prisoner van

 As I promised in the last message, today I will start the construction of the cellular van.

It is important to talk a little about the history that is associated with this vehicle, it is of French origin, from the 19th century, it was used by the Portuguese prison services until the middle of the 20th century. 7 of these carriages were bought in Paris, France for transportation of prisoners, this unit was in the prison services of Coimbra, having been completely restored and rebuilt to be put on display at the National Coach Museum, where it has been for a few days. It has 6 individual cells and space for two guards prisoners inside, and was taken by 4 mules. As I like to start my miniatures by building the wheels, here I send some photos of this work, I hope you like it and appreciate it.

The various phases of wheel design and construction.

Homemade construction artefact to bend wheel rims.

The spokes make an angle of 5 degrees in the hub socket.

The wheels ready for the first primer painting.

This was the state in which this vehicle was found in the prison penitentiary of Coimbra, before being recovered and restored, currently on display at the National Coach Museum.