suitable guns/carronades for 1:85 scale

[Matador]

Hi guys, I have to say the wealth of information and inspiration on this site is tremendous!

 

Could I glean from the wisdom here and ask what the appropriate size of carronades or cannons would be for a 1:85 scale model of an early 19c royal navy 4-8 gun schooner-brig. (incidently, would this type of ships have been more likely armed with cannon or carronades?)

 

The smallest carronades I can find are listed as 20mm (Amati & Mantua) and I'm guessing these would be way oversized in 1:85. 

I can find cannons (Mantua) at 15mm would this be a more appropriate scale? (would a 3pdr have been 4' in length?)

 

advice appreciated,

 

Steve

 

 

[davyboy]

Hi Steve, after 1743 a Royal Navy 3pdr cannon had a length of 4'6" according to Lavery in his Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War book. Can't help with your other questions but I suspect Carronades would have been more likely.

 

Regards,

 

Dave 

 

[uss frolick]

You might want to check the fittings page of Bluejacketinc.com . They have several different sizes of pewter carronade barrels.

 

F0630 - 5/8" slide mt.	$2.76
F0142 - 11/16" lug mt.	$2.98
F0655 - 7/8" slide mt.	$3.49
F0640 - 1-3/8" w/tamp.	$5.10
F0304 - 1-3/8" open muz.	$5.10

 

 

and regular pewter cannon barrels:

 

F0101 - 1/2"	$2.11
F0538 - 3/4"	$2.62
F0540- 1"	$3.12
F0100- 1-1/4"	$3.42
F0099 - 1-3/8"	$4.00
F0102 - 1-9/16"	$4.15
F0103 - 1-7/8"	$4.43
F0120 - 2-3/8" (Circa 1840)	$6.53
F0121 - 2-1/2" (Circa 1840)	$7.63

[Matador]

Thanks guys.

 

@davyboy. If a 3pdr was 4'6 then I guess the 15mm cannon would not be too far off the mark

 

@ uss frolick. Thanks for this. Would the 5/8" carronade (bluejackets smallest) be oversized for 1:85. It upscales to 4'6" which seems quite long for a carronade. 

[allanyed]

Stephen

 

The smallest carronades I could find in a quick search in Caruana' English Sea Ordinance were 12 pounders which in 1815 were 26 inches long.  At your scale, if my math is right, this would be about 0.30 inches long, or half the size of the smallest in from Bluejacket.  The longest 12 pounder I could find were in the 1700s and as much as 30 inches long

 

You mention a schooner brig (hermaphrodite brig ).    Do you have a specific vessel in mind? That might help determine the armament.

 

Allan

 

[Matador]

thanks Allanyed, this is helpful info.

 

(long answer warning!)

 

My first attempt at building a model ship has ground to a halt at the 2nd planking stage. Starting with what I though was a relatively easy project - Caldercraft's HM Cutter Sherbourne, I suspect my hull shaping went wrong at some point during a frustrating first planking (and heavily 'filler'ed') stage. This has resulted in bad 'clinkering' of the planks on both sides at the bow curves from the bulwarks down, which gets progressively worse with each sucessive plank. I also now realise fitting the planks while damp from soaking was also a mistake as several have shrunk when dry leaving even more gaps. With 2nd planking is about 50% finished, I'm certain the end result will be horrible, so have kinda lost the will to carry on with it.

 

Given that all I really wanted to begin with was a decent looking model ship for my bookcase, I've decided to try Costructos 1:85 St Helena Schooner (Sexyauthors build log helped make my final decision). This model has a solid hull (no planking!) and so I hope will be an easier project. 

 

Rather than depict the St Helena ootb, I plan to add  extra detail and a different paint scheme in order to depict a typical Royal Navy Schooner of the period - hence my enquiry about carronades.

 

Thanks to the responses here and some further research, I think about 4-6 carronades would be the most likely armament. If a 12 pounder was 26" long then you are correct that at 1:85 scale a 12pdr carronade would be about 0.3" or just under 8mm. Therefore it would be my indention to cut a 15mm cannon barrel down to size and construct my own carriage/mount.

 

thanks again for your info. Its exactly what I was looking for.

 

S.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2017 by Matador