Author Topic: 19th Century Field Gun  (Read 7915 times)

Offline mikemill

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 359
19th Century Field Gun
« on: April 25, 2015, 03:23:21 PM »
Aware of the bicentenary of the battle of Waterloo this year and having bought a book entitled Napoleonic Field Guns, which is richly illustrated and has scale drawings of the different types of guns used in this period, I thought it would be fun to model one of the guns, the model represents a light three pounder and is 1/6 scale, the wheels are 6in dia and the total length of the gun and limber is 22in It also makes a change from the cylinder, piston, and con rods repartition that are found in most of the models I have recently made.
The wooden parts are made from beech, a fine grained timber that is very pleasant to work with, the gun barrel is brass (as described from the period which we now call bronze or would you believe gun metal) all the metal parts are made from .030in steel sheet, and brass hoops holding the hubs together.
It’s a bit of a long shot to include the model in an engine making site, but it could be described as an engine of war!!!!

Mike


Offline Don1966

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6817
  • Columbia, MS
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2015, 03:30:17 PM »
Beautiful work Mike and I have been wanting to build a scale model of our civil war cannon. Love the detail and on the canon as well.  :ThumbsUp:

Don

Offline Roger B

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6133
  • Switzerland
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2015, 06:49:51 PM »
It's a single cylinder one cycle engine with disposable piston  :)

Magnificent work  :praise2:  :praise2:
Best regards

Roger

Offline Tennessee Whiskey

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3781
  • Springfield, Tennessee. USA
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2015, 07:39:08 PM »
Rogers' explanation sums it up very well and the craftsmanship is fantastic  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:

Cletus

Online sco

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1693
  • Location: Northants UK
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2015, 07:47:10 PM »
Mike,

That's the first time my wife has shown any interest in the pictures on this site - she's fascinated by Wellington and has lots of books on the subject.  She asks if that's a French or English gun?

Nice work too!

Simon.
Ars longa, vita brevis.

Offline wagnmkr

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 914
  • Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2015, 11:18:21 PM »
Wonderful job ... Very Well Done.

Would you happen to have the ISBN number of that book?

Tom
I was cut out to be rich ... but ... I was sewn up all wrong!

Online steamer

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 12697
  • Central Massachusetts, USA
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #6 on: April 25, 2015, 11:37:54 PM »
No issues with that Mike.    I'd a put in in the Chatterbox section if it were me, but it's fine with me.   

Nicely done!


Dave
"Mister M'Andrew, don't you think steam spoils romance at sea?"
Damned ijjit!

Online Dave Otto

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4693
  • Boise, Idaho USA
    • Photo Bucket
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2015, 01:28:02 AM »
Beautiful work Mike; you are an amazing craftsman.

Dave

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2015, 02:39:15 AM »
Beautiful Mike, and going by your description of the wheel size and total length, quite a sizeable model too. Well done!!

Bill

Offline derekwarner

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 833
  • Wollongong ...... Australia
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2015, 03:01:55 AM »
Mike......a part of my history and  interest is gun related [however more modern naval ordinance] & your field gun carriage is a beautiful quality example  :ThumbsUp: of manufacture from earlier periods

Question......

1. we see the gun barrel is depicted as depressed by a few degrees...we also see what appears to be a bottle screw jack under barrel end cap which is actually causing or locking the barrel depression - was this simply to keep the barrel from uncontrolled movement during transport?

Derek :cheers:
Derek L Warner - Honorary Secretary [Retired]
Illawarra Live Steamers Co-op - Australia
www.ils.org.au

Offline mikemill

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 359
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2015, 11:47:19 AM »
Thank you for all your kind thoughts, I had a spell of making farm wagons some thirty years ago as I like working with wood as well as metal.

The book I described mentions the basic design of field guns did not change for more than a 100 years, introduced around 1780’s through to the turn of the 20th century.

