It's been a long time since I built a reference model, but on a day this week when the weather had changed for the warmer, I was out picking up sticks the oak drops on our driveway and I got inspired.
I plan do do a new piece of artwork (probably a print to be released at Motor City Comic Con) that would pay homage to the first ever issue of Mouse Guard where Saxon, Kenzie, & Lieam discover the broken grain cart from the merchant they were tasked with finding.
The sticks, warm weather, and this upcoming artwork on my mind came together and gave a me a time away from the computer and drawing table while still being creative and using my hands.
Before I started in earnest, I printed out a page from that first issue as well as a re-design of the grain cart I drew in 2017 (and was in that year's sketchbook). I thought it would be handy to have these in sight when at my workbench in the garage.
I wanted to be closer to the original in overall form, but take some of the cues from the latter with some of the details and organic shapes.
Below is more of a series of photos, rather than a step-by-step tutorial, that I managed to take (when I remembered to take photos) while working. Also, please excuse the state of my workbench--it has been a catch all and not tidied since last fall when the weather was still suitable for an unheated garage.
My first pile of fallen sticks gathered from my patio and yard. When I was a kid my Dad had a tall cardboard box full of tree debris like this that had fallen from our maples and elms in Flint, MI that he'd use to get a charcoal fire going for cooking out (no lighter fluid used by Eric Petersen!)
I used a box cutter or a wire brush to remove the loose bark and lichen. This was where I discovered I needed more sticks because so many would break at weak or rotten spots.
Starting to glue up the frame with super glue. I had to make a run to the hardware store because the two bottles of glue I managed to find in my studio and in the garage were only 5%-10% full and both dried solid.
I used popsicle sticks to deck the bottom of the cart. I used pliers to break off the ends rather tan a saw to give them a more rustic look.
Gluing the uprights for the side walls. There were lots of decisions here about placement of these that will effect the way the side walls attach.
I wanted a more robust structure to hold the axles, so I cut out a piece of pine on my scroll saw. (I think this was a really thick pain stirring stick--or if not, something similar.
hacked at the axle mounts to make them looked mouse-carved and them gave them some stain. Also laid in the axle brace, which was a pre-cut piece of doll-house framing.
Back to the cart adding top rails to the walls..still just superglue...
oh, and you can see my bad decision to stain the popsicle sticks. It made it a mess and I don't care for the color, so I didn't do any more after that.
Used braided cotton chord used for snapping chalk lines to lash the corners together. Each knot got a little dab of super glue so it stays put.
Starting on popsicle stick planks for the side walls. Again, just breaking the ends off with a pair of pliers to get them to length.
Done with the side walls and opted to add another stick as framing in the middle of each wall to make it more visually interesting.
I should have showed this wheel process more. I took oak scraps from when I milled some for a gate on our basement stairs, and cut 4 equally long pieces (per wheel). On my belt sander I hacked into them each individually making the surface uneven, divoted, and differing thickness. They were then lined up edge to edge and I traced a circle on them using a can of wood stain as a template. I cut on the pencil line of each piece and then glued them together making sure not to align them perfectly. The hub is a bit of dowel, a washer, and a nail.
Warping popsicle sticks as cross bracing and clamping across the uneven surface while the glue dries
On the back of the cart I wanted to make the structure more interesting so I used a few more oak twigs. Here are my sub assemblies of cart, axle mount, and wheels.
When it came time to plank the back wall, I found I had to bend or slightly break each one in the middle so that I could glue both end touching the corner posts as well as the center post.
And here agin is the final product. Are there things I wish I did differently: YES! I immediately saw all sorts of changes I'd like to make. Some were aesthetic, others were believability of function, and some were just afterthoughts about how I could have made life easier on myself.
However, I'm not going to spend any more time on this. I appreciate the time away from the studio doing work-work and being outside on a nice day. But as this is a reference for a drawing, I can make many of those changes in the drawing as I go.
