Figures Victory Miniatures - 120mm Trafalgar Gun Crew

[Smeggers]

Tonight I finished the Marine except for shading and highlights. His epaullettes went on fairly easy and the overall stance looks right. I'm not sure about the right hand though, it seems too long!

Next to the Marine, you will notice the next figure after a coat of primer. This guy is a member of the gun crew and is wearing a straw hat for some reason. He is dressed in an undershirt of indeterminate colour and Blue/Grey canvas trousers. He has no shoes, which was common for the time, and is holding a "worm" as his tool of trade. This was used for inserting into the barrel after the gun was fired to retrieve any burning waste material. As a secondary use, it served to stab attempted boarders and for defence in enemy action.

The detail on the Midshipman's face is coming on as is his uniform. The white patch with the gold stripe and button which indicates his rank are complete on either side of his collar as are the three good buttons on each cuff. Allegedly put there to stop young Midshipmen from wiping there nose on their cuffs. Hence their nickname "Snotty's". Bearing in mind some Midshipmen joined their first ship at the age of twelve years of age, it's no wonder that some were tearful as well as fearful in the heat of battle! I've given his sword belt a coat of gloss varnish, allowing a decent contrast with the Blue jacket. I also given the badge on the belt a coat of Yellow in preparation for it's Gold finish coat.

The Gun Barrel was given a coat of Tamiya's Dark Iron XF-84. This is a satin-finish paint and looks quite good on larger items. After a couple of hours, this was dry brushed all over with Vallejo Natural Steel. The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed the little blob on the firing end. This is the flintlock firing mechanism, definitely an improvement on the old method of pricing the bag, applying a match and wait for the bang.

The flintlock mechanism is well cast and needed a little cleaning up prior to fitting. After glueing it on, I gave it a coat of Gunmetal Grey and when dry, a dry-brushing of Tamiya Smoke which gives a decent gloss finish. This enables it to stand out from the gun-barrel but still remain a part of it.
That's it for the night. More to come tomorrow.

 

[robinrocket111]

Tonight I finished the Marine except for shading and highlights. His epaullettes went on fairly easy and the overall stance looks right. I'm not sure about the right hand though, it seems too long!
View attachment 525199
Next to the Marine, you will notice the next figure after a coat of primer. This guy is a member of the gun crew and is wearing a straw hat for some reason. He is dressed in an undershirt of indeterminate colour and Blue/Grey canvas trousers. He has no shoes, which was common for the time, and is holding a "worm" as his tool of trade. This was used for inserting into the barrel after the gun was fired to retrieve any burning waste material. As a secondary use, it served to stab attempted boarders and for defence in enemy action.
View attachment 525200
The detail on the Midshipman's face is coming on as is his uniform. The white patch with the gold stripe and button which indicates his rank are complete on either side of his collar as are the three good buttons on each cuff. Allegedly put there to stop young Midshipmen from wiping there nose on their cuffs. Hence their nickname "Snotty's". Bearing in mind some Midshipmen joined their first ship at the age of twelve years of age, it's no wonder that some were tearful as well as fearful in the heat of battle! I've given his switcher a coat of gloss varnish, allowing a decent contrast with the Blue jacket. I also given the badge on the belt a coat of Yellow in preparation for it's Gold finish coat.
View attachment 525201
The Gun Barrel was given a coat of Tamiya's Dark Iron XF-84. This is a satin-finish paint and looks quite good on larger items. After a couple of hours, this was dry brushed all over with Vallejo Natural Steel. The sharp-eyed among you will have noticed the little blob on the firing end. This is the flintlock firing mechanism, definitely an improvement on the old method of pricing the bag, applying a match and wait for the bang.
View attachment 525204
The flintlock mechanism is well cast and needed a little cleaning up prior to fitting. After glueing it on, I gave it a coat of Gunmetal Grey and when dry, a dry-brushing of Tamiya Smoke which gives a decent gloss finish. This enables it to stand out from the gun-barrel but still remain a part of it.
That's it for the night. More to come tomorrow.

That gun is coming on beautifully.

 

[Smeggers]

Another few hours put in this evening. Found a suitable match for the cheeks of the gun carriage, Vallejo Ochre Brown. All wooden parts were given a coat this evening.

It does look a bit like baby's nappy scrapings, but hey-ho.
The Midshipman has had his head fixed on and a little bit of fettling around his scarf and kerchief. I'm not far away from finishing him, so I'm taking my time. The swordbelt looks great with the gloss finish, and even better now I've painted the Gold badge.

The Middy's britches have been given a coat of Cool White and left to dry. The next member of the gun crew, the one I started yesterday, has had an undercoat for his trousers in German Air force Blue, and Light Khaki for his shirt. His hat was painted with Iraqi Sand, and dry brushed with Ochre Brown and finally Wood Grain.

The worm has been attached to the brass tube and is the first thing to get primed tomorrow.

