Hi guys
I have finally finished up my Gatling Gun build, model 1866 , 1" caliber. 1/16 scale.
The model is made from aluminum,brass,white oak,mahogany,sheet styrene,apoxie sculpt,lead sheet and 4 parts I cast by pressure forging apoxie sculpt.
The model originally was a 1/16 canon . I picked it up at a tag sale. In the box there were 2 bent wheels, a ruined axle and the 2 side pieces the cannon rests on ( called cheeks) and a large lifting rung. I knew I HAD to have it !
After some investigation, I discovered this was a ' Napoleon model 1812' canon chassis... a good starting point for many types of canons (which is what I was gonna originally buid)....somewhere during investigation I found the drawing of the Gatling Gun and recognized the gun carriage as being the Napoleon 1812.... now we're getting somewhere! This is a very large caliber weapon (for a gun) and needed the extra big canon chassis to hold it. It was, at the time, considered a piece of artillery, and able to fire approximately 300 to 350 rounds per minute. Each round was an individual shell, hand fed by the loader... no belts or clips as with smaller caliber Gatling guns of the time. Four types of shells could be used.. 3 had shaped internal pieces of varying sizes ( like a shot gun) and 1 type fired the huge 1" low velocity slug....ouch.
I guess thats enough history.
Much of the model is from scratch(complete gun) or highly re- worked like the Apoxie Sculpt wheel hubs,axle and cheeks. The smaller metal parts are shaped lead, the grab handles are flattened solder.... the skid plate is lead...the handles to adjust gun angle is a model boat casting I fixed up, and styrene pieces I made . Each shell is 3 pieces of brass I soldered together and will represent a slug type shell.
The 2 pieces that hold the gun assembly in place ( the trunnion keepers) were the most trouble..they are from lead sheet. I could have made them out of styrene, but working with metal results in a less fragile piece. All the metal pieces have been polished with my Dremel. Lead is toxic. wear latex gloves.
I built the model to be as much like the original as limited data would allow and replicated the way the gun is held on the chassis and wheels to the axels ect.
Now I have to dis assemble everything for paint!
I hope you enjoy the pictures
thanks,
tread
