Saturday, July 15, 2023

Harpers Ferry terrain stock check

Yesterday I designed and printed a couple of sections of fence to go beside the main gate of the Harpers Ferry armory.


I'm pleased with these - my ability to use Tinkercad is coming along and I can now begin to contemplate moving on to the remaining details I need for the engine house.

Having got these off the printer it seemed like a good idea to have a progress-to-date look at the terrain.


Top left is the warehouse. I'm calling it complete but I will probably add interior details later and may attach it to a base.

Top right and definitely completed is the water tower.

Behind both, the pink strip shows where I need to build the raised Baltimore and Ohio Railroad line. This will have a stone wall at the back and cast iron columns supporting the front. More work for the 3D printer!

The green box shows the approximate extent of the boat ramp. This was a stone-paved slope down to the Potomac River off the far edge of the board. It was crossed by an iron bridge. My current plan is to use this board - a 34" x 30" piece MDF that sees frequent use in skirmish games. It's actually the reverse of my green To The Strongest! board. However, it would be nice to model the boat ramp properly. If time allows I may invest in some thick insulation foam so I can carve in the slope. 

Incidentally, you can see the slope if you visit Harpers Ferry today. There are two metal rings set into the retaining walls. They were added to secure a Union pontoon bridge across the river. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln walked across the bridge and up the ramp into the by-then-destroyed armory.

The blue line shows the line of the front wall of the armory. It's similar to the pieces I've printed already but with differently sized, brick rather than stone, piers. More 3D design work is called for here. In fact, where the front fence meets the corner of the board below, it changes into a brick wall about 8 feet tall that runs all along the near edge. This can be another thing to add if time allows.

The near left building is obviously the paymaster's office and guard house that I'm working on currently. 

Finally, the red rectangle denotes the approximate location of the engine house. Inside it you can see a 3D print of the rooftop tower. I could in theory print the whole building, having found an HO scale model on Thingiverse. However, scaled up to 28mm it takes 5 days to print! I think I'll stick to foamcore with printed window frames.

I also have various bits of scatter terrain (wagons, water pumps, piles of timber etc) to provide cover during the game and some internal furniture for the offices.

Having looked at the set-up, I think I'll move the warehouse and offices to the left and the blue fence line to the right to make more room for the railroad bridge, boat ramp, and a flagpole that all need to fit between the water tower and the warehouse.

I'll keep you posted.

3 comments:

Steve J. said...

This is all coming along rather nicely:).

Tales from Shed HQ said...

Great progress 👍 really good to see it all coming together

Counterpane said...

Thanks guys! I'll keep you posted.