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Pendraken Releases, Requests and Photos! => Previous Years' Previews => New Figure Previews => 2019 Previews => Topic started by: Leon on 05 January 2018, 02:07:53 AM

Title: Indian Mutiny artillery - Help wanted
Post by: Leon on 05 January 2018, 02:07:53 AM
I thought I'd pass this out in case anyone has any useful reference material to hand, we're looking for scale plans or useful drawings of the artillery pieces for the Indian Mutiny range.  The pieces we're looking to get modelled are:

6lb field gun – same carriage
9lb field gun – same carriage
24lb howitzer – same carriage
12lb howitzer
8" siege mortar
18lb siege gun
Limber

We've found some nice drawings but a lot of the time it's hard to get an idea of the sizing unless there's someone stood right next to it.

8)
Title: Re: Indian Mutiny artillery - Help wanted
Post by: Steve J on 05 January 2018, 07:57:45 AM
Probably the best bet is to contact the Royal Artillery Museum, now at Larkhill in Wiltshire. When I did a search for the museum, the link to their old website had a line about the Artillery of the Honourable East India Company. Hope this helps?
Title: Re: Indian Mutiny artillery - Help wanted
Post by: Duke Speedy of Leighton on 05 January 2018, 08:38:52 AM
Powys Castle has a fair few that Clive of India collected, but they're a bit earlier...
Title: Re: Indian Mutiny artillery - Help wanted
Post by: Leon on 22 January 2018, 10:52:13 PM
Quote from: Steve J on 05 January 2018, 07:57:45 AM
Probably the best bet is to contact the Royal Artillery Museum, now at Larkhill in Wiltshire. When I did a search for the museum, the link to their old website had a line about the Artillery of the Honourable East India Company. Hope this helps?

I forgot to say thanks for this, I sent them an email so just waiting to hear back.
Title: Re: Indian Mutiny artillery - Help wanted
Post by: John Cook on 19 February 2018, 09:15:51 PM
There are two source that I know of which will help your designer.

The first is BP Hughes' 'British Smooth-bore Artillery – The Muzzle Loading Artillery of the 18th and 19th Centuries', Arms and Armour Press, London, 1969.  Copies still turn up at around £25-£30.

The other is David McConnell's 'British Smooth-Bore Artillery: A Technological Study To Support Identification, Acquisition, Restoration, Reproduction, And Interpretation Of Artillery At National Historic Parks In Canada', Canadian Government Publishing Centre, Supply and Services, Ottawa, Canada, 1988.  I haven't seen a copy of this for a very long time but it is available on line as a pdf file at:

https://sha.org/assets/documents/British%20Smooth-Bore%20Artillery%20-%20English.pdf

Both use plates from the Royal Carriage Department of The Royal Artillery Institution, Woolwich, but McConnell's has more of them and is much more comprehensive generally.  It includes dimensions and technical details down the last 'nut and bolt', almost literally.  This should provide everything your designer needs.

It should be easy to scale any diagram as British light and heavy artillery carriages at this period used a standard 5 foot wheel.

The 6pdr, 9dr and 12pdr guns and the 12pdr howitzer used the block-trail type of carriage, with 5 foot wheel, first introduced for the 6pdr around 1790 so your 1812-1815 models should be suitable for that.  The others will need to be done from scratch.  8" and 10" Howitzers used a unique block-trail carriage and the 18pdr gun had a double bracket trail.  

Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Indian Mutiny artillery - Help wanted
Post by: Leon on 19 February 2018, 11:30:43 PM
Thanks for that John, much appreciated!