Hi fellow Planeteers,
I don't know if you've noticed or not but I have been away from the forum for some time. I did hint the last time I was on that I would be making something a bit special but not in the figure arena. I was asked to put this on the Lounge forum when I had finished as some people would be interested so in the hope that someone is, here it is.
The model is a 1/9th scale wooden and metal replica of a Concord stagecoach from 1848 that I picked up recently whilst on holiday in Majorca. I honestly had no idea what I was letting myself in for as its quite a bit bigger and a lot more complicated than I expected.
I have never made a wooden model before and was not prepared for the amount of wood, pins and metal sheeting that goes into the making of this coach. The main body of the coach is already supplied cut out but that's about it. The rest of it has to be measured and guessed at to fit. The kit comes with a 1/1 scale drawing of the coach to give you some idea of the size that's needed for different pieces and also a booklet with photos and a very vague explanation of what part fits to another.
This was the first thing I worked on, fixing a top piece onto each side of the coach. The top piece is meant to give the coach sides some shaping. The two seats on the right I made myself. The instructions state that I should just glue some supplied brown material to a wooden bench but I wanted to make the seat a bit more plush than that so I sewed some foam rubber inside the material then stitched it in such a way that it looked buttoned. I did this for both interior seats and the backs to them.
A large piece of ply sheeting was gently glued around both sides and the floor and then the seats were fixed into place. I used two types of glue on this project; my usual superglue and when that wasn't suitable I used a white wood glue.
The kit comes complete with many strips of veneer which have to be glued seperately into place. This was very time consuming and required a bit of rubbing down with emery cloth when dry. It was then trimmed with a sharp craft knife.
Then came what I found to be the hardest part of this kit; the wheels. The rims are formed from four pieces that are already shaped. The hub is also supplied but needs boring out with a drill to allow the fitting of the spokes which have to be cut to size. This I found quite difficult as each piece has to be made custom style and fitted into place to make sure the hub is central. After much swearing and cussing I discovered it was easier to make a North South East West style shape and fit those into place first before fitting all the others. Needless to say, this process took quite a while to sort out and I was not a very likeable person during this couple of days work.
Here can be seen one of the completed wheels sitting on the 1/1 plan.
Here you can see that the wheels are done with brass hub rims and wheel rims glued into place. I then turned back to the carriage body and on the roof I glued many strips of veneer to give a patterned effect. As you can see by this time I had also veneered the sides of the carriage. I then moved on to making the drivers seat which after assembling also required veneer.
The underneath of the carriage had a false bottom constructed and glued into place after being veneered. A frame is constructed around this piece to later assist the suspension.
Here you can see the drivers seat fixed into place. Light coloured veneer has also been attached to the seat sides and under the windows and thin light coloured pieces of veneer shaped and attached to the sides of the coach for decoration. I made the drivers seat from an old leather wallet and foam rubber.
This shows the rear of the carriage. More thin strips of light veneer have been attached to the coach and I have included a piece of red dressmaking material inside the coach to add some colour.
I am now in the process of fitting the side doors. These have to be hinged with tiny hinges and nails. The doors are also veneered and patterned with different woods. The plans didn't stipulate any glass in the windows but I decided to do this anyway and used clear Perspex which I cut to shape.
Here is the kit with the doors completed. All the glass is in place and I have constructed and fit the roof luggage rack in place. This had to be shaped and fixed together from several pieces of brass wire. I painted it black as I think it looks better. There are also two pieces of brass rod fitted from the top of the coach to the drivers footwell. These are fixed into place with tiny little hooks. I have made brass armrests for the driver and his companion. Then I have made dust sheets that are rolled up and fixed with leather straps to the tops of the windows. Finally I have constructed the rear luggage frame using wood supplied and more leather straps and buckles that I custom made. The drivers footwell has brass strengthening bars attached with tiny nails. I made a door handle from thin wire supplied which is bent to shape so the doors can be opened and locked in place.
Now we turn to the undercarriage. Each piece of wood here is cut to size from long strips. The front axle turns as its fixed by a central pin. Each wheel is made to turn on the axle.
You can see that I have fitted the undercarriage to the coach. Springs have been painstakenly made from strips of metal which then I attached a leather strip made from leather shoe laces to cradle the carriage. The kit supplied pieces of thin wood for this purpose but I found it unsuitable for the task.
The stagecoach is now complete. All the wood has been given at least three coats of yacht varnish to give a deep shine. I have done this in between various sections of construction. I have fixed pieces of supplied brass in place either side of the doors to hold the carriage to the leather springs. I bought an old black leather handbag from a charity shop to make more protective leather rolls at the back of the coach. The look I got from the lady at the charity shop was priceless but I didn't explain. Let her think what she wants. You can see the drivers brake on this side. The braking system is supposed to work but try as I might I just couldn't get it to work properly so I glued the brake blocks to the rear wheels to give it more strength. The passenger foot steps I made out of brass wire and fixed into place over the leather cradle spring. The main shaft at the front of the carriage is also hinged to move up and down. I attached a small piece of chain to the outside of the drivers footwell to hold the main shaft up so it takes up less room. This chain is attached to tiny hooks and can be removed if at any time should I want to attach horses to the carriage.
All that is now required is for me to buy a few dolls house luggage pieces to place on top. I am also unsure whether or not to make a saddlebag and a rifle sling to fix on both sides of the drivers seat. I've certainly got enough leather left from my handbag!
All in all this was a very complicated model to make, and because of the size of it I don't yet know where it will be displayed. My love of all things Wild West led me to buy and construct this but I don't think I will be making another wooden kit anytime soon. I think I will stick to plastic cars and planes and of course more figures. Please let me know what you think of my latest project which took me two months to make.
