Wells Fargo Stage Coach Reference Pictures

The other night when I left my client's site I saw a stage coach inside the building across the street. I left a little the next morning and went inside to get some pictures of it. Very convenient to spot this just when I was thinking about how to paint the Sarissa model that I had just built. I wonder if there are some Wells Fargo decals out there.

So if you are in need of some prototype pictures of a stage coach here you go!

I may have to go back and get another shot of the seating. There is a center bench seat right in the middle. I can't even imagine having to sit on this for any length of time. I guess it pays to be at the stage coach station early to claim a seat on either side.

Now I'll have to do a little more research. Looking at this photo and the next you can see that the spot for the whip is on the wagon's right side and so is the brake. I think the "driver's" position was on the right and not the left. I think I need to go back and watch some more western movies, I think those always have the driver on the left and the"shotgun" position on the right.

The wagon's right side notice, here you can see the painting and scroll work on the door.

I was right about the back of the Sarissa kit being far to straight, here you can see how the leather cover really drapes over the back. The angle is much different too. I think I'll need to make some modifications to the second kit that I have.

A closer look at the brake

A close up off the door painting and the scroll work.

The back wheel

The front steering axle and the fancy paintwork that's on it.

I decided that I didn't quite cover everything so I went back across the street this morning and took some additional pictures just to make sure I had covered just about everything.

Here's a better picture of the left side

Some better interior shots, this time with the flash.

Can you even imagine traveling for any distance on that bench seat in the middle?

I have no idea what the purpose of that leather strap might be unless its a primitive seat belt of some kind.

A look at the under carriage

And another under carriage shot.

Wagons for Calamity - Part 6 Round Up

And this brings an end to my wagon series, at least for now. So here are a few pictures of the wagons all together along with a few calamity citizens to provide a bit of scale.

Edit: I did a little research this evening. The Sarissa Gypsy Box Wagon is more properly known as a Bow Top and uses canvas for the roof (not that to say that there weren't some that used planks). Sarissa's Gypsy Ledge Wagon is more properly known as a Reading. A ledge wagon would go up and then widen out over the wheels with ledges rather than just go straight up like Sarissa's. Not that any of that makes a difference to our little pewter people or to your average gamer.

The full lineup. From left to right: Hearse, Gypsy Ledge Wagon, Gypsy Box Wagon, Stage Coach and Plank (Freight) Wagon

Dave "Mac" next to the freight wagon (Reaper Miniature).

Gunfighter next to the stage coach (Reaper Miniature)

Gunslinger next to the Gypsy Box Wagon (Black Scorpion)

Gunslinger next to the Gypsy Ledge Wagon (Black Scorpion)

Wichita Witch next to the Hearse (Reaper Miniature)

Wagons for Calamity - Part 2 Sarissa Precision Stage Coach

Part 2 of Wagons for Calamity features the Sarissa Precision Stage Coach. This is an interesting little kit which uses lasercut cardboard for some of the more delicate pieces. Construction is straight forward and the use of cardboard doesn't make anything more difficult to build. Again, the type size on the instructions could be a bit bigger (okay a lot bigger) for my old eyes but other than that I didn't really have any problems putting this one together.

Let's move right into the pictures of my build.

The package!

Instructions, the front, note that there are steps to follow here.

Back side of the instructions

Here are the mdf pieces, of course here they are upside down. I later corrected this error.

The cardboard parts. The little pile in the upper left are the ones that literally fell off the sheet

Putting the undercarriage together. I was a little disappointed that its not setup to steer

Undercarriage now with wheels!

Building the main cabin. The luggage racks on top are cardboard pieces. I am a little concerned about how well the cardboard will take paint.

The driver's seat. The only wooden piece here is the floorboards. Everything else is cardboard.

Rear luggage section. I'm not sure I like this, its to straight. The top piece is really just a cover of some kind in real life so it should really drape.

And everything together. 

This kit really does a good job of breaking down a fairly complex vehicle into simpler sub-assemblies. I think its still a little on the small side but I'm sure they came in a lot of different sizes anyway so that's not really an issue. I would love to see some more detail added to this kit, it could really be a center piece (aka a "hero" model) but as it stands right now its a nice thematic air (aka a "supporting cast" model).