A new (Horse Drawn) dray

peterbunce

peterbunce

1880's Colorado Narrow gauge on 45mm track
I have been building a ?dray? to take some of my large crates. Drays are generally built without springs: and the wheels run underneath the body. This one has some NENG (USA) wheels for the front with some extra depth added to the rim, and some English wheels for the rear that came from Hobby?s. All had some work on the outer hubs to make them match ? bits of plastic tube were needed on the NENG (on the front) wheels.

The construction is PVC foam board and plasticard for the extra bits; the front seat is stiffened with some wire from paper clips that were straightened out with pliers; the plated (not plastic covered) version are very useful!

It will be completed with a couple of Schliech shire horses, which will give it plenty of pull.

Here are some photos of the dray on its base; the extra bits for the horses have already been made; the horses are being re-painted, and then will have their harness added, as my Mud wagon.

The underside photo shows the stiffening needed to the axle beds ? the rear one has two sorts the inner on holds together all the pieces of wood need for the depth of the bed (in real life!) and then the rear bed has some front and rear stiffeners as well.

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Loading with a couple of crates, just waiting for some motive power to be completed.

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Empty now from the rear - the end board is fixed to allow some more length.

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The underside of the vehicle, fixed to its base.
 
OutstandingSir!!!:thumbup::bigsmile:
 
Very nice Peter. Great attention to detail. I take it that it is William Hobby's for the wheels? I bought some about four years back for a project they are well proportioned I think.
 
Hi,


Thank you to all for the kind comments

PG Hewett - Nope I can already buy them, There are two companies Papo and Schliech, both have the good poinrts and the Schliech range is larger and they are very good indeed. A repaint gives an even larger choice then you have tyo fit the harness - a bit complicated but its easy to do - I use aluminium foil from food tras, and paint it, after cutting the foil into strips.

This vehicle is to have a couple of the big horses - shires - here is a new photo of a pair of them, not certain these will be the ones chosen, but the photo shows the size.

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The grey is a Papo one the dark bay is a Schliech one - no harness on them yet!
 
Thats a beauty ! A lovely model :thumbup::thumbup::love:
 
10 out of 10 Peter looks fantastic :thumbup:
 
Hi,

The two Shire Horses have been finished now and the whole ensemble is fully fixed to its base.

First the horses were given a new and different coat of paint, finishing with some coats of transparent ink on the deep brown that give a much improved depth of color; when this is dry the were both varnished for protection.

Then it was time for making the harness(es) ? all cut from strips of aluminum foil, which is flattened against the edge of the handle of a craft knife to remove the (sharp) cut edge. In painting the reins and harness, some are single side paint and some like the reins are double side painted. One horse was completed using the drawings on the Dover Publications book on Commercial Horse drawn vehicles, which was very helpful. I also have a Samson Leather Works catalog which came off the web.

Next the Horse collars were made ? these very large horses naturally needed a much large collar than the ?normal? size horse so one was worked out from the website of US Army horse Drawn equipment, another very useful site. Once a pattern was made the base of the collars was made from 1/2mm thick black styrene in halves and they were glued onto the horses. Then the hay filled portion (on the full sized version) was added on top as my previous horses, but larger!

The (silver) Hames were added on top of the collars and they are made from1mm diameter wire. Making them was an interesting ?3D? and reversed exercise. Added below the Hames are a set of hooks made from fuse wire and the largest hooks with a portion of a circle on them are for the front end of the traces.

When the completed horse has been added to the base, the traces (which run from the collar to the cross pieces at the rear of the horse, and are part of the front center pole of the vehicle), can be added Then the second horse can be added but first fit the inner trace to it ? its easier that way. When dry, and one leg may be slightly shorter than the other, so add plenty of glue to fix them securely, then add the other trace. They are somewhat ?fiddly? and have a life of their own!

Now the reins are added ? these are (from each horse) joined together to make rein one per horse. They are cut long enough to be draped over the driver?s seat or go through a flattened loop on the outer side of the seat.

Finally, I added a couple of feed buckets for the horses (here in the UK, the shire horse that is the Drum Horse for the heavy Cavalry gets through 60lb of food per day!) , and a ?shoe?( made from scrap foil and a bit of chain), on the nearside rear wheel ? this is used to brake the vehicle as it is fed under the wheel on downward gradients; In addition I added a foot brake with the connection to the pedal on the drivers footboard, being made from steel (not plastic covered) paper clip wire ? this can be blackened with ?Birchwood Casey? Gun Black. I have also added behind the two supports for the drivers seat, a rack for ropes etc - and there are a couple of (scale 18 feet long) pieces then added - they are from labels off some new clothes actually but they seem to 'fit the bill' so they have been glued onto two of the four (bits of wire ) hooks.

Finally here are 3 photos of the completed vehicle ? the figure on one of them scales out to a scale 5 feet ? he is one of the Chinese figures off E-Bay, with a new jacket and a hat added.

The horses are a scale 6 feet at the shoulders ? that equals 15 hands high: Shire Horses can be up to 19 hands high, so these are youngsters!


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Now theres a model to be proud of,Top Marks.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Ooooo I like that, really nice. Great modelling ,...".... I want one.
 
Nice 'osses :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Thanks for filling in the details on the construction techniques - I need some horse-drawn vehicles for the period my railway is set (1930) and this gives me some inspiration - though I am deeply envious of your skills, patience and attention to detail and fear my efforts will come nowhere near yours.

Rik
 
Hi,

Thank you for the kind comments - much appreciated .

For those that are interested Hobby's make a kit (wood and the wheels made from plastic) of a spring dray
http://hobby.uk.com/horse-drawn-vehicles/hobbys-plans-kits/coal-cart-kit.html < Link To http://hobby.uk.com/horse...its/coal-cart-kit.html

and also just a plan

http://hobby.uk.com/horse-drawn-vehicles/hobbys-plans-kits/coal-cart-plan.html < Link To http://hobby.uk.com/horse...ts/coal-cart-plan.html

the wheels can be bought separately

http://hobby.uk.com/horse-drawn-vehicles/cart-wheels/wheels-moulded-4-small.html < Link To http://hobby.uk.com/horse...s-moulded-4-small.html

are the ones used (on the rear of mine though I will build another with these on both axles, and springs for a change.
 
Thanks Peter
Have just ordered the Hobby's kit. Maybe once I've made that I will have the confidence to start scratchbuilding my own. I assume the kit is roughly 1:19??

Rik
 
Hi Rik, Yes that is correct, though the length can be to whatever you need, the width is kept with the deck goi8ng over the wheels; normal horse drawn vehicle have the body inside the wheels; drays are different: I think that is because that allowed for greater size loads, though naturally they are higher than 'normal' vehicles.


Here are the Hobby's large van and my Dray which is the same size as the Hobbies one. The large van had [a different (USA tube) set of shafts, which are different to the all wood style of the UK design.

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The grey stallion is by Schliech though at the moment is is not available - its a pity that he is a very good looking animal.
 
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