Work in Progress

Napoleonic mountain battery

Posted by Bill Slavin on 26 Jul 2024, 14:28

Hi all,

Normally I am done a project before I think about posting, never mind recording, a WIP. But I have been having fun lately creating a mule-carried mountain battery to be used in some upcoming games based on the Pyrennes battles in 1813. I am making the unit modular so the mule models can be used separately as well, and possibly allowing other nationalites to be inserted as the figures. I confess, the gun itself, especially the carriage, is a bit of an invention based on a Gribeauval carriage, as I could find no good reference for mountain artillery that was broken down and carried such as these guns were.
I did however discover this reference of a later era mountain gun which I used as my inspiration.

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First step was to gather up these bits from my parts box. I used some old French Napoleonic artillery horses as they are a bit smaller and sturdy-looking, good for conversion to mules. I have already elongated the horses' ears and thickened their muzzles with putty.

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This and the next picture are just me glueing the bits onto the mules and attaching them to their washer bases. I used balsa wood for the boxes.

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Next step was sculpting the belts, harness and ropes holding everything in place. I have three mules, one for the cannon, one for the carriage and one for the wheels. Ammunition would be on other mules but these will do for my model so it doesn't take up too much real estate on the gaming table. The blue tacky stuff is just to keep the horses supported while I do my scultping.

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Here they are with the basing applied.

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Primed and ready to go.

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Now the handlers. I converted some later war Hat French artillery to earlier war, as the poses worked. I probably could have kept them as later war (this is for 1813) but then they wouldn't really look matched to all of my French in the pre-Baudin uniform. I found the shakos small on this set so puttied them up larger with shako covers. Other conversions were the lengthening of the tails, attaching muskets, and modelling the open front jacket to show the vest. My sculpting is always pretty rough - these are gaming models and my skill limited!

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I enjoyed the problem solving around this part. I glued a thin flexible magnet strip to the base and placed the figures where they would go.

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Then I applied my basing material (a plastering compound) on the base up to the edges of the stands...

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And finally I removed the figures while the compound was still wet and allowed the base to dry. I firmed up the edges of the holes with white glue, and now I am ready to paint. Because they figures are on metal washers with a magnet base, I can pop them on and off as needed.
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Bill Slavin  Canada

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Posted by Santi Pérez on 27 Jul 2024, 11:32

You are doing a fantastic and very original job creating that French mountain battery, Bill. The photo report is very complete and illustrative of all the steps you have been taking. :love:

Bill Slavin wrote:...My sculpting is always pretty rough - these are gaming models and my skill limited!...

I don't agree with this statement at all. The conversion of the old Airfix horses into mules is mind-blowing, as is the positioning of all the cargo they carry. And the work done on the gunners is simply superb. In any case, it shouldn't be forgotten that the conversion task is only the first one and that it will be further improved by a good paintjob. And since you always do a great paintjob, I have no doubt that the final result will be spectacular. ;-)

Best regards.

Santi.
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Santi Pérez  Spain
 
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Posted by Bill Slavin on 27 Jul 2024, 13:14

Thanks, Santi, for the encouragement. I'm painting now and you are right, it is all coming together...
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Bill Slavin  Canada

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Posted by Rich W on 28 Jul 2024, 11:00

This looks really interesting Bill. I can’t wait to see the finished project-I’m sure they are going to fill in nicely with all your Peninsular models!
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Posted by k.b. on 28 Jul 2024, 20:11

Absolutely love this kind of unit Bill. It’s even more impressive when there is no suitable reference material available hence imagination has to be the order of the day. Conversion work, as we all know, is extremely time-consuming but to know that one will never see another similar unit on anyone else’s wargames table must be extremely gratifying.
k.b.  Brazil
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Posted by Bessiere on 28 Jul 2024, 20:31

Dismounted dragoons now a mountain battery. These are both very nice and frankly you're one of the few who could make those Strelets figures look good. Having fooled around with greenstuff I know how hard it is to sculpt fine details so I can only congratulate you on your success . Thanks for the inspiration Bill. I would love to see some pics of your entire armies all together. I'm betting they are massive.
Cheers,
Bessiere
Bessiere  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bill Slavin on 29 Jul 2024, 12:57

Thanks, k.b. and Bessiere.
Yes, k.b., I agree 100%, there is something very gratifying about having a unique piece you have created and it is very liberating not having to be slavish to reference, allowing a bit of imagination creep in. Projects like this are a blast.
And thank you for the kind words, Bessiere - someday I should put all of my Napoleonics out on a table and take some pictures - but then would I have to put them all away again! :-D Sounds like a winter day project...
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Bill Slavin  Canada

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Posted by C M Dodson on 29 Jul 2024, 15:51

Very nice, creative modelling in action on both posts.

Keep up the good work Mr Peninsular!

Chris
C M Dodson  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by PatrickJ71 on 30 Jul 2024, 20:47

What an original idea, Bill!
The conversions look great already, once painted they will be amazing.
Thanks for sharing and keep them coming.
Patrick
PatrickJ71  Belgium
 
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Posted by Peter on 02 Aug 2024, 19:32

PatrickJ71 wrote:What an original idea, Bill!
The conversions look great already, once painted they will be amazing.
Thanks for sharing and keep them coming.
Patrick

I agree with the words of Patrick! Looking forward to see them painted! :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by huib on 10 Aug 2024, 16:46

Great job, Bill! This theme is hardly represented in Napoleonic figures.
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huib  Netherlands
 
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