Having decided that my next wargame will pit at least one warship against a coastal defence fort, I realised that I needed some artillery with which to arm the fort!
Looking at the collection of photographs I have taken over the past few years, I decided that what I wanted had to combine various elements of the guns I had seen at Montjuich on the hill overlooking Barcelona …
… and the Quebec Citadel in Canada.
My models will therefore have the following characteristics:
Looking at the collection of photographs I have taken over the past few years, I decided that what I wanted had to combine various elements of the guns I had seen at Montjuich on the hill overlooking Barcelona …
… and the Quebec Citadel in Canada.
My models will therefore have the following characteristics:
- A barrel that is made up from several hoops of increasing size, with the thickest part being nearest the breech-end of the barrel.
- The mountings will have traversing slides, along which the barrels would recoil.
- The mountings will also support the barrels between two cheeks or side plates, upon which the elevating mechanisms will be mounted.
- The mountings and barrels will be painted dark grey or black.
Are you going to include trucks and the arc of track?
ReplyDeleteand rivets!
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ross - gotta have lots of rivets!
I am sure there is a manufacturer of coastal artillery in 15mm - for the ACW as I recall.
All the best,
DC
Ross Mac,
ReplyDeleteI doubt if the models will end up with quite that level of detail ... but I will do my best!
All the best,
Bob
David Crook,
ReplyDeleteThe models will be as detailed as I can make them in the time available.
I understand that Peter Pig makes some suitable 15mm-scale ACW coastal defence artillery ... but I don't own any.
All the best,
Bob
I like the "pop up" emplacements, which are hard to hit with direct fire. The US built a series of old brick coastal defensive forts which became quickly obsolete by the time American Civil War. Many of those old forts continued along to the Spanish American War and beyond with updated emplacements and reinforced concrete. Most of the new guns were of the pop up variety. I've had a chance to tour several early brick coastal defense forts and see them from a pre-Civil War, Civil War transition era, and post Civil War WWI updated perspective. In a century modernization turned the old static forts into relics. Viewing forts such as Fort Gains on Dauphine Island Alabama and those on the Florida Pan Handle bear witness to the devastating effect of exploding shells shot from rifled cannon. The updated forts were never tested in the Spanish American War or WWI, but scenarios can be imagined.
ReplyDeleteCoastConFan,
ReplyDeleteI know that the US made extensive use of coastal defence forts and gun batteries, and that the latter versions often had counterbalanced disappearing mounts for the larger calibre guns. I have visited quite a few of the older type of artillery forts built in the UK and elsewhere, and the newer ones do tend to be much lower lying than the older ones, with extensive use of concrete emplacements behind a thick earth glacis.
I hope to try out a ship vs. shore defence scenario in the very near future.
All the best,
Bob
Have you seen this range http://www.thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com/505-houstons%20guns%20&%20fittings.htm ?
ReplyDeleteImpressive though from my point a view a shame it's in 25mm (rather than 15 or 20.
Nigel Drury,
ReplyDeleteI have seen the range of guns sold by The Virtual Armchair General (I understand that they used to be sold by their designer, Richard Houston), but they are 25/28mm-scale and even the smallest guns are just a bit too large for what I want.
All the best,
Bob