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Project- my first Civil War Cannon – 1/6 scale


Custermen
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I have determined to build a 1/6 scale Civil War cannon. I started this project almost 3 years ago but had too many interruptions and set-backs. I don’t build models anymore but I wanted a model of this cannon to use for my presentations and maybe display at our local hometown museum. When I did build models and kit-bash them, they were usually a 54mm Figure or a 1/72 plane. And it has been several years since I painted anything. So I am really looking for some motivation to keep me on my goal.

For the Moderators---this cannon was manufactured and used by the Confederate Army. So I assume this thread meets the requirement to be a US Military subject matter.

 

When I started this project, my first hurdle was finding or making some wheels for the carriage. I enlisted a hobbyist to help with this and he almost cut off his finger while trying to cut some spokes. That put a stop to my project. If you google through older Posts to this Modelling forum, you will see where I submitted a question about the carriage and the wheels. This was my first production stoppage.

I returned to my project when I purchased a carriage & wheels on eBay. This carriage is from a cannon model---the kind you see for sale at some Civil War Battlefield parks. This is a nice wood and metal carriage that has a natural wood finish and is scaled for 36-inch diameter wheels. I started again but got too busy with my twin granddaughters and making visits to battlefields during the Civil War Sesquicentennial.

Then I made a late trip to Perryville NPS and stopped by Frankfort to see one of the few original examples of the cannon I want to model(See photo, below). That jumpstarted me again.

 

My Project will be to build a model of the Williams Gun---a rare rapid-fire breech-loader.

My source for the model is a set of drawings obtained from another museum that has one on display. The shop foreman sent me some drawings that were drawn on grid-paper with dimensions. He left out some essential dimensions and the drawings are not to scale. Some of the missing dimensions can be calculated from the mating parts or by guessing. My model will not be an exact replica---it will be what I refer to as an “artist’s representation”.

There is no photograph to show how this cannon was mounted on a carriage. The only clue is a photo of a veterans reunion photo dated 1890 that shows it mounted on a replacement carriage with steel wheels. No one knows what the carriage looked like or how the gun was attached. Since only 42 of these guns were made and they were produced in 3 different locations, I can assume each battery may have designed and built the own carriage for their guns. My Model will present my idea of how I think the Gun was mounted on the carriage.

I choose 1/6 scale because the Gun is so small, that this scale would be perfect to show the detail of the breech mechanism. I plan to have almost fully functional mechanism except for the spring-loaded hammer. Also I like that large 1/6 scale and I already have a 1/6-scale Confederate Officer to go with the model.

I am NOT asking for info on the Williams Gun. I have researched this and contacted 4 or 5 museums, including the Army Ordnance Museum. I could use some better drawings but I plan to go with what I have and fudge it. After all, you can’t build a model to the exact dimensions and have the mechanism work. I want it to have an appearance of a realistic replica but it won’t be exact.

I will add more technical information about the Gun as I progress---such as a photo of a dug relic fired from one. I first have to get over the “hump” and get all the parts fabricated. I will be asking for advice on painting the carriage and gun. The Axle and Wheels are made of wood and metal and are already finished. I assume I can wash it and prime it and then lay down my own base paint. I need some guidance on how to paint the main beam of the carriage that is untreated wood. Then I have to decide how to paint the gun made of steel and brass. Should the steel be weathered and rust added? Could the original brass parts have been painted as well? But that discussion can wait for now.

Time to get started on construction. More photos to follow.

 

 

Photo 1 – Photo of example at the West Point Museum. This photo was from one of the old reference books on the Civil War. After the war, there were 4 or 5 of these guns turned in to West Point. Within the next 5 years, these were given to other museums and one still resides at West Point Museum---maybe in the basement.

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Photo 2Britain Toy company made a model of this cannon under the name: “Williams Machine Gun”.

This model shows it mounted on a carriage with 36-inch wheels and a hefty main beam. It has a cantilever support of some type under the aft breech. However this shows the relative size and how it was mounted on a Pintle mount.

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Photo 3 – A replica that I have seen in several web sites and videos. Note that the Pintle mount is gone and the gun is mounted to the carriage using standard cheek pieces. This type of mount conflicts with ALL the original guns found in museums.

