Monday, 6 March 2017

Limber Labour of Love

The first of Rob's magnificent Guard Artillery gun teams is ready at last. It all took a bit longer than I expected, but they were very complex to paint and assemble and it took me a while to figure it all out.

The figures are:

Hinton Hunt:
FN 188 French Horse Artillery Of the Guard Artillery Drivers Corps driver x2
H 3: French (nearside) Gun Horse x 2
H4: French (offside) Gun Horse x 2

Der Kriegspielers Napoleoniques:
French Limber from the # 32: French 6" Howitzer, limber and four-horse team set.

Warrior:
FA1: French 8lb Field Gun


Getting everything to fit together  required quite a bit of planning. The DK limber came complete with swingletrees, but to attach these to the horses I first had to cut them off the limber and then wrap lengths of fuse wire around them. The fuse wires were then soldered to the horses to create the traces. The trick here was then to attach a short nib of solder on the rear of each swingletree, and then paint each horse assembly while leaving these nibs unpainted.

The limber also needed a bit of cutting back and rearranging so that everything would fit back together again neatly. Again, I attached small nibs of solder on to the points on the limber where the swingletrees would reattach. These nibs were also left unpainted.


The final stage was then to glue everything in place on the base with the nibs on the swingletrees and limber just touching. My hope was it would take just a quick application of heat with the soldering iron for them to melt together and form a single string, and much to my relief this is exactly what happened. It was then just a quick dab of black paint and varnish and the job was done.


The Warrior guns have also been given a repaint, although its hard to tell the difference. The only real change here was to add some bent steel pins to create the tool brackets on either side of the trails.

And that, I'm very pleased to say, is the end of Phase One.

WM
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22 comments :

  1. Phil6 March 2017 at 21:42

    Lovely job on this limber/artillery...

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man7 March 2017 at 06:01

      Cheers, Phil. Now that I've worked out how to do them I'm hoping that future efforts won't take quite so long.

      Delete
  2. the Archduke6 March 2017 at 22:23

    Now I know why it has been quiet on the Kiwi front for a while. These are magnificent. Seldom have I seen the word "just" applied with such reckless abandon, but the product is wonderful. Who are the gunners in shakos?

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man7 March 2017 at 06:12

      Ooops, that's what happens when one skimps on the blog-editing stage, for which I have received my just deserts.

      The shako-wearing gunners are mostly DKs which look like they were made by converting the HH Foot Artillery of the Guard Set. The exception is the chap with the ramrod, who is a Roy Boss conversion of an HH French voltigeur. Some time in the next century when I finally complete this project I may use them as Young Guard gunners.

      Delete
  3. Mark Dudley6 March 2017 at 22:48

    Magnificent. I have a set of Guard artillerymen to refurbush myself.

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man7 March 2017 at 06:20

      Thank you Mark. Yes, I saw your gunners and was particularly delighted to see that they came complete with Warrior gun!

      Delete
  4. 'Lee.7 March 2017 at 01:08

    Fine job Matt, and you have matched the French woodwork colour so well :)

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man7 March 2017 at 06:21

      Thanks,'Lee. I was beginning to despair of ever getting these finished!

      Delete
  5. The Good Soldier Svjek7 March 2017 at 06:01

    I hate doing limbers and teams - but they do look impressive on the tabletop and really make the battery ! , Tony

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man7 March 2017 at 07:12

      I know what you mean, Tony. All that effort could have been another battalion!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous7 March 2017 at 07:02

    Very nice indeed.

    Tony S

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  7. Rob7 March 2017 at 08:09

    I was getting withdrawal symptoms awaiting your next blog but worth the wait! I find it hard to believe they're the same castings.

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man7 March 2017 at 09:00

      Thank you for your forbearance, Rob. It took me a disgracefully long time to get round to these. Only four more teams to go!

      Delete
  8. Stryker10 March 2017 at 00:24

    That's a wonderful bit of kit for your French and painted superbly as always!

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  9. Wellington Man10 March 2017 at 06:50

    Thanks, Ian. They're very hard to photograph on my weird beigey-green tabletop, mind. I really need to do something about that.

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  10. ABC Wargammers11 March 2017 at 07:58

    Another brilliant piece of work. Well done.

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man11 March 2017 at 09:18

      Cheers Alan! They were fun to do, which what it's all about.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous12 March 2017 at 04:36

    Beautiful piece of work

    Paul

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man12 March 2017 at 06:04

      Thanks Paul. I think I need a break from horsed units!

      Delete
  12. David12 March 2017 at 07:09

    Matt,

    Very nicely done indeed! It really makes a difference on the tabletop to see limbers and other battlefield necessities that are so rarely modeled.

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    Replies
    1. Wellington Man12 March 2017 at 07:29

      Cheers David. It's little more than tabletop dressing at the moment, but I've started pondering about how limbers can be incorporated into the games. Interestingly, its 12cm length matches the frontage of a double battery - there is the germ of an idea in their somewhere!

      Delete

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