My Horse-Drawn Wagon Model

johnpipe108 · Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2008 4:08 am Post subject:

This was a by-product of my model of the Pride And The Passion cannon, the wagon used to carry the "stone" cannon-balls in the film.

Woodworking in general, and model-building in particular, are a bit more difficult for this "Scholar's Nature", with the physical-clumsiness factor thrown in. Unlike the fine scale HDV models that may be seen on the Scale Model Horse Drawn Vehicle web page, no two of any part that's supposed to be identical are so, in my work, and I shy away from too much fine detail or graceful proportion (I quit while I'm ahead!).

Not too bad overall, though. It's based on the non-period-authentic movie wagon, corrected for more historic realism, and load capacity (real granite cannonballs would weigh in at about 170 to 300 pounds apiece, depending on their exact size in full-scale, too much for a light-weight delivery dray rented for the movie).

I probably spent a couple hundred hours studying every library book on the subject of wagons I could lay my hands on, just to work out the running gear, wheels, springs, wagon tongue and stuff. Rest of the time I sat around in the workshop thinking out the details and changes, and occasionally feeling inspired to make some part of the whole.

It took about two months to complete, and it's in 1:12-scale, aka "doll-house" scale, aka "dolls-house" scale..

This is just about all you can see of the original wagon in the movie:

Now, have any of y'all got any real small mules you could lend me, so I can take these cannon-balls to Avila?

Happy Halloween,

Johnpipe
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He who sees all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, hates none -- Isha Upanishad

Bom Shankar Bholenath! I do not "have a syndrome", nor do I "have a disorder," I am a "Natural Born Scholar!"