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Cows

Started by MikeWilliams, Mar 16 2009 08:06

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MikeWilliams

Yes, four-legged animals that go "moo" - what have they to do with Gauge 3?

Well, I am building a model cattle wagon and wanted a few cows to go in it.  A call to GRS confirmed that the cows they sell do fit inside a cattle wagon, so I bought a single one to try, but when it arrived I found it would only fit longitudinally, whereas they were carried crossways.  Since then I have looked in local model and toy shops, without success, to find cheap cows of the right size.

The Schleich cow from GRS is a nice model, but about 120mm from head to rump, whereas my cattle wagon measures 7ft 3in inside (98mm).  That's a lot of difference.  I did manage to find one soft plastic cow that was perfect, but it came from a market stall and merely says "Made in China".

Any suggestions, please?

Mike

Andy B

Mike,

As we know, you aim to build historically correct models - so you need to specify the breeds that would be suitable for the areas in which your chosen cattle wagon operated ;)

Pre-grouping / pre WW1, I assume, so no Friesians for a start!

I'll keep my eye open for you.

Andy

Andy B

Preiser claim to be 1:22.5 scale (whereas Schleich are 1:18)

I found these

A bit of milliput here and there together with a repaint might evolve them into an "olde Englishe" breed!!

Andy

MikeWilliams

Andy is absolutekly right - they should be shorthorn of some description, as these were in a majority from about 1880 until the Second War!

But in reality, anything will do!

cabbage

Have you tried: "The Early Learning Centre"?

They normally stock a range of animals in differing sizes. It was from there that I got my Giraffe -then after two attempts I mastered the art of sawing its head off correctly...

regards

ralph

MikeWilliams

Ralph,  you are a star!  The "soft plastic" one I bought for 50p I now realise is indeed an Early Learning Centre product, so now I know where to get some more.  What I like about this is that it fits exactly inside the width of a cattle wagon and, being soft, should squash slightly to fill the available length, rather than the hard type which would need to be packed out somehow.  Also being soft, it can be bent, so I hope to push its head into different postions and fix it somehow, maybe by drilling its neck and injecting Araldite inside.  This is just so the herd don't all look identical.  That's the plan, but I just need a few more - I reckon about eight per wagon.  Perhaps I need to get friendly with next door's children and look in their toy box.

There's another advantage of these squashy cows.  Eight times about £7 for the hard ones comes to a lot of money just for a load.  The ELC ones are about half that.  OK, they're a bit crude, but you can't see much of them anyway - just the tops of their backs and heads.

I note the Early Learning Centre also sell Highland Cows which I thought would make a change in one wagon, but alas they must be to a different scale as they are about 25% bigger.

So tell us Ralph - why the need to decapitate your Giraffe?

Mike

cabbage


IanT

Mmmn - and who started this particular thread Mr Williams?

You've forced me to go and check the cows I brought when our local Toy Store closed down. They are Schleich and have sat happily in a drawer awaiting a cattle van or two for several years now. So now I'm told they have to stand sideways to be prototypical. Well my cows are going to be a large breed of some sort (and the horses too - I'll stick some cotton wool around their hooves and they can be Shires!). They are going to travel with their backs to the train (like I do) and straight faced I will tell people that's how the Railway Companies shipped larger livestock!

Isn't it bad enough I have to worry about the number of rivets and the scale size of the nuts & bolts on my wagons without someone criticising my menagerie too??   
Nothing's ever Easy - At least the first time around.

John Candy

I have a solution for you Ian.
Place your cattle in a 'Prize Cattle Wagon' where you will only be able to see them by peering through the gaps in the louvres... you can chop off their heads and mount them on pike staffs facing the sides('Cabbage' will give you a lesson in the butchery...he decapitates giraffe)!
Horses, no problem....they travelled in stalls which were parallel to the track, as many as three abreast separated by padded partitions.

Regards,
John.

My fellow Members, ask not what your Society can do for you, ask what you can do for your Society.

IanT

That's a good idea JC - then they would be like the 'underneaths' of my wagons (which I add things to and fiddle with for no good reason) - I won't be able to see anything - but I'll know they are there...!
Nothing's ever Easy - At least the first time around.