Pages

Wednesday 5 April 2017

Artillery Equipment Sculpting Complete


Chris has now pretty much completed sculpting the artillery, and has used his computer wizardry to produce some graphics to show what the models and figures will look like.

Austrian 6pdr Gun


The original idea was to produce an accurate as possible Austrian 6pdr, and below is the almost finished article. (The only issue I know of is that the elevating wedge  (which will be a separate part) is too wide, so I have asked for it to be changed).


In order for the master figure to be robust enough to withstand repeated pressing in the mould making process,  there have had to be some compromises, such as leaving out the lighter cross pieces in the carriage trail, and locating the lifting handles of the barrel too close together. It is (in my opinion) a great improvement over the guns in the Karoliner and Rossbach ranges, and a welcome addition to the range.

And here it is with crew in waistcoats.



Austrian 7pdr Howitzer


The Liechtenstein system used the same wheels for all guns, so there is clearly some scope for reusing the wheels. Also the carriage of the 7pdr howitzer is reasonably close to that of the 6pdr, (it should be a bit deeper and heavier, and the support for the elevating wedge is in the wrong place). However I did not think we should miss the opportunity to add a howitzer to the range, so I asked Chris to produce a howitzer barrel - here it is on the 6pdr carriage.


 As discussed above, the elevating wedge is not in the right place. If it looks too far out when cast and made up, then a little work will be needed to cut out and move the wedge support forward and down - I don't have access to any castings, so cannot say how difficult it will be!

Barrels for other Nations


As the sculpting work progressed it became apparent that the gun would need to be split over two moulds, but the second would be half empty. This gave the opportunity to try and provide some reasonably representative artillery for other nations. There was no space for more wheels or carriages, but a couple of extra barrels could be squeezed in.

I carried out a review of all the information I had to hand and decided that a reasonable representation of some artillery could be provided on the Austrian carriage (purists turn away now)..........

Prussian light 12pdr


The closest I could find for the Prussians was the 12pdr M17/38, as this was a conic chambered piece it did not use such a large charge as a 'proper' 12pdr, so could sit on a smaller carriage. Here are details of the gun.............


....and here is the extra barrel on the Austrian carriage.


(Interestingly, if you look at the drawing, the Prussian barrel is identical size to the Austrian 12pdr, which also had the same wheel, but unfortunately the Austrian 12pdr carriage is 15% longer - worth a try at lengthening the cast carriage?)

And then for the Russians......

Russian 12pdr Unicorn


As far as I can figure out the 12pdr unicorn had the closest carriage size - drawings..



..and model



French Guns


As far as I can see they were all way bigger than these pieces (unless you know better)?

Interestingly the French Vallier 8pdr and famous Prussian 12pdr 'Brummer' looked very similar - so they would make a nice addition. Prince August currently have no plans to make these, so if you want them a good case will need to be made.

If you have stuck it out this far your then please take the time to comment?

06/04/17


Another view of the crew better showing the wheel height.




6 comments:

  1. The crew look good. ...... The trail looks rather too straight/long to me but then I don't really know anything about 7YW Austrian/Prussian etc artillery.

    If the wedge is put in, is it possible to elevate the breech to something close to point blank?

    To be honest, artillery is at the bottom of my list but hopefully it will sell.

    The wheels are nice. They look short but only because they aren't on a base like the gunners. I might buy a mould just for the wheels, I could use them on some 19thC guns I have that have short clunky wheels.

    What I could really use is some guns on fortress carriages but I can't see them appearing any time soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ross

      Glad you like them - as always thanks for the comments.

      The trail represents an Austrian gun, see post 4 Dec, they were pretty straight when viewed from the side.

      The wheels do look short relative to the models, however this is I think a combination of the base on the crew, and the angle it is viewed at, I will add another picture at the bottom of the post which is from less of an angle - they look better ion that.

      The wedge is separate, so should allow 'point blank' firing.

      Not even thought about fortress carriages - let's get some cavalry and grenz.

      Steve

      Delete
  2. I think you can look at them as a slender gun type; a heavier gun; a howitzer; and the odd Unicorn. The variety of types should be useful and satisfactory. I hope the dolphins cast well.

    The Unicorn actually looks like the simplified 1805 model of the Napoleonic wars. A Unicorn without a unicorn. Oh well, these are the limitations of mold making.

    Are the muzzles hollow?

    The gunners don't have any equipment (flasks, fuse and match cases, etc.) but since they are intended to be both Russian and French I can see why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rahway

      Thanks for the comments.

      I too hope they cast well - In the old 'manual system' I would probably have had some test moulds by now, however now Chris has 'gone digital' I don't get them, and have to wait for the first production moulds.

      I have asked if a unicorn can be added, but I supect it will be both too late and too fragile. As far as I could see there was no decoration on the barrels - should three have been?

      There is some recess on the barrel which you can just see on the picture with the crew.

      Steve

      Delete
  3. These are nice, look forward to painting some. Where is the cavalry?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard

      I am told the moulds are actually in production - so you can look forward to receiving some to paint some for the box artwork.

      Steve

      Delete