John
I don't know if you've noticed or not but I have been away from the forum for some time. I did hint the last time I was on that I would be making something a bit special but not in the figure arena. I was asked to put this on the Lounge forum when I had finished as some people would be interested so in the hope that someone is, here it is.
The model is a 1/9th scale wooden and metal replica of a Concord stagecoach from 1848 that I picked up recently whilst on holiday in Majorca. I honestly had no idea what I was letting myself in for as its quite a bit bigger and a lot more complicated than I expected.
I have never made a wooden model before and was not prepared for the amount of wood, pins and metal sheeting that goes into the making of this coach. The main body of the coach is already supplied cut out but that's about it. The rest of it has to be measured and guessed at to fit. The kit comes with a 1/1 scale drawing of the coach to give you some idea of the size that's needed for different pieces and also a booklet with photos and a very vague explanation of what part fits to another.
This was the first thing I worked on, fixing a top piece onto each side of the coach. The top piece is meant to give the coach sides some shaping. The two seats on the right I made myself. The instructions state that I should just glue some supplied brown material to a wooden bench but I wanted to make the seat a bit more plush than that so I sewed some foam rubber inside the material then stitched it in such a way that it looked buttoned. I did this for both interior seats and the backs to them.
A large piece of ply sheeting was gently glued around both sides and the floor and then the seats were fixed into place. I used two types of glue on this project; my usual superglue and when that wasn't suitable I used a white wood glue.
The kit comes complete with many strips of veneer which have to be glued seperately into place. This was very time consuming and required a bit of rubbing down with emery cloth when dry. It was then trimmed with a sharp craft knife.
Then came what I found to be the hardest part of this kit; the wheels. The rims are formed from four pieces that are already shaped. The hub is also supplied but needs boring out with a drill to allow the fitting of the spokes which have to be cut to size. This I found quite difficult as each piece has to be made custom style and fitted into place to make sure the hub is central. After much swearing and cussing I discovered it was easier to make a North South East West style shape and fit those into place first before fitting all the others. Needless to say, this process took quite a while to sort out and I was not a very likeable person during this couple of days work.
Here can be seen one of the completed wheels sitting on the 1/1 plan.
Here you can see that the wheels are done with brass hub rims and wheel rims glued into place. I then turned back to the carriage body and on the roof I glued many strips of veneer to give a patterned effect. As you can see by this time I had also veneered the sides of the carriage. I then moved on to making the drivers seat which after assembling also required veneer.
The underneath of the carriage had a false bottom constructed and glued into place after being veneered. A frame is constructed around this piece to later assist the suspension.
Here you can see the drivers seat fixed into place. Light coloured veneer has also been attached to the seat sides and under the windows and thin light coloured pieces of veneer shaped and attached to the sides of the coach for decoration. I made the drivers seat from an old leather wallet and foam rubber.
This shows the rear of the carriage. More thin strips of light veneer have been attached to the coach and I have included a piece of red dressmaking material inside the coach to add some colour.
Here is the kit with the doors completed. All the glass is in place and I have constructed and fit the roof luggage rack in place. This had to be shaped and fixed together from several pieces of brass wire. I painted it black as I think it looks better. There are also two pieces of brass rod fitted from the top of the coach to the drivers footwell. These are fixed into place with tiny little hooks. I have made brass armrests for the driver and his companion. Then I have made dust sheets that are rolled up and fixed with leather straps to the tops of the windows. Finally I have constructed the rear luggage frame using wood supplied and more leather straps and buckles that I custom made. The drivers footwell has brass strengthening bars attached with tiny nails. I made a door handle from thin wire supplied which is bent to shape so the doors can be opened and locked in place.
Now we turn to the undercarriage. Each piece of wood here is cut to size from long strips. The front axle turns as its fixed by a central pin. Each wheel is made to turn on the axle.
You can see that I have fitted the undercarriage to the coach. Springs have been painstakenly made from strips of metal which then I attached a leather strip made from leather shoe laces to cradle the carriage. The kit supplied pieces of thin wood for this purpose but I found it unsuitable for the task.
The stagecoach is now complete. All the wood has been given at least three coats of yacht varnish to give a deep shine. I have done this in between various sections of construction. I have fixed pieces of supplied brass in place either side of the doors to hold the carriage to the leather springs. I bought an old black leather handbag from a charity shop to make more protective leather rolls at the back of the coach. The look I got from the lady at the charity shop was priceless but I didn't explain. Let her think what she wants. You can see the drivers brake on this side. The braking system is supposed to work but try as I might I just couldn't get it to work properly so I glued the brake blocks to the rear wheels to give it more strength. The passenger foot steps I made out of brass wire and fixed into place over the leather cradle spring. The main shaft at the front of the carriage is also hinged to move up and down. I attached a small piece of chain to the outside of the drivers footwell to hold the main shaft up so it takes up less room. This chain is attached to tiny hooks and can be removed if at any time should I want to attach horses to the carriage.
All that is now required is for me to buy a few dolls house luggage pieces to place on top. I am also unsure whether or not to make a saddlebag and a rifle sling to fix on both sides of the drivers seat. I've certainly got enough leather left from my handbag!
All in all this was a very complicated model to make, and because of the size of it I don't yet know where it will be displayed. My love of all things Wild West led me to buy and construct this but I don't think I will be making another wooden kit anytime soon. I think I will stick to plastic cars and planes and of course more figures. Please let me know what you think of my latest project which took me two months to make.
John
Great job of it
