Followers

Friday, June 20, 2008

Feed Me

















I went to my local dollar store and purchased a fire truck with a water tank on the back. I removed the tank from the back of the truck, and cut down the intakes from the water tank. I then glued the water tank to the bed of a HaT French Wagon. I added a vertical stovepipe using a bit of plastic tubing. I then constructed a bench seat out of scrapes of styrene plastic. Add a Revell German Artillery set limber rider and the wagon is done. I took one of the HaT German Horse Cavalrymen as the horse rider.
This kind of mobile bread wagon was used from WWI until the end of WWII. It was quick, easy, and cheap. My wargame rules require that the troops get fed every day and so having such wagons helps keep the infantry moving. The penalty for not feeding the troops is that they can't move into the attack due to weaknesss caused by hunger.
Check out your local dollar store and look for some water tanks. I have seen them as both fire trucks, military vehicles and constructions sets. Dollar stores are great sources of spare parts for conversions. The HaT 1/72nd scale series of Napoleonic Wagons can be used as a variety of wagon types with just a little work.

2 comments:

m60a3tanker said...

Hey Mike,
Great idea. I need to start looking more closely at dollar store opportunities.
Wayne

Mike Bunkermeister Creek said...

I hit dollar stores all the time. The stuff is so cheap, even if you get a six pack of vehicles and only use one, it is still just a dollar. I have a teacher friend who gets most of my cast offs and he gives them to the little kids in his classes. So very little is wasted.