I decided last week that having completed the initial planking for the launch, I would go back and look at the carronade. I have read a lot about the destructive force of the 'smashers' particularly if they were fired into the enememy's stern and the ball travelled the length of the gun deck doing unimaginable amounts of evil to the French or Spanish crew. (Known as Raking the enemy)
The pictures of the carronades on Victory show a mean looking barrel poised low on its carriage ready to discharge the 68 pdr ball across the dockyard. (OK I can't help being a romantic.)
Looking at the carronade kit that we received the effect is somewhat spoilt by two factors: The brass swivel connecting the carriage to the large lug under the barrel and the oversize trucks under the rear of the carriage.
On the real thing both the carriage and barrel are lying almost horizontal with the rear of the barrel resting on the chock which is the wedge shaped block on top of the carriage.
Comparing various builds that have been posted, the one that stands out as most successful must be Capt Stedders
Carronade walkthrough pdfThis is my version of the carronade build:
I decided that I wanted to reduce the size of the lug as far as possible. I drilled a new hole as close as I dared to the barrel and slightly larger than the original.
I then inserted a length of the thick wire supplied with the kit and glued it into place. The next job was to file down the lug until I reached the wire.
Almost there in this picture:
I then used a piece of wood, actually some planking from another kit to represent the trunnion bearing on the carriage. I had bought some spare brass trunnion caps when I had been doing the 12pdr cannon, so I used two of these with one end cut off to secure the carronade trunnion to the bearing.
When painted matt metallic black the various components appear to be part of one bearing.
I next looked at the wooden trucks which were much too large. My solution was to cut a short piece from some thin brass tube, again from another kit, and stick it into a small bracket made from some brass strip which I had previously bought as stock.
The various iron rings for attaching the gun tackle were added using the photos linked from one of Zeptraders posts
CarronadeLooking at the photos, the breeching ring is not fixed directly into the carriage, instead it fits into a hole in a metal bracket on the side of the carriage.
The brackets were made from more of the brass strip and all the components painted before final assembly. I also added the ring on the pommelion for the breeching rope which is missing from the model kit:
The tackle rings were added to the carriage and the chock stuck in position.
This photo shows the slot in the sliding bed which allowed the gun to recoil.
The final couple of photos show the carronade positioned on its deck block and ready to be stored until there is a forecastle to mount it on!
Not a perfect job by any means, it lacks the sophistication of Capt Stedders but the overall effect of a low brooding monster has been achieved in my view.
Now it's back to the launch or possibly I might get the anchor done before the next issues arrive, assuming they went out this week.
Mike T
US
