3D printed cannon barrels

[allanyed]

This is a repeat of my recent post in the Charles Galley build log, but thought it worth posting here as well.  In working on the Charles Galley (1676) project I started working on the cannon barrels recently. As these are for 1676, I wanted to be sure the badge was correct with a rose and crown, the overall shape was appropriate for that time, including the number of rings, the shape of the cascabel, and the trunnions were tapered as they should be at that time, and well below the center line of the bore.  There are no accurate commercially made cannon for this time period, and very few for other periods for that matter, so I made several of brass, made silicone molds and cast some with resin with pretty good results for the most part.  I then thought about having them made with a 3D printer in black resin.  I have no skills in 3D drawing and I am determined to learn how to do these drawings for future projects and  items as well but for this project I was VERY LUCKY to get help from a fellow MSW member preparing STL format drawings. 

 

I sent these to a printer and asked to have some made in several materials including nylon, ABS, PETG and resin.  The test was only $8 including postage so very reasonable.  The resin performed much better than any of the other materials.    He then made a dozen more of the 9 pounders that I needed and six of the 3 pounders.   It is difficult to see the rose and crown badge in the photos, but I hope there is enough detail to see what can be done with3D printing.   If anyone can recommend something like a Fusion 360 for Dummies or any book or tutorial or even another program in which STL drawings can be made without causing a lot of headaches, I would be grateful.   If anyone is interested in contacting the printer that made these for me please feel free to email me.  My email is in my profile. 

  

 

Allan

Edited June 23, 2021 by allanyed

[BANYAN]

Look good Allan and can only concur.  A mate printed my 3D barrels for HMCSS Victoria using resin also, and they look good.  Here is an example of a Blomefield pattern (c1847)  - you can see the embossed cipher, dispart sight (forward) and Miller tangent sight abaft the breech:

 

The gun barrel is about 1.5" long.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

(p.s. - the compressor (rear upper carriage transom) is also 3D resin printed - the bar part of the lever handle is only a few microns thick (less than 0.2 mm))

Edited June 24, 2021 by BANYAN

[allanyed]

The barrel is gorgeous Pat, as is the entire piece.  Was the  barrel made with black resin and/or painted or otherwise finished afterwards?   i especially like the very subtle sheen from the light and you have answered a question I was going to ask the printer about getting the cascabel ring with no problems.  Did you provide an STL drawing yourself?  This is my problem as I have to learn how to do this and the old proverb found in John Heyward's book about teaching old dogs new tricks comes into play for me.

Thanks for your post!!

Allan

Edited June 24, 2021 by allanyed

[BANYAN]

Hi Allan, my mate is the expert in these matters - I simply do the research and he draws it up in 3D (Fusion I think), then he prints it.  I sometimes provide a 2D CAD drawing that he uses as his start point (extrudes them), but he still needs to 'tweak them' for the details.  This barrel was in grey resin, but he can do black - I just find it easier to view detail etc in grey.  All the detail was printed, I simply painted it.   I used an airbrush in order to get the overall even higher quality finish - I think I used Mr. Metal 'black iron' - there are two types one has larger 'flakes' in it which I used on the freshwater tank (see attached), the other I used on this barrel.  I'll try to get the right product name and number for you if you wish).  The details were hand brushed, again with Mr. Metal 'brass'. 

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

[Tim Holt]

I’ve had a regular filament type 3D printer for a few years, and it’s great for some things. But resin is definitely the way to go for finer precision items with odd shapes, detail, etc.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Tim Holt

[allanyed]

Thanks Pat, and yes please post the name if you can find it.    I have my first lesson in Fusion 3D tomorrow with a fellow member here that is proficient in using it.  We shall see if I am still a good student 😄

 

I agree Tim, based on the test pieces, resin is the way to go.

 

Allan

[Moab]

Wow Pat! Great looking cannons and at an affordable price...Moab

[BANYAN]

Allan, the paints are both from Gunzo (Japanese):

1.  The more silvery (with flake) is Mr. Metal GX201 - Metal Black

2.  The canon is don with Mr. Color MC214 - Dark Iron

 

If you intend using the former also, make sure to shake the bottle really well before decanting off a little for diluting.  Both paints dry very rapidly so leaving the cap off will thicken them really quickly.  The brass paint  I use is also from the Mr. Color, I haven't got the code but there is only 1.  I like it as it softens to a dirty brass (aged) look and can be hand painted (all Mr. Colour paint can be brushed or airbrushed, but the latter requires a little dilution with Mr. Paint thinner (get the right one for the right paint).  I like to use Tamaya (spray can) undercoat.

 

Hope this helps you?

