C16th & C17th Army Covered Supply Cart and Horse, 4Ground & Colonel Bills

As the title indicates these are a combination of models bought from Wargamer show held in Halesowen back in December. The draught horse is from Colonel Bills. Their website can be seen [Colonel Bills]. The cart is from 4Ground (Code: 28-CAW-309). Their website can be seen [4ground carts].

The model cart doesn't come with any covering but I thought this looked a bit odd. I had considered using tissue paper or kitchen roll but quickly realised this was either too thin or patterned. 

The owner, Vince, of the local gaming store [AsgardGamesUk] suggested using a wet wipe after seeing it mentioned by Mel [TheTerrainTutor] on YouTube. This proved to be perfect. The material is not too thick and so look out of scale but is strong enough to hold its shape after being painted. He even provided me with one to try.

After letting it dry out I placed the wipe over the model and marked the basic pattern out, remembering to allow enough extra material to allow it the droop between the ribs. 

The (dry)wipe was then superglued into position and then 'painted' with watered down PVA glue. Once dry the wipe/covering was painted to represent dirty, weathered canvas. I sanded the two shafts to knock off the sharp edges.

Since these photos were taken I've painted black straps onto the shafts to indicate that they are attached to the harness rather than just appearing to float as seen here. 

I've deliberately left off any figures so that I can use the set for different periods. I tend to use this set with The Pikeman's Lament rules. Scenarios involving protecting or raiding supply wagons are generally quite fun, especially if you can set 'fire' to them. I may even use it in a sneaky fashion in future games. Even if they are not used in play they still improve the look of the tabletop.

C19th Horse Drawn Utility Cart, 4Ground

Costing £3.50 this is a small kit, this time from 4Ground, that I would consider to be in the pocket money range of purchases, such as this [chicken coop]. Although the label states it's a 19th century utility cart I don't think it looks entirely out of place for my ECW games and even medieval set ups.

Utility Cart

Relatively simple to put together (each kit is individually rated indicating the skill level required) I would recommend reading the instructions before popping out all the pieces from their board. Another recommendation is to dry fit all the pieces before gluing them in place. 

Yet another thing I would recommend is to paint the wheels and side of the wagon before gluing the wheels in place as it is quite awkward trying to paint them afterwards - as I discovered. A simple error to make but one that I will avoid in the future. 

Utility Cart

The model was given a rudimentary paintjob given that will only ever appear on the table top as a terrain piece.