and test fit, test fit, test fit! I had no issues whatsoever in construction, and have gotten into a groove of sorts now with cutting, fitting, and assembly. By the way, the interior framing is 1/16" x 1/8" basswood strip.

So far, I've done two Shacks and one Shack II (the barber's). I just received the camp saloon and dual outhouse, and am waiting on the rest of the Shacks. All three of the buildings are now primed, interior painted and washed, and exterior washed (not all of that is in the pics below). All that's left now is to dry brush interior highlights and do the exterior weathering. Note that I added a scratch-built sign for the barber's and have a few more goodies to add once it's finished. Personally, I think all the kits have turned out great so far! Note how the interior doors and framing look in these shots of the assembled kits:

In some of the pics above, you can see the big pole barn for lumber storage in the main camp that I've also been working on. Unlike the living area, most of the main camp buildings and structures will have at least a modicum of paint on them.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to have both Shacks, the Shack II, and the next two outhouses done by the end of the weekend, and I'll post pics when they are.

Cheers!