BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

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DuncaninFrance
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BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by DuncaninFrance » Sun Apr 26, 2015 3:33 am

First job - Open the box :lol:

Image

Image

Then read the instructions :cool:

The building is a very simple matter but after doing some research a few things are obvious.

1) Although the barrel is white metal and it says to Cold Blue it I have decided to Duracoat it matte Black. A much better finish and more durable. ( I have a can that was bought to coat a friend of mines' TOZ so there should be more than enough to do both jobs.)

2) The wood finish is just varnished but having checked out the USS Constitution's site I see that the gun carriage is red. Paint already purchased!
Day_53_-_U.._Cannon.jpg
3) Although it says 'scale model' there is no mention of the scale or if it is a 12 pounder or a 24 pounder cannon so I have sent emails to Traditions and to the USS Constitution's site asking for help.

4) I have ordered a Lee .69 round ball mold from Henry Krank to produce the ammo.

So, I can start to assemble and paint the gun carriage and consider how I will make the deck. I also need to source scaled rope and blocks for it which should not be too much of a problem - wish I hadn't said that :lol: :lol:
Duncan

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by DuncaninFrance » Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:05 pm

Well here we go then.
Lots of searches done and emails sent then.......
Image
Having taken all the bits out of the box and checked them ( 2 screws missing ) I started the build. The images are self explanatory so I won't write a detailed narrative of the process.
I will say that all the pieces seem well finished.

Image
Image

Before I go any further it is obvious that now is the time to paint the carriage as some further fittings should be black. It is also necessary to modify the carriage slightly so it is more accurate.
Duncan

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by Aughnanure » Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:45 pm

Great stuff, Duncan.

Do miniature cannons that fire have to be registered in France?
Self Defence is not only a Right, it is an Obligation.

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by DuncaninFrance » Thu Apr 30, 2015 3:11 am

Aughnanure wrote:Great stuff, Duncan.

Do miniature cannons that fire have to be registered in France?
No, they are black powder and copies of originals so no control over them, the ammo or powder and fuze :D :D
Duncan

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by Aughnanure » Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:36 pm

Lucky you!

Around here they have to be registered no matter the calibre.

There was once a model of a 74 gun ship in a store in Sydney and all of the cannons were fireable,
so I asked Firearms Registry what would be the position if I bought it, would they issue one licence or 74?

For some reason they were not happy with me :loco:
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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by DuncaninFrance » Fri May 01, 2015 3:07 am

Aughnanure wrote:Lucky you!

Around here they have to be registered no matter the calibre.

There was once a model of a 74 gun ship in a store in Sydney and all of the cannons were fireable,
so I asked Firearms Registry what would be the position if I bought it, would they issue one licence or 74?

For some reason they were not happy with me :loco:
Wonder why that should be Eoin...............
If you buy a WWII Jeep here you have to have a special licence because it has provision for carrying a rifle :shock:
Duncan

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by ArchFluffy » Fri May 01, 2015 4:52 pm

This is pretty cool!

:)

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by DuncaninFrance » Sun May 03, 2015 5:04 am

OK, so the relevant parts of the kit are now painted the appropriate colour.

Image

The axles and wheels need to be black and I don't have any paint in stock. Job for tomorrow to find a small tin, :D
Duncan

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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by Niner » Sun May 03, 2015 9:36 am

Somehow that color just doesn't look like anything old sailers would have painted their gun carriage.

I've brought this up before in another context , but you know the origin of the figure of speech, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" don't you? Do you have a brass monkey to stack the cannon balls on?
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Re: BUILDING THE CANNON ..............

Post by DuncaninFrance » Sun May 03, 2015 3:51 pm

Niner wrote:Somehow that color just doesn't look like anything old sailers would have painted their gun carriage.

I've brought this up before in another context , but you know the origin of the figure of speech, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" don't you? Do you have a brass monkey to stack the cannon balls on?
Paint is as near as I can find (see above ).
Brass monkeys and freezing the balls off there of is not actual fact.
Every sailing ship had to have cannon for protection. Cannon of the times required round iron cannonballs. The master wanted to store the cannon-balls such that they could be of instant use when needed, yet not roll around the gun deck. The solution was to stack them up in a square based
pyramid next to the cannon. The top level of the stack had one ball, the next level down had four, the next had nine, the next had sixteen, and so on. Four levels would provide a stack of 30 cannonballs. The only real problem was how to keep the bottom level from sliding out from under the weight of the higher levels. To do this, they devised a small brass plate ("brass monkey") with one rounded indentation for each cannonball in the bottom layer. Brass was used because the cannonballs wouldn't rust to the "brass monkey", but would rust to an iron one.
When temperature falls, brass contracts in size faster than iron. As it got cold on the gun decks, the indentations in the brass monkey would get smaller than the iron cannonballs they were holding. If the temperature got cold enough, the bottom layer would pop out of the indentations spilling the entire pyramid over the deck. Thus it was, quite literally, "cold enough to freeze the balls off a "brass monkey."
Origins:
Somebody's fanciful imagination is at work cooking up spurious etymologies again. In short, this origin for the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is nonsense because:
Not even the venerable Oxford English Dictionary, records a usage of "brass monkey" like the one presented here.
When references to "brass monkeys" started appearing in print in the mid-19th century, they did not always mention balls or cold temperatures. It was sometimes cold enough to freeze the ears, tail, nose, or whiskers off a brass monkey. Likewise, it was sometimes hot enough to "scald the throat" or "singe the hair" of a brass monkey. These usages are inconsistent with the putative origins offered here.
Warships didn't store cannonballs (or "round shot") on deck around the clock, day after day, on the slight chance that they might go into battle. Space was a precious commodity on sailing ships, and decks were kept as clear as possible in order to allow room for hundreds of men to perform all the tasks necessary for ordinary ship's functions. (Stacking round shot on deck would also create the danger of their breaking free and rolling around loose on deck whenever the ship encountered rough seas.) Cannonballs were stored elsewhere and only brought out when the decks had been cleared for action.
Particularly diligent gunners (not "masters," who were in charge of navigation, sailing and pilotage, not ordnance) would have their crews chip away at imperfections on the surface of cannonballs to make them as smooth as possible, in the hopes that this would cause them to fly truer. They did not leave shot on deck, exposed to the elements, where it would rust.
Nobody really knows where the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" came from, but the explanation offered here certainly isn't the answer.

Anyway, my cannon balls will be lead :roll: :roll:
Duncan

What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? -- W.C. Fields
"Many of those who enjoy freedom know little of its price."
You can't fix Stupid, but you can occasionally head it off before it hurts something.
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