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited June 24, 2021 by BANYAN

[allanyed]

In addition to the fine color of the black pieces, the brass certainly looks like brass!!!  Thank you very much for passing on the information.  I have downloaded information and several sources.  The code for the brass is MC 219.  

 

Have you tried their gold, MC 217?  

 

Thanks again.

 

Allan

[BANYAN]

Hi Allan, not the Mr. Metal/Colour brand as of yet I think - will need to check.  I have used a gold paint for the gilding on the figurehead.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

[allanyed]

I am using a lot of Liquitex  gold acrylic on the Charles Galley build and it is  good.  But, as with most glittery gold paints, it can be easily rubbed to a duller looking coat if handled too much before getting a protective top coat.   

[BANYAN]

Hi Allan, just to be sure, the brass belfry (and bell) in the earlier photo are actually brass - the FW tank cock and breather pipe are painted.  The following is the brass compass cover (dry fitted) on the binnacle and the EOT - this is the dulled look I was talking about.  You can compare the colour against the watch bell which has been turned from brass.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[allanyed]

Thanks Pat.

[PRS]

I have found the best tutorials for Fusion 360 is Lars Christensen on youtube.

 

How I learned to get into the program is follow his Fusion 360 tutorial for absolute beginners series. It took me a few tries on the first video but once I got that part done it made sense.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/cadcamstuff/videos

[allanyed]

THANK YOU PAUL!!!

I have been very lucky to have a fellow member give me my first two lessons via Skype and I feel like I am making some progress.   I will be practicing over the next few days before getting into more extrusions in our next session but my prof is a very patient man.  I will definitely check out the tutorial by Lars.

Thanks again!

Allan

[PRS]

Here is a Fusion file for the small cannon I drew up.

 

You can load this and see all the steps I took to make it.

 

My way of doing things might be different but it is what I know.

 

I tried to make one by doing an outline and then doing the rotate around the center but it was hollow and would not slice right for printing and I couldn't figure out how to make it solid inside.

cannon4.f3d

[allanyed]

Further to this conversation, I have need coming up for 40 cannon barrels in two sizes that were different than those I had for the Charles Galley.   I spoke with the printer and he was able to enlarge the cannons appropriately with no need for new drawings.  The quality is fantastic.  I ordered 40 cannon in two sizes, 100 port lid hinges, (50 left, 50 right)  and the total cost was $20 including postage.  Total time from order to delivery - 4 days. I would be hard pressed to make these from brass or making my own mold and casting them for double price and it would take weeks of work.   I have turned cannon from brass, made a master and mold and cast in pewter and casting resin and now have found 3D printing which I am liking, a lot.   These particular barrels are based on those used in the late 17th century so a new drawing will be needed should I have a project calling for later barrel designs, such as the Bromefield.   I have not found any supplier of brass barrels or any type of cast barrels that offers the particular design I needed. 

 

If anyone needs a contact on this kind of service here in the US feel free to PM me, but I am sure there are a LOT of 3D printer folks all over the world for anyone interested in going this route.    In this case, the vendor is now familiar with making these parts so may have an edge.   

 

Allan   

[mtaylor]

Why nor just post the vender's info?  Hopefully they have a site.

[dafi]

Yes it is a marvel what those new machines can do. Here is a test shot for my USS Costitution 1:96 from Revell.

 

The big flaw of the kit are the guns, so I did some for my own build. Here in the picture on the left the Revell gun, and right my version following Marquardt´s plans. In the background one of Victory´s guns, showing that even kit´s guns can look good 🙂

 

 

 

The amount of detail is amazing, here the flaps for the trunnions 🙂

 

 

Here more details of what is possible even at this scale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But what is also important is what we do out of these new parts, how to bring them to live. Still we are model makers!

 

So with some paint, ink, brushed highlights, flintlock and real eyebolts the visual effect can become really strong.

 

 

 

 

 

And not to forget the size, here some fingers in comparison 🙂

 

 

 

XXXDAn

Edited November 6, 2021 by dafi

[allanyed]

Mark,

I was not sure about posting/advertising a  website as he is not a member.  Then again, I should have known better as we post places like Grainger and McMaster Carr.   My bad.    I originally found him through a third party so prices would be higher do I just sent Chris (Sgt Taz) an email asking if he has a direct website as we don't post emails on the forums. 

 

I'll post something as soon as I hear back from him.

 

Allan

 

[allanyed]

OK, anyone wanting to reach out to Taz for 3D printing work.............

https://www.treatstock.com/c/tazs-3d-printing   I used this site for the first communications and everything was smooth although I now communcate via email directly or Skype.

 

Allan

[mtaylor]

Thanks Allan.   Good info.