Thursday 27 September 2012

Chariot Wheel Size Comparison

I'm constructing a fleet of chariots for my Ancient British, and I though others might like to see some of the wheels that are out there.

Firstly, this is the ideal I'm aiming towards; a wheel of similar size and proportion to those on the below chariot reconstruction.  You'll notice that the rim is pretty thin... this isn't a feature on many of the models out there!


Below are the wheels from the models I've collected so far.  Isn't it astonishing how varied the size and shapes are? 


The smallest wheel is from Black Tree Designs; at 12mm diameter, it would suit a 15mm model better than a 28mm!  Laughable.

The second, is from the more recent Foundry range.  It is in my opinion too small, and has a very ugly thick rim; looks like it should be on a wheelbarrow.

The third, from Newline Designs, is rather elegant, if a little on the small side for me (I guess it is true 28mm).  It doesn't have a raised hub, though, which is a pity.

The fourth, from Relic Miniatures, arrived today from Canada and is lovely (thanks Mike!).  It is a good size and very elegant.  It is ready drilled on the back to take an axle, too.  Absolutely my favourite wheel; it is beautifully modelled and cast.

The sixth, from Renegade Miniatures, I quite like, even though it has a thickish rim.  If I didn't have Relics, I'd certainly look at these.

Finally, the Wargames Factory wheel is the largest by around a millimetre.  Again, I was planning to use these, until Relic's lovely pieces arrived.  I now intend to save these and use them as waggon wheels for a projected baggage train.


I'll do a picture review of the very nice Relic model in a few days time.

8 comments:

Anibal Invictus said...

I'll be curious to see the final results. And I agree, the first wheel is just an incredible POS

Richard Lockwood said...

Ha! That is a good cross section. Though you should see some of the others I have for my "one chariot from every manufacturer" project - one in particular I have christened "the King Tiger Tank"...
I too have just ordered the Relic chariot this morning, since your earlier email alerted me to its existance.

BigRedBat said...

Thanks chaps!

Richard you have me guessing, perhaps the King Tiger is one from Celtos, or Alternative Armies?

I have been toying with posting the weights of the different models and teams, I'm guessing that the Renegade will weigh at least twice the Newline.

Simon

Anonymous said...

I would not mind some of those just because of the large rims. I imagine it might have been easier to make robust wheels with widers rims, so some tribes with less less craftmanship might have gone for those. Just my gutfeeling and nothing scientific though!

BigRedBat said...

Hi Burkhard,

I'm planning to use the better ones with the thick rims (Renegade, Factory) as cart wheels. Presumably a wheel for a cart, carrying a heavy load, would need to be more substantial than the wheel for a light chariot.

Cheers, Simon

legatus hedlius said...

This is a really useful piece. I need a lot of Chariots too, they are the only element missing from my British army. I'm not patient enough to do what you are doing so think I will go for Renegade as most of my Britons are theirs.

BigRedBat said...

Hi Stephen, I really love the Renegade Celts, too.

I can give you a good price on a small fleet of Renegades, if interested?

Simon

legatus hedlius said...

Ah, now that is tempting. I've decided to just paint units for the forseable future otherwise I jump around all over the place and once I've finished my current one I'm not sure what to paint next.

Drop me a line on legatushedlius AT yahoo.co.uk