Building The Oil Wagon

Building an Oil Wagon. My fiancée and I were on vacation in Leesburg, Virginia. Don't worry, it is the Mrs. I am talking about. It was very nice. We went to the Battlefield of Ball's Bluff, Oatlands Plantation, and the Davis Mansion called Morven Park. At Morven, they have a mini museum called the Winmill Carriage Museum. As you have probably surmised, I love American History. Especially history spanning 1776-1900. However, the Antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, and Gilded Age are my favorite for American Trains. Basically, the early days of railroading.

When we were at Morven, it was a beautiful summer day. I like a cool Indian Summer, and fall. My wife loves a hot summer. It was a hot summer. After being outside all day, I needed a break from Mr. Sun. While we purchased tickets, the very nice ticket girl was talking about the park and mentioned they had a carriage from some actor called Thumb. I immediately asked if she was referring to General Tom Thumb. Not only was he a fellow Mason, he is a very interesting historical performer. I, naturally, had to go and see it. While we were in the museum, I noticed a water sprayer wagon I had never seen before. A few years later I found that same wagon on eBay by Berkshire Valley Models, Kit 2105.

After reading the instructions, I base coated the wood with Testors flat grey spray paint. Then, followed the instructions for assembly. I only used wood glue. It took about two hours to build this model. Most of that time was waiting for the glue to dry. However, I had to go back and use a few dabs of super glue on the wheels. After everything had finished drying overnight, I then moved on to painting. Soon, this model would be ready to spray its oil/water mixture at the mine to keep the coal dust to a turn of the last century minimum. That means OSHA would have a heart attack today. Unfortunately, my pet cat chewed the supplied rubber hoses that are supposed to connect the tank to the sprayers on the wagon, so I did not attach them.

I found a small Imex figure on the ground in the parking lot outside of a swap meet I went to. When I got back in the truck, I noticed something caught in the treads of my boots. So, it turned out to be both our lucky day. I base coated the horses, and figure in black spray-paint. Then painted the horses and driver. The horses were painted in brown (I had to have 2 different colored brown horses, I did not want to have a matching team) to offset the tan of the road, and grey of the wagon. They were painted with Vallejo paints. I love how these horse models even have the full yoke and harness. I wanted the driver to have a shirt that popped out a little, but also matched the fall colors and grey wagon. I weathered the wagon with grime, dust, and oil by dry brushing it on. Then, painted the word OIL by hand and weathered it. I just picked colors that would work from Folk Art paint for weathering. Browns and tans for dust. I then had to add oil drippings from the filling hatch. The wagon is not only interesting and a great model, it is also used to break up the transition from the 2D background to 3D scenery. I can't wait to get another wagon (2102 Heinz Delivery Wagon) and driver from Berkshire Valley Models. Berkshire Valley Models or berkshirevalleymodels on eBay