This will certainly be the last post this year, so I wish all my friends and admirers of my work, a Happy New Year with good health and happiness.
However continuing to the construction of Malaposta carriage, I'll show how to do the foundation that supports the whole structure of the carriage, so it's very important she be okay right and straightened to support the entire weight of the various parts, for this I built a shipyard wherein the base rests, thus being aligned and centered to go proceed to the construction of the whole structure, the foundation is made in good quality plywood, not to bend, has a thickness 4 mm, are made two openings to accommodate the bese lower passenger, the wheels have been removed to facilitate the work around the entire structure, some more pictures to better understand the construction.

Construction of axles and suspension, continuing, as you can see in the pictures, this suspension consists of 3 beams of springs on the front axle and three on the rear axle, this system gave greater strength and stability as well as more comfortable for passengers, springs front are fixed on the crossbar of the front and rear are fixed in the beam cross springs on the rear axle, leaf springs are fixed in front in the back and behind are fixed to the beam cross springs, the blades of the springs are made in steel sheets of 0.75 mm grossura.aqui go some more pictures to see and monitor this compilation.

royal mail coach

As you can see the wheels are completed, already has a primary coat of paint, to protect and conserve the wood, the rims also are already finished, as can be seen in the pictures, these wheels are not fixed on the shaft by means of threaded nut as normally happens in the chariots but by three screws that pass through the hub from the outside to the inside, being fixed wheel on the shaft by means of a collar which is welded to the shaft and qu prevents the wheel out a method used on heavier cars and long course such as this, as you can see also the wheels, they are provided with bush om the cubes in order to prevent the orifice wear of the cubes and to allow a better bearing. however already started working on track, these are made of 6 mm square section bar, then the ends is fixed axle shaft, with the downward slope of 5 degrees in front and seven behind, the welds used in these parts are made Silver for added resistance, the next chapter will show more progress on track and fifth wheel.

Well, it's time to begin the practical construction of Malaposta carriage, there is no requirement to begin construction of a part or carriage part, I always like to start with the part of the wheels, despite being the most complex and difficult part of do, they are well executed wheels, which give beauty to an animal-drawn vehicle, if the vehicle body is well done, but the wheels do not, the whole set is misaligned and without beauty.
This carriage carrying passengers, mail and baggage over 300 Km. By road with many potholes and poorly maintained between Lisbon and Porto, so these wheels had different characteristics of normal wheels, they had to be strong and robust to support these efforts huge yet sometimes they to collapse, was common in very hot summer days have to be wet along the pathways to maintain uniform set. and united, cubes and snip were usually made of wood and oak beams in mangrove, the rays of this carriage are staggered in front and back to 4 and 7 degrees to give more reinforcement and stability to the wheels. although this construction is not really suitable for beginners, the difficulty it offers, I promise that in the near future here will show a very easy model to make for those who like to start this magnificent hobby of building animal-drawn vehicles.
 here are some photos of how I do the wheels of this carriage, I hope you enjoy and appreciate, thank you.

Display of my miniature coaches

As I had promised, to those who could not be present at the opening of my exhibition of coaches thumbnails in Olhão, the municipal museum, here sending some photos of the event, which will be on display until the end of the month of February next year, if they can go there, they have the opportunity to admire a charming town, very old but full of lovely things to see.

royal mail coach

After some time spent to prepare, pack arrange the coaches for the exhibition of the 20th of November at the Algarve. everything was completed yesterday, .then it is time to start with my new work of construction of the Malaposta carriage, .as you know, there are no plans of this vehicle, so I have to convert all measurements, sketches and drawings in the plans will scale 1/10 scale I'm going to build, here are some pictures to show you how I do this work, I hope you enjoy.