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Photo 4 - A photo of me with the William Gun at Kentucky Military History Museum in Frankfort. Not a great photo of the gun but I wanted to post it. I’m wearing my Battle of Collierville T-Shirt as there were four of these Williams Guns at that battle.

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Here is what I have so far.

 

I have the Barrell almost completed.

For the Breech mechanism, I have the main Housing, the sliding Breech Block, and the Cam.

For this photo, I taped the pieced together and to the Main Beam and Axle of the Carriage. There is about 1 inch extra material on the Barrel so it is definitely too long. However, even taking that into account, the general outline of my Model does not look like the above photos of the Britain toy and the Replica gun.

 

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This is a close-up of the Wheel & Axle that I purchased and the central Beam that will support the Pintle Mount of the gun.

The wheels seem to be pretty accurate. You can see the joints in the wood wheel but it is missing the Nuts on the inside of the rim that was used to secure the metal rim to the wood wheel. I want to add those; can't decide if I should fabricate them or just go buy some small bolts & nuts. I think the nuts have to be 4-sided and not Hex.

 

post-3558-0-87019400-1445956253.jpg

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Backtheattack

Great project. Seems there is a lot of work. Could you take some detail pictures in the museum for your project?

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Could you take some detail pictures in the museum for your project?

 

Not sure if I understand. Are you referring to photos of original Gun at Frankfort or photos from our local museum?

 

Two weeks ago, I gave a luncheon talk at the museum and there were 31 in attendance. I talked about the Buckner Battery which was part of General J. R. Chalmers' cavalry corps and their role in the Battle of Collierville. I just wished I had this model for them to view. Instead I had to show slides of the one I saw at Frankfort.

I will be ready for next year. Or they may put my model on display.

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You can see the joints in the wood wheel but it is missing the Nuts on the inside of the rim that was used to secure the metal rim to the wood wheel. I want to add those; can't decide if I should fabricate them or just go buy some small bolts & nuts. I think the nuts have to be 4-sided and not Hex.

 

If the nuts are 4 sided, it might be easiest to make your own from styrene. It would be hard to find some in 1/6 scale. I did a quick search on the Squadron website. They do have some nuts but not any in 1/6 scale.

 

...Kat

 

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Backtheattack

Interesting, so you have some from Frankfort. Often museums are not supporting private interest in a way you could make detailed pics.

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Great build! Love those wheels. Years ago my brother used to make old west wagons for a business and the wheels were the hardest to get correct. He found a guy that made them for him perfectly, all hand done and accurate.

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Interesting, so you have some from Frankfort. Often museums are not supporting private interest in a way you could make detailed pics.

 

I have several photos of the gun at Frankfort but they were shot through the glass case. The one I posted is just of me.

I was intentionally a little vague about where I got my drawings as I didn't want them to be swamped by requests. They were nice to help out. I'm sure I paid them for their copies and postage. But I even called and talked to the shop foreman about the details. That was 3+ years ago and I have a dozen unknown dimensions that I could ask him about. But I will made the model look right even though it isn't dimensionally correct.

 

At the moment, I can only recall three museums that have an original Williams Gun:

West Point Museum

Kentucky Military History Museum

Watervalet Army Arsenal Museum

 

I thought there was one more somewhere. I will have to check my notes.

 

So it wouldn't take much to figure out which museum sent me the "drawings" ---use that term loosely.

Watervalet Museum has the most complete example---so they said. However, I was surprised to see the one at Frankfort had the front sights---which is missing from the old B&W photo of the one at West Point. The one at Frankfort has an extra handle on the side that sticks up about 12-18 inches. The problem with the one at Frankfort is that it isn't assembled correctly. (1) The gun has a brass collar that has the trunnions for the pintle mount. This collar slips over the barrel and is locked with a set screw. They didn't seat it up agains the large chamber. (2) The hand crank handle and the operating Cam are attached to the shaft that goes through the breech and operates it. They don't have the Handle and Cam aligned correctly. When the Handle is fully aft, the Cam should be fully forward---holding the breech block closed and ready to fire.

 

The Army Ordnance Museum has some info on the Williams Gun. I wrote a short 2-page paper on the gun as it was used by Buckner Battery and sent it for them to add to their folder.