By coincidence it is also the 150th anniversary of the cessation of the American civil war, these guns were used by both sides, locally made or imported I don’t know. So these weapons were certainly important in deciding the history of the period.

The book is titled British Napoleonic Field Artillery ISBN 978-0-7524-7652-0 a very comprehensive study of the subject and well illustrated

The screw jack is for altering the angle of trajectory, and is in no particular position



Mike

Offline wagnmkr

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 914
  • Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2015, 01:06:43 PM »
Thanks for the info Mike ... the book is on it's way.

I am gathering the bits to do this one.



Tom
« Last Edit: April 28, 2015, 06:35:14 PM by wagnmkr »
I was cut out to be rich ... but ... I was sewn up all wrong!

Offline mechman48

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 40
  • Retired maint.Eng.
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #12 on: May 16, 2015, 10:52:16 AM »
Superb model Mike  :praise2: what type of paint did you use & is there a ref # for it... this is one for my back burner 'toduit' list

George.
George.

Offline Ian S C

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1080
  • Stirling Engine Maker Darfield Canterbury N Z
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #13 on: May 16, 2015, 02:19:51 PM »
I have a similar gun, about the same size, and scale, although mine is a 9 pounder,  It's beem proof fired, and is licenced as a firearm.  Part of the Limber got damaged in the earth quake 5 yrs ago, I have not got round to fixing it.  I didn't build it, but bought it at the 150th annaversary of Waterloo.
Apart from the wheels, this would not be too difficult to build.
Ian S C

Offline wagnmkr

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 914
  • Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #14 on: May 17, 2015, 12:06:24 PM »
Wheels are not all that bad, if done with a few simple jigs and a bit of patience. Here is a link to a lot of info on wheel making and other aspects of wagon making ...  http://www.scalemodelhorsedrawnvehicle.co.uk/%28Tips%20&%20Ideas%29.htm

Cheers

Tom
I was cut out to be rich ... but ... I was sewn up all wrong!

Offline tangler

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 834
  • Christchurch, UK
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #15 on: May 17, 2015, 01:03:01 PM »
It is a lovely model.  I particularly like the mix of metal and wood (even if it is painted).

I'm intrigued by the wheels which do not seem to be of the conventional pattern with everything being held together by a shrunk-on metal hoop tyre.  Are the fellows bolted together?  Perhaps for easier field repair?

Thanks for sharing,

Rod

Offline zeeprogrammer

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6811
  • West Chester, PA, USA
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #16 on: May 17, 2015, 01:36:32 PM »
Beautiful model.

I would be interested in knowing how the details were done to the cannon. I don't the names...the 'emblem' near the rear? And there's another bit behind that.

Thanks for showing.

The link from Tom was also interesting. Thanks for that.
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline Ian S C

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1080
  • Stirling Engine Maker Darfield Canterbury N Z
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #17 on: May 17, 2015, 02:11:40 PM »
wagnmaker, yes , wouldn't be too hard, I think there is something about wheel making in "Model Engineer",  ships cannon are much easier.  The only thing I can see that would be a bit difficult to reproduce are the(on mine)two crests, one at the muzzle end, just behind the first reinforce(ridge around barrel), Second between the third and forth reinforce, simple if you have a casting.
Ian S C

Offline mikemill

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 359
Re: 19th Century Field Gun
« Reply #18 on: May 17, 2015, 03:01:40 PM »
Details of the field gun as requested

Paint is gray primer matt spray can

Wheels are turned hubs or naves indexed holes drilled for spoke dowels, the felloes are six pieces of flat section glued  to form a circle then turned to size and are also index drilled, dowels are toothpicks all glued together with force fit steel tyre.
The barrel is turned from solid brass bar, the coat-of-arms are an etching. Half way through the build I found the Hobbies web site have a set of brass etchings for this size if gun (most annoying) having cut most of the metal parts, so I bought the coat-of-arms.

As I said in my opening post it’s nice to work with different materials on one model, which others members seem to like the idea as well

Mike


 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal