Friday 10 June 2016

Bigguns and Not So Big Guns

Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery
The Guard Artillery coming into action.
My second Prussian foot battery has taken a bit more time to complete than I intended, but this is not altogether surprising given that I decided to make things rather complicated for myself. My idea was to finish off the first part of the Prussian army with something a bit special.

The battery was simple enough. It was all the extra bits that took all the time.

The figures on the battery are (from left to right) Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery:

PN 32: Gunner with rammer;
PN 34: Gunner, with hand spike;
Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery
Another view of the diminutive field piece.
PN 31: Gunner with porte-fire; and
PN 35: Gunner, ammunition runner.

The gunners are painted as Guard artillery. If you click to embiggen you may just be able to make out the yellow litzen on their collars and cuffs and the red shoulder straps marking them out as Guardsmen.

The gun is a Hinton Hunt A4 Prussian Field Gun with its little 6-pounder barrel. I wouldn't be the first to point out that field guns were not Marcus Hinton's greatest strength as a designer, but it's nice to have at least one for the collection!







Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery
The Silesian Battery gallops into action.
Completing my Phase-One Prussian artillery are Hinton Hunt:

2 x PN 38: Artillery driver, positioned for riding horse;
2 x  H 1: British nearside draught horse; and
2 x H 2: British offside draught horse.

The limber traces are made with 15-amp fuse wire soldered on to the rather prominent lugs cast onto each side of the horses. They are attached to swingletrees made out of 2 mm plasticard. It took me a whole day to do this, but I thought it was worth having a go if only to create something for the limber pole to rest on.

Hinton Hunt Prussian Field ArtilleryRiding on the limber is what I think is the Der Kriegspieler version of Hinton Hunt PN 36: Gunner, riding on limber, right side.
Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery
A close up of the limber rider. I think  he's meant to be on the right side!
The limber, like the gun it is pulling, is a little mysterious but I think it may be from the Minifig S-Range. If anyone is able to confirm this, please let me know! The only identifiable mark on the underside is "NFA", which I assume stands for Napoleonic Field Artillery.

Only two more command figures need to be completed and the Prussian Army will be ready for the Grand Manoeuvres!


WM

Hinton Hunt Prussian Field Artillery
A Prussian Grand Battery






12 comments :

  1. Very, very nice indeed. The effort you've gone to with the gun team has been well worth it. And NFA does indeed sound like a Minifigs code. Cheers.

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    1. Thanks DC, it's always good to get a positive ID! It's a weird looking thing - there are two separate ammunition boxes, making it look rather British, but only a single draught pole. However, it was an almost perfect match for the mystery gun.

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  2. Wow! Very impressed with your workmanship.

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    1. Thank you very much, Matt. It was a wild experiment that actually worked! Mind you, I guess I'll have to do every draught horse like this from now on.

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  3. That looks really effective Matt, well worth the effort. Looking forward to the grand review!

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    1. Cheers Ian. I've got to finish two more generals before I stage the review. "Grand" may prove to be an overstatement as it'll only be 162 figures all told!

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  4. Jewels, Matt, jewels...little masterpieces!

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    1. Ta very much LG. The time taken to complete them was somewhat geological!

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  5. Very nice looking Prussian artillery, like the limber team

    Paul

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  6. Thanks Paul. I liked the way that the light blue guns contrasted with the dark blue of the rest of the army, so it was nice to have a limber as well to enhance the effect!

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  7. Awed by the limber traces......That is impressive!

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    1. Cheers Roy. Although they took a lot of time to make (all that fiddly wire bending and twisting around the swingletrees), they were actually very quick simple to attach to the horses- just a couple of blobs of solder on each side, and then a bit of snipping and filing to remove the excess. Bayonet repairs are much more difficult!

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