Hello everyone,
and now for something completely different... And yes, the year is really 1770.
Cugnot's Fardier was the first self-propelled vehicle. It was constructed around 1770 and was powered by steam.
It was operable. However, the operators had no driving license
and the thing ended in the next wall. The first car accident ever
Since the Fardier's weight was around 4 tons (length > 7 m), the wall lost against the steam monster. Therefore, they abandoned the idea for some years and kept the Fardier in a safe storage. Today it still can be seen in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris.
There are videos on youtube, which show replicas in operation.
Just keep in mind, it was more than 250 years ago!!! I'm really into steam things, and therefore I really wanted to have the Fardier in the showcase. So, yes... ehhhm no. There is no model kit available.
However, Brumm company (I think in Italy) released many years ago a model car in their "Old Steam" line, scale 1/43. And I had the idea to make some improvements to get something unique. After some tries I won an ebay auction with 16 EUR. That seemd fair price for the experiment. What I received was this:
As model car not so bad, but molds seem to be very old.
Furtunately, a disassembly was possible:
Unfortunately, the main frame was from metal and a lot of it had to be removed:
Quite unusual sight for scale modelling:
In the end most, no..., all parts had to be modified. Just some examples.
Boiler:
Basket with firing wood:
Tires (the front tire received some tread):
So now the pictures of my modified Fardier de Cugnot (1770):
Thanks for watching
Best Regards
Rafael