 

[robinrocket111]

Another few hours put in this evening. Found a suitable match for the cheeks of the gun carriage, Vallejo Ochre Brown. All wooden parts were given a coat this evening.
View attachment 525487
It does look a bit like baby's nappy scrapings, but hey-ho.
The Midshipman has had his head fixed on and a little bit of fettling around his scarf and kerchief. I'm not far away from finishing him, so I'm taking my time. The swordbelt looks great with the gloss finish, and even better now I've painted the Gold badge.
View attachment 525489
The Middy's britches have been given a coat of Cool White and left to dry. The next member of the gun crew, the one I started yesterday, has had an undercoat for his trousers in German Air force Blue, and Light Khaki for his shirt. His hat was painted with Iraqi Sand, and dry brushed with Ochre Brown and finally Wood Grain.
View attachment 525490
The worm has been attached to the brass tube and is the first thing to get primed tomorrow.

Smegger’s what deck is this gun on? Only asking ref the gunners hat, because the head room on one of His Majesties Warships is extremely low!
I’ve been on Victory and Trincomalee and I had to duck down on the gun decks.

 

[Smeggers]

Smegger’s what deck is this gun on? Only asking ref the gunners hat, because the head room on one of His Majesties Warships is extremely low!
I’ve been on Victory and Trincomalee and I had to duck down on the gun decks.

That's a good point! Where were the 32 pounder on Victory?

 

[Wightsparker]

That's a good point! Where were the 32 pounder on Victory?

Lower Gun Deck.

 

[Smeggers]

Lower Gun Deck.

No wonder the Booties jammed their hats on!

 

[robinrocket111]

To be honest, I’d have thought the Marine would have stripped his uniform jacket off during a battle!

 

[Smeggers]

To be honest, I’d have thought the Marine would have stripped his uniform jacket off during a battle!

I agree, could you imagine fighting the Russki hordes in your Numbers 2's or even your Blues?

 

[Chef]

I agree, could you imagine fighting the Russki hordes in your Numbers 2's or even your Blues?

Trench fighting effectively in No 2s and if you think about it most mess dress is based on previous combat uniforms.

Who knows another thirty years and mess dress might be tailored 70s DPM with brass buttons. Probably with sleeves down though.

 

[Smeggers]

Continuing the build; The Midshipman is finished. Final detailing was added today. The to the locating lugs on the arms, they fit damn near perfectly with a minimum of filler needed. Last-minute were achieved by using Life colour Blue-Black blended into Navy on the jacket. Highlights were done by dry-brushing Ultramarine over all raised surfaces on the jacket and chickens hat. The sword standard was given a coat of Gloss Black followed by Black-Brown and then varnished with Gloss Varnish.

Gun crew figure one has had his base coat of Flesh Base #1 on face and arms plus the work on it's brass tube has received a coat of primer. I have also added his shirt, which as stated is a sort of indeterminate shade of light khaki. I used Japanese Uniform Green mixed with a 2:1 ratio White. This achieved a fair resemblance of the colour required. I may lighten this down further by a White wash, but we'll see.

With the Midshipman marching off until the final assembly, I started the next figure. This one is the Gun Captain, the person responsible for the gun and it's crew. While not classed as Warrant Officers, Gun Captains were highly experienced seamen with 10-15 years experience at sea.Gun Captains were issued with a Navy Blue Jacky with White piping on the sleeves, cuffs and back. They also wore a tarred low-browed hat with rolled brim. My Gunner has been primed and then pre-coated with Blue-Black. The hat has received it's initial coat of Black-Brown as too has the sword scabbard.
I've decided to assemble a good part of the figure prior to painting. It turned out to be rather fortuitous. The waist of the figure and the join on the power half didn't match up, entailing much sanding and filling before an even fit was achieved. Once again, the Artist's Modelling Paste came up trumps. I usually fill any gaps using cocktail sticks, but Mrs Smeg, aka The Leader of the Opposition, had bought me a set of dental tools. These proved more than adequate for the job at hand.

The Gunner's face and hands have received their base coat of Flesh Base #1. I've left everything now, because if I don't, I'll carry on until midnight!

 

[ancient]

I'd go with the black...

I can't see the Andrew not polishing something if it was there to be polished however there were a lot of other more important things to do every day on a ship of the line


I read recently that one of the attractions of service in the RN in those days was the lack of work required by individual crewmen compared to civilian craft.

Civilian ships travelled with the bare minimum of crew to maximise profit. The navy travelled with the number of men required to man the guns, many more than were required to work the ship. Might painting/polishing guns have been a way to stop the devil making work for idle hands?

The pic above is from here BTW...

