Essex C17th Gentleman's Coach

I quite fancied a coach, no other reason that it would look nice on the battlefield.  No doubt Robert Morley as the Earl of Manchester had a hand in this 'need'.

A little bit of research (i.e. Google) showed two options available. Magister Militum and Essex both having a C17th gentleman's carriage in their listings. But no picture on the Essex website. A little more Googling brought up a review: the writer* ditched the Magister Militum offering as it was too complex and fiddly to build. So I ordered the Essex one on the strength of it (and my experience of having had a run in with MM Scots frame guns, which are really fiddly to assemble, which went in the bin).

The coach arrived promptly, along with a restock of brown paint... must be more harquebusiers in the offing.

The coach body comes in three parts: two sides and a roof. Attached to the body are the springs - take very great care not to damage them! 

Unfortunately the two halves needed considerable greenstuff action to make them fit together without gaps, and also square the roofline up so there would be no gap underneath the roof.

The two body halves glued and filled

The extent of the greenstuff required, take care of the coach springs!

The inside of the body, showing how the two sides don't marry together. But I thought that as it was inside nobody would notice.

The coach chassis arrived in a dreadful state, the rear part bent in two. Some very careful straightening and it was square and true. Unfortunately one of the wheel axles snapped off in the process, which necessitated drilling and pinning.

The rear spring stanchion was missing in action, an email to Essex quickly resolved the issue. The front springs attach to the driver's seat (I got two of those).

Then it was paint time. The passenger was painted, and the coach body was painted inside, and a main coat applied to the outside. The chassis was also given its base coat. Once these were dry, the body was fixed to the chassis, and the passenger glued in place. Coach springs were then glued in place.

The coachman has had his head swapped for a PP head, to give a more unified look with the rest of my figures.

I must confess that I was, and still am, not completely happy with the horses. The horses look a little too beefy, and the harnesses look like they were designed by someone having a day off from a BDSM dungeon rather than a regular reader of Horse and Hound. Still undecided about them. I wouldn't be surprised if they are eventually swapped out for some Museum Miniatures horses.

I went for colour matched horses: thinking that any true gentleman would select a team of horses for his carriage with the same colour.

The newly finished coach was in a box with some parliamentarian artillery; sadly my cackhandedness struck and the box took a tumble. The photos of the finished coach, are actually of the repaired coach.

* Apologies I forget where I saw the review, and can't find it anymore. To whoever it was, I doff my cap.

 

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