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Backtheattack

In 2007 Westpoint was very nice for giving information when I searched for information there. But I heard during the last years the will to give information goes down because of government interference. During all the years I did searching for information in american archives I found an open ear - less in the last years.

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I know. And budget cut-backs. I was told that NARA is scanning the Service Records for Civil War soldiers for Fold3 and as they complete a state, they lock away the documents so no one came view the files at their library.

 

Occassionally you still stumble across a jem. I was searching for a WW2 soldier who was massacred down the road from Malmedy and it turned out his body was sent home but he was buried in an Un-marked grave.

I contacted the Mississippi Archives and there was a chap there who kept a database of all the burials of WW2 Vets in the state. He had info on this Vet even though the local county library and cemtery records had zilch. I was able to locate the Vet's burial site with this information. Of course, I called him back and updated him with details & photos of the new headstone.

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Since some has asked about the drawings, here is examples of some of the drawings that I am using.

 

This is two sheets that describe the Barrel. The gun consists of a barrel that was made by thread iningto the Breech Housing. The Barrel is tapered and has two grooves cut in OD. The brass Trunnion Fitting was slipped over the barrel and set screws locked into these grooves. The bore is 1.56 inch diameter smooth bore.

 

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The drawing package included some on 8 X 11 but most of them are on 11 X 17 size paper. Included with the drawings, are some orthogonal sketches, which help to visualize the odd shapes. However, many of the dimensions on the sketches do not agree with those on the flat drawings.

The sketch clearly shows the Cam that rotates on a Shaft and moves the Breech Block forward and aft for loading. The same shaft rotates a Worm Cam that operates a Hammer recessed into the left side of the Breech.

 

((I can't seem to upload anymore files. Will try later))

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This weekend was rainy and a good day to stay home and work on My Project.

This shows some of the parts---nothing is 100% complete but I have made some progress.

 

I realized that the Hammer is completely missing from the drawing package. So I'm resorting to scaling it from photos. The Hammer is shown in the photo and the rest of it will have to be fitted when I mount it into the Breech Housing. My plan is to pin the Hammer is so it will pivot even though it won't really work without a working spring.

 

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A very interesting and challenging project. Looks like you are doing great so far. Please continue to post as I'm sure we will all enjoy following your progress. Thanks, Bob

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Thanks for asking. I plan to keep posting until it is finished----just hope that doesn't take a year.

I plan to finish up some components at least 90% and may assemble a few parts. I should have photos to post after the weekend.

In the meantime, I wanted to use this thread to post some questions and get some ideas on modeling but also about details to add to the model.

 

Q: What implements should be included with the cannon?

A typical field cannon had implements such as Ram/Sponge and Worms and other hardware that were suspended on the Carriage. Remember: this cannon is a Breech-loader. So would it have a Rammer? Most likely it did in order to clear out any obstructions. Did it have a Sponge? The gun didn't need to be swabbed after every shot but as most black-powder shooters will testify, the barrel has to be cleaned after every 10 or 20 shots.

 

This cannon has a barrel length that is slightly less than 4 Feet. But the really unique part of this gun is the bore caliber. This is later found in the OR's (Official Records of the War) that described the smooth bore as having a Diameter of 1.5625 inch.

Here is a photo of one of the cannon balls freshly dug with the mud still caked to it.

 

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Here is my favorite photo comparison. A golf ball is 1.61 inch diameter as I recall.

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Can you imagine the size a Rammer would be for a cannon of this caliber and length. A broom stick handle would work.

I wanted to find something that I could use to model my Cannon Balls for my 1/6-scale Model.

Scale down 1.5625 inch Dia and you get 0.26 inch.

Guess what works? -- Pellet ammo for AirSoft guns.

 

(To be continued---I can't seem to upload more than 2 photos in one post.)

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post-3558-0-99203100-1446852813.jpg

 

This is my cannon balls for my Model. The AirSoft pellets are 0.23 inch diameter. What is 3/100 inch among friends? The paint and primer will make up for that. And I don't know how they make the pellets but they don't have a sprue nor a mold seam.

 

On the left are a Sword and Binoculars for a 1/6-scale figure. I will introduce him later on.

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Here is the business end of the real Cannon showing the bore at the muzzle.

The front "squirrel sight" is brass and slips over the end of the muzzle.

