Tachanka Pt 3

Working on a third tachanka, this one is based on a plan created by Mike O. Here are my own attempts at following his plan. Perhaps I'll ask if he minds if I share the plans here.

Preparing the springs

Here's my cart. Sides are of foam board, held together with toothpicks and wire. Index card folded and ready to be glued onto the structure.

springs rolled, cart and undercarriage built, railings attached, ready to put together.

I didn't get the measurements from Mike O for the plan, so I more-or-less guessed on sizing. The tachanka came out a little large for my liking. I'll likely make a 4th version off of a similar plan, slightly scaled down. 

Here's how it ended up once put together with figures and horses, then spray primed brown. The figures are from various sources (HAT Russian Heavy Weapons, Orion Red First Cavalry's Budenny himself as the gunner, with a converted hat of clay and glue, as well as some Strelets Tereck Cossack Cavalry).

The horses in the center had been previously painted. Ive added sand to the base, which I'll darken and cover with grass later. I've also started some early painting on the figures.

Perhaps hard to see, but I've changed how the driver holds the reigns, now with 2 lines in each hand. So, he holds the reigns for the two horses on the right with his right hand, and vice versa. 

A few shots beside the other 2 tachankas, for size reference

Tachanka (pt 2)

Hi all, here's an update on my progress (see previous post). Ive begun a second, similar, tachanka using mostly the same parts.

Following a helpful suggestion, I used some strip metal to cut thin strips out, folded them over to make the springs.

Here are my two tachankas, spray painted brown, ready to be painted. You can see, I began adding gray on the hats of some on the first (these will be painted over white, the gray beneath it will add some depth).

Thanks for reading. I'll update again once i've painted them. Before that, with some free time and a little luck, I'll share my (close-to-finished) Telefonica diorama from the Spanish Revolution of 1936.