kurigan Posted May 13, 2012 [pid][/pid] 4B Swivel Gun I couldn’t sleep last night, so I decided to try an experiment I had been mulling over in my head throughout the day. I took a bass wood dowel and carved out the profile of a small cannon using a hobby knife and an emery board. I then took a second dowel of a smaller diameter, just the right size for a mini figure’s grip and cut off a short length. I colored the whole thing with permanent marker (fine point pen inside the mussel) and super glued the post to the barrel. The whole process took me just over an hour, and I’m quite pleased with the result. Guess I’ve taken away any excuses I’ve had, being short parts for nice guns. Apologies for the poor quality images, I’ll see about getting better shots later. I'll also keep working on the design, adding more detail and such. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjornu Posted May 13, 2012 Looks great! I have only one comment on it: Try to make the hinges next time so you can move it up and down. Would be great! Greetz Bjornu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebeus I Posted May 13, 2012 Nice, it looks very lego-adapted, easy to mount on a ship My best Ideas come at midnight too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horatio Posted May 13, 2012 Looks good! Usually (or least for me) non-LEGO solutions look out of place, but you did a great job making it fit. How does it fit though? Is it too loose or too firm in the hole? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kurigan Posted May 13, 2012 Bjornu: yeah, that's some of the detail I was talking about. That and also right now it's a more like a dalghrin gun than a napolonic swivel gun, in that it lacks any of the charistic bands of earlier artillery. Horatio: it is actually a bit too stiff in the clip. I should have spent another moment sanding down the spindle as at the moment it doesn't swivel very well at all. All in all, it's just a prototype and as a prototype it's working out well. Thanks for the comments! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjornu Posted May 13, 2012 (edited) All in all, it's just a prototype and as a prototype it's working out well. Thanks for the comments! I Do agree this prototype worked out very well. I was thinking about your system and made up an idea to make it move! Maybe you can make a sort of system just like the Lego Bucket. On the bucket there are two small studs that have to be placed in the holes in the handle. Imagine: gluing your Swivel/handle on the bucket-handle and put two smaller studs on your swivel. Then it's able to go up and down! I've posted my Lego design in another thread. You can check it out HERE Hope it helped you. Greetz Bjornu Edited May 13, 2012 by Bjornu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kurigan Posted May 15, 2012 Well, that’s a nice bit of “one-ups-manship”, as we call where I grew up, but it seems you’ve entirely missed the point. I conceived this design for two important reasons. For one, the same old story applies, I have exactly zero budget for new parts, so I must make what I have work. The dowels are surplus from a previous venture and the tools are things I keep around as a policy. The other side of that is the size of the guns in terms of realism and scale. Raven is the intended recipient for some of these guns as well as two small craft projects I have planned for the future. Your design is fine and I even thought of the bucket pieces myself, moments before noticing your post. I don’t have those parts, however, and even if I did, it would make my swivel guns the same bore as the schooner’s carriage mounted artillery (or even bigger). If I had any money to order parts I’d likely forgo brick built guns any way and go for some of Woody’s designs off of shapeways. Using carefully sized parts and tools I can still construct appropriately sized guns to work with the Lego system, but make them more accurately scaled to my ship. My biggest trouble with the design is in making a better joint to hold the barrel to the trunnions. Since it was just a quick experiment I simply butt-jointed the barrel to the spindle with super glue, but it will necessarily be fragile and because of the taper, the muzzle points ever so slightly downward. Though I have no problem with improvised parts, compatible non-Lego bricks or other non-plastic parts, I do want to keep my guns system compatible. To suit this the trunnions must be mini-fig grip diameter as to fit into standard clips. This means that the trunnions are only slightly smaller than the barrels and too much material would be removed from the larger stock to allow the trunnion to pass through entirely without weakening the structure and ruining the look. I’m therefore thinking of drilling through with a smaller hole and using a mortiseand tenon joint with two trunnions, inserted from each side, rather than one all the way through. Sizing the tenon by hand, however, will be quite difficult as it will cause the barrel to hang crooked if not kept centered. In the end I had really only posted my prototype because I was amused with how well it went for so little effort. I figured I’d brag a bit, since I hadn’t had anything of significance to share is quite a while. I’m glad it got you hyped up though and I hope your design works out well for you in your own applications. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kurigan Posted May 22, 2012 Here is my swivel gun version 2. On this model I went and marked out portions to leave thick as reinforcing bands which were absent on the previous version. I also added two trunions in lieu of the single swivel of the previous iteration. Like the real thing this gun can now be mounted either in a swivel or a carriage. I did attempt upon a Lego built swivel but found it too bulky to really look good. Instead I went and mounted this one as a field piece. Small 3 or 4 pound pieces like this were popular during the American War for Independence on the rebel side for their relatively inexpensive nature, and ease of mobility due to small carriages and light weight. The trunions needed to be two pieces so I went ahead with my plan to mount them as mortis and tenon joints; the mortis being a single hole straight through the barrel as to keep both pieces aligned. I find, it again worked out well and like the result so far. A further iteration of this concept will likely involve a wooden swivel mount that will look much better and remain compatible with the Lego system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kurigan Posted July 8, 2012 While waiting for glue to dry I started experimenting with my swivel gun prototype as a carriage mounted ship’s gun. I came up with two basic concepts so far, but I’m just not quite sure about them, so I’m seeking opinions and input. I’m in need of advice on the carriages to mount my hand carved guns, not the barrel it’s self. As always my limitation is bricks; I just don’t have what I’d like to use. My question is: Does either of these really trick the eye into seeing a realistic carriage or is there something more I can do to improve that effect? More images, of course, on my Photobucket Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horatio Posted July 8, 2012 I like the color red for the carriage (or yellow, if you have the oppritunity, but red is the best), but the design for the first carriage seems the most realistic. If color doesn't matter though, go with the first design. Also, are you planning on building some king of wheels for your carriages? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kurigan Posted July 9, 2012 I like the color too, red for Raven where they might wind up, but yellow on a Man of War. Problem is I only have three of four of those wedges in red that I can find, while I have a sandwich bag full of black . Good question about wheels, I had only briefly considered them. Best I came up with so far is to prop up or glue to the side some 1X1 round plates. I don’t much like this prospect, but don’t see another way on the scale or deck space I’m stuck with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
