Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Cavalcade

 

April 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane







Philmont's Cavalcade trek is a very different trek because, instead of hiking from camp to camp, the participants ride horses.  It is also one of the most regulated programs as each rider must be under 200 pounds and no crew can go on Cavalcade in consecutive years. The program is so popular that crews must enter a lottery to gain a spot in the program. Just thinking about it, what a great way to experience Philmont like the early settlers did in this marvelous wilderness!

Carved from pallet pine this was a challenging slide because of the perspective aspects of the horse/rider, mountains and sky. Painted with hobby paints and lettered with water slide paper. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra: Wash Station

 

April 2024

Time to make: 2  hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane











You never know when inspiration will it you. In this case, I was at camp Wakpominee for an OA ordeal weekend and outside the mess hall I saw this wash station. I had some time before starting my duties in the kitchen so I grabbed my knife and some wood I brought to start carving this slide. 

The wood well I really don't know what kind of wood it is because it was from an old cutting board we had at home. The cutting board, after years of use and many trips through the dishwasher, was falling apart at the glue seams and I thought why not. After carving the basic shape of the wash station, I used a piece of aluminum flashing to form the tub. I painted the station with some hobby paints before I super glued the tub to the station. Next I drilled holes for the faucet and handles both on the front and side of the wash station. The faucet was made from some aluminum wire and the handles are small Philip head screws. These were glued in place using super glue. A couple of coats of poly finished the slide off

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Most of us made it

 

April 2024

Time to make: 2 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane








Well...Most of us made it! ...

No it's not a real Philmont award (posted April 1st) but based on the "We all made it" from Philmont and my odd sense of humor.

The redness of the feet and the bandaged blisters tell the tale of the trail. Made from pallet pine painted with hobby paints and the dressings are made from paper towels glued in place. A couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra: Philmont Chase Cow Camp

 

March 2024

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont/Bill Macfarlane








Chase Cow Camp was built in 2019 to replace Dean Cow camp (lost in the 2018 Ute Park fire) and features climbing and repelling. It also is the only camp to feature bouldering great for those who are afraid of heights.

I so like the contrast of smooth and rough like in this slide. Carved from pallet pine, the rocks are carved in chip style and the climber is sanded smooth. I decided to do the sky as a sanded chip style. The slide is painted with hobby paints and the lettering/heart are done with waterslide paper. A couple coats of poly finish the slide off

Slide of the Month Extra: Turks Head with special beads

March 2024

Time to make: .5 hour

Finishing: 0 hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane

With the other length of leather cord I had did the same turks head slide but with a twist. The beads I used were either color changing in the sun or glow in the dark. Neat upgrade to the previous slide

Slide of the Month Extra: Turks Head with beads

 

March 2024

Time to make: .5 hour

Finishing: hour

Original design:  Bill Macfarlane













I was going through a box the other day and I found a length of leather cord. Not to let it go to waste I quickly tied a turks head slide. Since I had extra on each side I thought why not add some beads to it. Quick and easy slide.

Slide of the Month-Indian Plaques

 

March 2024

Time to make: 1 hours

Finishing: .5 hour

 
Boy's Life July 1982,  p. 64

Original design:  Lew Weston



I would say this was an easy slide to complete but it did take a bit of time on the computer using MS paint to edit, enhance, and color according to the colors suggested in the article. Once I had copies I was happy with, I printed them on waterslide paper and applied they to some hobby rounds that I had painted white. A couple of coats of poly finish them off.