Figures Victory Miniatures - 120mm Trafalgar Gun Crew

[AULD_SWEAT]

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

Accepted, (The apology.Not the pork sword.) And in that environment, it would probably be a pork cutlass...

 

[Smeggers]

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.

Agreed. I have read quite a few books on the subject and have made reference to the Middy's dirk earlier in the thread. I disagree about the sailors being filthy, as most of the accounts I've read state that the Tar was the cleanest of animals, due to the spread of sickness and disease on board ship. Sailors would wash themselves and their clothes in sea water with a portion of their freshwater ration retained for washing their own "tackle".
Several pictures I've seen show the Gun Captain wearing a short-sword (stop it!)

 

[Smeggers]

Erm...

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

Happily, the staff has not been glued in place and can be lowered without any undue alteration to the sailor's stance. Thanks for pointing it out though.

 

[Smeggers]

Thinking about the Gun Captain's Sword, I found this well-known picture of Nelson and other ship's brass. In the foreground is a scene which I believe was the basis for the model I am engaged upon.

 

[Wightsparker]

Thinking about the Gun Captain's Sword, I found this well-known picture of Nelson and other ship's brass. In the foreground is a scene which I believe was the basis for the model I am engaged upon.
View attachment 527222

I'm pretty certain I had a jigsaw puzzle of that picture when I was a child. I seem to recall it was a b*astard, although I doubt if I knew that word then.

 

[Fang_Farrier]

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.

Mess dress is fully functional in terms of mess rugby!

 

[Helm]

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

Can't grab the image but look here

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]

Thinking about the Gun Captain's Sword, I found this well-known picture of Nelson and other ship's brass. In the foreground is a scene which I believe was the basis for the model I am engaged upon.
View attachment 527222

Upper Gun Deck, so that rules out a 32lber then, it’ll be a 12lb then.

 

[Smeggers]

Well after virtually a full day in the workshop, I've finished the first Crewman and the Gun Captain. As can be seen from the photos, the Crewman just needed fettling his worm (ooh err!) and a bit of sharing and highlighting. I used three different shares of Grey, with a touch of White to dry-brush the highlights. The lowlights were achieved by various washes of Blue Grey and Medium Grey. The Worm had it's handle reduce by an inch (24mm) and then pushed back in line with the Crewman's head. I painted the handle in Iraqi Sand and then gave it a coat of Woodgrain. This is my go-to way of creating varnished wood for handles etc.

The Gun Captain received a fresh coat of Satin Varnish to his hat and a final coat of Gloss Varnish to his sword belt. I made the cord for the Powder horn and also treated it to Brass end and stopper. After much referencing and study, I decided to give the Gun Captain a short sword. As has been pointed out before, the standard sword would get in the way and would be more hindrance than help. The Royal Navy issued short "Cutlasses" of about 24 inches (60cm) to most their experienced crew when in action. Worn on the Left hip, the short sword looks right when the Gun Captain is bent down checking the sighting of the gun.

The sword would have had a steel hand guard with little or no decoration. After action, the swords and other weaponry were returned to the arms locker under the watchful eyes of the ship's Armourer or Master at Arms.

As stated last night, I've started the Colonial Crewman. In Nelson's day, a ship's crew consisted of men from around the world, especially the colonies. Not all of these men were "pressed". Prior to Trafalgar, HMS Victory had more than 50% volunteers! after watching a few You-tube videos, I think I have the general gist of painting coloured skin. To this end, my colonial was given an undercoat of German Camouflage Black Brown and then once dry, dry-brushed with Burnt Umber. The eyes were picked out in Light Blue Grey with Burnt Umber Irises. The lips were painted in Red Black with a light dry brush of Deep Purple. Sky Grey has been used for the colonial's trousers and will be darkened later.

That's it until Thursday. Work gets in the way of model-making. Until then, Smeggers out

 

[ches]

Agreed. I have read quite a few books on the subject and have made reference to the Middy's dirk earlier in the thread. I disagree about the sailors being filthy, as most of the accounts I've read state that the Tar was the cleanest of animals, due to the spread of sickness and disease on board ship. Sailors would wash themselves and their clothes in sea water with a portion of their freshwater ration retained for washing their own "tackle".
Several pictures I've seen show the Gun Captain wearing a short-sword (stop it!)

Agree on the cleanliness of the Jacks back in the day. Having been a fan of the Aubrey books since god knows when & interest piqued I ended up spending weeks reading various tomes. The discovery of the cause of scurvy aside, it was also thought that cleanliness was an important factor in well being - far in advance of the Army's appreciation of same. There were weekly inspections of the crew by their respective mids & those ships with surgeons could be well looked after all things considered. The confined decks were known to be breeding ground for disease & were regularly scrubbed & cleaned when weather & other duties allowed.

