R e n o v a t i o n J o u r n a l
15.3 ~ Beer Wagon
Artitec 60.005
(December 20 - 22, 2021)
While staying at my place last weekend, a friend brought me among other things this Artitec Beer Wagon Set from the shop.
It must have been there for over a decade, since Artitec - as I soon was going to find out - didn't produce this set for over 10 years.
What is remarkable about this product is that it is not cast from plastic but from resin. I thought it was a challenge.
The more so because I already saw where I would put it: back stage at the monastery.
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15.3.1 ~ U n b o x i n g
I was surprised that with a fragile product like this, the parts rattled loosely through the box,
and weren't neatly wrapped in cellophane, to avoid damage in transit.
This may explain why when opening the package, the horse came out with three legs instead of four. The broken leg was not found.
Initially I decided to make the cart without a horse. In addition, I still have some spare horses 'in the stable'.
This is how it has to look like (like ten years ago).
While Artitec currently has a ready-made beer cart in its range, with a Belgian draft horse in front of it.
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15.3.2 ~ C o n s t r u c t i n g
In the afternoon of Monday December 20, I started to loosen all parts of the resin plate.
It is advisable to let the parts soften a bit in the coming water.
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Late in the evening I applied a primer, imitating wood with a mix of black, dark brown, orange brown and cork brown.
In the mean time, Faller's nuns were given a thin layer of lasur.
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The next day, Tuesday, I treated all parts with dry white. I also looked for a figure that can serve as a carter.
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15.3.3 ~ A b o u t A r t i t e c
(Wednesday, December 22, 2021)
For some reason I got the urge to call Artitec in Amsterdam and report the broken horse and missing leg.
A very friendly young man spoke to me by phone and after explaining my story
- on closer inspection it turned out that this set 60.005 had not been produced for 10 years -
he asked for my details, so that he could send a loose horse. He couldn't help sending me a 'horse that was already painted'.
I had no objection to that.
This morning, I found a
package in the letterbox.
In an accompanying letter, Jeroen from Artitec said that unfortunately he could not find a suitable horse with rigging for my beer cart,
because these are already assembled in Vietnam.
This horse which he sent is absolutely beautiful, with a white blaze on the head, but in my opinion a bit too delicate for a beer wagon.
He will certainly get a place of honor on the Cochemer Bahn.
From my own stock - containing a set of four-in-hand horses, which has been in
the drawer for decades - I took a Preiser horse.
With some aging technique,
it fits perfectly in front of the cart. When everything is well cured and dried,
reins will be added.
Then I proceeded to assemble the car quickly.
Since I work with resin, I didn't use hobby glue this time, but super glue.
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15.3.4 ~ C o n t e m p l a t i n g B e e r a t t h e M o n a s t e r y
Now it's waiting for the beer wagon to arrive, bringing new beer to the Monastery.
"Tschüss und komm' bald wieder!"
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15.3.5 ~ C o n t e m p l a t i n g o t h e r w i s e . . .
With the nuns it is NOT BEER that demands their attention...
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15.3.6 ~ A n o t h e r B a r r e l
Since the Artitec beer wagon set had two vessels (I picked the best one for the cart),
some days later I saw this picture on the FB page of Bruce Metcalf:
It inspired me to use the second barrel and make it into either another beer barrel on a rack or a water barrel.
My first idea was to put it behind the Monastery as well, but that's too much.
It will have a nice spot against the 'Victorian Wall' where more 'Artitec-tonian' stuff is tucked away.
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15.3.7 ~ R e i n s o n B e e r
The horse of the beer wagon still had no reins yet.
As with the beet cart, sewing thread from poas comes here too, although I do it now in three parts, and let the reins loosen.
27.12.2021
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A propos...
I could still use the broken horse later, by cutting off its head and using it for a water pump on the Medieval Market, meant for watering horses.
The basis for this came from the Weinhaus (see: Chapter 28).
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Frits Osterthun © 23.2.2022
Last update: 28.4.2023