Modelling

Question about gun in Zvezda 6810

Posted by MikeRC97 on 23 Jun 2016, 21:46

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can help me. If anyone has the Zvezda art of tactic French foot artillery set (6810) would you please measure the length of the gun barrel from the front (muzzle ring) to the back (base ring) excluding the small knob at the back (the button).

The gun looks like the An XI 6 pounder (smooth barrel without central reinforcing rings and the carriage has straight cheeks with upturned tail) but in the PSR review it says the gun is about 22mm which is closer to a 4 pounder measured from muzzle ring to button.

If that 22mm includes the entire length of the tube and the button then it is undersized but if it is the muzzle ring to base ring (the normal measurement for a gun tube) then it scales only a little short to the accurate 166 centimeters.

This is the only 1/72 plastic An XI 6 pounder and a great looking model (albeit over-priced) but I'm curious if Zvezda got the size wrong.

Thanks in advance!
MikeRC97  
 
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07 Jun 2012, 01:00


Posted by Beano Boy on 24 Jun 2016, 04:14

As i noticed with the Large Box sized set of French Foot Artillery there were two choices of gun for the artist modeller to consider using when fixing the tricky little things together.
According to P S R,they are or were 24mm and 27mm in length so an 8 or 12 Pounder Gun was the choice.
Since doing suicide packs with only one gun,is there therefore no double choice available now for size of gun? Suicide packs have ment a great loss in buyers for this Company. BB
Beano Boy  England
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Posted by Beano Boy on 24 Jun 2016, 04:34

At 22mm it is a 4 Pounder Gun,according to P S R. BB
Beano Boy  England
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Posted by MikeRC97 on 24 Jun 2016, 12:40

Hi Beano Boy,

I agree that Zvezda's current business model is bad.

However the gun in set 6810 is not a 4 pounder, at least not in appearance. The Gribeauval 4 pounder had two reinforcing rings on the barrel, one just before the handles on top of the barrel and another ring just behind. Also the 4 pounder carriage had a distinct bend and so the tail of the carriage was level with the ground. Most importantly, a 4 pounder would only be 22mm in 1/72 scale if measured from muzzle ring to button. If measured from muzzle ring to base ring it would be closer to 20mm. AFAIK no one makes an accurate 1/72 plastic 4 pounder.

As I mentioned above the gun in Zvezda 6810 is a very accurate depiction of the An XI 6 pounder. It has the characteristic smooth barrel without central rings and the An XI carriage with straight cheeks and upturned tail. In 1/72 the length of the An XI 6 pounder tube from muzzle ring to base ring should be around 23mm, if you measured to the end of the button it would be closer to 25mm.

The An XI 6 pounder was a very important gun - by 1808 it replaced the Gribeauval 4 and 8 pound guns in French divisional foot and horse artillery batteries everywhere except Spain. Roughly half oF the 350 guns captured by the Russians in 1812 were 6 pounders. And yet up until now there was no 1/72 plastic model of the gun.

So can anyone with the set please take a measurement for me? I know it is overpriced, what I want to know is if it is overpriced AND under-scaled.
MikeRC97  
 
Posts: 206
Member since:
07 Jun 2012, 01:00


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