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Earlier I built a pony cart using one half of a set of ‘passenger’ wheels from Northeast Models. The other half were to be used in a two wheeled cart that is for a baker, (so now I need a bakers shop, and of course some (to be designed) transfers for both! That will be in hand I have quite a few photos the ‘Silver Plume Bakery’ which will be reduced a bit in size but will be ‘perfect’ otherwise. A point about the wheels – NE Models does not sell the wheels by themselves – you have to buy one of their kits, and I think then they will add some extra wheels and adjust the price accordingly. So, back the to bakers van – the basic idea is from the Dover Publications book ‘Horse Drawn Commercial Vehicles, and the assistance of the computer, this version is an amalgam of the two versions shown plus some other drawings. It is a tiny thing, basically a (scale) 3.5 feet cube with the driver’s area etc added on the front. The body is from 1mm thick styrene card with 1/2mm thick detailing strips, the top has three internal bows to hopefully make the roof itself keep its shape. Whilst cutting the sides I cut out the windows each side of the driver to give him a view out at the sides; these are glazed with some clear plastic packaging, and then a window frame is added from pre-painted paper, on each side, a small window ledge is also added to both side and on the outside an ‘eyebrow’ is above the window as well, all are made from 1mm square strip. The roof itself is made from 1/2mm thick sheet. Paint the inside before the roof is put on; it is much easier that way! I used a ‘wood’ colour here. Under the drivers seat I added a thin (.010) piece of pre-painted plastic card to indicate a cupboard door under the seat, add a handle to it when dry. Behind the drivers seat is a cross partition, photo 2 which has been deliberately lightened shows the central curtain to allow access to the van part; The curtain is tissue paper pre coloured and glued on to a pre painted dark glued to cover from the back the drivers partition, Crease the tissue so the dark area shows a bit. The seat and backrest are cut from scrap, scribe some grooves to indicate the divisions between cushions on both. Small hand grabs made from ‘paperclip wire’ are added to the front of the front pillars. The rear has a door scribed into the piece, add a rain deflector strip above it, and (from scrap) some hinges and a door handle.  
The photos show the finished van, (except for the transfers), with the model fixed to a 1.5mm sheet of black plastic card for ease of moving and safety. Turning to the underside - the cart springs are made from 1 strip of 1/2mm thick aluminum strip 2mm wide, bulked up with some 1/2mm styrene strips to bulk them out. There are 3 springs, the 3rd being a cross body one at the rear. This is slightly set forward to allow a step at the extreme end of the body, made from bits of scrap add a couple of stiffening braces from paperclip wire to the underside of the floor. There are a couple of front steps added and these are also made from ‘paperclip’ wire. Finally varnish the whole vehicle for protection: I use an acrylic varnish.. The wheels assemble from 3 layers are trued up, and a tyre made from black .020 pre curved plastic card is fixed to the wheels; Paint them, and the add some thin earth colour to the tyre itself, it will look much better than plain black; add (from scrap plastic tube) some (brass) outer hubs, and glue them to the axle – this is 1.5mm diameter brass wire with the ends bent down just a bit; the centre portion of the axle (to the outer edge of the springs) is covered with some square plastic tube, The small angle sets the wheels at a small outward facing angle. The shafts for the horse are plastic tube, with the centre at one end partially filled with some old copper wire to stiffen the bending of the tubes; the black sections are intended to indicate the leather wrapping where the straps on the horse harness encircle the shafts. The horse is a Schliech one, with aluminum foil strip harness added, (the harness design is also in the Dover Publications book) and the horse given a white ‘blaze’ and a single white ‘stocking‘ on one front leg; she (it’s a mare) is missing the reins which are done, but the driver needs some surgery to get him right when the reins will be finally adjusted to get them to the correct length, they will then be joined together and placed in the left hand of the driver, - his right hand is left free for a horse whip.. A final photo is the vehicle with a ‘pony cart’ that uses the smaller wheels that come in the set of wheels, this is described in a separate article. 
© Peter Bunce 2009
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