The very popular Steptoe & Son TV sitcom in the 70s inspired me to create a rag and bone wagon from card, cocktail sticks, match sticks and cigarette filters. So you could say, Steptoe rides again. Well he does on my model n gauge railway layout!
Using my own plan making software I have created several model carts to add to the horses I have. After printing out the plans, I cut out the shapes, painted any white edges and glued them together. For the wheels I used cigarette filters. Using a needle I pierced a filter through the centre, then pushed through a wooden cocktail stick so the filter was like a kebab. I then painted the filter with matt black enamel paint. Once dry I sliced a wheel sized section off both ends of the filter using a razor blade. After carefully removing the centre section, I was able to paint the inside walls of my wheels and the centre cocktail stick which was to be my axle. Again, once dry, I carefully moved the two wheels to the centre of the axle and cut off both wooden ends leaving an axle of 1cm. Still with the wheels in the middle I touched the ends of the axle with red enamel paint. When the red paint was dry I was able to move the wheels to the end of the axle so that the red was in the middle like a hub.
Making the wheels was quite a performance and took a few days allowing coats of paint to dry, so I then created some card wheels on the same plan I used for the cart and the result is just as good if not better. So my Mk2 cart was born but still very similar to the picture above. My cart plan includes a flap underneath to secure the thin wire I used for the shafts that attach the cart to the horse. I then painted the shafts black and attached a small piece of black cotton between the shafts to go over the horse's back. Using black cotton, I wound it around the horse several times and fixed it with a little glue. The shafts then rest on the horse's back without being permanently attached.
Two pieces of match stick painted blue make the seat and front of the cart. I will add photos of the other carts when I have completed them including a Double Diamond brewery cart, Esso Blue paraffin delivery and a United Dairies milk float.
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| Steptoe Rides Yet Again! |
Making the wheels was quite a performance and took a few days allowing coats of paint to dry, so I then created some card wheels on the same plan I used for the cart and the result is just as good if not better. So my Mk2 cart was born but still very similar to the picture above. My cart plan includes a flap underneath to secure the thin wire I used for the shafts that attach the cart to the horse. I then painted the shafts black and attached a small piece of black cotton between the shafts to go over the horse's back. Using black cotton, I wound it around the horse several times and fixed it with a little glue. The shafts then rest on the horse's back without being permanently attached.
Two pieces of match stick painted blue make the seat and front of the cart. I will add photos of the other carts when I have completed them including a Double Diamond brewery cart, Esso Blue paraffin delivery and a United Dairies milk float.
