Tuesday, 24 July 2018

Some British Guns

These two 6lb guns complete the British in Egypt project...





...well maybe. I am as yet undecided about limbers. Until the capture of Alexandria the British struggled to land sufficient horses to support operations. As a result the army operated without supply carts, only a few hundred mounted cavalry and most of the artillery was hand drawn, largely by teams of sailors from the Navy. Now the Perrys make the teams of sailors, but do not sell the limbers separately and while I can buy limbers from other sources, the thought of converting them so that the wheels have the barrel staves fitted is daunting to say the least.



I shall think on this one a while longer, meanwhile more French have moved along the conveyer belt and onto the production line.

18 comments:

  1. Great guns, Mark! The color and variety of artillerymen uniforms prompts one to spend time looking at the nuances of each. I like your artillery tracks in the sand too.

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    1. Yes the gun sets are very nice. I particularly like the loading gun set with one gunner with his thumb on the touch hole and the other one blowing on the match, and the tracks in the sand kind of draw attention to the staved wheels.

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  2. Mark, it is okay...barrel staves on limber wheels probably gave the Perry's a moment to pause, as well.

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    1. The difference is that the Perrys only had to make one wheel then cast them, but I will gave to make twelve wheels!!!! I think I will have to take the plunge nonetheless.

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  3. Great work. The tracks on the base are a nice touch.

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    1. Thank you. I agree the tracks make a nice highlight. I have just finished a French horse artillery set and there will be tracks there too.

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  4. More nice additions to your collection Mark...my solution to your dilemma would be simple ….don't worry about limbers - but that's because I would prefer to spend the funds on more fighting troops!

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    1. Nah...the Brits have to have limbers if fhe French do.

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  5. Great job, and limbers drawn by the Perry sailors would look a treat. Coincidentally I purchased those very same sailors two months ago, along with a few landing boats.

    I wonder if they might be prepared to cast and sell the wheels to you separately? I think they outsource much of the actual casting work, but it might be worth asking the question anyway.

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    1. Ah so you took the plunge with the boats, eh? I may buy one for some coastal scenarios a bit later. I do have plans to fight Abukir Bay as a part of a series of likned scenarios, but I would need six boats and I think I would have some issues justifying £300 for a single game.

      I did ask the question about the limber with Perrys and the answer was in the negative, but there was a glimmer of hope in saying that the limbers weren't in production yet. That said, I think that the solution might lie with the thought I wrote in the response to Iain (below).

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    2. I purchased three, along with the naval landing party and some marines. I have the Grand Manner Bussaco convent packed away awaiting completion which is too big a piece for a conventional game, so I had a vague notion of using it with the Perry figures for a Napoleonic skirmish game.

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    3. I was thinking about these boats on my drive home and conjured up some ideas about usung them on the Great Lakes in 1812-14.

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  6. Fairs fair,if the French have limbers the Brits should have them too. Really lovely characterful models delightfully painted, good luck cutting plastic sprue for the staves!
    Best Iain

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    1. Actually you have just given me an idea. The Victrix British artillery set comes with limbers and it would be a lot easier to convert the plastic wheels that metal - a relatively simple matter of gluing plasticard to the plastic wheels. And I am sure I could find a use for the guns and gunners in some Peninsular War project.

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  7. Lovely guns Mark
    Good luck with the limber wheels...a monotonous task if ever there was one...
    Though having to do it in real life in the desert heat can’t have been a barrel of laughs...

    All the best. Aly

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    1. When I made that Russian Orthodox Church a few years ago I made more than 1000 individual tiles on the spires... It can't be worse than that I am sure...let me think, 12 wheels with 40-50 staves per wheel, plus ropes...well maybe it could be worse, but I think it is worth a go.

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