I recently posted up a few pictures of a model Gypsy caravan or "Vardo" kit that I was building in the Modellers Corner thread which probably passed most people by.
That kit is pretty well finished and I'm starting to work on the camp scene that will surround it now. I thought that might interest a few more people so I'm giving it it's own thread.
Ignore the cardboard backdrop, that is just the surface of my work bench, the idea is to build a glowing fire pit and it's environs but that will be a later stage.
I'm starting off with the tools and many of those are things we are all familiar with.
The grill was first, made from brass box section and held together with stainless wire. I was going to glue it all together for security but in the end the friction fit was good enough.
Next in line was the frame saw. I got the blade from a coping saw, one of many spares I had and using a bit of heat from a blowtorch, bent the ends to provide stops. The frame is recycled mahogany from a skip and a bit of linen thread for tension. The pieces were just whittled and sanded.
I couldn't resist making a proper job of the axes so I started with an off cut of 01 tool steel. I annealed it so that I could drill the eyes and they were made oval shaped with a diamond needle file.
I then roughly ground the shapes and cleaned them up on a belt sander before re-hardening them with emphasis on the blade edges.
Sharpened up on the whetstone I then polished the edge before tempering them.
The hafts were whittled and sanded again but I confess I didn't even try to wedge them so a dab of epoxy was used to secure them safely.
There's lots more to do before the camp is complete so expect a few updates as time goes on.
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