Model Deck Gun

[mklotz]

One tires of building model engines after a bit and I've always wanted to experiment with building model artillery - especially those of the WWI/WWII era. Sadly, plans for such are very difficult to find but, after raising a plea, Jim Hannum was kind enough to send along plans from a war era magazine. Many thanks to Jim for making this project possible.

The gun is a British quick-firing six pounder. Although historical details from the magazine article were sketchy, I would imagine that this is the sort of gun that would have been used on the British Q-ships against submarines or unarmored merchant ships.

The barrel is made from a recycled .22 rifle barrel. A working interrupted screw thread, lever-operated breech action is fitted. This incorporates a removable firing pin (for safety at shows and around inquisitive children), which, when not fitted to the gun, is hidden in the dummy shell shown in the photos.

Elevation and traverse are via worm wheels actuated by the hand wheels. These drive an elevation gear and miter gears hidden in the hollow base. The recoil mechanism is fully operable.

The aimer's (elevation) sight is operable and has a range scale and working adjusting screw. The trainer's (azimuth) sight wasn't specified in the article so I winged it with a design of my own. Both sights incorporate tiny telescopes which have (plastic) objective lenses.

It's chambered for .22LR and has fired a few test rounds successfully.

It was a fun project to build despite, working at typical hobbyist rate interrupted by many honey-dos, taking a whole summer. I hope to be able to get plans for some more artillery - especially a German 88 and maybe some quad mount AA as were used on Navy warships.

[Toolmaker51]

Your Six-Pounder is a work of art Marv; incredible detail, care, and presentation.
A lot of ship modelers purchase inert [solid] small [1:200 and 1:535] scale deck guns, like Oerlikons and Bofors; but there is a great deal of documentation pertaining to them. Never heard of any functioning examples though.
Just in case you run short of projects, Marv....

[mklotz]

Your Six-Pounder is a work of art Marv; incredible detail, care, and presentation.
A lot of ship modelers purchase inert [solid] small [1:200 and 1:535] scale deck guns, like Oerlikons and Bofors; but there is a great deal of documentation pertaining to them. Never heard of any functioning examples though.
Just in case you run short of projects, Marv....

Functional models of modern artillery is perhaps, along with miniature firearms, the most neglected area in the model engineering community.

It seems everyone wants to build engines, locomotives, road engines, showman engines, etc.. One sees lots of models of cannons from the black powder era, especially Civil War and age-of-sail shipborne armament but stuff from the two world wars is relatively rare. Considering the interest in Nazi militaria, one would think models of the ubiquitous German 88 would be common but I've never seen one. In a similar vein, probably every Vietnam vet is familiar with the 155mm howitzer used at the firebases but again no models.

Another exciting, though intimidating, model would be a cutaway WWII battleship turret, fully articulated, with an operating 16 incher.

(I should point out that by "functional" I mean all parts operate as in the original but the gun is non-firing.)

[mklotz]

In a previous post I mentioned miniature firearms. George Britnell, my hero and a Sherline Craftsman of the Year, made a walnut and brass 1/3 scale version of the Mannlicher Schoenauer sporting rifle. It's absolutely incredible. The full story of its construction is here...

Latest project: 1/3 Mannlicher rifle

If you're interested in minature firearms and world class modelmaking skills, I recommend you read it. As a teaser, I'm sure George won't mind if I include one of his photos from the thread mentioned above...

[IAMSatisfied]

Beautiful work there, Marv. I sure hope you can find some plans for a fully functioning Phalanx CIWS... that would prolly take more than a summer to complete, but it would sure take care of any uninvited drones flown by nosey neighbors. ;o)

[DIYer]

Amazing work, Marv!

[mklotz]

Thanks to all who commented for the kind words. This model is one of my favorites and is always an attention getter at shows.

[Frank S]

I would like to someday construct a model 105 howitzer basing the scale around the old long colt .45 But there are far too many Irons irons the fire just now. Don't even have time to finish the repairs on an antique Italian six shooter I've been working on.

[Savage11]

You have created a work of art OP! A museum worthy piece!

[baja]

That is awesome, Marv!!