My drawing shows a blade sight mounted on top of this peep sight. I can't see it in this photo and it may be missing.

post-3558-0-96935000-1446853081.jpg

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A Progress Report

I worked on it quite a bit this weekend and finished up some of the Breech and cut the Barrel to the drawing dimensions. It still appears to be longer than some of the Replica full-scale guns that are out there. I wanted to finish drilling the Barrel to mount the main shaft for the Pintle Mount. But I was using a file to drill a pilot hole and broke the tip off.

 

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I don't understand why I can't post more than 2 photos. In this case, I couldn't post 2.

 

Here is a close-up of the Breech Mechanism. The Handle on the Right side isn't finished out and everything is mounted on a drill bit for the shaft. The Breech Block has dropped down some and appears loose. The gun has thin plates bolted under the Breech to support this Breech Block as it moves forward and aft. Also the parts are NOT aligned on the shaft as they should be. In other words, the Handle should be 180-degrees out of align of the tip of the Cam.

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I added a Rear Sight. This actually continued down through the Breech and about 8 - 10 inches below it. In most of the examples seen in the Museums, this lower extension was twice the Diameter and seemed to be a hand grip. My Model will use this Grip as an extension of the Elevation Screw. One full-scale model has the elevation screw tucked further Forward under the portion of the Barrel that has a round cross-section. I have concluded that this grip served two functions. For long range and accuracy, the Elevation Screw would support the Grip to sight in on a target. But for rapid firing, the Gunner could hold the cannon by the Grip and turn the Hand Crank. The Gunner would have a No. 2 man to load the round and prime the Nipple leaving the firing and aiming up to the Gunner.

 

So here is how it worked.

The Gunner turned the Hand Crank on the right side which rotated a Shaft that turned the large Cam in the center and the Worm Cam on the left. The Cam rotated and pushed the Breech Block forward to close for firing. The Handle would be all the way Aft which would rotated the Worm Cam that dropped the spring-loaded Hammer (not installed yet). The Crank was turned 180-degrees to rotate the large CAM aft which pushed against hollow box frame of the Breech Block and move it to open the breech and re-cock the Hammer.

The No. 2 would place a new round in the bore and re-cap the Nipple under the Hammer. Then turn crank and fire again.

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My too.

I didn't feel well this weekend and I need some stock plastic. I borrowed a nice set of fine, fine drill bits. Now I can drill holes to pin parts to the shaft.

 

 

I need some advice on Painting. I normally paint smaller models so I don't want to paint this whole cannon a straight Gun-Metal.

The Gun is steel and was most likely painted all Black. Of course this would show wear and the moving parts will be worn to bare metal with some silver for fresh wear. It has three parts that are Brass. I thought they may have painted those Black as well---to cut down the glare---but I decided they would not paint it. Eventually the brass would tarnish and that would cut down the glare.

 

Here are my questions>

 

Q1: How do I paint the gun to replicate a Steel gun painted Black with wear?

Do I start with a base coat of Gun Metal and then add Black? I think it would be best to paint Black and then dry brush the Gun-Metal to add the wear.

 

Q2: How do I prepare the wood wheels for painting? These wheels are wood but have a finish.

I assume I can spray with Primer and paint over it.

 

Q3: The main beam of carriage is unfinished wood. How do I paint it?

Do I seal it with a standard hardware Primer/Sealer? Then Paint to match the Wheels?

 

Q4: Any recommended color for the Wheels and Carriage?

Green was the common color. I have asked historians about the Tan paint that are seen on some Civil War Cannon carriages---such as the cannon inside the Interpretive Center at Shiloh National Battlefield. It appears to be yellow ochre. Everyone tells me they were never painted that color, yet I have seen it used in many paintings, etc.

 

Q5: Also thinking about how to weather it. Mud (wet or dried) or Dust? I have read the articles about adding mud and grime. Any suggestions?

 

Would love to hear any comments and links to photos of read cannon or models.

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Here is a link to my earlier inquiry that I posted on this forum. It was started in 2011. It thas a photo of the carriage at Shiloh. I find that odd taht all the cannon carriages throughou the Shiloh Park are painted green but the example inside the Interpretive Center is painted Yellow/Tan.

Need some 1:16 Cannon Wheels (I really meant 1/6-scale)
Link: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/123265-need-some-116-cannon-wheels/

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