Slide of the month Extra - Philmont Pickle

December 2021

Time to make: 1.5 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

No it's not the Christmas Pickle and there is no extra present for finding it first. This represents the infamous Philmont Pickle and the challenge is to be able to eat this spicy wonder. I've heard tales of Scouts downing the pickle and juice in record time (sometimes with  disastrous results later in the day).

A really easy slide to carve from a piece of scrap wood but the interesting part comes with the layering of hobby paints to give it some depth. (The picture doesn't do it justice!) The lettering was done with waterslide paper and a couple of coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont Santa Claus

December 2021

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

Santa Claus Camp in July? Well sure! Santa Claus camp has a long history at Philmont and was a staffed camp until the 90's when the well ran dry. As an unstaffed camp, in 2000 lightning struck a bear cable burning bear bags to a crisp and 2002 the camp suffered damage in the Ponil Complex Fire. In 2018 the Ute Fire burned the shotgun range (which has since been rebuilt). But in 2019, Santa Claus became a staffed camp once again.

This slide just cried out to be carved in maple because of all the unique areas to be defined. Scroll or list, for example, would have proved to have been to delicate in a softer wood. Painted with hobby paints and lettered using water slide paper. A couple of coats of poly finish it off. 

Slide of the Month Extra-Philturn Chucks Shelter at Pueblano

December 2022

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

Another from a series of pictures from the Philturn Rockey Mountain Scout Camp on the Philmont Millennium 1 website called Chuck's Shelter. Looking at the picture, I think I've captured what Chuck had in mind when he built it. 

Carved from a block of pine, the first step was to carve an L shaped area to form the base and background. I needed this to form to build the frame of the shelter. I grilled holes into the base for the poles at an angle so the top meet at a center point on the background. I glued the poles into place and let this frame dry. I did a first go at painting because once I got the tarp in place, I wound be able to get to all the areas I needed to reach.  The next step was to use some fabric to simulate the canvas that was used back then and glue it in place. I painted the cloth and touched up areas as needed. The lettering was done with waterslide paper and a couple coats of poly finish it off.

Slide of the Month Extra - Philmont Partners in High Adventure

November 2020

Time to make: 3 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

Original design:  Philmont / Bill Macfarlane

Days till Philmont 2022Countdown

 

The Order of the Arrow and Philmont have always been "Partners in Adventure" but the relationship is much deeper as The Order of the Arrow does so much service to the ranch. One example is the OA trail crew in which members of the OA travel to Philmont to provide new trail construction and trail maintenance. 

A simple slide made from southern yellow pine reclaimed from pallet scrap. Painted with hobby paints and sealed with a couple coats poly. The lettering and symbols are done with waterslide paper. 

Slide of the Month- Little Eskimo

December 2021

Time to make: 1.5 hours

Finishing: 1 hour

 
Boy's Life: December 1958, page 70

Original design:  Unknown








It's cold and the darkest day of the year is in December here in the Northeast. Yet in the town of Utqiaġvik, Alaska is currently in the middle of "Polar Night". The sun sets on mid-November day and rises mid-January. Take a look what life is like during two and a half month of night in this article. 

The original article called for a half of a large cork fishing bobber to make the head but these days most bobbers are made of plastic. So to make this slide, I decided to carve an elongated sphere and as you can probably tell it's not perfectly round. In the center of the sphere, I drilled a hole and glued a small dowel for the nose. After sanding the dowel to round it, I painted the face with hobby paints and sealed it with a couple coats poly. The fur hood was made from some fake fur purchased at a fabric store and glued to head. Lastly, I trimmed the fur to give it a more uniformed looked.