Oxen hauled wagon and load.

Something a little different, I am working on a cart and load, pulled by four oxen. This is a Perry Miniatures metal set, it had very little flash and although there are no instructions, it looks pretty straightforward to build.

All the components laid out on the board, the only thing I have done, apart from priming of course, is to super glue the oxen heads on as they come separate, this is for a reason as the two yokes at the top of the photo should be slipped on first. However, this would have caused problems in the painting stage as well as having the two models joined together and hanging from the yoke. I shall simply snip the yoke at the bottom of the curve and place it on the completed oxen.

The set comes with a drover, woman holding a baby and a young boy. The two latter models are in a sitting position and will eventually be placed on top of the wagon load. The load is a resin cast.

The wagon parts, the ladder like pieces are the side of the wagon and the odd curved shaped pieces at the top of the photo, with forked ends are to slip over the wheel axles/hubs and join with the top of the wagon sides.

Painting the oxen, nearest the camera is flesh, then yellow and furthest away two in brown sand. 

I used some left over paint to highlight a few of the sacks on the load.

A dry assembly of the wagon, nothing is glued in place yet, but shows how all the parts go together.

Without the load and with the two seated figures shown.

The oxen have now had a coat of transparent burnt umber ink, the original colours now give a subtle difference in hide colour.

I also gave the load and wagon a coat of the ink too, this will make it easier to paint up once assembled.

The work will hopefully be completed tonight on the paint and chat, I can then move onto the second wagon, which is a little more complex looking, a covered wagon. Although these models as described as Wars of the Roses, they could be used for many periods.