 

[Smeggers]

Rattled a two-day break, (work), I've resumed my figure building sojourn.
Taking into consideration comments made by others, I've decided to reduce the size of the crewman's straw hat. This wasn't too hard, just cutting the top off the hat so that it was only half as tall. This also put it into the same height range as the Gun Captain's tarred hat. I've fitted all of the major parts to the Crewman; getting the arms right for holding the worm was a total pig, but perseverance paid off. I also decided I didn't like the colour of his shirt, so have give it a coat of light grey. Shading and highlighting has been done using various shares of Grey and Blue. I still have to finish the rod holding the worm and give the model a final wash.

The Gun Captain has been given his final coat on his jacket with the whie piping picked out in Off-White.His sword scabbard, sword-belt and frog have all had their second coat of Gloss Black. His shoes have been painted in Grey Black with the buckles picked out in Grey, ready for a final coat of Silver. I've given his hat a coat of Gloss Black, to represent the Tar used to waterproof it. I haven't found any pictures of the Gun Captain wearing his powder horn but have made a sling from waxed twine and will hang it opposite to his sword-belt.

Rear view of jacket

Jacket Front view.

Both figures are about an hour from finishing. The next one will definitely be a challenge; he is titled "Colonial Gun Crew" and is a bare-chested Afro-Caribbean and I have never painted a figure of dark hue. Everyday is a learning experience but I will definitely value a few clues.take a look at the box-art...

Until tomorrow, Smeggers out.

 

[robinrocket111]

I haven't found any pictures of the Gun Captain wearing his powder horn

Clue.... No Camera’s

 

[putteesinmyhands]

Taking into consideration comments made by others, I've decided to reduce the size of the crewman's straw hat. This wasn't too hard, just cutting the top off the hat so that it was only half as tall. This also put it into the same height range as the Gun Captain's tarred hat. I've fitted all of the major parts to the Crewman; getting the arms right for holding the worm was a total pig, but perseverance paid off.

Erm...

What's the height of the gun deck? And how high is the worm? Might it need to be held horizontally?

 

[robinrocket111]

Erm...

What's the height of the gun deck? And how high is the worm? Might it need to be held horizontally?

Have you seen one of those movies, where your inside a panzer? You know the one, with enough room inside to hold a dance......

 

[kelvin_273]

Rattled a two-day break, (work), I've resumed my figure building sojourn.
Taking into consideration comments made by others, I've decided to reduce the size of the crewman's straw hat. This wasn't too hard, just cutting the top off the hat so that it was only half as tall. This also put it into the same height range as the Gun Captain's tarred hat. I've fitted all of the major parts to the Crewman; getting the arms right for holding the worm was a total pig, but perseverance paid off. I also decided I didn't like the colour of his shirt, so have give it a coat of light grey. Shading and highlighting has been done using various shares of Grey and Blue. I still have to finish the rod holding the worm and give the model a final wash.
View attachment 527119

The Gun Captain has been given his final coat on his jacket with the whie piping picked out in Off-White.His sword scabbard, sword-belt and frog have all had their second coat of Gloss Black. His shoes have been painted in Grey Black with the buckles picked out in Grey, ready for a final coat of Silver. I've given his hat a coat of Gloss Black, to represent the Tar used to waterproof it. I haven't found any pictures of the Gun Captain wearing his powder horn but have made a sling from waxed twine and will hang it opposite to his sword-belt.
View attachment 527120
Rear view of jacket

View attachment 527121
Jacket Front view.View attachment 527122
Both figures are about an hour from finishing. The next one will definitely be a challenge; he is titled "Colonial Gun Crew" and is a bare-chested Afro-Caribbean and I have never painted a figure of dark hue. Everyday is a learning experience but I will definitely value a few clues.take a look at the box-art...
View attachment 527123
Until tomorrow, Smeggers out.

I dunno about sword scabbard, the gun captain looks ready for accepting the pork sword.
Apologies to any matelots reading.

 

[kelvin_273]

 

[Murphy_Slaw]

View attachment 527159

I have found a painting showing the gun capt. with his powder horn exactly as you describe.
Don't know how accurate it is.

The Great Guns: Weaponry in Aubrey's Royal Navy | The Dear Surprise

Until the time of cannons, warfare at sea utilized many of the same weapons that were used on land. Archers would stand on the deck and fire a storm of arrows at the opposing ship. [...]

thedearsurprise.com

Another one showing the gun capt. with slung powder horn, but no sword.

Trafalgar, 1805 - The Military Art Studio

The Military Art Studio - Original military uniform paintings by military artist and illustrator Clive Farmer

sites.google.com

 

[robinrocket111]

If you read any of the contemporary accounts of below decks during an Action. Even in winter (except warrant and real officers) they’d be stripped to the waist and tie a scarf or similar over their ears. The reason they stripped, 1 heat 2 back in those days the crew very rarely washed themselves or their clothes. Should they get wounded by flying splinters, their filthy clothing wasn’t going to be pushed into the wound causing gangrene.
Midshipmen would carry a Dirk not a sword, I do wonder why would the gun Captain be wearing a sword whist working the gun? It’d get in the way surely?
But hey ho! Artistic license.