Scratchbuilt Cart (How to)

Dead easy, dead cheap.

Tools and bits needed;
Old CD case, set square,  small pliers, hobby knife, sandpaper, some Cocktail sticks, thin Card, needle, some woodglue, plastic glue and paint. (oh,  an some spare wheels)

Cut out the shapes for the wagon. Basically I did this by eye, first the base of the wagon, then the sides and then the end pieces..no measuring, just making sure I got the pieces cut with roughly right angled sides.(apart from the two end pieces ..:-D)

Using the sharp knife and the set square, score lines to represent Planks. Using the needle re-score to make the lines deeper. Sand down and then use the needle to remove and dust that´s got into the grooves (don´t worry if the needle Slips causing Scratching, this dissappears when painted)

Glue the base of the wagon to the thin Card using woodglue. The sanded surface of the plastic bonds really well with the card. Why the card? This makes a good surface to attach the axle and shafts later.

Next stage when the glue has dried, cut away the excess card, and glue the sides onto the base.
To make the struts for the sides, use the pliers to gently "snap" them  off. Best to score the plastic at least three times for very thin pieces.

Next the wheels and shafts. Halfway through the build I decided on using different wheels.
Basically, the toothpicks are cut to length, two for the shafts and one for the axle.The shafts I made by removing one side of the toothpicks to give a flat surface to glue them to the base.

Paint all the parts, and glue on. Just visible on the bottom of the footboard I´ve added a couple of small supports.

Wagon finished! :-D
All in all it took just under an hour to make this one and cost...? Nothing?