Wagon Construction

Here is a simple wagon.  A useful box wagon good for the US from the AWI to even modern times.  Made of interlocking bricks, lego types, wheels from Imex Conestoga Wagons set, wire mesh for the traces, Eagle Games horse, Evergreen Scale Models shapes and sheet plastics, and a generic civilian 1/75th scale figure.

I used these glues to construct the wagon and a tube of Goo rubber contact cement to hold the wagon and horse to the base.

The base is black plastic by Evergreen, that I have sanded the top to give it some texture and make it better to glue onto.

Similar interlocking brick type vehicles under construction.

I am making a number of wagons and horseless carriages for several project.  Dollar Tree and Constructive Playthings have had the bricks for sale for a while now and I spent a little time gathering them up.
 

Wagon Construction

Two horse van wagon made out of interlocking bricks, styrene plastic bits, wheels from the Imex Conestoga wagon set, traces from wire mesh, and horses by Eagle Games.  1/72nd scale.

Two versions of the wagon, one van and one more of a chuck wagon with extended rear.

The white bits are axles.  Wire traces are on top of some of the wagons.

Plastic coated wire from Plastruct for the axles.  Very thin sheet plastic from Evergreen Scale Models to cover the top and bottom of the interlocking bricks.

Wheels.
 

Colonial Ox Wagon

I got two of these Colonial Ox Wagons from HaT.

1/72nd scale flash free model that fits together pretty well.

I ordered the British Colonial Wagon but I got these two instead because the mail order company made a mistake.  I paid for them and it was more trouble than it was worth to exchange them.  This specific wagon is unique to South Africa and not used anywhere else as far as I know.  I don't do the Zulu wars so the need for this specific wagon is low.

The oxen have one separate horn that I glues on with super glue.  The hold is so-so.

You get two oxen drivers.  I got six of these, two sets of three wagons each, and my plan is to keep two of them as the original wagons with oxen towing animals.

You only get two oxen per wagon, which should be about 6 or 8 per wagon.
 

Wagons

Unpacking the wild west.

Imex covered wagon and chuck wagons.

More figures in boxes.

Shredding in a box.

Bags of shredding.  It's everywhere!

Suppy By Wagon

I made several of these cradle wagons. I mount my wagons on .40 inch thick sheet styrene from Evergreen Plastic. It is thick enough to be rigid but thin enough to cut easily. I also trim the corners so they are not sharp, it seems to draw they eye to it if they are not rounded.

I anticipate that I will eventually flock the bases and paint the horses and wagons. Since these are Cossacks and not exactly regulation German wagons I am considering that at least some my be painted in civilian colors, like blue or green, and with some gold or silver on the fancy scrolly parts.

A HaT soldier takes a short ride. My wargame rules require supplies and so making supply trucks and wagons is an important part of the wargame army. Units that are out of food or fuel, can't move. Units that are out of ammo can't shoot. Units that are out of medical supplies can't heal the sick and wounded.

Each supply vehicle gets a tonnage rating and that is how much it can carry of a given supply type. Horses can pull a wagon with 500 pounds, 1/4 ton per horse of supplies. These small one horse wagons between them bring a half ton on supplies to the front.

A HaT military police officer directs this wagon to the supply dump to pick up supplies. Maintenance is another important aspect to military units, but that is for another day.

Another Wagon

Another of my HO 1/87th scale wagons. This one was added to the collection two weeks ago.

In late WWII tens of thousands, if not millions of people moved west to avoid the advance of the Soviet Red Army.

This blue farm wagon is typical of many used in Europe, some, even today.

This particular version has the rear panel removed and placed in the bed of the wagon. These Preiser wagons are ready to go right out of the box. I will take these wagons and add refugee items with them for my Battle of Berlin project.

HF 7 PHM

In WWII the Germans used many wagons and had many that were very well advanced. This is the HF7 wagon. It was made out of steel and had rubber tires. In Western Europe these were excellent wagons, they needed a good road network, as they were quite heavy and had somewhat poor cross country ability.

This excellent model is the latest release from Paul Heiser Models in HO 1/87th scale. It is a resin cast model, but as you can see it is highly detailed.

The model comes with a vehicle tow bar. As the war progressed, these were typically towed by vehicles, rather than animals. I have seen photos with both horses and men towing them due to the weight. This is the standard production model from PHM, they will not come with horses, they are very hard to cast in resin.

There is a very limited edition of these wagon that will have a set of horses, it will only be sold by Fidelis Models. This is an excellent model and it is an important vehicle that has not been done in this scale before.

Bridge Work

In World War Two the fast moving warfare style of the Blitzkreig required the ability to build bridges quickly.

To help simulate these bridges on the wargame table, I have taken the old Roco bridge and combined it with the boats from the Airfix pontoon bridge. I use sewing thread as the handrails, and strengthen it with superglue.

This gives me a unique bridge that is inexpensive and quick to build.

I don't glue the roadway down to the boats. This allows my wargame army the chance to "build" the bridge. There are resin companies that build the proper bridge, but they are very fragile and expensive, so I use this one. It is a standard size bridge, I build my streams to fit under this treadway.

More Wagons Again

My friend COL JIM and I visited our local train shop today and I added to the wagon collection with this great example.

Two massive sturdy looking horses pull this Preiser Rack Wagon #30436. It is a typical farm wagon good for use in Germany from Napoleonic times until next Tuesday. Perfect for WWII. At 31.99 this is not cheap, but a very nice wagon.

This is straight out of the box, fully assembled, painted and detailed. The two figures are great and well painted.

The back of the wagon has several farm tools, rakes and such. This wagon will be added to my collection of wagons for my Berlin project.