Napoleon 12# Gun and Attendant vehicles pictures & notes

A customer recently emailed me a very long note regarding his work on his
Napoleon Gun by Guns of History - great pictures and great work! We love it when our modelers take the kits to the "next level" and really move them beyond the basics - well done! Enjoy some "light" weekend reading all!

To Whom it may concern, greetings:

I have posted various details of my constructions of these models on their respective pages so won't reproduce them here. I have promised pictures and have them. I am proud of the way the models have turned out, especially since I have not really done any 'serious' modeling in decades. I am sending quite a few images, use all, some, or none as you see fit. There are actually three categories of images. One to simply show off the models and their details. Others are instructional showing what was needed to be or what was, done. Then there's a few just sort of trying to make them look real shots.

First of all I am in flux as to the tires (the metal rims on the wheels.) I originally painted them black. But, that paint would quickly wear and being of wrought iron they would scratch and wear bright (silvery metal appearance) so I altered them thus. But, that bright metal would almost immediately rust so I may want to put some of that on. Almost all period photos show clumps of soil adhering to the wheels. I have provided some wear in the form of paint having been worn off on foot boards so that would not be out of place but, I don't know if I want to go that far. We'll see.

Another thing that has been bothering me and that I am in the process of changing is the "prolonge." That is the rope wound on the hooks on top of the trail. It is just plain to bulky. That is due to a number of reasons I have discovered. First of all, the gun has many assembly problems and I put some things out of place. That was due in part to failing to consciously realizing that a drawing taken from a period artillery manual was actually of a 6 pounder gun. more on that in a moment. The elevating screw if put in place provided would have been too far forward so I had to figure a place to put it. The field pieces 6 & 12 pounders use the same carriage- the #2. But, the gun tubes are different. The very back of the breech of the illustrated 6#'r set on the elevating screw. Here was one error. I situated the screw according to that drawing but, the screw connects farther forward under the 12# tube though not so far as located on the model though, that is likely the fault of my placement of the cheeks upon the stock. This is what failed to register even though I looked at many photos. I was fixated on that drawing. That drawing, by the way, can be found on-line in the manual of “Instruction for field artillery prepared by a board of artillery officers.” By locating the screw too far back, I pinched the distance between the prolonge hooks. I am in the process of trying to correct for that now.

Another contributing factor is the length of my prolonge. The reference I found gave a length of 26'ft & 7”inches. In scale this is about 18”. The provided cord was only about 8” if I recall. There are rings and a toggle on the ends of thins. I believe my recreation of the prolonge is pretty accurate. Size and physical limitations prevented me from exactly duplicating the toggle but, only by close examination is that noticeable. (see pics.)

However! Further research revealed that in 1861 the US service reduced the prolonge length to about 18'ft. That comes to about 13.5 inches in scale so I have to shorten my prolonge. Those changes should give me a more accurately appearing rope.

Those are the changes under weigh at the moment.

A couple more thoughts on appearance of the gun and other vehicles.

I flared the wheels out from the center-line of the hub as were the originals but, I did not have a specific dimension at the time so I eyeballed it. I have since found I overdid it a bit. I found a dimension on line and that flare out (full size) should be about 1-1/2” But, for appearance sake, too much bend out is less noticeable than none at all which just doesn't look right at all.

Whoever painted the models on your site was very good though nothing was done to advance the build of the models. But, I disagree with some of the tips given though this is only a matter of opinion. The paint job of the on site models were of a factory fresh piece. Soldiers are never so neat in their ministrations. (I was one for 7 years, and in the artillery for part of that) So instead of airbrushing (which is how some of the paint appears to have been oh so neatly applied) I used regular model paint at full thickness and brushed it on. I also painter over the bolt heads on some of them models. Different crews would have varied in the application but in the main, things like bolt heads are generally painted over. There is also the coarseness of a brush applied paint. I also rejected the same color advice. I painted the chest on one of the limbers a little different shade. I figure since they were removable some were bound to get shuffled around, combat replaced and painted at different times and remember, the crews mixed their own paint per regulations (see the manual for “Officers on ordinance duty” also available on line)

Concerning colors, I went with “artillery green” in this case testers “flat green.” It is correct enough but I came across the manual later the specifically defines how the paint should be prepared and that will render a shade of olive (not “olive drab”). Nowhere could I find any reference for a gray paint on any US or CS army artillery equipment. I have included an image of what is purported to be an original Confederate gun & carriage.

Rightly the staffs should be painted too but, I figured not all such were always painted so opted to leave my staffs in the natural wood condition. As it happens, this is how they are shown on your site anyway. I figure painting might be especially sketchy on Confederate equipment which, as defined by the tube, this would be, unless captured. It is known that on occasion Confederate gun carriages were simply oiled for preservation in the lack of paint materials though that would be the exception to the rule. Such would have been paint something, somehow at first opportunity.

Sorry for the length of this but, these models are wonderful but flawed and they also offer an excellent base for a truly exacting model (which mark I acknowledge I do fall somewhat short of). A final note along that line- a detailed study of period photos shows that the wheels of original vehicles were wider and heavier of wheel and spoke but that was more of a build than I cared to tackle.