 

[Smeggers]

Agree on the cleanliness of the Jacks back in the day. Having been a fan of the Aubrey books since god knows when & interest piqued I ended up spending weeks reading various tomes. The discovery of the cause of scurvy aside, it was also thought that cleanliness was an important factor in well being - far in advance of the Army's appreciation of same. There were weekly inspections of the crew by their respective mids & those ships with surgeons could be well looked after all things considered. The confined decks were known to be breeding ground for disease & were regularly scrubbed & cleaned when weather & other duties allowed.

I believe it's where the Navy's nickname for the Army came from, "Pongo", or the rather witty " Where the Army goes, the Pongoes". I don't think anyone in the Andrew was sufficiently educated enough to name us for the Orang-Utan (Pongo pygmaeus), Although thinking about it, seeing a Marine in a Red Jacket could get them likening them to Orangs.

 

[Smeggers]

I was unable to give a report on progress last night due to an inexplicable loss of t'internet! The colonial seaman is starting to look pretty good, so I think I will call him done. I've started another member of crew; this time a bare-chested chap holding a combined Mop and Rammer. Traditionally, after each firing, the Gun was mopped out with water to eliminate the chance of any red hot embers igniting the next powder charge. As wood wasn't easy to come by on board ship, many mops were given a thick rope handle, which when tarred, was a pretty solid handle. The box-art shows this crew man wearing some rather fetching Red and White striped trousers! I think mine may be a little more subdued. (the picture below is from the box-art and is not my model)

They do make a rather colourful addition though. I spent the evening cleaning up the various pieces and attaching the legs to the body. Everything has been primed with Vallejo's acrylic primer, a product I think most modellers will have in plentiful supply. The biggest embuggerance so far encountered with this model is the feet. They are cast to fit into a matching indentation in the bottom of each trouser leg. They do not, however, fit and need a considerable amount of fettling to get right. I had to use a flat-based dental burr like a router to carve out a millimetre at a time, before I could get a satisfactory fit!
The hands are pre-moulded onto the role handle and are cast in white metal rather than resin. I cannot, for the life of me see the reasoning behind this, but hey-no that's modelling for you. I'm working again Tonight and Saturday Night, so things will not progress until Sunday.
Smeggers out.

 

[Helm]

I was unable to give a report on progress last night due to an inexplicable loss of t'internet! The colonial seaman is starting to look pretty good, so I think I will call him done. I've started another member of crew; this time a bare-chested chap holding a combined Mop and Rammer. Traditionally, after each firing, the Gun was mopped out with water to eliminate the chance of any red hot embers igniting the next powder charge. As wood wasn't easy to come by on board ship, many mops were given a thick rope handle, which when tarred, was a pretty solid handle. The box-art shows this crew man wearing some rather fetching Red and White striped trousers! I think mine may be a little more subdued. (the picture below is from the box-art and is not my model)
View attachment 527977They do make a rather colourful addition though. I spent the evening cleaning up the various pieces and attaching the legs to the body. Everything has been primed with Vallejo's acrylic primer, a product I think most modellers will have in plentiful supply. The biggest embuggerance so far encountered with this model is the feet. They are cast to fit into a matching indentation in the bottom of each trouser leg. They do not, however, fit and need a considerable amount of fettling to get right. I had to use a flat-based dental burr like a router to carve out a millimetre at a time, before I could get a satisfactory fit!
The hands are pre-moulded onto the role handle and are cast in white metal rather than resin. I cannot, for the life of me see the reasoning behind this, but hey-no that's modelling for you. I'm working again Tonight and Saturday Night, so things will not progress until Sunday.
Smeggers out.

A lot of the earlier resin figures had metal parts until the art of resin casting had developed to a higher standard, you still get the odd figure with thin parts like swords etc done in metal today.

 

[robinrocket111]

Not trying to guzump you Smeggers, this is Dads interpretation of the Carronade on Victory’s bow. He did a fair bit of research (pre google days). Unless you were a NCO clothing came out of the Slops chest. The only others that had a uniform would be the crew of the Captains/Admirals Gig, they were visible so had to make an appearance!

 

[Smeggers]

View attachment 528017View attachment 528018 Not trying to guzump you Smeggers, this is Dads interpretation of the Carronade on Victory’s bow. He did a fair bit of research (pre google days). Unless you were a NCO clothing came out of the Slops chest. The only others that had a uniform would be the crew of the Captains/Admirals Gig, they were visible so had to make an appearance!

I take your point and it is well made, however, some ship's Captains liked to have a smart crew and kitted them out with shirt and trousers to his liking. Most of the kit in the slop chest was that "donated" by those sailors "discharged - dead"

 

[robinrocket111]

I take your point and it is well made, however, some ship's Captains liked to have a smart crew and kitted them out with shirt and trousers to his liking. Most of the kit in the slop chest was that "donated" by those sailors "discharged - dead"

But surely you must like the striped threads man ?

 

[Smeggers]

But surely you must like the striped threads man ?

Just don't float my boat dude