1:16 Napoleon Model 1857 12-Pounder

[Engine95]

I started this over a year ago but a move from Tennessee to Florida, engagement, etc. took priority so it's been packed in a box ever since. But I'm looking forward to getting back into it this weekend.

So a little background, when I was in Boy Scouts we hiked the Shiloh battlefield at least twice a year. I always loved those old field guns.







So when I saw this little gem online I picked it up and went to work. The instructions were pretty vague and the single page honestly looked like it had been through a copy machine from the 1980's a hundred times but I manged to piece it together.



Overall the kit was good quality molded metal with very little flash. The trail (the wood beam that forms the center structure of the gun) came in two halves and I had to do quite a bit of sanding to get the seam to disappear. The only gripe would be the poor instructions. I have a good section of brass chain that needs to be mounted both on the right side of the trail and at the braces that hold the barrel to the trail and a very poor diagram of how it's supposed to be mounted.

I've stained the wood for the sponge / rammer, wormer, and ladle and got the primer on.





I couldn't remember if the field guns in Ruggles' Battery at Shiloh were painted that brown or green so I flipped a coin.



Anyway, that's how she stands right now. I need to work on the metal strap that surround the wheels and will weather it just a touch with some brown wash. The tough part is going to be getting that blueish green patina of the bronze barrel. I picked up a jade green and light blue acrylics this past weekend and I'm going to see if I can come up with the right color:

[Tomcat64]

Now that's something you don't see every day!

Great work so far - looking forward to seeing how you progress especially with the barrel.

[Engine95]

Thank you Neil. I'm going to find some kind of test subject to practice on before I inadvertently ruin the barrel. I'll post up some photos this weekend.

Paul

[Engine95]

It's for all intents finished. I still need to put a quick flat clear coat on it as the acrylics I used on the barrel have a semi-gloss appearance. But other than that I'm happy with it. Especially considering it's the first model I've built in 30 years. I will say that the metal is brittle as hell. I've broken the axle twice during the build, both times simply from rolling the assembled gun over holding on to the wheels.







Next on deck is a 1:35 Willys MB.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Very cool
Good to see something very different
I like the copper verdigris you did

[Engine95]

Thanks Scott, I thought about getting a bit of bronze paint to just touch around the muzzle where people are always touching it and wearing the verdigris off. Not sure it's worth it because I'd probably never use that paint again. And in person it's just a touch of bronze gleam when you look at it.

[Tomcat64]

Very nice work

The aging on the barrel really works well.

[Engine95]

Thank you Neil. I think I'm going to put it on a little vignette base. I don't want the axle breaking again if it gets moved while the future Mrs. is dusting.

Paul

[Engine95]

Well, the axle kept breaking when the soon to be Mrs. was dusting. So I had to shift gears from the Willys MB I was working on. I used a pin vise to bore out the center of the axle and epoxy'ed a nail in there to give it structural support. And I've moved forward with making a vignette so she's not picking it up by the wheels. Purchased some good grade lumber from Lowes (I think it was Poplar) and cut it to roughly 9" x 6". Then I mixed up some Sculptamold and put down a base for the gun. I set it in place once the Sculptamold started to set up to create pockets for the wheels to sit in.



Last week I got my order of static grass in as well as the applicator.



This weekend I'll paint the Sculptamold brown, scenic glue dried dirt down as a base, then start applying the static grass. I'm debating on how to affix the gun to the base. Current train of thought is to either mix up epoxy and glue it down once the grass is in place or use the pin vice to drill a hole in each wheel and glue a steel rod in with corresponding holes in the base to fix it in place. Any thoughts on a better idea or which might be more effective?

The finishing touch once it's mounted is to mitre some wood trim and stain it to give it a professional look. You know . . . like I knew what the hell I was doing.

[Engine95]

I was about to update the thread for my Willys MB and realized I never posted the finished M1857 here. And as I was posting the photos I realized there was a chip on the wheel. That paint really doesn't like sticking to whatever kind of metal it is.

[CygnusX1]

That's a really nice big little gun. Not something you see everyday.
Have to say the paint on the barrel is stunning - really nice finish and matches up well with your reference pics. In fact, the paint overall is excellent.
A really nice simple display base as well that doesn't detract from the main piece but provides a little bit of context and visual interest.

Amazing work - really well done. I like it a lot.

[Tomcat64]

Great to see the finished result - really nice work!

[Engine95]

Thanks gents, much appreciated!